Dear Trainers, Instructors, and Youth Club Leaders,

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Lizzie Edgar and I am a junior exhibitor rider at Tom Sworm Stables. At my school, there is a service requirement for graduation and to fulfill this requirement, I am creating and heading a Red Ribbon Class at the ASHAM horse show. The Red Ribbon Class will be the Junior Exhibitor Show Pleasure class and the class and activities during the entire show will benefit the American Heart Association and raise awareness about heart disease.

In order to raise money for the American Heart Association, I am asking Michigan exhibitors to participate in a fundraising challenge. The challenge begins as soon as this email is received and continues up until the Red Ribbon Class on Saturday night. The winning barn/ youth club will be announced before the Red Ribbon class and will receive a certificate at the time of announcement and an engraved plaque will be mailed later on.

There are no directions about the means of fundraising. Get your barn involved and use any fundraising techniques you feel are best for your barn.

If your barn wishes to participate in the challenge, simply follow the steps below:

1.     Go to the American Heart Association FUNraiser website (http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR/FunRaiser/NAT-Funraiser/629939604?pg=entry&fr_id=1150).

2.      Click on the "Join a Team" button.

3.     Enter Team Name “ASHAM Red Ribbon” in the search box, search for the team, and click on the result.

4.     Once the new page has loaded, click on the “Join Team” button.

5.     Select Team Member as the Participation Type.

6.     Set a team goal if you want to.

7.     Once you continue, select new member.

8.     Enter contact information for the head of your fundraising team and create a username and password.

Once you have created your login info, you can access the ASHAM Red Ribbon page. Doing so will allow you to enter and track your fundraising progress.

This event is not only meant to raise awareness about heart disease, but to also raise money for the American Heart Association to use in heart research. For that to happen, though, we need your help. Please consider participating in this fundraising challenge and help ASHAM make a difference in heart research.

Thank you and good luck to those who choose to participate.

Lizzie Edgar

P.S. If there are any other barns you think would like to participate in the challenge, please feel free to forward this email to them.