Since I’ve had fundraising and donations on my mind lately, debating what may work in a small town and with my not being able to campaign in person, I’ve been a little more aware than usual about SL fundraisers. I have attended a ton in the years I’ve been on. Relay for Life is one of the main ones I go to on a regular basis and then one for a friend to raise money to get her trained medical assistance dog. There are always fundraisers going on and what’s really cool is just how generous people can be. The exchange rate for a Linden (SL currency) is 1 USD for 250L (lindens – currently; the exchange rate fluctuates). With such a wide exchange rate, people don’t usually bat an eye at dropping 2500-5000L when it’s a touching need. Although it’s a relatively small donation in USD, there is massive exposure, so a person can get some true help, and it’s awesome to read the stories about how the donations helped.
Anyway, I went to two this past week and one the week before. One was a Sci-fi themed Relay for Life event and another was a group of designers that got a silent auction together to help a friend designer who is facing some very scary medical costs and issues.
This is a shop during Fantasy Faire with some donations for the American Cancer Society. I’m absolutely fascinated by this designer’s artistic ways of bringing beauty into SL. I bought the light systems, except for the rays of light coming down on the left side. *scratches neck self consciously* I’m kind of obsessed with the designer right now and am slowly buying a lot of their artistic decorations to incorporate into our second lives. Plus, this looks like the perfect place for fairies to jump from star to star or angels to hover in pure beauty while watching over their ward. *sigh* I absolutely love the artistic creativity in SL just as much as the generosity.
Then I hit the Sci-Fi Relay for Life. I’ll confess and you can throw tomatoes at me (I’ll bring the spices and we’ll have a mild salsa), but I generally prefer Star Trek and The Orville-type versions and not the Star Wars kind. I don’t know why, but just recently discovered this. I still usually really enjoy this event and the “space” creativity is so much fun. This year just didn’t have the same feel for me, but I’m hoping it was really successful. I got a few fun space-based poses and props from a favorite designer that was donating part of her proceeds, but mostly I just appreciated the designs. There were space ships flying all over, but I somehow never got a good shot. I actually sat in the diner and used my cam to explore that area of the sim, honestly. The designer did an amazing job on the detail. Plus, there were wolves walking around in Next Gen uniforms and that was a community that I am not very knowledgeable and sound like a freak when I try to make small talk. *facepalm*
I have several pictures of the event for the sick designer. It really hit home that her body has turned against her and is killing her if she can’t get the money together to have a special procedure. With all of my health issues, I cried a few times while reading the explanation and seeing the pics of her avi that an SL photographer took to sell for donations. The photographer made sure that there was one very broken type, while all of the others were incredibly empowering and optimistic, and very phoenix rising from the flames. Ugh, I’m going to have to stare at the ceiling if I write much more. Anyway, it was a neat silent auction and the extra venue they had (which was empty because it wasn’t event time, thankfully, since I’ve been extra introverted even on SL lately) was so nostalgic, although I’m not THAT old to have caught it the first go around. So Z, no smart mouth comments about my age and nostalgia. I’m not over 40 yet, so don’t start. *laugh* It did, however, remind me of all of the Soda Shop Oldies infomercials that still play now, with clips of the singers in the beautiful venues, which I watched with my parents throughout the years (and listened to). All sexy Rat Pack-kind of beauty. So I actually hung out at the venue for the beautiful scenery as I cleaned up some of my latest inventory.
First though, I couldn’t resist bidding for a live performance by a country singer on SL. Have I mentioned that I love how I can hear singers, thespians, authors, and musicians perform around the world even when I’m in pillow city to ease the pain? I took a moment to utilize their hay area pose to chill and cam around for some other things to bid on.
This is the auction area on the left, with the concert venue on the right, which is where I hung out for a few hours.
I bought a lot of 100% proceed items and straight up donated to the nearby tip jar, and kept Bre in the praying position, so we could both offer a prayer for this bright soul who is looking at a young death if this doesn’t work. My practical part of the brain was screaming about needing to save and be humble enough to ask for help, too, but my soul needed that, especially with all of the turmoil for the last few months.
Gaming tends to have such a bad reputation, but I hope this helps someone change their mind and see that there are some incredibly generous people who are helping people they will never meet in person. In what some would say is just a game. I’m proud to be part of this other world that reflects all of us. You can find more edgy pursuits if you want to, but there are so many incredible people to support, meet, and even appreciate their talents. It was really beautiful to go to three fundraisers within mere days and see the amazing generosity. Sometimes all you can see is the bad and what needs reform when you look at the world. I’m thankful to be part of another world that is huge, but has a small village, “we look after our own”, atmosphere in some places.
Georgia's Pampering 