Contest: “Bunting’s 11 (and 1/3)”
(Confused? No problem: I’m having a contest, to raise money for underfunded public schools. Read all about it here.)
It’s a gamble.
I want us to raise $150,000 this year — $210,000, if we can manage it. Everybody’s out of work and broke and freaking out, and yet I roll the dice and ask for more money than we’ve ever raised before.
Why would I do a damn-fool thing like that?
Well, magic doesn’t come to those who don’t expect it, but it’s not just that I expect magic from you guys, although I do. It’s that, all over the country, kids don’t expect magic — and they should.
Kids should get psyched about the next book in a series. Kids should wake up on Thursday, feel grumpy, and then remember that it’s art class today — or dance, or Nerf football, or frog dissection, whatever they’re into. Kids should come home and drive their older siblings bazoo showing off how they can tell time, add fractions, or follow a recipe.
And all over the country, kids can’t do that stuff, because everybody’s broke and out of work and freaking out, including their parents and teachers, and kids can’t do a damn thing about it, either, because they don’t vote and they can’t get jobs that pay worth a damn.
Kids should expect magic — and when a classroom gets a project funded via Donors Choose, magic comes. Magic, hope, Santa, call it whatever you want: kids should have it to believe in. This grownup knows it’s real, because she sees you yank a rabbit made of sawbucks out of that hat every year.
We can pull off this heist, you guys. We’ll raise the money, you’ll win the loot, and when it’s done, we’ll have pulled off one of the biggest scores in internet history.
The assault on the vault begins at 12:01 AM, tonight. Stay tuned for the prize list, the contest FAQ, and an updated Donors Choose widget; share this video everywhere you can; and bet red.
Tags: city living contests
*sniffle*
OMG Sars your contest intro made me cry! And so it begins.
Once again, I am called, and to you and Samoa, I am so there.
Screw the recession. Prepare for more Awesome than ever before.
Yay! And is it me or does Sars get hotter every time we see a vid/pic of her?
Guess donating has the added benefit of making one more attractive. ;-)
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” I’m all a-tingle :) (and I saw myself in the video ;) )
That’s a lot of moolah, but I know we can do it!
*Love* your haircut!
AWESOME video. Off the top of my head, I’d say you’re looking at a Founder, a Tactician, a Bankroll, two teachers, and one and a third Stupidheads, not to mention the baddest, wackiest, most effective Agitator ever. They say taupe is very soothing… but I’m betting red.
Every year, I think “Gee, her hair grew out to be so CUTE!” and I sniffle a little at how amazing this contest has been, and is, and will be. Thank you, Agitator, for giving us this space to use to motivate each other.
Goosebumps.
Friday is payday, so look out kids!
Aw, Sars…you always give me goosebumps. Yes, kids should expect magic! Thus the awesome begins…
I have faith in us – we can totally do this thing.
And I don’t even have to wait until midnight, since I’m in the central time zone.
I came here to comment on your awesome hair, and it looks like many others have beaten me to the punch, but it’s worth repeating.
I got all giddy when I saw my photo. :-)
THAT DRESS! Love it!
Oh, and the contest, too. I’m donating everything I make teaching my class at the gym this October, as well as half of what I make at the annual “get rid of my kids’ old crap” swap meet. Bet red? Hell yes!
Thanks, guys! The video is all Mr. S, who is a whiz. (The hair is Helena at Delaylah Salon on 4th Ave. in Brooklyn.)
And thank you all so much for sending in your photos. Whoever had the cat on her head: hilarious.
SO MUCH AWESOME I almost squeed inappropriately at work!
(and my cat is in there for a second. She’s a star! I have to make sure it doesn’t go to her head…)
You know what’s also awesome? Last year, I won a kiva.org gift certificate from the TN/DC coolio-nees and last week enough of the loans were paid back that I could help fund another project. Its the prize that keeps on prizing. Woot!
Anyway, I’m here and the wallet is cracked.
Also? So many cats! Hee. Not a surprise, given the Tomato Nation readers, but was there a single other critter included?? :)
The contest, the video, the hair, the picture of me dorking out in front of a classroom of 7th graders: all awesome. And I got paid today! BRING IT ON.
So! Excited!
@Amie – I thought the same thing! I was all, “oh kitty! And…kitty! And perso– nope, kitty again!”
My lasting impression is that we are all, in fact, cats.
AAAGH I made it into the video! I knew y’all couldn’t resist the crazyface.
And I want that dress, now.
Awesome video! I’ll agree with everyone else about your hair – it looks fabulous!! And it was fun to see my pic show up in the video.
I’m going to Vegas in a few weeks, and I’d been saving up the money that I got from my recycling to use as my gambling money. I’d much rather have that money go to better use, so I’ll be putting all of that towards a DC project. Can’t wait!
I saw someone I know from elsewhere! I went SQUEEEE!
Hey, is there going to be a way to link to this on my facebook page? Or add it as a group I belong to? The Donors Choose website doesn’t seem to have a way to do it.
Can’t wait to get started!!!!!
Yes, Sars, so AWESOME! And where oh where is the dress from? It’s gorgeous.
To use one of my brother’s favorite phrases: It’s on like Donkey Kong!
@Debby: Try this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcLHCP6l1Ws. There’s a Facebook uplink right below it. You can also scroll down to the bottom of this entry (…well, up from here, I guess) and use the ShareThis link (it’s green).
