Awesome: The Sequel
It’s not a good time to ask for money.I’m-a do it anyway.
It costs a hundred bucks to buy enough gas to drive to the store for milk, which also costs a hundred bucks; to buy a plain slice in the city, you practically have to wait for a credit check, which thanks to Wall Street nobody is passing anymore anyway.A bunch of you already threw your weight behind Bitch Magazine a couple weeks back, and maybe you want to give money to your presidential candidate of choice, and the bailout crisis…well, the average taxpayer is going to get punished, without having even done anything wrong.
So is the average public-school student.The government is going to help these investment firms eventually; in a few days Congress is going to ram something through and bail out the big boys.Little boys?Ain’t getting squat.Your senator isn’t debating who gets what science books or overhead projectors right now, or how much money to earmark for waterlogged Galveston schools.No, it looks like that’s on us.
Which is disappointing, deeply unfair, evidence of screwed-up election-year priorities, and a host of other rage-making things…but it’s also kind of awesome, because when it comes to raising money, nobody gets it done like you guys.I mean, the fact that it needs doing sucks.But it’s y’all doing it, so it’s pretty clearly going to get done.
And it’s not actually that hard.We don’t have to rumble with Colbert; we don’t have to learn any dance moves (…we can, though, if we want; when in doubt, tango).Each of us just has to pry loose five or ten bucks.Five bucks!That’s it!Or ten.Or twenty, maybe.You can give more, but if everybody in the group can spare ten bucks, we can knock off a hundred grand before Yom Kippur and go back to our lives.
So, please: try to find ten bucks somewhere.Check the pockets of pants you haven’t worn in a while.Take change to the bank.Brown-bag your lunch for a couple of days.Sell a DVD on eBay, buy Boone’s Farm or generic corn flakes, skip Starbucks for a few afternoons.Who knows, maybe it’s so easy that you’ll have saved up for a new pair of boots by Halloween, or a plane ticket or something, which you should totally treat yourself to as a reward for your awesomeness.
I’ve got enough boots, I don’t like flying…I only ask for ten bucks.If ten thousand of you each give ten bucks, we hit our overall goal, I wear a tomato costume to the White House, the Tomato Nation is a superpower, done, goodbye.
Only got three bucks?Fine.Perfect.Every bit helps; we all have to pitch in together, it’s the only way this works year after year.Whatever you can spare.Your contest entry still counts; you are still awesome.
It’s sucky, queasy times like this — times when we feel the most unnerved and powerless to control our worlds — when it’s the most important to get everybody pushing in the same direction, if only to remind ourselves that we can make a difference and that goodness exists.It all began four years ago, with all of us trying to feel like not everything sucked.Now it’s time to do it again, and I hope we get a different result on the election side, but I also hope you guys do exactly what you did in ’04, to wit: kick ass.
Stay awesome, Ponyboys.The 2008 Blogger Challenge is now open. Let’s go.
originally published 10/1
Tags: contests
@Sars: Heh! No problem. I knew who you meant! And it was all fixed. Please, stay a Tomato – don’t get Squashed if they ketchup with you in Washington!
And also? Please, please have your brother or someone video it for Youtube! Even if you wind up on the news I won’t see it, because my TV isn’t working.
But there will be music! Classical music!
Oh, it’ll be filmed. Probably by the Secret Service. Heh.
Teachers: Welcome! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your stories.
Readers: Please *email* those links to me to avoid confusion. Thank you!
@Sars: I’ve been trying to fix my own personal economy these last few years. I figured that if I actually lived like the pauper I am, I could zero out my credit card balance in 3 years (maybe).
Well, now it’s going to be … 3 years and then some. Music? Check. Art? Check. Science? Check. Literature? Check check.
It’s addictive. The hell … I’ve been poor this long, might as well be poor a little longer. It’s worth it for this kind of legacy.
I’m a tough old bitch, but every time I check this total, see all the people giving to these excellent projects, I tear up. Awesome barely covers it.
Over 30k? What the heck, it’s only money. *kicks in another hundred* …hey, it’s preschoolers who need books! I’m not made of stone here! Who needs heat? I have blankets!
Sars,
If I have not received my e-mail from you confirming that I’m entered in the contest, should I be patient? I e-mailed you on Wednesday. I know you’re busy and can wait if you need me to.
Thanks.
Metronome. YES! High School kids will now be able to ROCK! And…FUNDED.
This is my first time, I hope I did it right so that you get the credit, Sars, I want to see your tomatoey goodness go to DC.
Well, my lunch money for the next month has just gone to fund manga versions of Hamlet for a high school in my neighborhood. I should brown-bag it more anyway. It wasn’t one of your projects, Sars, but contributing to the community I recently became a part of meant a lot to me, and I donated $10 to a similar project in your challenge so you’d at least get the head count.
Thanks for reminding us to give, and thanks to the folks at Donors Choose for making it possible to fund great projects.
I generally get the response emails out within 8 hours. Please send it again if you haven’t heard from me within that timeframe — sorry about that. My spamkiller probably ate it. bunting at tomatonation dot com.
i donated this year. if only in late thanks for last year. and i linked to it in my myspace. am i allowed to admit i have myspace (hides face in shame)
Donated yesterday. How did I pick my project? Sad but true: I found a project that needed about the same amount of money as I was willing to donate, and paid their remaining balance. So, somewhere a group of students are going to be testing the water in a nearby river to measure toxins.
