Our club Indiegogo campaign may very well make and break some relationships of mine, to tell you the honest truth. And while if you had asked me earlier on today which I thought it'd do more, make or break, my answer has since changed.
It's been super encouraging but it has also been discouraging experiencing all that has resulted as me launching our campaign. And while I was pretty sure that particular friends and family would reach out to help me, it has been some key long-time-no-see friends and select companies that have offered excessive support. I've got a company in P.E.I. Canada hooking me up with silver boxing gloves charms and a local shop here in Korea making custom club glow-in-the-dark jelly bracelets at discounted prices. I even scored 50% off some pricey photo thank you cards from a company in the States and now I'm working on a little added surprise thank you bonus to send everyone, thanks to a local downtown shop owner one of my friends was kind enough in introducing me to. This campaign has opened up as many new connections as it has further strengthened my relations with others and for this I am so very grateful.
If you're set on doing good than there will be people who will help you do good.
One of my friends posted the link to our Indiegogo campaign on his Facebook and someone posted a comment to it.
"Not to be a jerk....but why is a commercial enterprise asking for donations to improve itself? Honestly, not trying to be an ass."
This question was very much expected and I knew it'd only be time before someone had the guts to ask such a question, a question I'm sure many thought in their heads but didn't have the balls to ask. I respect him for asking and I wasn't by any means offending. This was my response to him:
"You're not an ass or jerk for asking. I was hesitant to launch this but we're more than just a commercial enterprise and a lot of what we do here goes way beyond just doing a "job". We have become very much a community center with our members and (even non members) being here much more than [the hours] we're actually open and offering them so much more than just physical training. This past winter hit us hard (video talks about this) and because we consider the club to be ALL our club, we thought we'd ask for extra help."
Hulk's IS a business, sure... of course, but it's also so much more than that. I feel like we've become a kind of drop in community center. I can't remember the last time we DIDN'T have some kind of food to offer our members -- there's always food being cooked up to share. Members bring their friends to play pool (and they too nibble on our food). Former members always are dropping by while others stick around to watch the rest of whatever movie is playing on our club TV or to socialize mroe. We often drive home whomever trains late and we have one member who it takes about an hour to drive home. We drive this particular member home once or twice a week. Those who come exercise during Free Train on Saturdays, a day almost all our Hulkies take off, are usually rewarded for their dedication to training with a good hearty BBQ meal out. Dinner out is often followed by a movie or snacks back at the club. Almost all of these above "extras" of my "job" cost money, whether it's for gas, food, or whatnot, and who do you think pays for them? Exactly, you guessed right, we do. And we don't mind, I should note, we are more than happy to pick up the tab because we love our jobs and we really want to extend ourselves for our members but so much of what we do goes well beyond that of any boxing club coach job description. It's not in my job description to check the local PC room and make sure one of my mini Hulkies isn't breaking his promise and playing Starcraft, nor is it in my job description to make snackies for some mini Hulkies who come straight from school hungry. We are Hulk's Boxing Club but often I feel like we're more like a club than just a regular boxing club. And this is why I feel we have the right to ask for help, because to simply label us as a business doesn't seem fitting. We are very much a club, a family.
It's been interesting what people regard as help and I'm flattered that most say they wished they could help more but help is help. And whether it's been donating cash or sharing our campaign link, all help has been much appreciated. I had a friend from back in the day, elementary school, donate. His amount was much smaller than the others, just barely in the double digits, but times are tough and he didn't have tomoe even donate at all. I don't know the full extent of his situation but he could have saved that money for himself. He didn't though; he donated it to our boxing club and I was just so flattered. I think maybe friends think they have to donate big to really help but, like I said above, help is help and all help makes a difference. Many of our members here at Hulk's are quite aware of me running this campaign but I didn't know one of my mini Hulkies was. Today she offered me $2 -- money her father had given her for candy. I could have cried.
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