Jesse Remington High School is a christian high school in southern NH with a particular mission focused around both classical and project oriented education. JRHS is creating a comprehensive process for developing sustained support rather than purely event-based giving. Nevertheless, some events — like the marathon — have been popular platforms for raising money for specific projects like the scholarship fund.

In this letter, I wanted to grab the readers attention with something unexpected, and swing into a straightforward need and benefit statement followed by a clear request for donations.

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Dear Friend of Jesse Remington High,

Most ordinary law-abiding citizens are fine walking from the car into the store. A few, from time to time, will bestir themselves to lace up the shoes to run a couple of miles on a treadmill – perhaps even going outside when feeling particularly adventurous. And then there are those who insist that walking is
too…well, pedestrian.

For these fringe-dwelling heel stompers, nothing less will do than pounding out 26 knee-grinding miles – at a good stiff run — over hard hilly asphalt roads. They will train for months in rain and wind and blazing sun, suffering from aching muscles, sore joints, and chafing skin. On the appointed day they will join a huge mob of like minded nutjobs and clog the streets with their sweating huffing bodies as they hurl themselves forward, driven by some weird internal compulsion to run…a marathon.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? So why would anyone do this?

There may be many reasons why these people willingly inflict this upon themselves. Some of the most common may include:

• Brain damage
• A morbid love of pain.
• Delusions of athletic grandeur
• A desire to give young people a unique educational opportunity at a school with a mission of raising up a generation to be effective leaders for Jesus Christ.

That almost certainly a short list of possible motives, but pay special attention to that last one.

It seems that this year there are actually 10 runners from Jesse Remington High School who are willingly taking leave of their senses and journeying to the far edge of sanity and physical capacity —  for pure and unselfish motives. They will be running the Manchester Marathon on Sunday November 7, 2010 to raise money for the Jesse Remington High School Scholarship Fund.

Some of these people are parents. Some are students. Some will be running a half-marathon; some will be making a team effort. One will be running the entire 26.2 mile distance. In total, they will be logging 104 miles as a team. That’s a lot of pavement to cover in one morning.

The reason is simple. All of them feel that Jesse Remington offers such a unique and valuable educational experience that no one should be prevented from attending because of something as mundane as money. The JRHS Scholarship Fund is designed to assist families who might not otherwise be able to send their students to JRHS.

So this year we need to raise $10,000 (or for you runners out there, that’s $10K) to meet the goal required. As you may realize, in these times, paying for private education has become tougher than ever. The scholarship fund allows many to contribute a little so that the burden does not fall as heavily on any individual family. Your contribution can have an enormous impact on the life of a young person.

Here is how you can help.

First, make sure that these runners are not running in vain. Fill out the enclosed form along with your check to support them in their unselfish endeavors. Without your support, the only motives left for them to run are brain damage, pain, or delusions. Don’t let that happen. They may indeed be crazy, but they mean well and deserve to know that their efforts are successful.

Second, come out to cheer them on during the race on November 7. With all those crazy people in one place, you know it has to be a good time.

We welcome whatever support you can offer.

In His Footsteps,

Jeff Philbrick

Headmaster and temporary non-runner

P.S. –  Remember that the JRHS Scholarship Fund is outside of the operating budget for JRHS. All funds go specifically to help assist families with the cost of sending their students to JRHS. As with all such contributions, they are fully tax deductible.

P.P.S. — Perhaps next year, a few of you may be inspired to step off the deep end and put your own feet down on the long black racecourse. As the saying goes, no pain, no gain.

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YES! I Want to give them something to run for.

You won’t find me running a marathon any time soon, but I want to support the JRHS Runners in their efforts to run a combined total of 104 miles to raise funds for the JRHS Scholarship Fund in the amount of $______ per mile for a total contribution of $_________.

Name_______________________________

Address_____________________________

Telephone ___________________________

Email Address________________________