Several people have asked how T-month really works. Below are a few answers to questions you may have about the T-month:
How do I sign up for T-month?
All you have to do is send an email to jen.michaletz@gmail.com and say you’d like to join, along with what color/size shirt you want. We’ll be doing a post for each person wearing if they want one, so if you want a post on yourself, please send a picture of yourself and a blurb that tells us a little about yourself and why you’re doing this fundraiser. If you don’t want to give out your name, you’re free to use a pseudonym—just tell us if you want one.
Oh no! February started two days ago! I can’t get the shirts/sponsors before then! There’s no way this can work out for me!
Don’t worry. T-month is a very flexible fundraiser: you choose your “month”. For example, if your shirts haven’t come in the mail or you haven’t gotten them yet, you can start whenever you do get them—whether it’s in February, March or even April. Then you just wear it for around 30 days (give or take a few if you want) and that’s your “month”. For example, if I started on the 13th of February, I’d keep wearing the shirt until March 15th—30 days away from my starting point. Don’t feel like you have to start on the first of the month—just make sure you wear the shirt consecutively. You can also gather sponsors throughout the month, although it’s best to find a few before you start.
I know a lot of people, but I don’t really know how to get them to sponsor me. I’m not sure I want to bother them.
The thing to focus on is that this isn’t for you. You’re a part of a fundraiser for Jonathan and David and their family. Whatever money and awareness you raise goes to them. So don’t feel like you’re putting people “out” by asking them to sponsor you. You aren’t asking them for money to buy a pizza, you’re asking for donations to support an adoption. Just tell them that you’re going to do this fundraiser, and that, although there’s no pressure, you’re wondering if they’d consider sponsoring you to help this adoption.
Okay, I really want to wear a shirt every day of the month, but my cousin’s getting married on the 9th , and if I wore the shirt then, everyone would hate me.
Again, don’t feel as though you have to start right on the 1st of February. You can start on the 10th, the 22nd, or even later in March or April. If you’d rather start the T-month earlier, though, you can wear the shirt earlier or later on in the day, when you don’t have to wear suits/dresses and when no one will think it rude that you have a T-shirt on. And don’t feel bad if you skip a day of wearing: your sponsor donates according to the number of days you wear your shirt, so the final donation would still be around the same amount—and most sponsors would donate for the extra day anyways.
The same idea applies to jobs: if you have to wear a uniform, and you can’t wear the shirt underneath (because it’s not allowed or it’s just too hot), simply put the shirt on after you’re finished with your job.
I don’t like wearing the same clothes all the time. Am I supposed to wear the shirt for a month straight? Without taking it off?!
No. The idea of the T-month is that by wearing only the adoption shirt for a month, you’d bring awareness to the Hebbe adoption (and adopting in general) and show how much you really care by sacrificing the chance to wear all the other shirts you have. And through that sacrifice, your sponsors will give money to the Hebbes so Jonathan and David can come to their true home sooner.
What you do depends on how much laundry you wash each day. If you live in a large family or just like washing laundry often, you could wear the shirt during the daytime, and wash it at night while you’re asleep. If you don’t wash laundry much, you can buy two shirts and wear one on Tuesday, the other on Wednesday, and wash both on Wednesday night. The idea is that you’d still be bringing awareness to adoption and sacrificing your other shirt options, so it’s perfectly fine to buy extra shirts. Or you could simply wear another shirt under the adoption t-shirt.
Is it alright to buy two shirts and wear them alternately throughout the month?
As stated above, this is perfectly fine.
I’m a sponsor. What am I supposed to do?
The person you’re sponsoring should have told you a little about the Hebbe’s adoption—if not, please look at the past post and the Hebbe family blog. Essentially, what you’re doing is donating to the Hebbe’s adoption because the person you sponsor is wearing the adoption T-shirt for a month. It’s like a fundraiser walk, where you have to pay for tickets to walk in the group, except in this case, the people you sponsor will do the “walking”.
You’ve probably already figured out that you “pledge” an amount to the Hebbe family for however many days the person you sponsor wears the shirt. The amount of that pledge is up to you: a dollar a day, 50 cents a day—just multiply by roughly 30 days and that’s your end donation. You can wait until the person you sponsor has worn the shirt for a month to pay, or you can pay beforehand—whichever works best for you. There’s a Paypal link on this blog that goes directly to the Hebbe family, and you can pay your pledges with that link.
How do I donate/pay for a shirt/send in my pledged amount?
You can donate directly to the Hebbe family through the PayPal link on this blog or the PayPal link on the Hebbe family blog. Paying for shirts and pledging can be done the same way.
How will I get my shirt?
If you live in the Fox Cities, chances are someone who has shirts can meet you someplace and just give them to you. If not, we can send the shirt to you, but you’ll have to email your address to jen.michaletz@gmail.com so we’ll know where to send them. Please tell us what sizes and colors you want, and if you want to do the T-month.
