Final Meeting :(

Right at this very moment, Team Effect is in the process of our final meeting. We are very sad that this part of our lives is ending tomorrow. We have grown together as friends and have created a bond between us that will never break. It has been an amazing run, and we truly are sad to see it end.

Today we surprised the teachers at La Causa with some Bruegger's Bagels! They were so happy to have a little treat to get them through the day. It was so nice to be able to personally effect the teachers since they deal with so much on a daily basis. Teachers need to be appreciated every day and this one way to thank a few of them.

While down at La Causa, we dropped off a computer and TV that John, Beth, Richard, and Michael donated! It was so cool to see our causes coming together.

Finally, while the members of Team Effect were working hard tonight, a couple AMAZING honorary members went out to perform some more random acts of kindness. They went to Walmart and bought groceries for two families and work boots for a man. They also went to Taco Bell and bought some food for some people. They then posted random post-it notes around campus to inspire people to have a great day. We're so excited to see the reactions of people in the morning!

Kapco has been amazing throughout this whole ordeal. We cannot begin to thank them enough for giving us this great opportunity. None of us thought we could do it when this challenge was presented to us. We learned that we are more than capable of making a difference in people's lives. We have learned not to take anything for granted, and we have grown together as a team and as friends. Thank you, Kapco, for the resources to make a difference in others lives and well as our own.

To all of you who donated or supported us in any way, even just with words of encouragement-Thank you. We could not have done this without you. To know that you believed in us helped us push through and finish. It has been amazingly wonderful to have all the support that we have.

Finally, to John, Beth, Richard, and Michael-you are a part of our families. We love you like family and want to thank you for taking us in and letting us be a part of your lives. We have learned so much from all of you and our eyes have been opened up to new things. We cannot even begin to express how much you have touched our lives. We loved just hanging out at your house with you and being ourselves. It has been an amazing 10 days with you, but we feel like we've known you forever. Please let us continue to be a part of your lives.

We will be sure to post tomorrow to let you all know the results of the final judging. No matter what happens: Don't underestimate what one person can do. The smallest acts make the biggest impacts. It has been an amazing ride :)

So Tired.. But SO Worth It!

We may be broke by the end of this competition from buying too much coffee, but at least we're having fun! :)

I (Hannah) was on the air with 97.7 The Big Dawg this morning to update our supporters up in Door County and announce our mission statement one last time. After our morning classes, Lindsay and I went and withdrew a large sum of money from the bank. It's so fun withdrawing all that money and knowing all the good it will do!

Lindsay set off on a road trip to Grand Geneva (in Lake Geneva) to set up an amazing weekend getaway to surprise John and Beth (Michael's parents). While she was doing that, Hillary, James, Jenny and I went to La Causa to meet the President and CEO of La Causa and his wife. They read books to the children in their new library! It was awesome seeing it put to good use! The overflow room is turning into quite the cozy reading room, and we couldn't be happier that we have enough books to merit an overflow room! At La Causa we also visited the computer lab that was destroyed in last summer's flooding. They recently put in new flooring, and the room is ready for the donated computers to be moved in tomorrow! We are still planning on buying them new tables as well as tons of educational computer software!

Lindsay, James, Jenny and I bought a ton of bouquets of beautiful flowers and headed over to Children's Hospital. The nurses were in a meeting on the floor we could have visited, so the receptionist took them up to the nurses to surprise them. We wrote notes of encouragement and thanks, and added our blog website on the bottom. The receptionist told us no one had ever thought to just randomly bring nurses flowers before! We love our theme of helping those who help others!

Lindsay, Derrick, Amber, El and I just got back from an amazing night at Michael's house. They are extended family to us, and even though the Challenge "ends" Thursday, we have plans for a party after Spring Break and a Brewer game, and that's just the beginning! There is no way we will allow ourselves to lose touch with this amazing family. I had been e-mailing Michael and recently asked him if there was anything at all that he still needed/wanted. Michael responded that there definitely was something he wanted, but it wasn't for him -- it was for his big brother Richard. Richard really wanted to go see the Black Eyed Peas concert on March 11th, and Michael wanted more than anything to be able to give Richard the opportunity to go. After okaying everything with Beth, we bought tickets for the whole family to attend the concert! This is even more fitting because the concert is right before Richard's birthday! We gave Richard the tickets in a birthday card and he was absolutely floored! His face was priceless! Michael's request is just another testimony to the selflessness of this family.

Then, we presented John and Beth with the gift card for Grand Geneva. The card has money on it for an amazing room, credit at the spa, and credit for a delicious dinner and brunch! Once they pick the weekend they will go, we have a few more ideas up our sleeves, too :) We told John and Beth that we all figured that hadn't had a get away with just the two of them in a long time. After much thinking, they realized they had not had a weekend alone since Richard was born-- almost 14 years ago! We are so thrilled to be able to surprise every single member of this family. They all mean the world to us!

We spent the rest of the night looking at old pictures of the kids, chatting, eating Beth's cookies and we even had a dance party up in Michael and Richard's bedroom. None of us wanted to leave, but unfortunately it's midterm week (great timing, we know! :-P), so there is much to be done.

We could write forever about all of the ways this Challenge has touched us, but we'll spare your eyes :) We hope that what Team Effect is doing is giving you all motivation to live out our mission statement and let your lights shine!

Random Acts of Kindness Day!

Still motivated by the amazing random act of kindess experience from yesterday at the fire house, we took the afternoon to perform more acts today!

We started by picking up the high schoolers at WISCO and then visiting the VA Hospital. We brought the 50 cards that WISCO students had decorated during the day on Friday, and one of the hospital's PR guys took us throughout the hospital so we could personally hand out cards to the Veterans. It was such an uplifting and humbling experience. We thanked each Vet for their service to our country and told them to get well soon. They profusely thanked us for not only the cards, but also for thinking to take the time to visit with them. One woman told me just seeing our smiles made the whole week better. Another man looked me straight in the eye and told me it was his privilege to serve us. What great respect we all have for these men and women! Such simple acts, something as free and easy as a smile, can make a huge difference in the lives of others. We definitely plan to return to the hospital, even when the Challenge is over, to visit with these amazing men and women!

After our eye-opening hospital experience, we split into two groups to tackle random bus stops throughout the city. At the bus stops, we served hot chocolate out of the backseat of our vehicles (shady, we know :) ), and gave out money to cover the bus fare. We received many "God bless you!" and "What a blessing!" We had so much fun interacting with people from all walks of life. It was even more fun explaining the idea of "random acts of kindness" to these people. We hope they pay it forward!

We got our mission statement out through these acts by taping it onto each cup of hot chocolate, as well as on the back of each of the cards. We gave out 120 cups of hot chocolate and 50 cards!

With the unused money we had budgeted for today's acts, each group went to a random McDonald's and paid for the meal of the person behind us. Our group ended up picking up the tab for a mom ordering $32 worth of supper! We had the drive thru worker hand her our mission statement when she tried to pay for her meal. Another group went and stuck quarters in machines at a laundramat. We are enjoying mixing "planned" acts of kindness with our truly "random" ones.

It was a very rewarding day, and once again we see how a little bit of money can go a long way in brightening the lives of others!