The World Food Championships - Getting There

Once the excitement had died down a bit, and I decided I was going to make this happen, I spoke to my husband about how we could fit the costs into our budget, and he was so supportive! He offered to tighten the belt as tight as it would go, and gave me some ideas on how we could adjust our spending to make a few pennies squeeze out. My kids too offered to chip in. My foodie friends suggested I post on FB to my friends and family for some help in the form of donations. I wrote a post and got a lot of encouragement. Also, I started reading the WFC website for info on what to expect. I like to keep myself informed and I could use any help I could get! On the WFC site I fould the blogs page, most particularly Beth's Blog. Beth is an accomplished food competitor and blogger for the WFC,  She wrote an article on getting sponsorship.
http://worldfoodchampionships.com/blog/beth/2013/09/world-food-championships-tips-securing-a-sponsorship
I read the article, printed the article and made it a bible for what I was going to do. I learned that if you want help you have to ask for it, and ask for it I did. I composed this letter:

Dear so and so company,
Hello, my  name is Helene, I'm a home cook, wife, mother of 3, and I recently won a burger recipe contest using your product; such and such, I'm writing to ask you if you'd be interested in sponsoring me for my trip to Las Vegas Nevada, where I will be competing in The World Food Championships for the title of World Burger Champion. 
This event is the worlds largest food competition, and is an invitational event. There will be thousands of foodies, chefs, restaurateurs and fans to witness 400 competitors over 4 days with 7 events. 
I was encouraged to contact you after hearing many other competitors have sponsors helping them fund their trips. I hope you will agree to help me with sponship, I would be honored to represent your product, and hope we can benefit one another at the upcoming competition.
Regards.

I left off the name of the company and the product for now, but will make every effort to share that down the line. 
I sent the letter to one company. Just one. Just a "feeler" to see what would happen. I sent it at night, and I went to bed. When I woke up there was a response email from the marketing director! Wow!!! She congratulated me and asked for more information. With my heart racing I gave her every contact name and number that I had, and omg, ran to tell my foodie friends right away! I was on my way to sponsorship, I needed to make lists, prepare, practice, fret and fidget, stress and obsess! omg! I was going to Vegas!!!