M4H = Meters For Heaters
Meters For Heaters is an annual pledge-based participatory fundraiser for the Aquatics facilities at Alleghany Wellness Center (AWCI) in Sparta, North Carolina.
The Aquathon!
We’re calling it an “aquathon.” If you can get in the lap pool or therapy pool and move around (swim, kickboard, walk), you can participate in the aquathon and raise money-per-meter moved to help support AWCI Aquatics operations.
Event Begins: Saturday February 19, 2022
Save the date, and sign up to participate as soon as possible so you can start raising pledges.
Our total fundraising goal for this event is $10,000!
Ready to participate? Sign up using this form.
Need more details? Keep on reading. 🙂
Event Concludes: Saturday March 12, 2022
Beginning February 19 and ending on March 12, you will have the opportunity to log your meters to complete the number of meters you signed up to do for aquathon. This does not have to happen in one day.
Get pledges!
As an aquathon participant, leading up to the conclusion of the event on March 12 you can get people to pledge money per meter of your movement in the water: A penny, nickel, dime, or quarter per meter.
You can get as many pledges as possible, from across the country.
Here’s a quick reference card to how much you would raise from one pledge per meter, depending on distance:
So, for example, if you swim 1600 meters, someone who pledges a dime per meter to you will pay a $160 donation.
Once the event happens, we record your meters achieved, and then your pledges are charged for their donations, after the event is complete.
Ready to participate? Sign up using this form.
A few other things to know…
Between February 19 and March 12, 2022, you can log the meters of movement required to complete your aquathon participation.
For example, if you sign up to complete 1600 meters, you can do the 1600 meters all at once, or you can do 800 meters in two sessions, or 400 meters in four sessions. Or you can do any combination, really, as long as you log 1600 meters before the AWCI Pool closes on Saturday March 12.
You can sign up for one of the following distance categories:
- 400 meters
- 800 meters
- 1200 meters
- 1600 meters
- 2000 meters
Don’t worry, if you register to move 1200 meters and only make it to 600, or 800, or 1000, that’s OK! Your pledges will only be charged for donations based on the distance you actually move.
There is a minimum distance of 400 meters.
400 meters equals:
- 8 Full Laps (out and back) in the lap pool
- 13 “Marker” Laps (to the end of the shallow end and back) in the lap pool
- 19 Therapy Pool “Loops” – where you walk around the entire perimeter of the therapy pool
Ready to participate? Sign up using this form.
We’re Going Digital!
The fundraising platform we’re using for the event is called 99pledges. Check the screenshot below:
If you’d like a preview of the fundraiser platform for our event, check it out here.
Every participant will get their own page to use for recruiting pledge donations. Note: If you’re under 18, your parents will need to register for you, but then you can use the page all you’d like!
This makes it easy to share over social media, etc. Your pledges can make their pledge amounts online.
When your pledges enter their donations, the system automatically calculates the total amount for them (whether it’s a penny, nickel, dime, or quarter per lap). Pledges also have the option of making a flat donation, regardless of the distance you move.
Ready to participate? Sign up using this form.
Once you’ve registered, the Meters For Heaters Crew will create your 99pledges page so you can begin going after donations!