Medals4Mettle: Donating Your Race Bling

If you follow me on social media, you've probably been reading about our major overhaul. The hubby and I have been cleaning, organizing, decluttering, etc. For the most part everything is done (minus one last closet), and let me tell you that it feels AMAZING - like a weight we didn't know we had has been lifted off our shoulders.

One of the many trunk fulls of donations we have dropped off at
our local thrift store.

Anywho, one of the areas that I wasn't sure how to tackle were my medal racks (I have three and all of them are over flowing). After much deliberation of what to do, I finally decided that I would keep my full marathon medals, my Ragnar bling and the ones from Disney - but everything else was going to have to find a new home.

My runDisney bling isn't going anywhere... at least not for the moment ;)

I knew I didn't want to throw the remaining medals out, so I had to find an organization that could benefit from them. I found out about Medals4Mettle and immediately I knew this was where my race bling was going to go (and once I mentioned it to the hubby he decided all but three of his medals would also be donated).

In case you haven't heard about Medals4Mettle, let me give you a brief summary of who they are and what they do:

Medals4Mettle (M4M) is a non-profit organization that facilitates the gifting of marathon, half marathon, and triathlon finishers’ medals. Runners from around the world give their hard earned medals to Medals4Mettle. Our worldwide network of physicians and volunteers then awards these medals attached to a Medals4Mettle ribbon to children and adults fighting debilitating illnesses who might not be able to run a race, but are in a race of their own just to continue to live their life. It is in honor of this mettle and courage in bravely facing these challenges that they are awarded a medal.

Source

Like I said, as soon as I found out the details I knew I HAD to help out! Of course my race bling has brought me happiness and are a physical representation of my hard work, dedication and many miles I've put in to this running thang, but I know they can be used for much more! Donating them to an organization like Medals4Mettle means they will serve as more than just memories for myself, but can give someone inspiration to continue fighting their battle.

What can I say?! We have our fair share of race medals...

Since the organization adds their own ribbon, they request you remove the original ribbon prior to mailing them (shoot, I'm all about saving money on shipping along with helping them out with as much of the process as possible so it wasn't a big deal). Also, they have chapters all over the country, so you don't have to worry about mailing the medals thousands of miles away (there happens to be one down in San Diego, so mine will be heading less than 50 miles away - and from what I've read, it sounds like many of the medals will be going to the Rady Children's Hospital).

Uh... let's just say I'm super happy about flat rate mailing...
35 Half Marathons later I've got quite a heavy shipment of bling!

The hubby and I are stoked to be helping out (while decluttering a bit in the process). I know not everyone is willing or able to give up their precious bling (which is ABSOLUTELY FINE - please do NOT read this post as a guilt trip, just as an idea for those of you looking to lighten your bling load), but if there are any medals that you might be willing to part with, I would definitely recommend finding an organization that will put your hard earned bling to great use!

What do you do with your race medals?