To continue with my internship....

The very first day I felt like I was dropped behind the enemy line. My direct reports and I had meeting with corporate executives to discuss sponsorships. We also had three kick-offs last weeks in three different cities. Since the economy is down, we needed to work extra hard to convince the corporations not only to join, but exceed their previous goals. It's no easy task. Sometimes it took a bit of arm-twisting and coaxing.

Fundraising is fun. I love to interact with different people and tell them stories to convince them to join the StepOut in October. Several people that I talked to initially didn't want to join, but I convinced them in the last minute.

It's nice to see your efforts paid off.

My internship

Since having moved to South Florida area, I've been busy with my internship. So far I've not talked about it yet. Here I'm giving you a low down.

I am working in a local chapter of American Diabetes Association. The priority is to raise money for the StepOut walks in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in October. You might think there is plenty of time until the walks. No, two and a half months are not a lot of time in the fundraising world. They are barely enough.

The very first day I was assigned to contact Walmart to follow up on our grant requests. I needed to make sure the applications we submitted were being processed and followed through. Walmart requires that grant applicants submit one application to each store. We know that the economy is still down and the number of applicants has gone up. However, we managed to secure a 50% approval.

Not bad to start my first day at all. It was full of excitement.

Internship with American Diabetes Association

I have been recently hired as an intern with American Diabetes Association (ADA) in Miami-Fort Lauderdale. I told my future supervisor that I could start in the first week of July. Julia will start her position at Cleveland Clinic Weston in Mid July. As I mentioned in my previous entries, I planned to travel to Argentina to take a Spanish course for foreigner. Well, I need to defer my study due the internship. Internships are hard to come by today, so I don't want to pass it up. It is a very interesting internship. Besides, how can I turn down an internship in sunny Miami-Fort Lauderdale area?

I will get to work with people from Julia's employer, so I can have lunch with her on some day. The position is fundraising for special events. Due to credits drying up, the Fed has cut funding for ADA researches. They need to explore other funding channels. I am glad I can help them solicit.

Do you know that there are currently 180 million people with diabetes worldwide? There are type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The most common one is type 2 which is developed in adults later in life. Type 1 occurs at birth or in early childhood.