Seeking smart, reliable intern who wants to dive in, write, shout to the world a little, get their hands dirty, and do good.

Our summer season includes a flurry of fundraising and outreach events including Kiteboarding 4 Cancer, Portland Rose Festival, and Paddle 4 Cancer.  We are also further developing our cancer survivorship program, and fostering relationships with sponsors, survivors, and supporters across the country.  We are seeking an intern for the summer to assist with a variety of marketing and administrative tasks as part of event and program planning.

Responsibilities

• Assist with, and write, website & blog updates, Facebook & Twitter posts
• Assist with event planning including permits, logistics, sponsorships, and fundraising.
• Assist with donor communication and mailings
• Some graphic and layout work

Requirements:

• Self-directed, highly motivated and energetic
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Extremely beneficial, but not necessary: Adobe Creative Suite, graphic design background, knowledge of WordPress, Social Media Tools, and Google Docs

This is a part-time (about 15 hours/week), unpaid position but a great internship for a college student or someone looking to gain lots of experience and knowledge across a wide range of responsibilities and areas, especially in a high-energy, multi-faceted non-profit! Performance-dependent, the position may lead to a more permanent position with the organization. We work hard, play hard, and do good every day.

Please email a letter of interest, a one-page resume with relevant work experience and background to tonia (at) athletes4cancer.org. Thank you!

Have an old… skateboard, snowboard, kiteboard, surfboard, skimboard to recycle??

Got boards?

We are seeking old boards for artists to transform into pieces of art as part of the Boards of Hope project. You know you have something in that garage, basement, storage room you can give. Used boards can be donated and dropped off at 2nd Wind Sports in Hood River on Oak Street between 2nd & 3rd Streets.

Important Note!!! Boards dropped off must be clean and at the very least wiped down of dust and dirt, and definitely not buggy or with spiderwebs! Thank you for understanding!

Please contact kristyn.fix (at) gmail.com for more information!!

Extended DUE Date! Recycle a Board and Transform it into LIFE

2012 A4C Event & Program Volunteer Needs – The most fun you’ll ever have volunteering.

The funds raised at our summer event series goes directly to fund our programs. As our primary source of funding, we aim to make the events amazing, but not without TONS of help! Volunteers get perks for helping out. Here are areas of event volunteer needs and a couple paid positions too.

Summer Event Volunteers – Kiteboarding 4 Cancer and Paddle 4 Cancer

Please fill out volunteer application HERE

Registration

Race Coordination

Logistics & Setup

Parties

Volunteer Management

Athlete Lounge

Silent Auction

Sponsorship Opportunities

There are many ways for businesses to get involved including…

Event Sponsorship — Your logo, brand, and possibly product presence throughout the event —  download sponsorship packet here!

Silent Auction Packages — create a silent auction basket or package based on a theme, donated by your company, A4C promotes it in advance of the event. Fun!!

Relay Teams — For $1000 you can “brand” one of the 15 Kiteboarding 4 Cancer relay teams with your company name on the team + whatever swag and team style you’d like to add. A favorite event of the weekend and super fun!! Contact Tonia (at) Athletes4cancer.org for more info.

Slightly paid positions:  

Please fill out volunteer application  and email tonia (at) athletes4cancer.org with resume and your interest.

Sponsorship Coordinator – Kiteboarding 4 Cancer, Paddle 4 Cancer:

• Develop, secure and track prospective and existing sponsors: Cash sponsors for event budget and in-kind/product sponsors for prizes, raffle, and athlete packs.
• Maintain sponsor database (we already have one too) and ensure that sponsors and partners are tracked and recognized before, during, and after event.
• Communicate with sponsors to obtain donations for event.
• Manage sponsor needs during event, ensuring all sponsorship agreements are met.

Estimated time involved:

• May 1-June 15: 12 hours/week
• June 15-July 15: 8 hours /week
• Event weekend: Friday, July 13-July 15

Marketing Coordinator – Events:

• Put together a marketing plan for the 12 weeks prior to each event using A4C digital marketing channels (blog, e-news, website, facebook, twitter, stayclassy, causes, etc.) that achieves the goals of increased athlete participation, spectatorship and fundraising.
• Manage social media presence prior to, and during, event.
• Review and measure stats on HootSuite of all social media activity.
• Coordinate poster design for events, working with Sponsorship Coordinator to represent sponsors.

Estimated time involved:

• May 1-July 15: 12 hours /week
• Event weekend: Friday, July 13-July 15

Silent Auction Coordinator:

• Procure in-kind donations from businesses and individuals, obtaining item/service descriptions, photos, etc.
• Completion of donation forms and maintaining records of donated items.
• Coordinating correspondence materials, acknowledgement letters, etc.
• Working with other volunteers and staff to prepare for the day of the silent auction
• Organizing auction on day of the event
• Closing auction and facilitating item distribution

Estimated time involved:

• May 1-June 15: 8 hours/week
• June 15-June 15: 12 hours /week
• Event weekend: Friday, July 13-July 15

All paid positions please complete volunteer app and email tonia (at) athletes4cancer.org with a resume and your interest.

