As I am writing this, I am sitting in a pretty empty appartment. The countdown App on my phone is telling me that it's 5 more days til I finish work and 21 more days, til I will be on an airplane, flying to Medellin.
And it still seems quite bizarre, even though I have worked so much during the past months, to make it all happen.
What happened: SOS Kinderdorf e.V.
I still remember the day I received an Email from SOS children's villages. A few weeks prior to that, I had sent them the "Wheels Of Fortune" presentation and ever since then I had been checking my phone every second, like a teenager, waiting for their chrush's reply. I probably also reacted like a teenager... I was running around the office, with tears in my eyes and a heavily pounding heart in my chest.
From the first Email on, I knew that Anika and Julia from SOS were big "Wheels Of Fortune" Fans and talking to them was so nice. I finally met them a few months later for our little workshop in Berlin. We were brainstorming ideas, talking about organizational matters and laughed a lot as well. The workshop made me even more excited about the fundraiser and knowing, that I will be able to do something good for children, made me smile 24/7.
I would like to explain once more, that 100% of the donations go to SOS Kinderdorf e.V.'s work in South America.
What happened: The bicycle
When I knew, that the fundraiser will come together the way I was hoping for, a friend asked me, if I would look for sponsors. I had never thought about that before and to be honest, it felt a bit weird, but then I thought: Why not?!
So I personalized the illustrated presentations and sent them to companies, startups and bicycle manufacturers. But I always received the same reply. "We don't have resources.", "We don't do that kind of stuff, unless we know the person" or detailed replies like "Not interested. Bye."
So I gave up and decided to just go to my bicycle dealer of trust - Little John Bikes at Prenzlauer Allee, Berlin. I had sent them a presentation, but I went there without any expectations.
A few months before I had already asked them, which kind of bike they would suggest, which features it should have and how much it would cost me. And my gutts were telling me, that they were the ones. So I was back and I could tell that Niklas was as excited as I was, to put together the perfect bicycle for me.
And my gutt was 100% right! Niklas did so much research in forums, blogs and travel reports and explained everything in detail. Details I would have never thought about, details that I had no clue about. (I am more of a "Let's just do this" kind of person)
And as if that wasn't enough, he told me that his branch would like to support my project, they would like to give me some discounts and he even threw in some used parts of his own bicycle. I was already speechless and so thankful, when he said that SQlabs would like to sponsor "Wheels Of Fortune" as well. They equiped my bike with a handlebar, saddle, grips and innerbarends.
A few weeks later it was done - the heart of my project. The whole Little John Bikes Team was just as excited, as I was, when I came to pick it up. It didn't take me long to come up with a name for the bike. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Little John:
(There will be a detailed blog post about the bike and all my gear :-) )
My smile says it all - I am so grateful and excited, that I was able to put this whole "Wheels Of Fortune" project together and that it will be helping kids and the amazing work, that SOS is doing.
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