So… I had hoped to raise $200.  As of right now, I’m at $765.  Here’s a thing: THE ENTIRE EVENT HAS ONLY RAISED $1,785.  That means 42% of the fundraising to date for the Portland Run for Congo was you guys.  I am blown away by that.  Thank you all. I hope you’re as proud of you as I am.

Here are a couple of follow up links:

• A Thousand Sisters site
• A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman book
• Charity Navigator’s page for Women for Women International
• The Women for Women International Website
• Women for Women on Twitter
• The wiki page for Zainab Salbi, the organization’s CEO and founder

And of course:

• My fundraising page; and
• The events page, in case you’d like to join me for the 5k on July 23rd. (And oh, hey, here’s this Couch to 5k plan…)
• Run for Congo Women site

Click Here to Donate

The Numbers

Okay, so according to Andy Khouri and Pat Loika, the WBCers DIDN’T STAY THE FULL TIME FOR WHICH THEY WERE SCHEDULED.  Consensus seems to be that they were there doing their thing for roughly 40 minutes and there were “3 or 4″ of them.

So.

Now it’s time to make good on our pledges.  Write the check or hit the big donation button and we can retire the hashtag.  (I’d encourage you to do it now if you can, so that you don’t forget, but if you’re actually at SDCC, I can see waiting until you get home.)  Don’t forget to put “Fred Phelps” on the memo line.

How much?

Whatever you can afford/think is appropriate.

We said we’d do $50 if they showed, plus $10/hr for however long they stayed.  (Clearly, I was expecting a little more enthusiasm from them for their cause.)  That’s what?  Roughly $57.50?  Fraction and I are gonna round up on principle and send $100 each to amfAR and maybe one other foundation.  But seriously, if you said you’d do $10/hr–there is no shame in a $7.50 donation if that’s what you’ve got to spare right now.  A gift is a gift.  The important part is following through on your word.

If you pledged $10 per person, it looks like you’re out forty bucks.  If you pledged time?  Put 40 minutes of volunteer work on your to do list.

I want to leave you with something I read about #godlovesbatman on Tom Spurgeon’s excellent Comics Reporter site:

…The thought is that you make their [the WBC's] appearance and all time spent during their appearance drive money going to a charity that they would likely not approve of. I’m going to make such a donation, and I’ll post the time here so you can maybe do so. I’ll also hope to find time and inspiration to pray for those people, because they seem very lost, and maybe you will, too. [Emphasis mine.]

I…I think I might have something in my eye, ya’ll.

Heh. I stand by my assertion that it’s really best to ignore the WBC, but… I couldn’t help but LOL at some of the counter-protesters. Good God, I love you people. (Heeeey. See what I did there??)

Alright, as soon as I have confirmation that they’re gone, we’ll go ahead and make our donation.

(My understanding is that there were 3 WBC-ers and they got there about five minutes before their 1:15 pm scheduled start.)

Oh–another charity I’ve heard mentioned as an appropriate beneficiary is the Matthew Shepard Foundation. I couldn’t find them on Charity Navigator, but I’ve heard Shepard’s mother speak and have been profoundly moved by her message.

Okay, so, Fred Phelps and his family of hateful bigots are getting a lot of press for their planned appearance at (or near?) the San Diego Comic Con.  The man lives for attention and confrontation.  If you see him there, don’t sneer, don’t scream, don’t confront, don’t point and laugh–DON’T ACKNOWLEDGE.   Ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore, ignore…

EXCEPT!  We need some help in the form of a time-keeper or two, letting us know exactly how long the patron saint of backwards thinking and his family manage to stand and scream in the California sun.  Then, by all means, do stare–at your watch!  Make a note of what time it is and alert the internet that they’re there/still there.  (But do it quietly and from a polite distance, will you?)  Go get yourself a cold drink and check back every now and then until we have an approximate time count.  Like… here would be good.  Or on Twitter, with the hashtag #godlovesbatman

Why?  Because in the spirit of love, we are pledging to donate $50 to amfAR if Phelps and his crew actually show up (often they don’t) and $10 an hour additional to amfAR for every hour they stay.  And we’ll make our donation in Fred’s name.

We’d love you to join us.

(And we’d really love to be able to post a tally of how much we’ve raised.)

Repost far and wide, my pretties.

