May 12, 2008
The Charity Bowl: Show your school colors!
Like you, I've been touched by the devastating cyclone in Myanmar, the tornadoes in Oklahoma, Missouri and the Midwest, storms in the Southeast, wildfires in California & Florida, and earthquakes in China, not to mention the everyday needs in our own communities.
Orson from EDSBS and I are asking you to show your school spirit and help those in need today by making a donation to the American Red Cross, CARE, or the International Rescue Committee.
In turn, we'll rank the total donation by school and display it this week at Fanblogs and Every Day Should Be Saturday. The winning school will have its colors displayed at EDSBS and logo/mascot shown on every page at Fanblogs.
The particulars:
1) Make a donation online to the American Red Cross, CARE, or the International Rescue Committee.
2) Email the donation confirmation to kevin@fanblogs.com and state your team affiliation by 8pm EDT on Wednesday, May 14th.
3) Results will be displayed at Every Day Should Be Saturday and Fanblogs throughout the week, with the final results shown by Thursday, May 15th.
4) The winning school will have its colors displayed at EDSBS and logo/mascot shown on every page at Fanblogs.
Thank you in advance for your generosity. (Now... go make a donation and don't make your school look cheap!)
UPDATE 5/12/2008 4p EDT:
We've not only crossed the $1,000 mark, we've left it in the dust in less than eight hours time. Thank you all for your donations. Now help spread the word by sending this page link or linking to www.fanblogs.com/charity on your favorite message boards.
Standings:
1) Florida - $250
2) Auburn - $130
3) LSU - $125
4t) South Carolina - $100
4t) Oklahoma - $100
4t) Mississippi State - $100
4t) Ohio State - $100
4t) Nebraska - $100
5t) Florida State - $50
5t) Michigan State - $50
5t) Tennessee - $50
Total raised so far: $1,235.00
UPDATE: Day one total tops $3,000 (more)
UPDATE: Charity Bowl tops $5,000.... (more)
Comments:
OU-Ron
posted on May 12, 2008 2:00 PM — 216.201.209.146 — link — abuse?
said:
I'm not sure if this link will work, 6 people were killed in the small town of Picher Okla on Saturday, it was a very small town and was completely destroyed.
This storm moved on over to SW Mo where it killed 13 more.......
posted on May 12, 2008 2:08 PM — 72.145.94.138 — link — abuse?War Eagle Atlanta
said:
I might consider donating if I could be assured that not one DIME of my money would go to that idiot government in Myanmar. Although I feel for the people, their leaders are a bunch of Marxist idiots.
Isn't it amazing that a bad tornado here in this country may kill ten people, but a cyclone (what you call tornados south of the equator) in the country formerly known as Burma kills over 30,000? That's because in this country, we don't live like chickens in a coupe...
TE
posted on May 12, 2008 2:17 PM — 204.68.245.11 — link — abuse? said:
Dear Fanblogs Readership:
Please forgive WEA's ignorance of meterological terms...Cyclones are the equivalent of Hurricanes, south of the Equator...
WEA regrets the error, and hopes you'll forgive him. He will try harder next time.
Thanks,
-TE-
posted on May 12, 2008 2:22 PM — 72.145.94.138 — link — abuse? said:
Okay, got me there. Cyclones are a general term that includes both hurricanes and typhoons. I thought that what hit them would have to have been called a typhoon...
I told you guys that I shouldn't be doing weather and should be doing sports...
Tampa Hurricane
posted on May 12, 2008 2:44 PM — 24.96.199.254 — link — abuse? said:
War Eagle Atlanta, you don't need to worry about your donation going to Myanmar, the majority of each donation will go to paying employees of the Red Cross. The Red Cross is known for having terrible overhead expenses that means your donations won't really go towards helping anyone, they will just help pay their many employees.
Don't get me wrong... I am all for charitable donations; however, before donating money you should examine how much of your money is actually going to go to help the cause.
Arkansas Buckeye said:
posted on May 12, 2008 2:59 PM — 70.182.27.35 — link — abuse?
Geez Louise, when you guys see an accident on the highway, do you look for reasons NOT to stop and help?
When the monkey presses the lever, it gets its reward immediately. Instant gratification works better than delayed gratification for monkeys and us football addicts. There might be more donations if the tally was closer to real time.
Arkansas Buckeye said:
posted on May 12, 2008 3:01 PM — 70.182.27.35 — link — abuse?
Geez Louise, when you guys see an accident on the highway, do you look for reasons NOT to stop and help?
When the monkey presses the lever, it gets its reward immediately. Instant gratification works better than delayed gratification for monkeys and us football addicts. There might be more donations if the tally was closer to real time.
TE
posted on May 12, 2008 3:39 PM — 204.68.245.11 — link — abuse? said:
I'm ashamed to admit I have a bias against the folks at the American Red Cross...
When I was working for the Beer Industry League of Louisiana (BILL) -without question, the best job any college aged kid could have in this town-one of my bosses was a WWII veteran, who said that the Red Cross would come up to the front line, and SELL coffee and cigarettes...A for profit enterprise on the front line...
Jaded him-and me, out of respect I had for Mr. Charles W. Tapp-for life...
I'm also ashamed to admit I just pulled the trigger on a Garmin 3.5" GPS system from buy.com for the low-low price of $89.99 after mail in rebate and Google Checkout discount...
On the plus side, at least I'll know HOW to get to Myanmar!
posted on May 12, 2008 3:58 PM — 72.145.94.138 — link — abuse? said:
It could be worse, T-Cane. It could be donations to police and fire benevolent societies. Those guys use professional fundraisers who pocket around 80% of the money before passing the rest on. That seems almost criminal.
The transparency of most charitable organizations is so opaque that it jades a majority of the public who would otherwise be inclined to give. Such is the world we live in...
posted on May 12, 2008 4:06 PM — link — abuse? said:
Regarding the Red Cross, you can elect where to apply the funds on their donation page. We've all seen charities waste money over the years, but the Red Cross has received outstanding ratings for getting the money to the need. Check out their governance pages or the independent audits if you want some additional info. I can tell you that when a house burns down because of wildfires, the Red Cross is there. When a tornado levels a town, the Red Cross is there. Then a flood takes away everything a family has, the Red Cross is there.
If you would feel more comfortable, try giving to CARE or the IRC. Both are worthy charities, in my opinion.
Ramblin' Gator said:
posted on May 12, 2008 4:14 PM — 67.97.209.36 — link — abuse?
Add the United Way to that list. They are notorious for taking 40%+ of their donations for staff salaries.
My father also had a WWII era story regarding the Red Cross. There was a fire on a tender ship servicing my father's submarine in Manilla and the Red Cross showed up for the photo opportunity and then left, having helped none of the victims of the fire.
My employer has an office in Chengdu with several hundred employees, including a couple whom I work with directly. We are waiting to hear how they faired in the quake and then we will organize our corporate relief effort (hopefully involving our local personnel if they are available). Kevin, I'll send you proof of contribution if I can. When we organized a similar effort for the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, I never got a receipt - they just deducted it from my payroll deposit.
Kevin Donahue 
said:
posted on May 12, 2008 10:40 AM — link — abuse?As of 10:00a, we have the early precinct returns....
1) Florida $200
2) South Carolina $100
3t) Georgia $25
3t) FSU $25
Damn, I do *not* want to see a Florida logo at the top of Fanblogs.