CONNECT: November 2012

Written by Eric Eisenhart

The last two weeks have been some of the most monumental of 2012 for sure.  We’ve seen the re-election of a United States President after one of the tightest races and hardest fought campaigns in the history of our country and (at the same time) in the most densely populated region of the country, we witnessed first hand and continue to fight back against the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, a natural disaster that analysts have called the “Perfect Storm”.  But maybe, in this writer’s humble opinion, the most powerful part of either of these two current events is one of the underlying themes: the power of motivated and connected people!

Think about this just for a second...if enough people get behind something...anything...what are the possibilities?  My argument...anything and everything.

This past weekend, on a “relatively” small scale, with my colleagues from Pro-Activity and the Fuel Good Cafe, and fellow-community members from BaseCamp 31 (the not-for-profit that I co-chair and we support), we were, and continue to be a small part of a larger power!  The story goes something like this....

On Friday, November 2nd, Fuel Good Cafe manager Lindsay Eisenhart picked up the bus and headed to NYC and the Javits Center to pick up her much coveted NYC marathon bib number and race packet.  It was to be a special race for Lindsay; NYC being her first marathon twelve years prior where she ran in memory of her friend Kelly who had recently lost her battle with Leukemia.  It was to be a day of personal bests, a day she had trained months for, and a day that, although unspoken by Lindsay, would undoubtedly be filled with Kelly’s spirit again.

But upon entering NYC, where like much of the tri-state area, residents were still striving to recover from the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Lindsay didn’t feel right. “It just felt depressing, like I shouldn’t be doing this when there is so much more to be done for those devastated by the storm....it was like there was a dark cloud over the marathon expo, and I couldn’t shake the feeling” said Lindsay, and so her mind started to ponder... “What if I run the marathon locally and throw it out there to a handful of others I know running and see if we can raise some awareness for charity?”

That question...from brain (around 1:30p)...to mouth...to husband (Mike Eisenhart, managing partner at Pro-Activity)....to some members of Pro-Activity team via conference call at 2:30p...and we went into “action mode”.   Within 5 hours, we had a course mapped out including the clearing of trails with down trees, a name (the BaseCamp31 Sandy Relief  Marathon), a slogan “the first ever pick-up game of marathon”, a website page including areas for donations and race registration, a press-release, and a few social media posts we had asked people to share about the first-ever (and maybe only) Sandy Relief / NYC-Satellite Marathon (and mostly self-supported races of all distances).  Somewhere in the midst of our action, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg called off the NYC Marathon, only adding fuel to our smoldering fire, and by 12 noon on Saturday, less than 24 hours from just a simple trailing thought in Lindsay’s mind, we had over 65 registrants!


The story continued to build, as the community poured out in support including financial donation of Sandy Relief and our “little” event.  Before we knew it, the Star Ledger was calling to interview us (article here) as was the NJ Daily Record (article here), and word was really getting out.  By Saturday night, registrations were up to 150, we had a team of 20 volunteers organized and willing to give their Sunday in support of the cause, and we were only hours from our 10am estimated Sunday start time.....all less than 36 hours from initial concept.  When Sunday rolled around, we were SHOCKED by the additional 100 runners and their families that showed up to register, donate, or just be there in support,.  By 10:20a (20 minutes after target starting time) with no timing equipment, with less than 48 hours to plan or advertise, over 220 runners took to the streets of Hunterdon County and over $10,000 was raised to support Sandy Relief efforts throughout the tri-state area.  AMAZINGLY POWERFUL what a motivated, passionate community can do when connected by a good cause!

But the fun and service to others isn’t done there!  Since the BaseCamp 31 Sandy Relief Marathon, we have secured, through our suppliers for the Fuel Good Cafe (with special thanks to Sysco Foods), an additional $3,000 worth of non-perishables and cleaning supplies, and have had an additional 35 people sign up to volunteer with us as we pack trucks and take our show on the road...into the heart of Sandy’s path, doing our best to clean-up her mess, rebuild her destruction, and restore the lifestyle that so many lost.  

If you’d like to join in our efforts, we'd love to have you along for the journey! Please consider volunteering with our BaseCamp31 community by visiting http://www.basecamp31.com/volunteer, because when people do extraordinary things, the world changes!