EDITED TO ADD:

1. We’ll be donating to amfAR, but Sam and Ginny have both suggested the Human Rights Campaign.  Either seems appropriate.
2. Looks like the WBC is only scheduled for 45 minutes.  (Lightweights!)  If that’s the case, we’ll round up to $100–but times are tough and you shouldn’t feel like you have to do the same or not participate.  $7.50 is better than nothing.  $57.50 is peachy and cute.
3. There seems to be some confusion–you don’t need to be at SDCC to pledge.  We’re doing an online donation via this link.

EDITED ONCE AGAIN:

1. I’m told the HRC is quite controversial within the LGBT community for their treatment of the “T” part of the LGBT. Dirk Deppey suggests the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force instead (Click the big pink DONATE button on the upper right).  We have chosen amfAR, but honestly, folks, there are a ton of appropriate charities from the CBLDF (the WBC folks are fond of litigation, as it happens, and they are accusing us of idol worship) to smaller local groups like UCan in Chicago.  (With any charitable organization, do your research.)  What matters is that you take a message of hate and you turn it into a LOVING ACTION.  Get it?  Some assholes go and scream about God’s wrath and BAM! somewhere on the other side of the world, somebody gets a pill they need that they might not have gotten otherwise.
2. Another suggestion I loved was to match the WBC’s time with your time.  So if they spend 45 minutes screaming and yelling, maybe you spend 45 minutes making phone calls to your elected officials making clear your position of support for LGBT civil rights initiatives.  Or you volunteer for an hour at a food bank.  Or whatever.  Get creative; you people are amazing.

Because, really, can you ever have too much?

From: “Jason Huff”
Date: November 20, 2008 4:15:10 PM CST
To: “Jason Huff”
Subject: The homeless pets have been robbed

To those that care about the homeless pets in Kansas City:

We have had a small tragedy at The Pet Connection. Yesterday, we were the victim of a crime that will have grave costs to our pets or for those that we are not able to rescue. Our trailer and all the supplies for building 8 new dog and cat rooms was stolen. I am so sad, disappointed, and everyone at our facility is feeling a little defeated. Jason Huff and myself got most of the supplies donated and spent 2 days loading it all for TPC so that the cost would be minimal. Replacement value of our loss: $4000. We were going to start construction over Thanksgiving. Jason and I cancelled holiday plans with our families so that we could build these much needed life savers. Our Christmas gift to the homeless pets was an important one. We estimate that these rooms will help us successfully house and rescue 15-40 additional pets each month. Almost 70 percent of the rescued dogs at our facility were scheduled to be euthanized in area shelters simply because of space constraints.

If anyone can send additional funding for this project, we would really appreciate. If everyone we have helped this month, would send $5……that would be about $3000. If everyone on this list sent $5, that would be $35,000. We need help. Please send your pledge today. I know that together, we can make this horrible turn of events seem small.

If we do not receive a rally from our friends, we will not be able to complete the project until much later. I’m turning away about a hundred animals a month, please help me. We need these resources to be available as soon as possible. We needed them yesterday.

Please cross post to anyone that may be able to assist.

Jason Huff
Director of Operations
The Pet Connection
jason@thepetconnection.net
www.thepetconnection.net
913-671-PETS
5918 Broadmoor
Mission KS 66202
OPEN HRS: Tues – Sunday 9am-8pm Monday by appt only
Low cost obedience instruction, low cost microchipping
Low cost spay/neuter
Adoption

Where is your mobile phone? Purse.
Where is your significant other? Upstairs.
Your hair colour? Brown.
Your mother? Uneasy.
Your father? Measured.
Your favourite thing? Sleep.
Your dream last night? Stalker.
Your dream goal? Novel.
The room you’re in? Pink.
Your hobby? Knitting.
Your fear? Crazy.
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Organized.
Where were you last night? Here.
What you’re not? Tall.
One of your wish-list items? Clothes.
Where you grew up? Military.
The last thing you did? Taught.
What are you wearing? BCBG.
Your TV? MSNBC.
Your pets? Loud.
Your computer? Demanding.
Your mood? Nervous.
Missing someone? Nana.
Your car? Dirty.
Something you’re not wearing? Pajamas.
Favourite shop? Anthropologie.
Your summer? Hot.
Love someone? Fraction.
Your favourite colour? Tiffany.
When is the last time you laughed? Henry.
When is the last time you cried? Obama.

Your turn.