Contest ’09: Deal
Submitted by Sarah D. Bunting on November 25, 2009 – 2:30 AM257 Comments
And awaaaaaay we go!
You can find the contest FAQ and the prizing page at the top righthand side, or by clicking these links; the baffled should click here for more information on Donors Choose and the contest.
Please make sure you’ve donated through the Bet Red/TN contest page; you can use the widget right up top there. To search/sort Bet Red projects by state, grade level, subject, or expiration, please use Amanda’s super-handy sortable spreadsheet. All links from the spreadsheet contain the Bet Red challenge ID; just click and go.
We’ve got a big nut to make, friends. Let’s do it.
On the menu for tomorrow: mini-prizes, and the unveiling of the mystery intern!
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Tags: contests
Bring on the Awesome!
Woo!
(AIM couldn’t handle the awesome, apparently – everyone on my buddy list, from all over the US, got kicked off at once!)
The widget appears to be a bit slow to update. Keeping an eye on it…
The plus side to my neighbors being obnoxiously loud and waking me up? I get a headstart on this!
Woo Twilight Zone! Boo Gmail making me do that Math dealy I set up through Labs because it thinks I should be in bed and not all…donate-y.
Did we really break the site already? It usually takes us an hour or two to take down the servers. Well done, people, well done.
Oh, I got all excited… and spent twice what I said I was going to spend. Which isn’t all that much since I’m currently between jobs, but yay for awesome and Twilight Zone!
Woot!! My happy starts *now*
@Cyn: I did the same. I don’t even have Twilight Zone – Definitive Collection, but these kids should!
38 minutes in and we’ve reached 555 students already. I love you guys
@Shannon: I’m seeing a slightly faster update than you guys…and it’s actually 595.
I love you guys too.
Oh man, if there were even more teachers who needed money for dictionaries, I would go broke. That is totally my weakness.
I did the math based on the most recent totals available to me ($1187 as of 1:01AM EST and it has updated since then) and, if my calculations aren’t wrong, y’all are raising just about $20/minute, give or take a few cents.
Also, I’ve just realized that my current handle is “TMI.” Oops.
Broke 1,000 in the first hour!? We’re the best :D
I’m in rehearsals for a production of the musical “Chess”. I was able to donate to a project that will provide chess sets to students. I love it when the universe cooperates so nicely!
On it, Fearless Leader. My first donation has been made, and I’ll start digging for change to make the next one.
Watching the money roll in makes me damn proud to be a part of the Tomato Nation.
ANTE UP!
THAT’S the gambling pun I wanted. Thank you.
We aim to please.
We also aim to sleep at some point tonight, but… you know. Baby steps.
I have $300 earmarked for this! I am such a giver, I even quit buying yarn to save up the shekels for Rocktober. \m/ \m/
$2864 last I checked. Fine piece of donatin’ you got there, night watch! Almost 2% of the way to initial goal!
“That makes it sound so teeny.” I know, I know, but remember: 1) initial goal is beeeeeg, and 2) you did that in UNDER EIGHT HOURS. In the middle of the night.
Ladies and gentlemen of the Commonwealth of Insomnia, we thank you for your meritorious service. Day shift: nut up.
Annnndddd the first cry of 2009 DC Contest Bet Red is IN! I am such a sap! But day shift is here and we’re on it!
Day shift, reporting for duty! I even got to complete one project (“Evolve and Urban Teen,” teaching NYC kids about evolution through PBS DVDs. As a scientist and longtime public television supporter, I was smitten.
I donated to the Canadian penpals project (Canadians represent! also, YAY WINNIPEG!) and a couple of other small little ones – there are so many fabulous projects to choose from. I’m feeling very “Woooooooo!!” for this early in the morning.
I’m a substitute teacher, sitting in my living room waiting for the phone to ring, so I figure I’ll check in on the contest. It’s only the 1st, and already I gave the first $25 I don’t have. But who can resist a class project on Charles Darwin???
