I hate to ask people for money, and I especially hate when
people say “No.” To get around this, we created the fundraising idea of a fantasy walk that would also allow people in wheelchairs or with limitations to be able to participate. The fantasy walk takes
place in the imagination of the Parkinson’s patients, their
families and their friends, as they travel in their minds to
exotic locations. We have walked on the Great Wall of
China, strolled the beach of Maui, climbed Mount Everest,
bounced on the moon, and even shrunk ourselves in size so
that we could walk through the human brain.
We wrote letters, describing the fantasy walk in detail, and then we each mailed 20 of these letters to people who knew us. For the
Great Wall of China, we wrote about what it was like
walking up the hill and seeing mountains and then we
included pictures of the mountains. At the start of the letter
we would write, “Close your eyes and visualize” and at the
end of the letter we would write, “Now open your eyes and
walk over to your checkbook.” We usually get about 70% of
our letters returned with donations!
Irv Popkin reprinted with permission
