GOING BIG TO GIVE ALZHEIMER’S THE BOOT: “It’s all about asking, and asking with confidence,” says Alex LeClair. The senior at the University of Vermont is Vice President of Philanthropy and Community Service for his fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike). He’s talking on the phone while huddled under an electric blanket in his barely heated apartment. That has not put a damper on Alex’s enthusiasm as he explains in detail his strategy for winning HFC U, a nationwide fundraising contest among college students to benefit Hilarity for Charity (HFC). “So far …,” Alex pauses to scan a spreadsheet, “we’ve raised $15,338 with AXO Alpha Chi Omega, our sorority partner for this event.” The UVM Pike/AXO team has won the HFC U contest for the past three years and raised over $90,000 for the organization.
THE BACKGROUND: Hilarity for Charity, founded by comedian Seth Rogen and his wife Lauren Miller Rogen, raises money for Alzheimer’s awareness and research by hosting comedy events and encouraging college students to throw their own events. The annual HFC U contest, which runs from Feb 1–April 9, pits all those college students against each other in a fundraising challenge to win a personal visit from Rogen. Triplets and fraternity brothers John, Ryan and Griffen Fox started UVM’s participation in the contest to honor their late grandfather who suffered from Alzheimers. Under their leadership, UVM Pikes won the contest in 2014, 2015 and 2016, raising over $90,000 for HFC. After the triplets graduated, Alex took on the responsibility of continuing to build their legacy.
A POSITIVE PLAN: “It only takes a few events to raise a ton,” explains Alex, who is working with Positive Tracks this year to maximize and amplify Pike’s efforts. “The Positive Tracks help and match is HUGE!” says Alex. To take advantage of it he has reserved four fields on April 2 to stage an all day “Kick Alz in the Ballz” Positive Tracks U23 Challenge kickball tournament. Alex, clearly a budding social entrepreneur, came up with a creative plan to maximize every dollar: Each kid donates $5 to be on a team. Alex and his friends solicited local businesses to sponsor teams by bringing each of those individual $5 donations up to $23. (Positive Tracks matches the first $23 of each U23 Challenge participant, and the first $230 of each U23 Challenge Captain). That effectively turns every player’s $5 into $46. Alex estimates that strategy will earn the team $15,000-$20,000 in one day, and hopes the total amount raised during the contest will be around $40,000. Big bucks.
THE STRATEGY: Thinking big and making it happen is nothing new for Alex, who paid for four semesters of his college tuition by selling Cutco knives. “I took the Cutco mentality and moved it over to HFC,” Alex explains. That included repurposing the Cutco phone script and email template, and creating a google doc of potential donations. He reclaimed lost alumni contacts from Pike’s national organization, compiled the list of 300 plus alums, and is coordinating an outreach effort to strategically maximize donations during, in Cutco-ese, “Push Periods.” Not to give away any secrets, but it involves a coordinated well-timed effort led by 10-15 kids who, Alex explains, “crush the phone. It’s like a sales team within Pike.”
If the UVM Pike /AXO team wins the contest, that’s just the start. “I don’t want to just see another movie with Seth Rogen,” says Alex, who admits that watching Superbad with Rogen was “the coolest thing!” But he’s thinking bigger, and wants to stage another sweat for good event, centered around Seth and whatever celebrity he can bring. “Why can’t the local community benefit from his visit?” asks Alex. He’s hoping the university will be willing to donate the use of Patrick Gym, which has the largest capacity on campus (3,000 seats) if the PIKE/AXO teams wins once again. He believes he can charge $20 a ticket depending on who Seth Rogen is bringing this year. “We could raise $100k or more in a semester, and all for the cause!”
CONNECTING TO THE CAUSE: Alex didn’t start out with a direct connection to Alzheimers. At first his sole motivation was to help his fraternity do some good. That all changed last fall, however, at the start of the annual Walk to End Alzheimers. Alex saw a couple and asked if the woman would like to be an advocate for Alzheimer’s Awareness. “Honey, I HAVE Alzheimers!” she replied. As he hugged her, he saw her husband tearing up behind her. That was all the motivation Alex needed. “We HAVE to do this again.”
THE EXTRA MILE: Thinking beyond his own goals, Alex hopes to connect Positive Tracks with his high school lacrosse team so they could help Keenan, one of his best friends from high school, who was in a terrible ski accident. When Alex visited Keenan at Spaulding Rehab Hospital in Boston, he told him about what he was doing with Positive Tracks and now the lacrosse team is hoping to host a youth-organized dodgeball tournament to benefit the High Fives Foundation. Here is a link to read about Keenan’s story from Alex’s local newspaper.
As for what Alex will do after graduation, he’s all set. He recently signed on with Pella Windows and Doors in Boston, where his Cutco boss will once again be his manager. His best fundraising advice comes right out of the handbook: “You don’t sell by not asking.”
To donate to Alex’s team and help them “Kick Alz in the Ballz,” go here.
Edie Morgan, Positive Tracks Wordsmith and Blog Master
Me In 140 Characters Or Less: Writer, Skier, Raiser Of Children; Cries Way Too Easily At The Good Stuff; Downhill Racer; Advocate Of Entertaining More & Fussing Less; Gladly Cooks; Reluctantly Cleans; Picnic Instigator