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Home » Donors Choose and Contests

Save The Day: April 7

Submitted by on April 7, 2011 – 9:11 AM14 Comments

10 PM update

$64,834 at the moment; almost 3K on the day! It’s tough to sustain that initial pace, and anecdotal evidence suggests to me that some of you still have paychecks to wait for and tax freights to pay. I hear that. (A West Elm gift card might help! Scroll down for the deets!)

…Oops. I meant to say $65,333! Match coming at 66K!

Good news! 618 of you have already helped more than 38,000 students. 38,000! That’s my hometown — twice! Not only that, but right now, we’re on pace to hit the goal: 26% of funds raised after not quite a week.

Bad news: heroes don’t get to rest. If you’re tapped out, that’s okay, but you can still help. Post a Facebook update and explain to your FB friends what we’re doing. Tell your parents. Tell your dog-walker. Ask your book club to buy the next book used so it can spend the difference on a project. Email that teacher you still keep in touch with. Get just one more person onto the Red Planet.

We’ve climbed this hill before. It’s steep. It sucks. Hang in there.

1 PM update

Firaxis project polished off in no time — great work, guys!

Now it’s time for our next mini-prize: any donation anywhere on the TN leaderboard could win a $50 gift card from West Elm! Donate before midnight ET and feather the old nest with some shiny new stuff! If you donate through the Superpage, no need to forward your receipt; if you donate through another TN Giving Page, please DO forward your receipt. Confused? Just…forward the receipt, I’ll figure it out.

Any project, anywhere on the leaderboard. We have a 66K match to get to, so let’s light a fire under it. (Match? Fire? No? I’ll just be over here.)

9 AM update

Way to answer the evening call: $62,164. It’s tough to keep it going after the initial burst of enthusiasm, but you’re doing great — and we get a 1K match when we hit 66K. Let’s keep grinding it out; don’t give up. As my father once told me, the physics don’t have to make sense to you; flight is still possible.

(…Give it a minute. Sometimes Sr.’s koans take a minute to start working. Hi, Dad!)

In the meantime: games! Lisa M. and her colleagues at Firaxis have generously come through with copies of Civilization again this year: Civilization 4, Civilization Revolution for XBox 360, and Civilization 5. And you could win a copy of whichever suits your fancy, just by donating to “Great and Engaging Read Alouds Teach Young Readers”! A mere $273 on it as of this writing; go get it! (No need to forward your receipts.)

And don’t forget our updated sortable spreadsheet, compliments of Kablamanda!

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14 Comments »

  • AnnD says:

    LAST DAY! The Pet4Kids GP is having a FINAL SALE on MATH & SCIENCE projects. There are at least 25 projects left between $22-61 to complete. Let’s give these teacher a hand and FUND THEM TODAY! We will donate $15 to a project on this page in your honor if GENEROUS DONORS complete at least 15 of them! GIVE A SCIENCE & MATH TEACHER A HAND! Tomorrow this page returns to Special Needs & Appalachian School Projects.

  • alh says:

    Just made my first ever TN Challenge donation … and then made another one right away. This could get addictive! Two things close to my heart, books for kids and music education. Thanks, Sars, for all your hard work.

  • Margaret in TX says:

    I can’t wait until next Friday! Not only do I get paid my regular paycheck, but my annual bonus was approved and will be paid on the 15th as well. I can pay for daycare and fund some projects!

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    @alh: Welcome to the club! The addictive, spendy, touching, heroic club. You’re very welcome, and thank YOU for getting on board.

    $178 to go on the mini-prize project, super-friends! Strong start!

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    Aaaaand finished! Stand by for a PM mini-prize!

  • FloridaErin says:

    Well, evidently Verlander and the Tigers knew of my bet, since he had 9 K’s and the rest of the team finally started hitting to pull off a win. At one point, one of Baltimore’s tv guys actually said “It looks like Verlander is TRYING to get strikeouts”, and I knew I was doomed. :-)

    What the Nation is doing should be the true definition of “Winning”. (Shut up, Charlie.)

  • Erica says:

    I love this time of year. The Nation never ceases to amaze.

    Just a little shout-out here to the donors on the Canada Loves Tomatoes (and Kids) giving page, as it seems that none of them other than me are actually Canadian. Apparently their awesomeness transcends national boundaries. If there ARE any lurking Canadians, feel free to join in – adorable American kids need things!

  • Marnie says:

    Tomato Nationers! This project only has 13 days left. Let’s send some kids to the Planetarium!

    http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=484081&challengeid=136864

  • Dsayko says:

    @alh, it’s totally addicting. I blow my donation budget every year.

    I just knocked off a couple, but there are still a bunch of projects on the FIRE FIRE page with less than $15 to complete (and a couple are less than $10), so if you’ve always wanted to complete a project, now’s your chance.

  • Emma says:

    I must say, I love the Fire!Fire! page and the Pet4Kids GP. Thanks to the page-makers keeping things fresh and updated, I was able to log in quickly and finish off four separate projects today while on my coffee break! For less than $50.00, that’s almost cheaper than buying a snack out of the vending machine anyway.

  • AnnD says:

    LAST CHANCE! 9 projects left of the PETS4KIDS Math & Science Giving Page.
    6 projects less than $28 to complete. The page will change to SPECIAL NEEDS & APPALACHIAN SCHOOL projects tomorrow. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED!

  • Vanessa says:

    Let’s get ready to match!

  • Sarah D. Bunting says:

    $65,363. That is what I am talking abouuuuuuuut.

  • AnnD says:

    REALLY! LAST CHANCE! 3 MATH & SCIENCE projects remain on the PETS4KIDS GP. Thank you so much to all the donors today! YOU ROCK!
    You have made Math & Science teachers across the country EXTREMELY HAPPY!

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