As you know, the Investigations Fund is one of two charities fans selected for our fourth campaign. I hope you enjoy hearing about their work, learn something new, and join us in supporting their cause.

We would like to extend our thanks to Jim, the EyeCon staff, and all of the fans who signed the shirt. This is why our fandom rocks. Enjoy the video and pictures after the jump!

(If you are interested in serving as a Regional Advisor for Fandom Rocks, don’t be shy – contact us!)

Hello out there Fandom Rockers!

As some of you recall, we recently finished Campaign Two, where our funds were divided between the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund and the Lawrence Humane Society. During Brande’s visit to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund offices, they presented her dad, a former Marine, with one of their special IMSFF challenge coins. This presentation meant a great deal to him, and after he explained the significance of the coins, to Brande as well.

The challenge coins have a long-standing history in the military, especially in the Marine Corps. Among service members, they are a way of verifying service in or with a particular unit. When they are presented to someone outside the unit, they represent meritorious service on behalf of that unit.

After arriving home from Camp Pendleton, Brande found herself thinking about the debacle at the Creation Convention in Chicago, where Jared and Jensen were given Special Forces coins, which later turned out to have been presented by a man who misrepresented himself. Most of us have heard the story, so we won’t rehash the details.

Brande emailed our wonderful contact at the IMSFF, Angela McCrary, and inquired about possibly receiving a few of their challenge coins to present to Jared and Jensen. She explained what had occurred in Chicago, and how she felt this would serve to not only replace those coins on some level, but to promote the IMSFF and Fandom Rocks to the cast and crew. She felt that the show deserved the coins because without Supernatural, there would be no Fandom Rocks, and without Fandom Rocks, there would have been no contact between the fans and the IMSFF.

Brande received an enthusiastic response from Angela, and two challenge coins were sent to her to be presented to Jared and Jensen. There began a month of nail- and cheek-biting.

In order to be “valid,” a challenge coin must be presented by a member of the unit for which the coin is issued. In other words, regular people like all of us could give someone a challenge coin, but the meaning of meritorious service to the unit would be invalidated. Brande had to find a Marine, specifically an injured Marine, to present those coins on behalf of the IMSFF, Fandom Rocks, and the fandom in general. She tried to find ways to arrange this, such as having a Wounded Warrior attend Creation LA with someone from Fandom Rocks, but it just was not meant to be, mainly because she is the Fandom Rocks contact closest to LA and could not make the trip for financial reasons.

Enter Bobby. Or, rather, his wonderful alter ego, Jim Beaver.

Brande has Jim on her friend’s list on her personal MySpace account, and in a burst of inspiration, messaged him to ask for assistance. She was hoping he would be willing to present the coins for us, or barring that, might know some other way in which we could arrange a presentation. Having seen him mention his years of service in the Marine Corps, she knew that he would understand the significance of the coins.

She explained that we needed a Marine to present the coins. She offered up every bit of qualification and verification that she could, including contact information for the IMSFF, Fandom Rocks, etc., as she wanted to assure Jim of our validity and good intentions. Jim messaged back after verifying the information provided and agreed to present the coins for us when he returned to Vancouver to film the final episodes of Season Three.

Brande shipped the coins to Jim several weeks ago, along with a poster Dana designed with the names of all the Fandom Rocks contributors on it. On his return to Los Angeles, Jim was gracious enough to share this picture from the set, which was taken when the coins were presented to Jared and Jensen.

In Jim’s own words:

I explained to Jared and Jensen, separately, what the medallions represented and the nature of the organizations (IMSFF and Fandom Rocks) behind the presentation. I took special pains to make it clear that I had investigated the credentials of the organizations in order to avoid any embarrassment such as happened in Chicago. I explained to them that, ideally, the medallions should be presented by an injured/wounded Marine and that while I was not an injured Marine, I hoped that my status as a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War was sufficient to the purpose. They both indicated that they were very touched by the award and by the interest that our troops in the Middle East have shown in Supernatural. Later, we took a break from shooting a scene for the season finale of the show and had one of our camera operators record the presentation on my camera. (So the slightly soft focus is my camera’s fault, not Brad’s! He’s a great camera operator.) And then we all went back to work.

As I say, I think the guys were very pleased and honored.

We would like to give special thanks to Angela at the IMSFF, for her assistance and her work with the Wounded Warriors, and to Jim for taking the time and effort to assist Fandom Rocks and the IMSFF with the challenge coin presentation. We would also like to thank everyone in the fandom, most especially to the contributors of Fandom Rocks. All of your efforts gave us the reason and ability to make this happen. It has truly taken the effort and energy of an entire group of people to accomplish this goal, and to accomplish it so successfully. I cannot envision a more fitting moment for this presentation to cap off our campaign than during the filming of the finale!

And now … let’s see what we can do with Campaign Three! Onward and upward!

*The picture is exclusive to Fandom Rocks, as it was presented to us by Jim himself. Please do not repost this picture in any other groups or take it for fan art. If you would like to share this information, we would greatly appreciate links back to this post instead.

The Fandom Rocks Frontline would like to thank the fans for their continued support of the campaigns. Every email, comment, and donation from each corner of the world keeps us motivated and enforces our appreciation of our awesome fandom. (We have said you guys rock, yes?)

Stay tuned for the campaign report and Campaign #3 charities announcement!

Brande’s Trip: I drove down to my parents’ place in Orange County from my house in Northern CA on Friday, about 9 hours’ drive. Saturday morning, I picked up ilovesn at the train station near my parents’ house as she came in from LA to join me. My father, a veteran Marine, my mother, my boys, Lissie and I were all planning to be there for the handoff.

