Help a kid get a job

[valarltd]

All right, Fiends and Neighbors, you know I have lots of extra kids.

Right now, I have one who is need of some help. Imani is couch surfing, unable to afford to go back to college, not finding work in our depressed economy. But he hasn't let this stop him. He's all set to go to truck driving school, which will get him a CDL-A, and promises a job after graduation. (They have lifetime placement. In a year *I* can check back and they believe they can get me a job!) Being OTR will let him have a place to live while being gainfully employed.

But!
There is always a but.

We need to lay our hands on $150, by Monday the 6th. None of us has this in ready cash. It will pay for his physical, his CDL test and fees and his background check.

So, this is the deal.
We're asking for you to help us give this kid a hand up. I've committed to getting him to classes for the three weeks and making sure he passes.

Just kick in a buck, $5. It all goes to getting him into school and then on the road.
This goes through my paypal, you know the drill: valarltd at yahoo

We're not asking you to do it for nothing:

$1 gets you a three card Tarot pull
$5 gets you an ebook of your choice from my backlist.
$10 gets you the ebook and a cross-stitched bookmark with a snarky saying
$15 gets the ebook, the bookmark and a 15 card Tarot pull
$20 gets you a paperback from my back list
$50 gets you a lap afghan

Anything we go over $150 will get equipment for him for the road: a plug-in cooler, bedding, etc.

Comments

The D-Man Checks In

[(Anonymous)]

Well, THIS should be interesting...

The much storied "A Month of Writing Dangerously" fund-raising campaign--geared to support & encourage a worthy writing endeavor from an author we all know and enjoy (when she's in her groove), which lasted 30 days, tapping every resource you had--ultimately netted only HOW MUCH? ...In 30 days? (Most of the big ticket donations coming in at the very, very tail end to squeeze out something approaching respectable, but still far short of the original goal.) The end result of which will reward the donors with a book.

Now you are trying another fund-raiser, for essentially the same perks, lasting only a week (not even 25% of the previous fund-raiser's total time, hoping for a sum in excess of 25% of the previous fund-raiser's final tally), to support somebody the vast majority of us don't even have a passing acquaintance with. The end result of which will reward the donors with you having your couch back.

If this thing actually succeeds, I don't see that as being a good thing for your already & still badly bruised ego. As a matter of fact, for that very reason, I doubt I would support it. It's almost a Lose/Lose.

"People--meaning my friends, followers & neighbors in particular--would rather support a near total stranger who will himself grant them nothing, but they will not support me and one of my greatest passions, with special and possibly personal perks thrown in, from which they would ultimately be granted a final reward by me from my labors?" Ouch.

I doubt I shall contribute to this, but I shall definitely pull up a chair to see how this plays out.

Re: The D-Man Checks In

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

1) It's a much smaller sum. It looks much easier to do than thousands.

2) We are doing other things on the side to raise the money, so this is just help. (Recycling, spare changing, lawn mowing)

3) It's not about ego. It's about helping several friends (Imani and the friends whose couch he is sleeping on) and getting a kid launched on a career. It's also about getting an extra person out of the Inkstained Succubus office. We really don't have enough chairs.

And all you will see at the end is Imani holding his CDL and smiling.