Well, not quite for my blog, but for NaNoWriMo and the Office of Letters and Light http://blog.lettersandlight.org/! I earned the superhero moniker and a gold halo on my wrimo site by making a donation of $100 to one of their programs. Amazingly, because of what I believed to be very meagre support, NaNoWriMo and the Young Writers Program grew again this year. They had 250,000 adults and 80,000 kids and teens in more than 2,000 classrooms writing. My donation helped contribute to 500 public libraries transform their spaces into community noveling zones. It helped inspire and unleash a life-changing creative confidence in writers around the world, including me!
This was a big year for all of their programs. They launched the brand-new Camp NaNoWriMo, and rebuilt the entire NaNoWriMo site in order to keep it speedy during November’s monster traffic spike. For the first year ever, they had a year-round, full-time Young Writers Program Director to expand their free curriculum and resources for schools, and a year-round, full-time staff member dedicated to supporting libraries and 500 volunteer-run chapters around the world. They still have $200,000 left to raise before hitting their organisational break-even point for the year. If they miss this goal, they won’t shut down, but will have to cut back on all the programs supported this year.
I hesitated to bother you with a fundraising appeal, especially at this time of year, but as I got so much out of the writing the NaNoWriMo challenge personally, I am asking you to consider making a donation to the Office of Letters and Light. If you can make even a very small tax deductible donation, it will have a huge impact on the lives of the 400,000 writers they hope to inspire together in 2012 and into 2013. For NaNoWriMo 2011, there were 256,618 participants. We wrote a total of 3,074,068,446 words, and there were 36,774 winners, of which I was one! For NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program, there were 81,040 participants, who wrote a total of 368,143,078 words with 16,334 winners, which was a never-before-precedented 32% win rate. How cool is that!!! Good ideas, words, inspiration, dreams, sponsors, and hard work. That is all it takes to help a lot of young (and old!) new writers reach their dreams.
Kate, Did you receive the news yesterday about Brainy App for iphones. It is a computer app for iphone to supprt Dementia. Another great Australian Idea.
Paul
http://www.brainyapp.com.au/
LikeLike
Thanks Paul. I don’t have an iphone, but will look it up some time. It sounds interesting.
LikeLike
Hi Kate, sorry I havent been blogging you the last few days – life has been slightly out of control lately. I have a Mum who is going through the early stages of dementia. What really bothers me is that I took her to a geriatrician for assessment. The geriatrician asked her the following questions: do you cook for yourself, do you shower yourself, do you ever not know how to get home?? Mum answered yes to the cooking and showering and no to the getting home. Her cooking is a bread roll for dinner or weet bix for breakfast with very little in her fridge. The geriatrician said she was doing really well. And that was that. Despite the fact that she cant remember what she said minutes apart – repetition, repetition. You would of thought the geriatrician would have asked her what type of food she cooks or even suggested an ACAS assessment. I was told not to worry, she was good for her age (84). So where do I go from here??? Hope and love Robynx
LikeLike
Hi Robyn, So sorry life has been out of control. What you are going through with your Mum is hideous, and is not dissimialr to what is happening to mt father in law, another friends elderly and infirmed husband, and my younger sick friend, who is now dying even though we will probably have to move him into aged care without much dignity! I have no advice of ‘where do you go from here’ with you rmum, other than get a second opinion, or discuss the legal options around Enduring Power of Guardianship and how you might bbe able to activate that. I’m in the thick of it with all of those in poor situations, which is probably where my blog today (10/12) has sprung from. Just know my thoughts are with you, our shared nits are gunning for us both, and my love and hope is with you too. Love, xxx
LikeLike
Awesome post, thanks Kate.
LikeLike