🚀 go-pugleaf

Dear friend,

   I'm writing to tell you about a fabulous opportunity that, if you
take it up, is 100% guaranteed to reduce the amount of money you have!
I'm sure you've heard about those many "get rich quick" pyramid schemes
and "SPAM generators for sale" so often advertised on the net, but those 
are *NOT* guaranteed.  Those schemes are extremely likely to reduce your 
net wealth, but there's always a slight chance you'll come out ahead.
With the opportunity I'm about to describe, however, you are certain to
end up with less money!

   "I used to have piles of cash sitting around the house, making my
mattress lumpy, and generally cluttering things up," said one recent
participant, "but now that I've found out about Texas AIDS Ride, I can
finally sleep well and walk around the house without tripping over a
stack of bills."

   In all seriousness, this post is a brazen solicitation for a
charitable cause.  If you're not interested, stop reading now.
I'm posting this in order to reach lots of people with a minimum of 
disruption.  I dislike the relentless barrage of solicitations at 
my door and on the phone; it's always harder to say "no" in person, 
even when you have good reasons (after all, there are
many good causes and only so many each of us can support).  I'm hoping
through this post to reach those who might be interested in
contributing without overly annoying those who aren't. After all, I
could have anonymous telemarketers call you during dinner... ;)

   Still curious? Keep reading.

   Beginning October 5th, 1998, I'll take seven days out of my life to 
ride a bicycle 575 miles from Austin thru Houston to Dallas, with over
1,800 other people, as part of the first ever, Texas AIDS Ride.
I'm riding to raise money for 40 non-profit organizations in the Lone
Star State. Together, we hope to raise more than $6 million for
individuals living with HIV/AIDS, and important AIDS prevention programs.

  AIDS has affected nearly all of us, having taken more than 360,000 of
our loved ones.  In addition, it's estimated that over 1,000,000
Americans are infected with HIV right now.  Those that have died in 
the last sixteen years from AIDS amount to six times the fatalities
in the Vietnam War!  With your support, I hope to avert any more deaths 
caused by this epidemic; to help those who are ill and in desperate 
need of care and intervention.

   I've agreed to raise at least $2,700 in pledges between now and the
beginning of the Ride on October 5th and I need your help.  

   How can you help?  Well, Texas AIDS Ride needs volunteers, but even
more it needs money.  Write me and I'll send/fax you a pledge form.
Please consider making a pledge of whatever amount you are capable of
giving.  If you would like to commit a substantial amount, you may
sponsor me over the course of a few months.  Look over the pledge
form and decide on an options which works best for you.  Whichever 
you decide upon, your contibution is fully tax-deductible; so please,
do as much as you can. 

   You can also download a copy of my pledge form from the web:

   http://lonestar.texas.net/~barretto/TexasAidsRide/outgoing/pledge_form.gif

   I've even setup with more information about the ride and to 
track my training progress:

   http://lonestar.texas.net/~barretto/TexasAidsRide/

   If you have further questions, please email and ask.

   If you know anybody else who might be interested in contributing,
feel free to pass this along to them.

   For more details about the AIDS Rides across the country, including
Texas AIDS Ride, see:

   http://www.aidsride.org/

Thanks for your time and support,
--Robert
Texas AIDS Ride
Rider #913
http://lonestar.texas.net/~barretto/TexasAidsRide/