Reality Rally

(On the left: Matthew Diaz)

Today’s “Up Close and Personal” interview features Matthew Diaz, one of our younger participants in Reality Rally who never let his age stop his excitement for our event!

Diaz is 19 years old and is currently studying at Harvard on the East Coast, though he is originally from the Los Angeles area. At Harvard, he is looking into getting his Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology.

Diaz first attended Reality Rally in its second year after he saw an advertisement for the event on Facebook.

“I really like reality TV shows. I’ve been watching reality TV since, like, third grade, so that’s how I found out about it,” he said.

In his first year attending, Diaz wasn’t able to run in the race, as he was 15 years old and the minimum age is 16. But he returned the following year to finally be a part of the race.

“Next year I came back and I raised money and I got to race and it was a lot of fun,” he said.

One of Diaz’s favorite things about attending Reality Rally is getting to meet the stars he admires on TV.

“I’m a huge Big Brother fan. That’s at the top of my list. I also love Survivor and the Amazing Race. I am such a fan of Rachel Reilly and I got to meet her the first year I went. That was crazy. She’s a really cool person. She’s so competitive and she has a lot of drive. I also got to meet a couple amazing racers, and Richard Hatch, the first Survivor winner,” Diaz recalled.

Diaz works to raise money each year so that he can choose a reality star to race on his team. In high school, he stared fundraising through his club, “Competition For a Cause”. The club, which he started in his junior year, would put together fun events to raise money for different causes in the area.

“I made Michelle’s place one of those causes that we would help out. For 2 years we held a bowling alley fundraiser for Michelle’s Place. In the past that was a really fun event that raised some money. I also try to ask as many people as I can to donate, because I know that any donation is helpful, even if it’s just 5 or 10 dollars. If you ask 10 of your friends to donate 10 dollars, that’s 100 bucks. I really think those small donations are super helpful and really kind. It doesn’t take a lot of money to show that you want to help out a cause,” Diaz said.

Diaz has also received a large sum of donation money from Greneker, the company at which his mother works.

“They have helped us out 3 or 4 times. And they usually give a really big donation. That does help out so much. That’s what really helps me get to the $1000 mark every year. We’re really fortunate that they are so willing to help out Michelle’s Place.”

Because of Greneker’s generosity, Diaz was once able to raise $1000 dollars in just 2 days when he combined the money with donations from other sources and fundraisers.

This year, Diaz most looks forward to racing with his team again.

“This is going to be our third year racing together. My team is ‘Super Above Average’,” he said. “My teammates are Amber and Sierra. We first raced two years ago and Rachel Reilly was on our team. We got first place. Last year we raced with Jimmy T from Survivor and we got second. So we do have a strong track record for Reality Rally.”

In the 2016 race, Diaz, Amber, and Sierra will be teaming up with Liza Stinton from Big Brother Canada—and they’re going for the win.

“We’re really lucky to have her on our team this year,” Diaz said.

Overall, Diaz is glad that he can combine fun competition with a live-saving cause.

“It’s a great cause that can benefit so many people. Breast cancer is something that is so common that it’s a good thing to be involved with. I used to fundraise just so I could meet stars or whatever, but now it’s just about helping out and it really has become something I enjoy doing to help Michelle’s Place,” he said.

Diaz would like to give a shoutout to Gillian and all the volunteers who make Reality Rally, well…a reality!

Thanks for your support, Matthew. We look forward to seeing you!

-Taryn Murphy