The shelter received additional good news in late August regarding one of their job-skills programs, the Change of Heart street paper. The program received a $9,000 USD grant from Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. You can learn more at the University Daily Kansan web site.
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Campaign #1 Progress
Campaign #1 has completed successfully! The final total was $2046.11! (Any donations made after 4PM CST August 31, 2007 will be allocated to the next campaign.) We will post a report documenting the donations, purchases, fees, and boosts shortly. Thank you for making this a success!
Campaign #1
$: 2,046 / 2,000 (102%)
Campaign #1 Donors
Thank you to the following donors! If you prefer to be listed as “anonymous” or your country is incorrect, please contact us.
Dana S. (US)
B. R. (US) Thank you again!
Rebecca M. (Canada) Thank you again!
Dan G. (US)
Melanie D. (US) (+$12 boost for donating in the last month)
S. N. (US) (+$1 boost for donating in the last month)
Susan G. (US) (+$5 boost for donating in the last month)
Stacie D. (US) (+$2 boost for donating in the last month)
Kim M. (UK)
Lisa B. (US) Bracelet auction proceeds, thank you! (+$1 boost for donating in the last month)
Rebecca J. (Australia) (+$2 boost for donating in the last month)
Sabrina G. (US) (+$2 boost for donating in the last month)
Melissa S. (US) Thank you again! (+$1 boost for donating in the last month)
B. R. (US) Thank you again!
Rebecca M. (Canada) Thank you again!
Stephanie P. (US) (+$2 boost for donating in the last month)
Amanda G. (US) (+$2 boost for donating in the last month)
Carolynne P. (Canada) Thank you again! (+$1 boost for donating in the last month)
Elizabeth J. (US) (+$2 boost for donating in the last month)
Marla R. (US) (+$1 boost for donating in the last month)
Janet C. (US) (+$2 boost for donating in the last month)
Maria H. (Germany) (+$2 boost for donating in the last month)
Janine L. (UK) Thank you again! (+$2 boost for donating in the last month)
B. R. (US) Thank you again!
Linda F. (US)
Heather R. (US)
Zsuzsanna V. (Hungary)
Elizabeth J. (US)
Shawna S. (US)
Karlene C. (US)
B. R. (US) Thank you again!
Lisa S. (US)
Dee R. (UK)
Begona N. (Spain)
Heather V. (US)
B. R. (US) Thank you again!
Gina R. (US)
Lindsay W. (US)
Claudia E. (Germany)
Melissa S. (US)
Rachel W. (US)
Natalie D. (US)
Stefanie V. (Germany)
Claire A. (US?)
Anne H. (US)
Megan H. (US)
Shannon M. (Canada)
Teresa U. (US)
Rachel O. (US)
Janet R. (US)
Anonymous B. (Canada)
Kathrin W. (Germany)
Sara T. (US)
Shannen B. (US)
Fabienne M. (Germany)
J Charles L. (US)
Valeria S. (Italy)
Marisa A. (US)
Marion S. (Austria)
Stephanie L. (US)
Emma H. (US)
Adam C. (US)
Kara B. (US)
Lisa B. (US) Two bracelet auction proceeds, thank you!
Janine L. (UK) Thank you again!
Melanie J. (US)
B. R. (US) Thank you again!
Carolynne P. (Canada)
Lisa B. (US) Bracelet auction proceeds, thank you!
B. R. (US)
Donna T. (US)
Crystal C. (US)
Janine L. (UK)
Ditte T. (Denmark)
Gabriela G. (US)
Rebecca M. (Canada)
Lisa B. (US)
Krista B. (US)
Linda K. (UK)
Heather F. (US?)
Bernadette G. (Switzerland)
Vanessa H. (Germany)
Stephanie L. (US?)
Anja K. (Germany)
Recent coverage you may have missed:
- Brande, Rebecca, and Dana were interviewed by Sam Ford with the Convergence Culture Consortium (C3)
- Fandom Rocks was highlighted on the CW Source blog
If you see Fandom Rocks mentioned out in the world, please let us know. Enjoy the photos and look for more updates from us soon.
The front of the shelter. The current building is rented by the shelter, and they are investigating options for a new or different facility.
The back of the shelter. The covered area was created to provide a comfortable outdoor environment for socializing.
A section of the sleeping area. All sleeping areas are upstairs for accessibility reasons. Staff are awake with guests overnight. There is a lottery for sleeping spots because the shelter does not have the capacity to match the need.
The other side of the sleeping area.
They have limited storage space, but they do offer storage for their guests during the day which is not something many shelters do.
This is the downstairs common room where we were interviewed by George Diepenbrock and conducted our interview for the podcast.
Loring is showing us the shelter’s “Drop-In Shop.” Guests who perform chores around the shelter earn “bucks” they can use in the shop for common items and supplies.
We are back out front preparing for the ceremony. What you can’t see is the crowd of people right across the street watching and waiting for the meal to be served at the soup kitchen in the church.
Peter Jasso from the Kansas Film Commission was there and gave us some promotional items.
The ceremony was short but good. Dana has just handed over the check to Loring, and he is thanking everyone involved with the campaign. He asked us to use “big letters” on the web site to try to accurately express his appreciation.
