Helping Others in Second Life XII – Save the Alamo!

Remember the Alamo!

Texas

I’m writing tonight on behalf of a friend in Second Life (SL) and one of the most impressive builds inworld.

I’m going to appeal to the residents of SL who appreciate and understand what it takes to create a great build inworld and then to maintain it financially.

I’m also appealing to all the Texans out there, both in SL and in Real Life (RL), who honor the memory of the Alamo.   

My friend is Lora Chadbourne and she is one of the most creative and realistic builders in SL.    

I’ve blogged before about her work.  From the sacred at the Tomb in the Holy Land, to the whimsical with the Simpsons’ home, the historical at Plymouth Rock, and finally to where no man (or woman for that matter) has gone before with Star Trek. 

All her works show her attention to detail and faithfulness in recreating scenes from RL whether fictional or non-fictional. 

Lora is truly one of the greats inworld!

Her piece de resistance is her reconstruction of the Alamo.

Yes, that Alamo.

The site where a group of men died for freedom.

I’ve saving this site for my story because I was so impressed by it that I wanted to be able to give it full justice. 

Then, recently, I received word that the Alamo may soon close due to loss of funding.

The tier (SL rents) for the Alamo had been sponsored by the University of Texas at Arlington.  Their financial support will come to an end on September 30^th of this year. 

If this happens then SL will lose one of its great treasures.  And, we’ve been losing too many of those as it is already! 

This isn’t going to be cheap folks.  It costs just over $1,100 per year to maintain the Alamo.

This is what I want to know…

Are there enough Texans, friends of Texas, and committed residents inworld to arrange funding to keep the Alamo open?

This is going to require more than casual donations made every month to make tier.  I know of other sims that try this funding model and it’s ugly and stressful.

The memory of the Alamo requires something more reliable.

Here are a few ideas…

Is there an individual or organization willing to take over the funding entirely?

Can a consortium of several parties be assembled to commit to funding?

Does anyone know of any other funding options that might be pursued?

If you can help in anyway then please contact Lora inworld and she’ll be happy to work with you. 

The Alamo can be found here in SL. 

I encourage everyone to drop by and see this impressive build.

If anyone from RL is not familiar with SL and would like to see it then please contact me and either myself or another will help you come inworld to see the Alamo.

It would be a shame if Lora’s masterpiece becomes another Lost Treasure of SL!

Please help in any way that you can!

Keep those cards and letters coming in!

I’d like to thank The Companion for taking the pictures used in this story. 

Additional pictures of the Alamo can be found on this flickr page. 

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. 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

            Open roads and kind fires!

Helping Others in Second Life X – We Have a Puppy!

Happiness is a warm puppy. 

Charles M. Schulz

  

 As my three loyal readers know, along with a few other stalwarts, I’ve been reporting on the efforts of a friend in Second Life (SL) to obtain a diabetic service dog in Real Life (RL).    

My friend, XMarieX (Marie) Fairport, has diabetes in RL and a service dog would make a major improvement in her life as well as be potentially lifesaving.

Recently, I was happy to report that Marie was on the short list to receive a dog. 

Well, now I can report that a dog has been identified and assigned to her.  Musketeer

is his name! 

I’ve included some photos of Musketeer here and additional ones and videos can be found on this flickr page.    

The last challenge for Marie is to achieve her financial goal of $15,000. 

(Sadly, in this country, resources like Musketeer have to be privately funded.)

If you’d like to help, here’s how:

First, contributions can now be made directly to Diabetic Alert Dogs of America (DADA)!

Go to http://www.diabeticalertdogsofamerica.com/     

At the bottom BLUE part of the page, second from the right, click on PAYMENTS.

 Click BUY NOW. 

In the description, type MUSKETEER PUPPY, enter an amount and continue.  Verify the payment type (credit card, debit card or PayPal) and know that your help is greatly appreciated by Marie and her family! 

(Important:  You must enter "MUSKETEER PUPPY" in the payment description, othe wise those funds will be "lost"). 

Donations can ALSO be made via L$ to XMarieX Fairport.  

Also to any Wells Fargo Bank, let them know you wish to donate to MUSKETEER

THE DIABETIC ALERT DOG.

The down payment is just the first step!  Half of the remaining balance is due the end of October. 

How else can you help?

Not everyone can always afford to donate even if they want to.

But, you can help in other ways!

First, share this story with its links to your friends and ask them to help

Next, keep Marie and her family in your thoughts and prayers!  These do help!

I know other people’s thoughts and prayers have helped me in my life.  (Significant Other nods in agreement.)

Marie will be keeping all of us up to date with any new information about this life saving Service Dog at http://mariesdog.blogspot.com/

Be sure to check it out! 