Is there a way to see how many projects TN has completed? I’ve followed the link and looked around but perhaps I’m just missing it?
Day shift reporting: I just donated to “Help Children With Autism To Learn Math” http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=300994>
Since I’m a betting gal, if some other cool folks can finish this project off today- if so, I will double down my donation and give another $100.
And *this* from a gal who is about to lose her job too!
I’ve been hanging on to my Redeem Card from my birthday that expired TODAY – I knew the overlap would be plenty to get in some AWESOME.
@stacy: I think I can see that stat, but y’all can’t; please do email smc at donorschoose dot org to ask that question, though!
I have never donated before but it was so amazing, I had to kick some money into the pot. My monthly book buying budget just bought a class in Texas new reading material and I couldn’t be happier. When I get paid at the end of the month, I will donate again.
Sars, you’re my hero for spearheading this. :)
Woo Day Shift! Just a thought for later on in the month: Some of us have been around for a while, and I know I, at least, have some of the thank you letters students sent. They’re great to share. I donated to a project last year to provide copies of Elie Wiesel’s Night, and they were the most morbidly hilarious thank you notes I’ve ever received (“My favorite part is when he fell down in the snow”). I’ve also gotten some very touching and meaningful ones. Sharing previous years’ thank you notes might be a good morale-booster mid-month.
I finished off the project for a classroom that needed pencils and a high-grade pencil sharpener. Because, for goodness’ sake, people, these kids don’t have PENCILS. Ridiculous.
Ok Cij – you are on!
$5793 raised; 2592 students reached; 22 projects funded.
Good work!
I cannot WAIT to see how the first 24 hours shakes out! I’m all set to donate during lunch today!
Go TN!!
100 donors reached!
…101. My bad.
(eee!)
This is awesome. Go team!
I love checking the contest page and watching those numbers go up. We only need about $6,800 per day for the blackjack tomato, and we’ve got $6k before noon EST!
I have a major soft spot for Little House on the Prairie, so I am really tempted to fund this project in full, http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=295638&challengeid=23248
because it’s match eligible. However, I really should save to donate more later in the month…I’m torn. So, before I go crazy, anyone want to go halvies on this project?
So. Much. Awesome! I’m sure my coworkers must think I’ve lost my mind; I keep popping in here and squee-ing at my desk. So many great projects! I’m waiting impatiently for payday!
Yay! Day shift, reporting for duty. My favorite part of October! I spread out my donations among a bunch of different projects because I couldn’t decide on just one. Kids are getting active and launching rockets and reading new books and getting textbooks and playing music and it’s just so awesome.
I’m not on Twitter, but my facebook status now has a link to the contest page. We can do this!
Marnie – you’re not in or near Chicago by any chance are you? Chess is one of my all-time favorite musicals, and I’ve never had the chance to see it performed.
I don’t get paid until Monday *sob* BUT I’ll be a donating fool when that day rolls around! Wheeeee!
@Jessi are you in my office? ;) We could squee together!
Should I be worried that after I made my donations, and came back to the main contest page the total for the Nation was at $6,666?
And @Rachel – there are several knitting projects on the list, so you can still buy yarn, just for the kids this month instead.
I was going to wait until later in the month, but the third graders needed a little money so they can do “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”–I mean, c’mon! Tailor-made to get me to launch the PayPal. Yes, third graders CAN do Shakespeare!
I’m so glad that the pencils got fully funded! When I get paid, if the reems of paper or need a desk projects aren’t fully funded, I’ll be donating to them. No pencils, no desks, no paper! It breaks my heart.
Day shift is rocking out on the widgets :) This is the month of AWESOME.
J – I saw the same thing and screencapped it, because I am easily amused.
Hey y’all, don’t worry about not donating right this second — I’ve put some savings plans into effect that won’t bear fruit until later in the month. Contract job next week, same thing. Remember, someone has to be the last donor to put it over the top. :D