A quick update on Iowa Touchdowns for Kids: In the first four games of 2011, Iowa's scored 18 touchdowns (I know, I went back and counted three times to make sure it was that high). When you add in the proceeds from our IT4K shirts (still available at Black Heart Gold Shirts), we're nearing $4000 in donations with 8-10 games to play, which is excellent. That's $4000 that goes directly, without overhead costs or expense deductions or administrative expenses, to building the new University of Iowa Children's Hospital, a place where sick kids can get the best care in the midwest (and watch Iowa football, of course).
Of course, it's not too late to make a pledge, or increase your existing pledge, to IT4K. The link is on the sidebar to the left, and your continued support is greatly appreciated. It takes a lot of money to build a hospital, but every dollar raised is one less our friends at University of Iowa Children's Hospital and Children's Miracle Network need to make it happen. At our last update, we'd hit $206 per touchdown in donations; let's get together and make it to $250. That extra $44 in donations would be almost $800 in extra donations to date and could be thousands more by the end of the season (the ball's in your court at that point, KOK).
Regardless of whether you're able to make a donation to Touchdowns for Kids, though, you can help with just a few moments of your time. Our network sponsors at SB Nation (200 blogs that look alike since 2006!) are asking that our readers complete this survey on your internet reading habits. The survey is 21 questions long and should take five to ten minutes to complete. And SB Nation has provided the incentive: The three SBN blogs with the highest participation rate among their communities when the survey closes Friday at 4:00 will each receive a $500 donation to the charity of their choice. Obviously, you know where ours would go.
We have a big community, bigger than most SB Nation sites, with commenters and readers who joined in 2007 (and some who left soon after), and it's not going to be easy to get into the top three. But we also have a community that contributes thousands of dollars a year to help kids. We know you have the heart to give your money; we hope you can find enough spare room in a ventricle or atrium to give us ten minutes. Do it for the children, because when it comes to the children, BHGP is for the children. Thanks again for your continued support.