No
one has ever become poor by giving.
Anne
Frank
Those of
you who are regular readers (My thanks to both of you!) know that I’m very
interested in how virtual worlds like Second Life (SL) interact with Real Life
(RL). (Significant Other gives me that warning look that SL had better not ever
show up at our front door.)
For many,
this involves hanging out with friends, music, dancing, parties, sex, and
lifestyles like BDSM or naturism. (I
should know, I’ve blogged just about all of them!) All of which contributes in one way or
another, fairly or not, to how some in RL perceive SL.
I’ve
always felt that the positive aspects of SL such as friendship and community
bonding don’t get the proper attention and respect that they deserve. One of the reasons I’ve marooned myself
inworld instead of going out across the Metaverse was
that I found SL and its residents and their lives to be so fascinating. They have to be great people no one’s kicked
me out yet. (Well, there was that one
time. But, it was a misunderstanding. Better yet, let’s just not bring that back up
again.)
One aspect
that I’ve found particularly engaging about SL is how willing people are to go
out of their way to help others. Recent
examples in this blog include Relay
for Life (RFL) raising money inworld for cancer research in
RL. (Which as of this writing has
collected over $400,000US.) The Mieville
sim had a yard
sale
to help raise money for a member suffering from leukemia in RL and who didn’t
have health insurance. (Which has
surpassed its goal for its member in need.)
Finally, First
UCC
maintains a ministry inworld helping congregants, and anyone else who needs it,
with their spiritual and other needs.
There are
many others and I don’t wish to slight them.
These three groups I’d just stumbled across in my wanderings across the
Grid and became aware of their activities.
Recently,
while hanging around with the First UCC crew (The only places in RL that I have
yet to thrown out of are churches and Starbucks. Since there are none of the latter inworld, I
tend to hang around with the former.
It’s safer.) I learned about
their upcoming fundraiser to support a child in RL.
Yes, you
heard me correctly.
A church
group in SL is raising funds to support a child in RL. Not only that, but this is the second time
they’ve doing it! I had to learn more.
Reaching
out to my SL friend, Becca
Kellstrom, a minister in both worlds, I asked about the possibility
of an interview. She promptly connected
me with YoYo
Rez,
one of the two non-clergy staffers at First UCC and who is also responsible for
running the program. (Significant Other
suggests the promptness may have more to do with not wanting to be seen with
the likes of me. I politely remind
Significant Other that but for the likes of me, folks like Bec would be out of
a job.)
YoYo and I
were able to schedule a time to meet and to discuss the children’s aid program
run by the church.
What
follows comes from that interview and materials that YoYo was kind enough to
send to me. (BTW, YoYo’s a big time Buffy the Vampire Slayer
fan. We hit it off from the get
go!)
The
program is called RealReach by First UCC and is run in RL under the sponsorship
of an organization called Children
International.
YoYo was
originally attracted to their program because they are not a directly sectarian
effort tied to a single denomination. They
had strong ratings through charity tracking sites, and she liked how they tied
education and skill-building programs into their outreach efforts. They actively involve the families of the
sponsored children in in-country community efforts. They are not just a
drop-off-the-food-and-clothing kind of place.
They have programs right in the neighborhoods they serve, and they
interact daily with those they're helping. Children
are normally supported until their eighteenth year when their education
ends. Although, YoYo cited as an example
a young person she sponsors herself whom she supported until his nineteenth
birthday so that he could complete technical training.
To me this
sounds like a very effective program. (Look,
I’m not going to pretend that I’m some sort of expert in helping others. (We won’t go into Significant Other’s
observation that I can help best by staying away.) But, my limited experience has taught me that
getting and staying involved with folks who need help is beneficial for all
concerned.)
The cost
per child is approximately $350US annually.
There are
benefits accruing from this program other than just caring for children. YoYo observed how this effort unifies everyone
in First UCC. It focuses them and draws them
together as a community. Naturally, they
grow in unity through their services and their prayer times, but there are very
real friendships and relationships being forged here. Many of the members have already met in RL. Some have made decisions about moving to be
closer to other First UCC members and to join their worship communities, and
are beginning to visit one another from across states and across the country. So certainly, First UCC gets a direct benefit
from joining in projects that never could have united them without a virtual
world community. They never would have
met. This extra good would never have
been done.
Now, for
the good part, how can we help!
First UCC
is having its next fund raiser to sponsor a child on Saturday. August 23rd,
from 11:00 AM SLT to 1:00 PM SLT at their inworld
location.
It’s going
to be a “Battle of the DJs.” There will
be four DJs and each DJ will receive thirty minutes of allotted time. At the very start of the event, YoYo will trigger
a device that spits out rolly balls with a single word on it. She’ll do eight of these. The DJ must play up to eight songs with that
random word in the title. The person who
goes first has less time to think about it ... but those who go last might see
the song they want taken by an earlier DJ.
(Sure beats the old bake sale idea, huh?)
There will be four donation
stations, and people can donate to the DJ they want to "win." And of
course, the real winner is the sponsored child, although the DJ who wins walks
away with bragging rights.
Sounds like a plan!
At the
first fund raiser, expectations were modest.
YoYo and her colleagues didn’t expect to raise the full annual fee for
the sponsored child. They were stunned
to not only hit the goal but to exceed it.
YoYo admits freely that she cried for joy.
If you
want to want to make a difference in the world, the real world, and help a
child then I’d recommend you join YoYo and First UCC on August 23rd
and join the fun. If you can’t make the
date how about dropping by some other time to make a donation?
At a time
when so many children seem to be suffering in this world either dying of thirst
in a desert or hiding in basements from bombs, here’s a chance to make a
difference in the life of at least one child.
I’ve included a few pictures of my interview
with YoYo and the First UCC sim. Drop by
and walk through the gardens there when you find yourself in need of a quiet
moment.
I’d like
to thank YoYo again for taking the time to meet with me and answer my questions
and Bec for arranging for us to meet!
As always, I’m grateful to
all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who
was passing through their lives.
I welcome feedback from
readers, please either comment on my blog or
e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com
.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
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