Scott Coady's $100,000 Quest
How he used his breakout film The Tour Baby to become the LAF's #1 Fundraiser in 2005

After returning from my first trip to the Tour de France in 2000 with over 18 hours of video from following the entire race, I thought I had the makings of a film. I traded my ex-fiancé's engagement ring for a computer, bought some editing software and began to learn how to edit my footage. I spent about two days on the project when I walked away; racking this up as another good idea I would never follow through on. Besides, I had some great excuses. I was broke and had no idea what I was doing.

In December of 2000, my best friend's 10-year-old daughter, Claire, was diagnosed with an advanced case of large cell neuroblastoma cancer. It had already spread from her brain to her spinal cord and I knew I had to do something big to help. I declared to my friend that I would raise $100,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation as my way of fighting for his daughter. I was inspired to make a full-blown movie about my Tour de France adventure and I would use it to raise the money.

It took me over two years to complete the film. By October of 2003, I had managed to raise $22,000 for the LAF by hosting screening of the film. I gave away free copies in exchange for $100 donations. Others helped by hosting screenings of the film in their area. Bike clubs, Tour de France nuts, film buffs, and those touched by cancer rallied behind my goal and answered my call for help.

In 2004, I managed to raise about $33,000 bringing my total to date to $55,000, just over my halfway point. For the first time, I felt as if I might actually achieve my lofty goal. By April of 2005, I had raised another $45,000 and the long quest was finally over, or so I thought. Later that same month I learned my former business partner and mentor, Richard LeKander had a very advanced form or stomach cancer. He endured an unsuccessful surgery to remove a thirty-pound tumor that had gone undetected for at least seven years. His death a few weeks later rocked me to the core. With clear evidence that there was more work to be done for early detection, I recommitted myself to my fundraising efforts. I pledged to be the top fundraiser for the Lance Armstrong's Peloton Project in 2005 to honor my mentor's life. The only problem was that I had only raised $45,000 and the current top fundraiser already had $82,000 in the bank and we had five months to go.

Over the years, many people put on screenings of my film to contribute to the cause. My most notable contributor was John Tegeris. John had heard about my goal, read about Claire and shared my passion for the Tour de France. He wrote me an e-mail outlining the three screenings of the film that he wanted to do in the Washington D.C. area. He included a detailed plan for logistics, fundraising and promotion. All I had to do was say yes, and I did.

With the extra push from John, I managed to pull ahead raising $90,000 for the year with six weeks left in the competition. However, with about three weeks to go, the man I was battling for the number one spot, had a big submitted a huge check pulling him ahead by $16,000. Feeling a little disappointed for not achieving my goal, I relaxed when the LAF called to say I was also going to be honored as a top fundraiser. The two of us were so close and had far surpassed the third place supporter. This was great news for me.