With various local groups continuing to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, Thomas Davis is taking a different approach.
The Edward Jones financial advisor will be going on adventures throughout the Relay For Life season as a fundraiser. It wont exactly be Thomas, though, but more so the newest Relayer – flatthomas.
A cutout of Thomas recently made an appearance at the Relay For Life event in Elizabethton last weekend. It features Thomas in a pose with #flattomas at the bottom.
Davis added he got the idea working alongside Amy Hopson, Relay For Life community manager for Carter, Hawkins, Sullivan and Unicoi counties.
“It started out as a joke,” he said. “We were talking about different ways of fundraising and it was brought up about me maybe making a silly pose and it went from there.”
The opportunity to assist with the Relay For Life was hard to pass up, Davis said, adding that his mother being a three-time cancer survivor heavily influenced his reasoning to participate.
But while Thomas will be holding down the fort at the office, flathomas is expected to make the rounds at different local offices, organizations and participate in different events.
“We want this to be fun,” Davis said. “This is something that’s going through our office. We plan on flathomas going on different adventures, whether he’s getting operated on, getting pushed out of a plane, making a speech … this is just a fun way of rallying the community and raising money for a great cause.”
Individuals that want to participate have simple have a couple of simple rules to go by. After making a $10 donation for Relay For Life, which can be done by stopping by the Edward Jones office off Lawson Avenue in Elizabethton, citizens can simply take flatthomas on an adventure. The only stipulation, Davis said, is for citizens to post the photo online, beginning the post with #flattomas, to the Edward Jones – Financial Advisor: Thomas A. Davis Facebook page.
“It’s the best way to monitor the popularity,” he said. “We want to all the adventures flatthomas will go on.”
Free ‘swag’, including items like water bottles, will be given out as well for those that take the time to donate, Davis said.
“We’re really putting a little bit of money into it,” he added. “This is something we wanted to do that different from $500 golf tournaments or anything like that. This is simple way for somebody to donate $10, get free swag and have fun.”
A goal has been put in place for the adventures of flatthomas.
“My personal goal is for us to raise $1,000,” Davis said. “We raised $501 during a recent event but we’re going aiming for that’s what we’re aiming for. When we hit that goal, we’re just going to keep it going to raise as much as we can for the Relay For Life.”