Here are Dana and Loring in his office at the shelter trying one more time to get a nice photo of the check hand-off.
(Full-size versions of the photos can be found in our forum.)
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The sun is setting on our first campaign. The donations have been delivered to Lawrence Community Shelter and SOS Children’s Villages. Each charity received $1,023.11 for a Campaign #1 grand total of $2,046.22. We put together a PDF report (Fandom Rocks Report June 2007-August 2007) to document all of the campaign funding sources. If you have any questions or feel the information is incorrect, don’t hesitate to let us know.
Brande, Rebecca, and Dana are gearing up for the second campaign and beyond. The final tally on our charity poll placed the Lawrence Humane Society and Semper Fi Fund as your top choices. We have contacted them and are hopeful that they will accept our interest and support soon. Here are just some of the things we are working toward over the next few weeks:
- Incorporating as a non-profit organization
- Hosting promotional tables at conventions: Are you attending and willing to help out? Let us know!
- Communicating with the Supernatural cast & crew on the campaign progress
- Creating new contribution methods for fans; including Ebay links, becoming an Escrip group, etc.
- Working with you, the fans, on creative ideas for fundraising: knitting cat toys, auctions, garage sales, etc.
One last note
The promotional items from the Kansas Film Commission included: 1 tote bag, 2 size large t-shirts (1 blue, 1 brown), 2 baseball caps (both tan), 1 executive notebook (similar to this padfolio), and 1 engraved Leed’s Mission Twist pen, all with the Kansas Film Commission logo and text. We will select five random donors from our first campaign for five of these items. We will contact you by order drawn, and you will get your choice of one of the items. The remaining two items will go into a raffle for our second campaign donors. We will announce the winners during our podcast for “All Hell Breaks Loose” Parts 1 & 2 next week. Don’t worry, we’ll email you, too.
]]>The podcast this week features audio from the ceremony outside the shelter, as well as a casual interview with Loring Henderson, Executive Director of the shelter, and Anne Bracker from the board of directors. Fandom Rocks would like to thank everyone from the community who attended the ceremony — board members, shelter staff and guests, and neighborhood residents. A special note of thanks goes to Nancy Baym from OnlineFandom.com for her interest and conversation. Thank you to George Diepenbrock from LJ-World for taking the time in a busy weekend to support our event, and thank you to Peter Jasso from the Kansas Film Commission for traveling to Lawrence and donating promotional items to Fandom Rocks. (Look for a post soon on how we are going to get those items out to you, our first campaign donors.) Last, but not least, we would be remiss if we did not thank Loring and Anne for coordinating the event and spending much of their day with Dana.
Enjoy the podcast! Photos and a detailed post on the weekend will arrive, hot off the press, after Dana explores the roads back to Illinois.
Links mentioned in the podcast:
Good Dog! Biscuits & Treats: http://www.gooddoglcs.org
Uma Floresta: http://www.myspace.com/umaflorestamusic (“Low Tide” is featured at the end of the podcast)
Lawrence Community Shelter distributed their press release for the donation ceremony today:
“[Fandom Rocks] will present a donation to the Lawrence Community Shelter on Sunday, September 2nd, 2007, at 12:30 pm on the front porch of the Lawrence Community Shelter, 214 W 10th St, Lawrence, KS. Fandom Rocks has been collecting donations from Supernatural fans from all over the world for two chosen charities, the Lawrence Community Shelter and SOS Children’s Villages. The charity campaign began June 18, 2007 and culminates September 1 with a goal of $2000.”
You can view the full press release here. It is not too late to join Dana in Lawrence, just let us know to look for you!
]]>Saturday, September 1st
- Arrive in Lawrence around 3PM
- Check into the hotel
- Visit the local area and have dinner with fellow fans
Sunday, September 2nd
- Go to the Lawrence Community Shelter around 12PM
- Present the funds to the Board of Directors at 12:30PM
- Tour the shelter immediately after
- Go to the soup kitchen at 1PM; help serve and meet with shelter guests
- Visit with LCS staff, Board of Directors, and guests
- Visit the local area, possibly Stull, with fellow fans
This is a great opportunity to meet our fellow Rockers face-to-face and learn how our campaign will empower the mission of the shelter. Do you have ideas for other local sights we could visit? Leave a comment! Will you be there? Let us know!
Don’t forget we have until September 1 to reach our goal. We are only $200 away. That means we would hit the target if:
10 fans donated $20 by skipping the mall this week
20 fans donated $10 by skipping a movie this week
40 fans donated $5 by skipping Starbucks just once this week
We can do it.
]]>- Creation of Fandom Rocks website, Livejournal community, CafePress store, MySpace group, and Facebook group.
- Affiliation with various Supernatural communities and web sites, including Supernatural Underground.
- Press release on Fandom Rocks distributed by one of our chosen charities, Lawrence Community Shelter.
- Lawrence Journal-World newspaper interview with one of the Fandom Rocks maintainers.
- Initial $1,000 contribution goal met in just under one month.
- Written communication with Kim Manners, Eric Kripke, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki informing the Supernatural cast and crew of Fandom Rocks.