Boards of Hope Art submissions are open until July 4!!

Boards of Hope began from the hospital bed of 19-year old Scott Farman, fighting for his life with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Athletes for Cancer invites fighters, survivors, those touched by cancer, and artists of all mediums to submit entries for our Boards of Hope summer board art exhibit and fundraising event in Hood River to benefit cancer advocacy, prevention, and survivorship programs.

What is Boards of Hope?

Boards of Hope began when Athletes for Cancer’s founder, Tonia Farman, brought art supplies, recycled papers, wood, and mixed media to her brother, Scott’s, bedside at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital. He was undergoing a long battle with leukemia and found a sense of calm and purpose in art. His organs and body were weak, but his soul poured out with life in his artwork. Mixed media and collage became his channel of expression, therapy and healing, even though his days were numbered. His works became an inspiration for Boards of Hope.

Boards of Hope can be interpreted many ways — it can be a theme of healing, struggle, and pain, but also of living, love, and celebration. Scott was a snowboarder and avid outdoorsman. The “board” component is meant to be anything we “ride” because that’s life — The ride of life is the journey that defines us. Boards of Hope can be all types of boards – Surfboard, snowboard, skimboard, skateboard, kiteboard, longboards, and paddleboards.

The Boards of Hope Exhibit & Auction

There are two channels of participation in Boards of Hope:

Featured Artists: Interested in pre-event publicity? Submit a link to your portfolio or 3 jpegs of current work for review. If selected as a feature artist, you and your board will be featured in advance of the event in event publicity and as feature artists at our VIP Party and Auction on July 14th. Submit your board by July 1. Check art specs below.

All Artists: Submit your board by July 1. Check art specs below. Please submit questions and submissions to Tonia (at) athletes4cancer.org.

The Boards of Hope exhibit will be on display at various functions prior to our annual fundraiser, Kiteboarding 4 Cancer. The main exhibit and auction will take place July 14th at the Kiteboarding 4 Cancer VIP Party at the Ruins at Springhouse Cellar.

Art Specifications: 

• Artists must find/recycle their own boards.
• Finished piece must be sealed with a protective & archival sealant.
• Boards are not intended to be ridden after artwork.
• Artists can submit as many boards as they like.
• Artists are encouraged to use acrylics, acrylic paint pens, sharpies and collage mediums.
• A jpeg photo of the final work must be emailed to tonia (at) athletes4cancer.org prior to board delivery.
• Works must be completed & delivered to the A4C office or arranged for pickup in Portland.
• All submissions are donations to A4C and will be auctioned off at the Kiteboarding 4 Cancer VIP Party on July 14th, 2012.
• There are no submission fees to enter.
• Email tonia (at) athletes4cancer.org with questions

Download a PDF of Board of Hope specs here.

Jersey Girl Surfs: Events that change your life forever.

One of our survivors from camp sent me a beautiful note that I have to share. She has kindly given me permission to post here.

“To be honest, in retrospect I had no idea what Athletes 4 Cancer really provided before I went to your camp. I thought I would take some surfing lessons, hang out on the beach, and meet some cool people. I had no idea this camp would change me so completely.

There are certain events in your life that change you forever. You are just not the same person anymore, you can never go back. Cancer is one of those events. It changes how you view everything. Your camp was another one. After cancer treatments you are left with this feeling of “I should make every moment count. I should live life to the absolute fullest.” But there is no one there to tell you how. I personally got lost. I couldn’t just go back to exactly what I was doing before. That wasn’t enough anymore but I struggled to figure out what I could do that would make it better. That’s when Athletes 4 Cancer came into my life.

You showed me that I can make the most of my life by trying new things, taking on a challenge, and breaking out of my box. That no matter how bad things can seem, there is always something fun, exciting, and new for me. I just have to go find them.

Before camp I thought “Surfing is hard. I probably won’t do very well but hopefully it will be fun.” Now I think “I wonder what else I can do that I have been telling myself I couldn’t.” You have showed me that the answer is – a whole lot.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

~ Jersey Girl

Team Duke Camp 3 – Touched by Kimokeo, the Ocean, and a Waterfall

Sometimes words just cannot describe experience. This is one of those camps. 12 survivors from across the country came to Maui with thoughts of surfing and standup paddling. What they left with was new friends, a sense of self, inspiration, confidence, and life-renewal. A huge thanks to Team Duke and the John Wayne Cancer Foundation for generously helping make this camp happen. They are true supporters of healing and fighting cancer through a healthy, outdoor lifestyle.

I am starting to write less and less in these reports, leaving the imagery to tell the stories. I hope everyone is ok with that. The images are telling. Each experience at camp is unique and I cannot go into individual accounts. Everyone thrived.

Ok, I’ll just finish my report from camp with a quote from one of our survivors, “I went to camp thinking I would take some surfing lessons, hang out on the beach, and meet some cool people. I had no idea this camp would change me so completely.”

Chris Aguilar from Soul Surf Media produced a beautiful piece for Athletes for Cancer from Camp 2. This gives you an idea of what camp is about.