I’ll be updating as we go along and hopefully we’ll soon have pictures of Marie with Musketeer!

Thanks to all of you who are helping in whatever way you can! 

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. 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

            Open roads and kind fires!

Helping Others in Second Life IX – A Progress Report

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.

Maya Angelou

As my three loyal readers know, I occasionally blog about a need someone has in Real Life (RL) and tell everyone how they can help in Second Life (SL) if they’re both willing and able to do so. 

Most of these are one-time requests and I don’t often get a lot of feedback on what happens.  (The last thing people in need should worry about is getting back to me!)

However, I’m happy to be able to give a progress report on one of these requests for assistance.

XMarieX (Marie) Fairport is a woman living with diabetes in RL.   

SL has become somewhere she can go to cope with the distress and chronic pain that this disease causes her. 

A while back, I blogged about her efforts to raise $15,000US to acquire a diabetic service dog from Diabetic Alert Dogs of America (DADA) to help improve the quality of her life and to potentially save it as well. 

Recently, Marie has cleared her first hurdle in acquiring her service dog.  She’s successfully raised the down payment for her dog (To be called Musketeer.) and is now number 23 on the waiting list with DADA. 

Approximatively six weeks from now, Marie'll be on the top of the list and DADA will begin to look for her dog (already named Musketeer Puppy) according to her needs and

lifestyle that have already been communicated to them.

When Musketeer Puppy has been located, DADA will send Marie a scent kit.  She'll provide scent samples (spit) of her low, normal and high blood sugar levels. The scent kit will be sent back and the samples will be used to train Musketeer. 

While all of this will be going on, Marie’ll receive weekly updates, photos, and videos that she’ll be sharing of what Musketeer has been successfully trained to do, what he is currently working on, field trips he's taken and how he did.  Seems Musketeer will get to go to Target, Wal-Mart, restaurants, etc.

Sounds like Musketeer’s going to be a busy dog! 

Now, for the best part!

How can we help Marie get Musketeer?

Here’s how!

First, contributions can now be made directly to DADA!

Go to http://www.diabeticalertdogsofamerica.com/     

At the bottom BLUE part of the page, second from the right, click on PAYMENTS.

 Click BUY NOW. 

In the description, type MUSKETEER PUPPY, enter an amount and continue.  Verify the payment type (credit card, debit card or PayPal) and know that your help is greatly appreciated by Marie and her family! 

(Important:  You must enter "MUSKETEER PUPPY" in the payment description, othe wise those funds will be "lost"). 

Donations can ALSO be made via L$ to XMarieX Fairport.  

Also to any Wells Fargo Bank, let them know you wish to donate to MUSKETEER THE DIABETIC ALERT DOG.

The down payment is just the first step!  Half of the remaining balance is due the end of October. 

How else can you help?

Not everyone can always afford to donate even if they want to.

But, you can help in other ways!

First, share this story with it’s links to your friends and ask them to help

Next, keep Marie and her family in your thoughts and prayers!  These do help!

I know other people’s thoughts and prayers have helped me in my life.  (Significant Other nods in agreement.)

Marie will be keeping all of us up to date with any new information about this life saving Service Dog at http://mariesdog.blogspot.com/

Be sure to check it out! 

I’ll also be doing another update as we get closer to knowing who Musketeer is! 

Marie would like to thank everyone who has contributed, shared her story, and prayed for her!

If you’re ever inworld when she is, give her a shout out!  She’d love to talk with you! 

Thanks in advance from me for whatever you decide to do!

I’d like to thank Marie for taking the time to chat with me about Musketeer and I wish her every success in her endeavors! 

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. 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

            Open roads and kind fires!

Helping Others in Second Life VIII – Assisting Someone with Lou Gehrig’s Disease

You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.

John Bunyan

Recently, I received an urgent request for assistance from my old friend in Second Life (SL) and the Mayor of Mieville, Perryn Peterson.    

One of Mieville’s citizens desperately needs help in Real Life (RL) and Perryn, as he always does in these situations, is organizing assistance.  (He serves as an exemplary model to RL leaders who fall short many times when it comes to helping those entrusted to their care.)

Let me tell you what’s happening and how we can help.  (Significant Other wants everyone to know that there will be no kibitzing this evening due to the seriousness of the situation.  Significant Other is also still in a state of shock after the recent US Presidential Election.  And, no, Significant Other is neither Hillary Rodham Clinton nor Tim Kaine.)

Lady B (BronwynPendraig Timeless), partner in SL and RL of Magician Spyke (SpykeMcCallister Kayvon). is a victim of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.  

