As you know, Fandom Rocks’ first campaign supported the Lawrence Community Shelter. The campaign was a success and officially ended on September 1, 2007. However, an anonymous donor from Champaign, IL discovered our campaign and decided to send a donation on behalf of Fandom Rocks. Anne Bracker, member of the shelter’s board of directors, notified us on September 15, 2007. The donation was in the amount of $400 USD. We are extremely honored they chose to support our charity after the campaign ended in the name of Supernatural fans. Thank you.

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.

We promised photos from the trip to Lawrence, and here they are! (It was such a gorgeous day.)

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.

 

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This weekend marked a rather significant milestone for Fandom Rocks. We completed our first campaign, and the donation for Lawrence Community Shelter was delivered in person. Dana tackled the Labor Day roads to travel from Champaign, Illinois to Lawrence, Kansas. However, there is nothing quite like a road trip on a long weekend, so don’t feel too badly for her.

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)

It is with great happiness that we can announce Fandom Rocks has met its goal for the first campaign. Tonight, donations have pushed the total to $2000 — and we still have a little over a week to go! Thank you to everyone who has donated, shopped in the store, and helped spread the word. The campaign would not have been a success without the involvement of all the fans and supporters.

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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!

As described in our earlier update, Dana will be traveling to Lawrence to present the Lawrence Community Shelter with 50% of the funds raised during our first campaign. Here is the rough schedule for the weekend:

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.