- Face-to-face discussion with Jensen Ackles regarding Fandom Rocks and its goals, as well as confirmation of receipt of the Fandom Rocks letter.
We currently stand at 83% of our raised contribution goal of $2,000. With the matching funds during this last month and Dana’s pledged donation to cover Paypal fees, we have just over $1,700 to divide between Lawrence Community Shelter and SOS Children’s Villages.
We aren’t done yet! We still have until September 1 to meet our goal, and we’re anxious to prove what we’re made of! Help us reach that goal by donating in this last push before September 1!
As maintainers, we’re very proud of the work we’ve done behind the scenes, and especially proud of our fandom for stepping up and making this group venture a successful reality. Everything Fandom Rocks has accomplished so far, all our hard work, is about to pay off. It will be time to celebrate!
We are inviting our fellow Supernatural fans and Rockers to join us as we present funds in person to the directors of the Lawrence Community Shelter.
We have been invited to Lawrence for a receiving ceremony and tour of the facility. As Rebecca and Brande are too far away to join in the festivities, please help Dana celebrate the end of the first ever Fandom Rocks Supernatural Fans Campaigns for Charity by joining her in Lawrence!
Rockers who can be in the Lawrence, KS area over Labor Day weekend are invited to join Dana and the Lawrence Community Shelter directors at the shelter as she presents our first ever Fandom Rocks donation. Bring (and wear!) your Fandom Rocks gear and get ready for pictures as we commemorate the event. Afterward, meet your fellow Rockers for dinner and various Supernatural-related conversation. .
Pictures and information on the presentation will be included in our follow-up letters to the Supernatural cast & crew, so make sure you attend if you’re in the area – we may just want your pictures for our letters.
We’re still working with the LCS Board of Directors to finalize the weekend itinerary. We will update the web site with the details once they are confirmed. If you believe you can be in Lawrence Labor Day weekend, send us a note! We would love to share this event with as many Supernatural fans as possible.
We have also communicated with SOS Children’s Villages. As they have no plans for any public events in the near future, they have requested a simple payment directly to them via their web site. ]]>
Supernatural fans were out in abundance — nearly 2000 fans attended the discussion panel — and one particular fan braved the question microphone to help deliver the letters from Fandom Rocks to Eric Kripke, Jensen Ackles, and Jared Padalecki. Yes, the letters with your personal notes have been delivered.
It’s hard to imagine being more excited and pleased that the Supernatural family is now 100% aware of the work and support all of the fans have been putting into this campaign over the last two months. If you see Roz or Rae, be sure to give them a thumbs-up and thanks for helping deliver the letters.
As of today, we have exactly one month until Campaign #1 ends. When we started Fandom Rocks, we set a modest goal of raising $1000. We met that goal within one month.Now, the final goal for this campaign is $2000, and we would love to meet that, too. Thanks to all of you, we have raised $1418 – 71% of the goal.
During this last month, August 1―31, Fandom Rocks plans to boost your donations and purchases in the following ways:
- We will match the $1 donation from all store purchases. This means each item purchased will actually turn into a $2 donation.
- We will contribute $1 for every $10 donation made through Paypal. This means a $10 donation will actually be $11, and a $20 donation will actually be $22, and so on.
Don’t forget, Dana has also pledged to contribute the amount Paypal has removed for fees.
Feel free to share the news about the last month of the campaign on your blogs, journals, and web sites. With all of the Supernatural fans involved, we know we can reach this goal.
Last, but definitely not least, the charity poll for Campaign #2 is now live on the web site. Voting is a quick and easy way to get involved in Fandom Rocks! You may only vote for one charity, and the top two charities as of September 1st will become the beneficiaries of the second campaign.The poll choices come from previous comments and discussions. If you have another charity that is a valid registered organization and that you feel deserves our support, you can add an answer to the poll. Please comment or contact us if you have questions.
Have a great week!
]]>First, we are pretty sure everyone knows we made our first goal of $1000 — and then promptly passed it. Congratulations! As of right now, the donations and store purchases add up to a total of $1373! Based on a poll in the LiveJournal community, we are going to make the final goal of the first campaign $2000.
If you haven’t donated yet, please don’t let the fact we reached the first goal stop you now. We have a new goal ahead of us, and we are confident we can reach it by September 1st.
Second, it is almost time to start voting on the next two charities. In order to give everyone adequate time to research charities and then vote, we would like to post the poll here on the web site starting July 27th. It would run until September 1st. The poll choices will include all the previously mentioned charities, and you will have the ability to nominate charities as well. Be sure to research your nominees. They should be a registered non-profit in the US or UK.
To look up registered UK charities, visit the Register of Charities.
To look up registered US charities, visit the Internal Revenue Service.
To look up registered Canadian charities, visit Revenue Canada (English, French).
Lastly, if you are going to send a note in for the Comic-Con letter, you have until the 19th. So far, we have half a dozen notes, which is fine, but we want to make sure everyone who has donated or made a purchase in the store gets a chance to send in a brief note if they wish.
Okay, that’s it — spread the word, send in pictures of your Fandom Rocks shirts, and have a great week!
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