We’ve got a TN Contest event page on FB; I’ll get the link up shortly.
The dress is from…dang, I don’t even remember. (The tag is totes hanging out in the opening sequence, too, which was bugging me, but hey, maybe one of y’all can read it in a freeze-frame.) …Okay, it’s from Rampage, but I bought it in ’04. It’s saved my wardrobe life so many times, I can’t even tell you.
I am so geeked! I look forward to this every year.
Yay, my babies made it in! Loved the video! I am so psyched for the challenge this year, I get paid tomorrow so I have the whole month to play!
I’ve got a red (quelle coincidence) enamel little-kid bank on my desk that is absolutely burgeoning with change. Plus some more change in my desk at work. Plus a bunch more loosening the hinges on my wallet. Anyone needs me, I’ll be over at the Coinstar, shouting “BRING ON THE AWESOME!” and waving my fist as my change is counted.
I spy Benny! (my cat, killed by computer. Or, relaxing on his back like a dog. Interpret at will.)
I spy myself too, but Benny is more exciting.
So psyched for this challenge!
Consider my donation doubled, thanks to the sheer joy of that video (and the FAR TOO LONG it took me to get the Ocean’s Eleven-ness of it. We need to educate kids better than I’ve been educated, apparently).
What is the cause? It is not explained in the video or anywhere. Too bad. Don’t assume everyone knows what this is.
@curious, more information is here — https://tomatonation.com/?p=3688 — and at the Donors Choose URL provided at the end of the video.
The video is a trailer; it’s not necessarily designed to answer every question, but rather to pique the curiosity. Which, according to your username, it succeeded in doing. Any other questions, please do post them.
Eeeee! I’m so excited. This is going to be AWESOME. I can’t wait!
In July, one of my cats required $3000 of medical treatment (she’s fine now!).
On Sunday, the 70-year-old water-supply line to my house rusted through (me: “do you hear something? like water running somewhere?”). $3500 to regain faucet function and toilet-flushery.
I’m as broke-ass as I’ve ever been…and I am SO EXCITED for this contest I can scarcely wait til midnight. Bet the EFF out of red, y’all. (pries up heat grate in floor to look for dropped change)
I’m going to clean the car out this weekend and donate all found change to the challenge!
Best. Video. Ever. Way to inspire the Awesome.
@Debby: Also try the “Causes” application on Facebook. Link is here:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/892?m=edd8a396
I’ve got it featured on my profile.
So, so excited!! Let the AWESOME begin!
Sars, you look really young in black and white. Early twenties tops. Just sayin’.
@Gillian: Fueled in no small part by a certain ultra-fine friend’s raspberry bars.
@Nicole: Thanks! There’s a reason I made that artistic choice. And that reason is vanity. Heh.
Video? Awesome. Contest? Awesome. I am going to explode from all the awesome in the room!
My husband didn’t know about the video/photo project so when I went flailing into his computer room just now squeeing “watch this watch this waaaaaaaaaatch this!!” he was all “what in the……HOLY SHIT THAT’S US!”
Now we get to donate spare change and then some. Bring the awesome.
Can’t wait!
Of course I spaced the deadline on the photo and sent mine in way late. The bonus being that I got an email directly from Mr. Stupidhead which I thought was so cool! Thank you sir for your contribution of Master Stupidhead as he is SO CUTE!
Is it sad that I am setting an alarm for midnight?
A. Sars, you look hot. I mean, damn, girl.
2. BABY!! Lil’ Master S is so CUTE. Aw.
I will tell myself every day not to check in on TN at work, because there will be crying and yet, I will check in and I will sit at my desk, blaming my allergies, but you all know it will be because of the AWESOME.
Yay, October!
And… once again, I feel that funny pressure behind my eyes when I think of this… this… this Nation of Awesome! This Red Nation!!!
I am so there… (Although, with Alaska time, I’ll be a bit behind the rest of you, but I will be there!)
Loved the video and the hair! You are all too cool for school!!
Among all the other awesome abounding, can I shout out some font love? Nobody fonts like 70s fonts, lemme tellya that right here.
1. Dress + hair = totally bananas. I die.
2. The Guilt Apparatus is SO FREAKING CUTE, with his big round eyes and perfectly round head.
3. Charles Best? Stone fox.
4. Matthew! Gustave! Looking as awesome as when last I saw you, a hundred years ago!
5. The whole concept of this video, including super-rad fonts, is genius.
So pumped for this. Today was payday, I’ve got a DC gift card to use up, AND it’s getting cold out, which means it’s time to break out the coats. You know what’s in the pockets of those coats? Forgotten money. You know who gets that forgotten money? Kids who need, like, BOOKS and stuff.
Let the AWESOMENESS begin!!!!
I think we’re going to blow 210k out of the water.
Once again, you’ve already managed to outshine yourself, Sarah. We’ve all been crowding around the monitors today to check out this amazing video. Thanks for being such an amazing cheerleader. Thanks to the TomatoNation community for being consistent supporters of our cause.
I’ve really enjoyed working with you for the last few months on the Social Media Challenge. From the Tech testing, to the laugh sharing to the constant encouragement, you’ve really made the ‘competition’ so worth it for me this year. Thank you for touching me… T-30min into the SMC. Lots of love to you!