A Little Help on Sponsorship - Letters
Okay, Sponsors, if you have not already started, now is the time to start requesting letters for your Pilgrim.
One of the hardest things for a sponsor to do is request letters from family and close friends who have not been on the walk. You're not always sure what to tell/explain to them about what you need. Below is a sample letter you can e-mail, text, and use as a talking point if you call, or even use snail mail.
I hope it helps!
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Dear Family and Friends of (Pilgrim's Name),
(Pilgrim Name) will be attending the “Walk to Emmaus” on (Date) The Emmaus Walk is a spiritual weekend of renewal filled with many beautiful gifts and surprises. One such surprise is the mail that persons attending receive from their loved ones and friends.
As sponsors, we are responsible for contacting family and close friends and asking them to send a note or letter to (Pilgrim Name) so s/he will receive it during this weekend. This letter is an opportunity for you to express your appreciation of what your relationship with him/her has meant and still means to you. You might want to recall some humorous event or some happening that has been special to the two of you. This is a letter of love (agape) and WILL BE READ BY THE PERSON TO WHOM YOU WRITE.
Would you help make (Pilgrim Name)'s “Walk to Emmaus special by doing the following:
1.
Write a letter to or get a card and sign it.
2.
Put it in an envelope and seal it.
3.
Write his/her name, but NOT YOURS, on the envelope where you would normally place the sending address
4.
Write in the return address (upper left corner) either “family” or “friend”, but not your name.
5.
Put the envelope in a larger envelope and mail it to me by (Date) or hand deliver it to me by (Date) so I can get it to the proper place in time.
This should be a COMPLETE SURPRISE to (Pilgrim Name), so please help make it special by keeping this a secret until it's all over.
With Thanks!
Sponsor Name
Sponsor Address
Sponsor Phone Number
(Of course, this is just a guideline, so feel free to “tweak” it some.)
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Below is a paragraph taken from the
Handbook on Emmaus
which helps answer a frequent question about requesting letters:
Sponsors sometimes ask, “Doesn't asking people who have not been through Emmaus to write letters spoil the surprise of the letters for them if and when they attend Emmaus?”
This certainly has not proven to be the case. In fact, for many, the opposite has been true.
The request for letters introduced them to Emmaus in a positive and interesting way because it gave them an opportunity to do something special for a friend or loved one. Most people who write letters do not understand the letters' purpose on the Walk; and when they go to Emmaus, they forgot about the letters by Sunday afternoon. Even the pilgrim who anticipates the Sunday afternoon delivery of the letters is neither prepared for the content of the letters nor their impact.
Awareness of the letters is not an obstacle to receiving the love they represent.
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I hope all this helps!
DeColores!
Cindy Jones
Sponsorship Board Rep
