Two down, 14 more to go.

I managed to get out an TALK to people, now I am starting to enjoy myself. Most of the businesses, however, are franchises or nationally owned, and other, larger United Way offices manage their campaigns. So I have to wait to get a list of who to call. It does make it simpler for me, but I’m ready to roll now, and it seems silly to wait.

The biggest question from the company employees is, “Where does my money go?” If the United Way in Toronto is managing the campaign, and the pledge cards get sent there, how does that help local people? The address of the business where the employee works is used to determine which United Way the money is distributed to, and each UW office is run independently. They each have their own campaigns, staff, and agencies that they support. I have found a list of the agencies in each city the United Way of the Fraser Valley funds, and will use that to show our donors how their pledge is spent locally.

Meant to blog each day about my United Way experience, but found I was so tired I could hardly drive home from work!

I have been given all the files for the companies I will be working with. Looks like Coscto is a big one — their employees are really community-minded.

I have banks, credit unions, financial, professional, media, retail and schools. One hundred and sixty one all together. The 15 weeks I have left is looking shorter by the minute!

The kick-off for the campaign is Sept. 18 at the Chilliwack Bruin’s game in Chilliwack. Tickets are at a special low price, and part of the price includes a donation to United Way. I’ll update this blog with the info tomorrow.

There is also a pancake breakfast in MIssion at the Heritage Park the next morning, Saturday. Sept. 19. I will be there flipping.

Yesterday began with an assignment: prepare a 10-minute presentation on the United Way that you will use when you visit organizations.

Yikes! Ten minutes? We hadn’t learned how to fill out the pledge forms (I haven’t even seen one yet) and many other details of the upcoming United Way campaign, but it was interesting to begin to formulate a plan to speak to groups about what I had learned on Monday. Add yesterday’s training to the mix, and I am getting closer to being ready to roll.

. . . there would be no way.

That’s this year’s campaign slogan for the United Way. I am now officially the Scotia Bank Loaned Rep for the next 16 weeks for the United Way of the Fraser Valley.

Training started yesterday, and will continue for three more days. I am learning about all the different agencies that are members of the United Way, and all those that are funded. It is a very long list.

One of the perks is a press release about my new position. As an “ambassador” for one of the largest social service contributors in Canada, I’ll be visiting hundreds of Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack, Hope, Agassiz and Boston Bar businesses.

Whistler! What better place to host an International Speech competition, but the site of the 2010 Olympics?

The day was sunny and warm, and we had the top down on the convertible. I was saying the opening lines to my speech over and over in my head (I thought my hubby would dry up and blow away if he heard it one more time!) when traffic on the freeway came to a dead stop. I turned off the iPod and turned on News 1130. There was a rollover on the Cut, just over the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge, and traffic quickly backed up right into Coquitlam. We inched along for an hour until we could finally exit on First Avenue. A trip through downtown Vancouver brought us onto the Lions Gate Bridge, up Taylor Way, and back on track.

On the Sea to Sky Highway we picked up speed and were thrilled by the scenery. There is nothing like travelling in a car with the top down — you can see the tops of trees and hear the birds. I could also hear a whumpa whumpa noise, and hoped that was the Rocky Mountain Rail travelling below us.

“Is that noise a train?” I asked my hubby, hopefully.

“No, sorry,” he said as he struggled to pull the suddenly vibrating car safely off the road.

Lucky for us the right lane was closed for repairs, and we had lots of room. I had to take the two suitcases, cooler, camera bag, laptop, jackets and my HAT (the beautiful, broad-brimmed black felt and lace masterpiece I used as a prop in my speech) out of the trunk so Bruce could get out the spare tire (a doughnut) and jack.

I put the hat on my head so it wouldn’t get dirty or crushed, and then climbed a nearby hill in my high heels to find a perfect-sized rock to wedge under the right-front wheel. (The next day at the speech competition, a few people said “Didn’t I see you wearing that hat on the side of the highway yesterday?”)

Bruce had the tire changed in a jiffy. But the old wheel and tire shreds were too big to fit back in the small doughnut hole, so the carpet wouldn’t lay down flat, and we couldn’t fit the luggage back in. Afraid I would lose my hat while driving, I made a nice nest of our jackets and put the hat on top of the carpet, then wedged in the cooler, and we could close the trunk lid.

We now had to drive slowly, and caused quite a traffic backup, but we got to take a long look at the wildlife along the route. I saw my first black bear! Bruce felt that we shouldn’t go all the way to Whistler on the doughnut tire, so we pulled in to a brand-new WalMart Tire Centre we could see from the highway. I went inside and summoned help. A nice young lady went back out to the car with Bruce, while I waited inside.

After what seemed to be too long of a wait, I ventured out. There was Bruce, dancing, gagging and choking while attempting to drink a bottle of water from the car. The sales clerk was hopping up and down in a panic — she tonight Bruce was having a heart attack, but a large insect had flown down his throat.

I paid no attention to either of them — the trunk was open, the damaged tire and cooler were sitting on the pavement, and I screeched, “WHERE IS MY HAT?”

Turned out it was safely nestled in the back seat. Whew. The staff at WalMart couldn’t help us, so we decided to chance driving the rest of the way to Whistler.

We arrived without any further mishaps, and I had some wine and tried out my speech twice more. I got a good night’s sleep after crashing the Toastmaster Olympic games that I hadn’t purchased tickets for, and woke up ready to go.

Saturday dragged. I just wanted to do my speech! I got more excited and less frightened as the day wore on. I even attended the District Business Meeting, helping to elect our new executive. Finally, 3:30 came and I was in the ball room ready to do a sound check. Turns out I had a choice — to wear a lapel mike, or head mike — that clipped over my ear. I was worried that putting on and taking off my hat would interfere with the head mike, so decided to use the lapel one. I drew speaker number six, which was perfect.

The first person to speak wearing a lapel mike was very hard to understand — her voice was muffled, so I determined I was better off with the head mike. When it was my turn to get ready, the sound guy didn’t have a second head mike, and built one from parts right on the spot. Did that make me nervous? Absolutely! Once I was on the stage, it was magic. I felt calm, collected, and more than ready to tell my story. The only issue was that my bifocals sat up higher on my face because of the wires over my ear, and I was looking at an audience of 300 people through my reading lenses. I spent the entire seven minutes wondering why everyone was so fuzzy.

After I left the stage I was sorry it was over so quick. Now came the part I hate the most — waiting for the rest of the contestants to speak, and then the results. “And third place goes to . . . Lori Masse!” I did it! I placed third in a contest with 10 other contestants, the best speakers from the entire province. Not too shabby for my first time, and it definitely won’t be my last!