SteadyDoinIt

I'm participating in a half marathon promoting research of IBDs that requires a certain amount of fundraising to acheive a monetary goal. The mileage will not be a problem to complete because I'm provided expert coaching and already run between 12 and 15 miles/week with 4 months until the race date. What I'm concerned with is generating enough support through donations in order to make the trip as desired. I have a website dedicated to fundraising and have littered facebook as well as my email contacts for donations. To be clear, I'm not grasping for donations from any Covers members. I'm only looking for advice on things that have worked in the past for others. Have any of you ever done something similar? What were the hardest obstacles to overcome? How did you succeed in soliciting donations? What angle(s) should I take when "pitching" for donations? What avenues should I pursue in order to complete this task? Regardless of your familiarity with fundraising and donations, feel free to chime in with any brainstorming ideas. I appreciate any help that can be offered.

Reading this thread title made me chuckle. I'm actually 13 days into this challenge as well. Each month I try to either eliminate or add a challenge that could/should better me as a man, but I've made up excuses not to follow through with this one for the past 4 or 5 months. Before choosing this challenge, I couldn't remember the last time I went more than a week without being drunk. Actually, the catalyst for this change was a 3 day bender starting on July 4th that resulted in a 2 day hangover and a ton of money tossed away. Even being that I'm only 24, I still see the idiocracy in acting that way. Those days need to be through. Further, while I have no children or other factors that went into choosing to do this, I still feel the similar remorse each morning after getting borderline blackout (for the second or third time of the week): loss of money, acting foolish the night before, staying up way too late, creating a reputation/livelihood based around alcohol, and recovering from a hangover for almost a full day following it. My friends, like many people's, are social drinkers, so I have had to remove myself from most of them for this period - be prepared to do the same. I feel you can identify these people by how they react to the news of your decision. It gets easier each day. Having not been hungover during this time has allowed me to focus more on other positive outlets. Creating a new rhythm to your day is probably most key to succeeding. For example, I wake up each morning with the sun, regardless of how long my day will be. Also, I've been pseudo-training for a sprint triathlon for the past 2 months, and the training intensity has increased tenfold. Finally, I've also incorporated CrossFit into my training once again. These few tasks have given me something to focus on besides drinking and have worn me out sufficiently to where I "pass out" from exhaustion instead of booze each night. Just my .02 on the subject. Hopefully you can find some motivation in this post. Good luck, bud!

I read Case Closed based on Hutch's recommendation. Because of the way it, in my opinion, thoroughly examines each angle of the story, it was more than enough to convince me that there was only one shooter. Any links or books that objectively support an alternative?

Side note: JFK was killed on my birthday 24 years before I was born. 

Thanks for all of the responses, gentlemen. From poking around online, it looks like Morris County/Morristown would be the ideal landing spot. All things considered, I'll be living comfortably with the new salary. At worst, it would be a learning experience.

gprix - I'll be in touch if/when the move happens.

 As far as the "Nooh Joysey" headline goes, I had to catch everybody's attention somehow right?

Considering taking a job in Rockaway, NJ that will transplant me from my hometown and all I've known - Houston, TX. I'm single with no kids or girlfriend, so there is nothing locking me down in Houston. The challenge of moving where I know nobody is one that, I believe, could be exciting and life altering. It should be made clear that the move will be about a 40% increase in salary, so it is a heavy decision that should be taken as such. The trouble is that I've never been more north than North Carolina!

I am looking for sound advice on what I can expect as far as:

1) weather: I know it gets fairly extreme, but how long are winters? Summer expectations? Coming from Houston, I only know 2 seasons: hot and hotter.

2) housing: More specifically, what is a good general area of where to begin searching? Say within 25-30 miles? 

3) cost of living: I know that I will be making adjustments that I'm not used to, which is fully taken into consideration when accounting for salary. A broad idea is all I'm looking for here.

4) entertainment, etc: If you could even call it a concern, it is obviously the smallest on the board. Just curious of what kind of trouble a 24yr old bachelor can get into.

Anybody who currently lives in or has lived in this area, please chime in with your opinion!