Help save Holly's hearing. Only a dollar!

[pelf81]

I would like to request for a small favour from all Bloggeries Forum members.

You see, Holly Alonzo is a 21-year-old wife and mother who has a genetic condition called Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2). She has already lost the hearing in one ear due to the bilateral tumors on her hearing nerves. The tumor on her good ear is now growing and something has to be done soon. Holly is now hoping to get an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI). The implant will provide her with some auditory stimulation so that will not have to risk being completely blind AND deaf.

Yvonne Foong (a NF2 patient in Malaysia) and I have just launched a "One dollar campaign" to help Holly raise the funds she needed for an ABI. You may read more about the "Only a dollar" campaign here -- Help Holly. Only a dollar! The essence of the post is that I would be extremely grateful if you could just donate ONE DOLLAR to Holly. One dollar isn't too much to ask for, is it? But of course, you are most welcome to donate more if you wish.

But on top of that, I would like to request that you blog about it so that more people can donate to Holly

Thank you very much for your time!

[enterpriseJM]

I risk criticism for being callous and uncaring, but it's not the first time in my life I've been accused of such insensitivity. Disease and deformity, especially of children, are heart-wrenching and it just makes us want to cry - or donate money to make it all go away. To be sure, there are millions upon millions of children living and dieing or tortured by terrible disease. It makes some people question their own faith.

The unfortunate reality of the Internet is that we are besieged with scammers and fakesters in every crevice of the Ether. These kinds of monetary appeals, from mere pennies to more dollars, are so very hard to sort from the riff, the raff and the legitimate desire to help those in need. Being naturally suspicious of such pleas for my merciful dollars, I always look to Google, Snopes and Hoax Busters to help me figure out what's the truth and what's not.

I am NOT saying your campaign is a hoax because I did not come up with any proof that it was. But it made me think about all the many thousands, maybe millions of people suffering with disease that could be helped by caring people like you, who can use the power of your blogs to appeal to your friends and associates in the blogosphere to bring an end to their suffering or ease their pain.

What if only, say, 1% of them decided to bring their appeals to the handful of blogging forums to make these appeals? Just one search term based on your own appeal gave me over 27,000 results in Google. If only 1% of them came to the blogging forums, we would have 270 tearful pleas to help these people. But wait. There are not just 27,000 cries for help for children - that was just for children with Neurofibromatosis. What about all the other God-awful diseases and maladies that our children of the world are stricken with. We could be talking millions of poor babies that need our help now.

Then we would have to have special forums here just to handle the thousands of young children who need our help. No, I'm not talking about the people who would respond to these cries for help. I am talking about the bloggers and forumites who see that you and a couple of others were able to find a place to make their public appeals for $$$ unabated. Now is when the real scourges of the worl... I mean, Ether, come out of the woodwork looking to glean some of the gold found in these forums.

Some of you might think me a real scumbag for even broaching this subject like this. Hey, I'm sorry, but you missing one small piece of information that might help you understand why I think this is all wrong: I'm dieing. I was given my official eviction notice by my doctor a couple weeks ago. I got "maybe" two or three years left. Lung disease. My only heath care is through the VA and that ain't too good. If I could afford it, I might be able to live longer - I might even be able to get a lung transplant.

My point is, why shouldn't everyone with a tear-jerking story (and believe me, I could jerk a few tears if I wasn't so content being a jerk) be able to bring their story and their donation can here to the forums? If you do it, why shouldn't the rest of us be able to do it? Because this is a support forum for bloggers, that's why. Because what you get from here should make you better at appealing to the public... through your own blog.

Look, I am truly sorry for Holly's terrible condition. But this is just not the place to ask for dollars. You have been given every opportunity to bring us to your site to read your story and it just seems like a little bit of abuse to take the generosity of the forum owners and ask his members for money to help your cause. You already have signature space to call attention to Holly's plight. You have the "Recent Blog" feed that can bring us to read about Holly at your site. And you have the website link in your profile and the drop-down on your name that will help you "link" up with us at your place, so please, don't turn this forum into a charity forum. It will start something that will quickly become out of control.

Thanks for listening. I'm sorry if I came off mean.

Jim

[pelf81]

Hi Jim

WOW, that was indeed a lengthy post! I appreciate you taking the time to tell me how you feel about the "Help Holly" message that I have posted. And well, you have spoken your mind, so please let me speak mine, and I promise to keep it short and sweet.

(1) You were right when you said that, "the Internet is [...] besieged with scammers and fakesters in every crevice" hence that was why Yvonne and I decided NOT to collect any funds on behalf of Holly. What we have agreed to do was to just write about Holly's condition and link to her blog. Whether or not you decide to donate to Holly would be entirely up to you (the reader).