The drive to Oceanside was very short and we actually were a bit early, so we killed some time outside the gates of Camp Pendleton. Once we were through the gates, we followed my parents (who were in a second car) as my dad used to be stationed at Pendleton and knows the base layout. It’s a very good thing as the Wounded Warrior Center is tucked away in a fairly secluded section of the base, just off the lake. The scenery was lovely and I wish we’d been able to take pictures, but due to Sec Regs we could not.

The IMSFF location is not just offices, as I previously thought. It is actually a 26-bed rehabilitation facility for Marines too injured to return to their regular unit, but not injured enough to require hospitalization. After transfer to the Wounded Warrior unit, they can continue with physiotherapy, meet with counselors, etc. About 50% are rehabilitated enough to return to their regular unit. Those that are unable to return to their unit and are scheduled for a medical discharge are then scheduled to work with counselors who assist them with the transition to civilian life. They also receive assistance with PTSD and other psychological issues related to their experiences and injuries.

(Read the rest of Brande’s report at our Livejournal community.)

Dana’s Trip: On Sunday, I drove from Champaign to Lawrence to participate in the St. Patrick’s Day parade with the Lawrence Humane Society and present them with our check from the second campaign. While in town, I stopped by Target and picked up two dozen or so travel-sized bathroom items (deodorant, sunblock, toothpaste, etc.) to drop at the community shelter from our first campaign. Loring, the director, was not in the office yet on Monday morning, so I left the donation with a note. It will be good to keep in touch with them over the next year as they work toward funding for a new building/location.

Late Sunday night, I sent an order to Kinko’s for 20 sheets of our bookmark. I had three bags of Starburst candies to tape to 100 bookmarks for the parade. We handed them all out within the first 5 blocks, but I am getting ahead of myself.

First, we stood in the drizzling rain for an hour, finishing the float, waiting, waiting, and waiting. Then we walked in the parade for 20-minutes, handed out all of the bookmarks, and were completely soaked by the end. My fingers are crossed that at least a few of those bookmarks made it into the hands of a new viewer.

When we went back to the humane society, I presented Midge with the check and took a photo with the staff who were on hand. We did a video tour of the shelter, and I will have that on the web site as soon as I get back home and can edit everything together.

The renovation/expansion completed last fall at the humane society had a $600,000 loan. They have paid it down, roughly, to the last $120,000. With our donation and other fundraisers, they hope to have it paid off this year.

(Read the rest of Dana’s report at our Livejournal community.)

Lawrence Humane Society Tour: Dana walked through the humane society with Midge, the director, on Monday, March 17. On Mondays, the shelter is closed to visits for cleaning, and you can see the staff hard at work while Dana and Midge continue through the building. The front of the building has meeting and offices spaces. On the tour, you can also see:

• the main dog and puppy area
• the dog holding area
• the opposite side of dog holding
• the food room
• the working room where staff do laundry, give baths, etc.
• the main cat and kitten areas
• the cat and kitten holding areas
• the media room for education purposes

(Dana apologizes in advance for all of her cooing over the animals. If she could take them all home, she would.)

The phone interview from last fall is included at the end of the video over the Humane Society’s fundraising/informational video.

• Creation Entertainment
• Titan Publishing
• Powerstar Merchandise
• Harper Collins Publishing
• Keith DeCandido
• Fan-Made Creations
• LJ Users: _sin_attract, Ficwriter1996, Janglyjewels, and Aurelia

Thanks to all the sponsors and guests, our second campaign is well on the way to success. Enjoy the podcast!

Links:
Zilla: www.zillamusic.com
Arthur Yoria: www.arthuryoria.com

Raised so far …

- $1 from Cafe Press
- $18 from Amazon Associates fees
- $300 from Paypal donations

Thank you to …

Stephanie L. (US)
Janine L. (UK)
Crystal C. (US)
Emilie D.L. (Canada)
Brandy O. (US)
Bernadette G. (Switzerland)
Christine L. (US)
Anja K. (Germany)
Melissa S. (US)
Elizabeth H. (US)

Silent Auctions, Posters, and Podcasts …

In case you didn’t know, a couple of fans are organizing a dinner and silent auction right before the Chicago Creation Convention, and the proceeds are going to Fandom Rocks. How awesome it that?

This is a perfect example of the kind of unique event that fans could try to have themselves. Other ideas:
- Host a dinner party with donations accepted at the door
- Have an “extreme” chocolate party with all sorts of chocolate goodies for a donation
- Put out a jar at a garage sale for donations
- Host a car wash
- Host a dog wash; after all, we are supporting the Humane Society this time around!

For any event you are hosting, you can download one of these posters, add in text for your event, and print them as needed. We would love to know when you are hosting an event so we can promote it for you, too!

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Podcast: for the fans, by the fans

We are still collecting audio greetings from fans. If you would like to send one in, please do! The upcoming podcast is all about you and will (hopefully) be as diverse and entertaining as our fandom. It might contain:

- Three Questions with a Fan
- Tell Me Your Favorite Season 1/Season 2/Sam/Dean/John/Bobby/Ash/Ellen/YED Moment
- Episode Recap in 5 Minutes
- ANYTHING!

If you can record it, we will work it into the podcast. Just like before:

- Make a phone post on Livejournal
- Call us on Skype
- Record it another way and email it

If you have ideas or questions, don’t be shy. We will be more than happy to work with you on it.

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.

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.)

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)

“[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!