New Year’s Resolutions to Scare the Pants Off Me

My friend Lydia convinced me that we both had to sign up for Haymakers for Hope this year.

Sign up now to be a part of Haymakers for Hope’s 6th Annual “Rock N’ Rumble” on May 19 at Boston’s House of Blues!

According to the National Cancer Institute, nearly 40% of men and women will battle some form of cancer in their lifetime. Haymakers for Hope needs your help to change this staggering statistic.  The time has come to step out of the office and into the ring!

We are looking for men and women to train for four months at one of Boston’s top boxing gyms before stepping into the ring to literally fight cancer.  No experience is necessary, and we will match you with someone of similar size, age, and experience level. Throughout your four month training program, you will raise money and awareness for cancer research and survivorship.

Space is limited, so don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to help knockout cancer!

We’ve been training in boxing for nearly three years now and it’s the next logical step to test our progress. The way it works is that you sign up with a boxing gym — in our case Nonantum Boxing Club where we train with Marc Gargaro — and you get matched up for a fight. Because we are over 40 years old, our opponent has to:

• Be 40 years old or older
• Be within an 8 pound range
• Have never fought a boxing match before
• Be female
• Be roughly the same skill level

The weight requirement will make it hard to me to be matched up as my weight fluctuates within 93 to 95 pounds.

It was nice to have a training partner spur me on because it’s scary even to sign up for a fight. We both got this email back:

Dear Mia, Thank you very much for signing up to participate in our 6th Annual Rock N’ Rumble event to benefit cancer research, awareness and survivorship! It takes a tremendous amount of courage to step in the ring, and we truly appreciate your willingness to support our cause. Just to be clear, signing up does not guarantee you a fight. The event will take place on Thursday, May 19, 2016 at the House of Blues Boston. The fundraising minimum for the event will be $5,000.00, which is inclusive of all online donations, checks, ticket sales, sponsorships, and matching gifts. This email is to confirm receipt of your registration. Sign ups will run through the Holidays, and we will be in touch shortly after that with whether we were able to find a suitable match. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any questions, my email address is julie@haymakersforhope.org. Thanks, Julie Kelly

I’ve decided that if I don’t get matched for a fight in May, I will train like a maniac and apply again for Belles of the Brawl in October. This is the same Haymaker for Hope but in October, all the matches are between women.

And … I will sign up for a children’s book writing class. I have a chapter book and picture book in very beginning stages and PickyKidPix is encouraging me to finish. I don’t know which is scarier: 3 rounds of boxing in the ring in front of hundreds of people, or submitting manuscripts. I guess 2016 will be the year to find out.

I’ll keep you posted on both my New Year’s Resolutions. How about you? Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? Please share!

My books:

 Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World

• Junior Library Guild Gold selection
• Massachusetts Book Award Long List
• Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
• Starred review from School Library Journal
• Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
• 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
• Green Earth Book Award Long List
• Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids

 Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me