With the 2022/23 Relay season coming to a close, Employee Success Manager and APHW Relay for Life Team Captain Patty had literal tears in her eyes: This has been a season to remember.
Relay: In the beginning
“I remember thinking, ‘What have I gotten myself into’?” Patty shared about taking on the role of team captain. “I had a moment of panic—but then it went so fast!”
Over the last twelve months, Patty led the America’s Preferred Home Warranty (APHW) Relay Team to a new height, raising more than $23,000 purely through donations from employees and their friends and family—and topped that off with a $35,000 sponsorship from the company, bringing the total to $58,422 by the main event on July 28, 2023.
“This has been a huge labor of love from the whole team,” she said. “We create a culture at APHW, and it shows: You can tell all these people are just so giving and caring. They embrace it.”
FUNdraising
Team APHW has seen a variety of new fundraisers under Patty’s captaincy, including a Christmas Greenery event and a Quiz Bowl, both of which saw large numbers of donations.
“The greenery was fun! I loved seeing what people did with the decorations—it was nice to see the items they had bought ‘in action’,” Patty remembered. “I also want to give a big shoutout to the sales team members who attended our annual Sales Meeting last March. Between the Quiz Bowl, Becker’s Bread, and the other fundraisers, that one-week event brought in nearly $4,000 of our total!”
Along with the new fundraisers, some tried and true events came back as well. Raffles and pledges were popular as always, and their second-annual booth at Jackson County’s Yard-Sale-a-Palooza made quite the splash: Between team members shopping ahead of time and the actual event, it brought in over $1,000!
“The yard sale was exciting because we didn’t put prices on anything,” Patty shared. “I was out there telling people it all goes to Relay, and they were just out there turning in 20-dollar-bills instead of 20 cents, because they appreciated what Relay does, too!”
And of course luminarias have made their annual appearance, and in a way that has truly touched Patty’s heart. “People have trusted me to honor their loved ones,” she said, her eyes welling up again. “Decorating those means so much... every one I did just touched my heart.”
It’s all about the team
For all of the success APHW has had this year, Patty puts it all back on the team. “Our Relay team is incredible. I can reach out to any one of them at any time, on any day, they’re so helpful. I had a brain full of ideas—I think I made Mindy crazy with my constant talking and questions, because she was my sounding board,” she laughed.
“But really it’s all of them, just everybody. You can’t possibly do something like this as an individual. It’s a whole company full of people that makes this happen.”
Preparing for next year
Captaining APHW’s team for the 2023/24 season will be APHW’s Business Intelligence Analyst Kim—and Patty’s excited to see what she does with it.
“I’m excited that Kim’s taking over; she’s got lots of great ideas!” Patty shared. “I’ll be more than happy to support her in anything as her co-captain, and I think between the two of us, we can have another great year. We have two survivors; how can you go wrong?”