I am asking you to help me raise money for Junior Achievement, aka JA. Specifically, Madison and I have volunteered to run the half marathon in Alaska to raise funds for Junior Achievement. All we are asking you to do, is make a donation. Your donations will 100% go to Junior Achievement. We will be running with about 50 other people from Wisconsin running for Junior Achievement.

For those of you that don't know what JA is, JA's volunteer-delivered, kindergarten-12th grade programs foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills, and use experiential learning to inspire students to dream big and reach their potential.

In a variety of programs, students learn firsthand about setting a budget, running a business, and becoming an entrepreneur. Important skills when:

· 20% of U.S. students will not complete high school on time and earn a diploma.

· 49% of U.S. employers recognize that talent shortages impact their ability to serve clients and customers.

· 36% of Americans say that they have at some point in their lives felt their financial situation was out of control.

· 91% of millennials wish they had greater access to entrepreneurial education programs.

Junior Achievement is effective, it was recently named "Organization of the Year" by the Institute for Financial Literacy.

I benefitted in high school directly from Junior Achievement program and learned the basics of running a business as built and sold bottle openers, in fact, I still have one! I learned about cost accounting and the importance of sales. My first exposure to the exciting world of double entry book-keeping.

My wife, Karen, and I taught a JA program in Arizona, and our children went to Biz Town in JA Arizona where Madison, who was CFO for a day, told me she learned the CFO does all the hard work in the company while the President “just wandered around”. Experiential learning at its best.

And here in Wisconsin Karen and I have volunteered extensively, where I serve on the JA Board of Directors. We often volunteer at Finance Park where kids learn the basics of budgeting. As one young student pointed out to me, “having a spouse and family is really expensive”. Life lessons at a young age.

In all seriousness, the programs make a big impact, which is why our family donates so much of our time and treasure in support of the Junior Achievement mission. Managing your financial independence has never been so important. We are excited about our plans to run this half marathon and about the opportunity to raise funds, your donation and encouragement is much appreciated.