BATFROG 2024: BIRDFROG

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Or, click here to join my team and run with me!

(Click here if someone sent you this link and you don’t know what it is and you’re very confused)

BATFROG FLIES for installment #12 of Sarah Dresses Up Like an Idiot In Exchange for Your Charitable Donations (aka Batfrog Fightin’ Cancer)! This year’s event is the Hirshberg Foundation’s LA Cancer Challenge 5K, being held at UCLA on Sunday, October 27. This year, I’ll trade you your money for my pride in the form of a BIG BIRD costume! Follow that bird!

Donation Levels

$500: Big Bird sunglasses $750: Big Bird sunglasses + Big Bird striped socks, plush feet, and gloves $1000: FULL BIG BIRD – giant Big Bird head + Big Bird striped socks, plush feet, and gloves Bonus Rounds! $1500: add Radar, Big Bird’s teddy bear

$2000: add the blue shirt that my personal 1990s plush Big Bird wore. And also the plush Big Bird (yes I still have it)

$5000: FULL BIRDFROG – I will somehow find a way to wedge my old Batman cowl over the giant Ernie head

$7500: get video of me in the Big Bird costume eating birdseed (not sunflower seeds. Actual birdseed.) $10,000: ADD SNUFFLEUPAGUS (please don’t ask how this would work. I do not know.)

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Remember that the TEAM TOTAL is what counts for the costume level, so instead of donating you can register to run with me and see this silly costume in person! Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers with a five-year survival rate of just 12%. It is currently the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the US and is expected to become the second by 2030. I cover all event fees and costume expenses so 100% of your generous donations can fund research and provide support for pancreatic cancer patients and caregivers. Read more here about the history of Batfrog and why I do this for pancreatic cancer research.

Or click here to donate!

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do you use the team total or your personal total to determine the costume level? I use the team total. Can I give you a cash or check donation the next time I see you? Yes! But please let me know you plan to do this so I can count it toward the total dollar amount for costume purposes. Also, if you give me cash I can’t give you a receipt for tax write-off purposes. My company will match my charitable donations if I make the donation through the company website. Can I donate that way? Yes! But please let me know you plan to do this so I can count it toward the total dollar amount for costume purposes. The Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research is a 501(c)3 non-profit, so your company should be able to add it if it isn’t already in their donation-matching system. If your system allows you to write a note or comment with your donation, please enter “LACC 2024 – Team Superweirdos” or “LACC 2024 – Sarah Mertan”. (Universal friends, I believe you can use the built-in search on the donation site; search for Comcast.) Will you run the entire 5K in costume? You may recall that I now have an assortment of metal screws in my ankle, so this year is again going to be pretty much all walk and no run. But I will be walking the complete 5K, and as always I will wear the costume the entire length of the event – from the parking lot through the finish line festival. Really? If you raise $7500+ you’re going to eat birdseed? It’s the annual level I didn’t think through very well! Can I register on your team and run with you? YES! Click here to join my fundraising team, Team Superweirdos. Your registration fee counts towards our team total. Are you still running in memory of the same people as before? Yes, except this stupid disease keeps killing more people, so now I’m running in memory of even more people. Give me money so this stops happening. How do I see the race day photos?

• Live updates from the race will be on Instagram (it’ll be public on race day!)
• Photo gallery will be on Flickr
• Additional updates will be sent via email newsletter

Why did you pick Big Bird? I have a vintage costume pattern that has Bert, Ernie, and Big Bird. We already did Bert in 2019 and Ernie in 2023. Will you take a photo with [insert Big Bird reference here]? Send me your pitches.

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Are you sold yet?

Click here to give up your money.