Training future environmentalists: it’s what I live for. :)
So, one question: is the Tomato Dance taking place during the Innaugural Parade?
32, woo hoo!
The only reason I waited until yesterday to donate is that I couldn’t decide on a project! I’m still holding some funds in reserve, though – I like to sustain the donation buzz as long as possible. Last year I blew my stash early and the withdrawal was killer.
Yeah – we rock.
I’d forgotten how much I love donating to DC. I’ve put one of their banners on my (very narrowly known) blog and tumblr sites and am making a giving page for the holidays.
Thanks, Sars, for focusing and aiming the awesome.
Registry, I mean. Not giving page.
Thirty-three and a half. That rocks.
Seriously, you guys are rocking out this challenge. I think the Tomato Nation blog should be in a category by itself. Yay for education! And an entire nation of AWESOME!
So close to 36. Sooo clooooooooose…
Is it just me or is the little linky/picture thing to click over to Donors Choose not working anymore?
It’s not just you; I’ll look into it.
1) Widget is working again! 2) 39K!
Prizing page just updated.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
I’m a high school teacher in an under-funded, urban district – and California’s budget was three months late. If you’re not a teacher, you probably have a vague idea how much we scrimp and cheat and pinch to get even the basic supplies for our kids – I buy them pencils, paper, crayons, post-its, lunch, bandaids – yes, bandaids are in short supply. And I can’t tell you how much it means that someone out there is doing something to help.
We feel so alone so much of the time – it’s good to know there are more folks out there who care about our kids too. I can’t wait to see that Tomato Tango at the White House!
I just received the books from my proposal, funded by you guys! I’m going to process as many as I can today, and most of them will be in the hands of students tomorrow. You rock, and so does Donors Choose, for amazing efficiency.
“and most of them will be in the hands of students tomorrow”
I got goosebumps reading that. So cool! Thanks for letting us know, Kate!
40K- we did it!!
Thank you to $ and the Mysterians for their donation. You guys are awesome!
I actually teared up, reading Kate’s note that her students will have their books, funded from her project, tomorrow. What a great charity Donors Choose is, to allow us to be part of this.
I’ve been having a lovely correspondence with one of the teachers whose project I funded. She too just received the books she requested (many different versions of Cinderella), which means her students will get to enjoy them before their “Cinderella Ball” next Thursday. Yay for Donors Choose!
Also? 47K+? How totally awesome is that?! I got paid today, which means I’m feeling all spendy. I have to go see which project(s) call my name :-)
$48,100. Git it!
Guys, we’re SO CLOSE to the $50,000 mark.
605 donors is awesome, but didn’t Sars say something about there being 30,000 of us out there reading TN?
Come on guys. Throw five bucks at a challenge. Heck, that’d take us to nearly twice our ultimate goal, if everyone did that. Everyone has five bucks! Have you SEEN the awesome prize list?
$48,465, with only 605, which means that if we all could get like 5 people we know to donate $20 by the end of the month we would have TOTALLY smashed this challenge!
I’ve already gotten emails from two teachers of projects I donated to saying thank you. You guys they’re totally making me cry at work. I’m emailing everyone I know right now and begging them to donate. We can do this!!
Then don’t forget about the incentive of a traveling tomato. I want to see that :)
Giving is certainly contagious!
It really is, Sue. I’m out 120 bucks, which is about 119 more than I have, but heck, the schools need it more than I do, right?
I’m not kidding when I say there was a stampede in my library this afternoon around 12:15 when I let the fourth grade at the books. Like, if I hadn’t gotten out of the way in time, I might have lost a limb. Well over half of them went out today, and I expect the rest to move quickly when the fifth grade comes in next Wednesday. Good work, guys–there are stories like this all over the place because of you.
…Aw. Well done, team.
Also: 49!
I’m glad I read that at home in my bedroom, Kate, because I’m grinning like an idiot. I have so many great memories of my school libraries – I’d have moved into ’em if given the chance.
Yea! I had to do it- I wanted to put in the donation to make it hit $50k
yes!
I believe my $10 pushed us over. Good job everyone!
“Oh lord… I hope we don’t see you on the news being arrested by Homeland Security as “suspicious vegetable who attempted to attack the president” or something.”
Perhaps if she went dressed as brocolli. But I don’t think W hates tomatoes.
Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of the difference being made! In these times of bad news and more bad news it’s nice to know there is good. You rock, SARS. You have always rocked!
And yes, I always spell broccoli wrong, why do you ask? (oy!)
$50,000! Woot! Half-way to Gitmo! er… I mean, half-way to a Tomatoey tour of D.C.! (and *then* Gitmo). heh.
Tomorrow is payday…
$58,600. What’s the word I’m looking for, here?
…Ah yes. AWESOME. Just the thing.
$59,000!! AWE.SOME!!!
Did somebody say “Awesome”? Besides me, I mean! Because we are just shy of 60k!
60K!!!!!
THAT’S the stuff.
Woot! Almost 70k and still eleven days left! I’m off to find another project to fund to help turn that “almost” into an “over”!