Tracy Pelzer-Timm has always loved jump roping. “I’ve enjoyed jumping rope all of my life, ever since participating in Jump Rope for Heart as a child. In college, I really fell in love with it after getting my first counting rope and jumped for quite a few years. I was able to pick it back up a couple years ago and I started this year with the personal challenge of being more consistent with exercising,” she recalls. Pelzer-Timm took her jump roping to the next level, setting a goal of 1 million jumps in 2019 to help her raise money for charity.
At the beginning of 2019, Pelzer-Timm challenged herself to jump rope more times than she had the previous year. Nearing her goal early, she realized she could complete 1 million jumps that year. She elaborated, “(I) wanted to at least jump more than last year and thought, on the high side, I could jump 750 thousand times. It wasn’t until I completed 100 thousand jumps in March that I realized I was ahead of pace to jump . . . In April, I officially took on the (1 million jump) challenge, which I thought was going to be more of a physical challenge, but it’s turned out to be much more of a mental and emotional challenge.”
To stay motivated, Pelzer-Timm decided to make her jumps count for a cause and raise funds for two of her favorite charities. “The second half of this challenge has been more of a chore than I expected, and I knew that I needed to do something to celebrate achieving this goal. Almost instantly, I came up with the idea to use this to raise awareness of two non-profit charities that hold special meaning for me—The Foye Belle Foundation and Malachi Legacy Fund.”
Pelzer-Timm then went on to explain why each charity matters to her. “The Foye Belle Foundation was started by my friend, Chelsea Berler, after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Triple Negative Breast Cancer at age 33 . . . As Chelsea was going through treatments, she saw others doing the same and wanted to start something that would lift their spirits. People can request a Blue Bag ‘to bring a smile to someone battling breast cancer, even if it’s just for a moment of feeling less blue,’” she explained. “The Malachi Legacy Fund was started by my friend, Jenifer Furness, to feed and provide basic needs for 1 million children at home and abroad,” Pelzer-Timm added.
Motivated by her drive to help these two organizations, Pelzer-Timm completed her millionth jump on Dec. 29th, 2019. After finishing her goal, Pelzer-Timm felt elated to have raised funds and awareness for both organizations. “There has been wonderful support in sharing my fundraiser to bring awareness to both charities and I consider that a win,” she stated.
Though Pelzer-Timm finished her challenge, she will still gladly accept donations for each group. To donate, she encourages you to donate via her Venmo account @Tracy-Pelzer-TImm.
