our merch captain

Tonight I had an awesome visit with my good friend Tina - our merch captain.

I met Tina in 08 when she was the manager at Spruce Grove Walmart. Tina had organized a team within the store consisting of a group of her employees. She was a real go getter and had raised 18,000 through the store and corporate matches.

I will never forget the first conversation with her - it was over the phone and quite lengthy. Tina at the time was unaware that Kali was my daughter, and was very excited to know that the 2 of us were connected. It was shortly thereafter that we were invited to meet the team in the Grove. Upon meeting Tina, I instantly knew she was friend. Every visit thereafter was lengthy, including tonight although felt like just an hour. Her story is reflective of why she leaves such an impression, her smile infectious. It's no wonder she sold over 12,000 of merchandise on the day of the event. Tina is our "home page" girl and is in our 08 and 2010 bald is beautiful galleries. Might I say - she's lovely inside and out.

Tina is the person that purchases all of the merchandise. She is accountable for the cost and takes the risk in the event it does not sell out. There is almost no profit to be made off of our merch because our focus is to provide affordable memorabilia for our participants, not to soak them. The tiny bit of profit is just that, and it goes back to the event - 100%. Tina keeps nothing. In this day and age - who does that? She does..... and we are lucky to know her.

Last year I was quite worried that our merchandise captain would need replacing, as Tina was due to have her baby on the week of the event. She was not fazed and had decided that either way it went, she was GOING to be there. 5 days before the Massacure Sara was born. Tina was there as promised.

Set-up was at 6 am, tear down 9 pm, Tina was there - and in between. Her baby, not a peep - just as happy and chill as her mother.

Tina is amongst some of the most outstanding and committed captains. All of them have shown remarkable dedication to the event. Were very fortunate to have them as part of our team.