(2) You also said, "What about all the other God-awful diseases and maladies that our children of the world are stricken with. We could be talking millions of poor babies that need our help now" and you know what? You could be right! There may be millions of such cases, but I don't know about them. And frankly speaking, I am NOT on a mission to save everybody on earth and ease them of their pains and sufferrings. In fact, I am only doing whatever I can in my very own capacity to make someone's life more bearable.

I may not be able to send 60,000 people to donate a dollar each to Holly so that she could get the ABI, but I know that whatever I have done tells Holly that somewhere far away, somebody cares about her and wants to help her. It is knowing that somebody you have never met who is willing to help you that makes you feel good and motivated to even work harder yourself.

I was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) when I was 19. We were poor, and Mum couldn't afford my 6-month medications without either selling the car or the house. But my aunt stepped in and arranged for the doctor to bill her each time I visited him. That few thousands of dollars may be little to my aunt, but was a lot to me and Mum. And it was that kind gesture that kept us going -- knowing that somebody cares for us.

(3) I am sorry if my earlier post gave you the impression that I am doing this "to make me better at apealing to the public" because I am not doing any of these to gain anything for myself. And this is all I want to say regarding the comment you made about me.

(4) I understand that this is a forum for bloggers, but I have taken every care to post that message in the "News from the Blogosphere" category rather than the "Blogging Tips" category. The description for this particular category is "Looking for news from the blogosphere? This can be interesting facts, blog contests, current events etc... Have some news about the blogosphere? Share it with the community!" so that was why I decided to post that "community" message here.

On a final note, you said, "I'm dieing. I was given my official eviction notice by my doctor a couple weeks ago. I got "maybe" two or three years left. Lung disease. My only heath care is through the VA and that ain't too good. If I could afford it, I might be able to live longer - I might even be able to get a lung transplant."

Now, if you don't think I'm too much a busybody, may I ask whether you're raising funds so that you could get a lung transplant?

[enterpriseJM]

Originally Posted by pelf81

(3) I am sorry if my earlier post gave you the impression that I am doing this "to make me better at apealing to the public" because I am not doing any of these to gain anything for myself. And this is all I want to say regarding the comment you made about me.

I'm sorry you didn't understand my point here. This isn't about you. This isn't even about Holly. It's about this message board. It's a support forum for bloggers, not a support forum about donating to worthy causes. My concern is if you begin to let this be a place to be about donating to worthy causes, it will become about who can come up with the biggest sob story to get the most ill-gotten gains. This isn't news about the blogosphere, it's news about a sick child and an appeal to give her a dollar. It says so right in the title.

Now, if you don't think I'm too much a busybody, may I ask whether you're raising funds so that you could get a lung transplant?

No, you're not a busy-body. No, I'm not raising funds. I have had a wonderful life, for the most part. I live in reality and the reality is that only about 50% of people who even qualify and finally get the transplant, live another 5 years. The prospect of spending half of that time in and out of hospitals and being ill from trying to reject the tissue doesn't appeal to me. I am ready for what comes next.

R'gards,

Jim

[Bloggeries]

Just donated $5. I hope it helps!

[Bloggeries]

Originally Posted by enterpriseJM

Some of you might think me a real scumbag for even broaching this subject like this. Hey, I'm sorry, but you missing one small piece of information that might help you understand why I think this is all wrong: I'm dieing. I was given my official eviction notice by my doctor a couple weeks ago. I got "maybe" two or three years left. Lung disease. My only heath care is through the VA and that ain't too good. If I could afford it, I might be able to live longer - I might even be able to get a lung transplant.

Jim

Jim!!! I am soo sorry to hear that. May I ask some question? What kind of disease and did you smoke? You can reply in PM if you wish. Either way I'm terribly sorry to hear that and I do agree with you about most being scams online and if everyone with a tear jerk wrote one this forum would be inundated.

Either way wishing you all the best!

[enterpriseJM]

Originally Posted by Bloggeries

Jim!!! I am soo sorry to hear that. May I ask some question? What kind of disease and did you smoke?

Thanks. Yes, I smoked, but I also worked in the flooring industry as an installer for 35 years and breathed in a lot of saw dust, asbestos and chemicals from sealers and solvents. And for a time in my wreckless youth, I smoked opium, pot and snorted any powder you lined out on a mirror. So, what happened was my own fault and I don't blame anyone else.

... I do agree with you about most being scams online and if everyone with a tear jerk wrote one this forum would be inundated.

Yeah, and you just let them know it works too - by leaving your message about your generous donation.

Jim