The only way Lady B can currently communicate in RL is by blinking her eyes or smiling (which she does a lot we’re told!).  Perryn and his crew are helping to raise funds to buy her a computer that is controlled by eye movements to allow her to communicate with people around her. 

A benefit yard sale is being held inworld to raise these funds.

Here’s how we can help!

First, please comb your inventory for transferable (This is important!) items and send them to Perryn Peterson ASAP!  Your donated items (which can include your GACHA extras!) will help raise funds for Lady B. 

This is how to do it:

1.  Select your items.

2.  Box each item (or set of items), label with name of the item and original price if known.  Original price can be put in the "Description" section under "Edit" of your box.  Please make sure that the items are transferable!  (Yes, this is being repeated for emphasis.)

3.  Send to Perryn Peterson. 

Got that?

Good, here are some other ways that we can help!

If you are a merchant, please consider donating surplus items that you have created

to sell at the yard sale!  Please include a sign for your shop with a LM inside.  It will be displayed with your items. 

Please plan on coming to the yard sale to shop and to pick up some bargains!

There will also be the opportunity to make cash donations, which if you can’t make the yard sale, is a great way to help.

In case anyone feels more secure donating directly to the campaign outside of SL, the link is as follows:

https://www.gofundme.com/2eurea8k

Once again, SL residents are rallying to help one of their own.

People are selflessly giving of their time and treasure to help someone whom they may never have met inworld let alone in RL.  Not only that, but there’s plenty of great gifts to buy for the upcoming Holidays!

Yes, there is good in SL and Perryn and his fellow citizens are showing what it can be like! 

Please come and contribute if you can!

If circumstances preclude you from contributing then at least come out and lend moral support to those who are working to help Lady B! 

Whatever you do, it will be appreciated!

The yard sale starts from 10:00AM SLT on Friday, November 18th and runs through

the weekend, closing at midnight SLT on Sunday, November 20th. 

The yard sale can be found here. 

Picture of the items available for sale are included in this story and more can be found on this flickr page. 

I’d like to thank the Companion for taking the time to take all these pictures for the benefit of Lady B!

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. 

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

            Open roads and kind fires!

Helping Others in Second Life VII – Will You Help a Child Go to School, Please?

You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.

John Bunyan

           Wandering across Second Life (SL) for the last several years has taught me at least one very important lesson.  (Significant Other cringes.) That lesson is that residents inworld are at least as generous as they are in Real Life (RL), perhaps, even more so.  (Significant Other exhales slowly and looks relieved.)   

          There’s Relay for Life and efforts to help with diabetes.  I continue to see communities come together when one of their own runs into RL issues.    

          A note of warning before we go any further!

          I happen to believe in the general goodness of people whether in SL or in RL.  I don’t think we’re superior to others because we can walk by others less fortunate than ourselves who may be lying in the gutter kidding ourselves that they’ll get out when they feel like pulling themselves up.  Building walls neither hides the problem nor makes it go away. (Significant Other smiles approvingly.)  

          I remember what I once heard in a RL church during a homily (Yes, they let me in but they do keep an eye on me.), “The spare coat in your closet belongs to the poor.”

          And, yes.  If you think this rant of mine is a result of the current political situation in my country right now then you’re correct!  

          Now, that that’s over with…

          My good friends at First UCC in SL are once again sponsoring a RL child from

Children International through their RealReach program.  

          First UCC was originally attracted to Children International because they are not a directly sectarian effort tied to a single denomination.  They had strong ratings through charity tracking sites, and 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.          

          This year a seventeen year old girl in Mexico has been identified as the latest beneficiary of RealReach.  She lives with her family and attends school.  But, she needs help with her school fees.  She has waited 216 days for a sponsor.  First UCC will pay $32US per month to support her education.  

          Now, here’s where folks like us can help!  

          On Thursday, June 16, 2016, at 6:00PM SLT, First UCC will be holding a dance and

an auction to raise funds to cover one year’s expenses for the child that they’re sponsoring.  The dance has a pool theme!  So grab your swimsuit and join the fun!  (Please no skinny dippers, this is a church function after all!)  

          If you can afford to please come by and make a contribution.

          If you can’t afford to make a contribution then please come by any way and lend your moral support.  

          I plan on being there!  (Although, Significant Other suggests that I offer to stay away if it means more people will contribute.)  

          Hope to see you there!  (Unless someone makes a material donation and I’ll stay away!)  

          I’d like to thank Jer Newstart, Becca Kellstrom, and XMarieX Fairport for their assistance in preparing this story!

          Some of the photos used in this story are from First UCC and used with the permission of their ministry. 

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.  

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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. 

          Open roads and kind fires!