More or Less??

I have written about 5 different fundraising letters for our JDRF Walk. I can't decide which angle to take. I want to let our friends and family know why this is so important to us, how D has affected every bit of our lives, those things all the other Drents know but noone else would. I want them to KNOW too. Not to feel sorry for us or give us pity. But to fight with us and give us strength. I also want them to read the dang thing! To say all I want to say, the letter gets too long. I know that many people don't take the time to read lengthy letters (no matter how important they are to the writer!) So I tried sweet and simple...doesn't pull at the heart strings...and we know what those are connected to in this. Tried to be creative and write a "if a cure was found..." Again, too many things came to mind, it became a beast of it's own. (may add that as a separate addition to the letter.) With just over a month till our Walk on October 3rd, I really need to get going on this and make up my mind before it is too late to send a letter. For those of you veteran "walkers", what have you done that worked best??