Good morning all and a fast approaching happy holidays! Welcome to my second annual holiday charity thread! If you didn't see last year's thread, the idea for running this effort first came to me following the result of a gentlemen's bet I had made with @jaybuck43 in the fall of 2020. Suffice to say he won, and I put up the seed money. The plan was for me to send said seed money to the charity of his choice, but then I thought, "Why stop there? Let's see if some more board members want to get involved, and we can send that total further north." And in the end, we raised over $1500 for two very worthy animal shelters.
Here's a link to last year's thread if you'd like to check it out --
So how'd the bet go this year?
Throughout the four weeks of the football season during November, each of us made 5 spread picks per week. Bear in mind, that's 20 picks each, 40 total. And jaybuck won...7-6. Boy it was ugly going to into the fourth week too; we were tied 3-3. Suffice to say, we kinda sucked at it. But the point wasn't to beat Vegas, it was to see who would put up the seed money for this year's thread.
How much seed money?
Last year I put up the initial $50. But look at this...are you watching? Goodbye $50. Let's do $75.
Who gets the money?
First a little background on how we arrived at this year's charity:
2021 had a lot of rough moments for me, most of them stemming from my divorce. House, her, money...none of that do I miss. The only loss that truly stung, and still does, are these three:
That's actually the last photo I had a chance to take of my three puppies. The shepherds were very bonded to my ex-wife, but the husky was my baby girl, and we would have been fine just the two of us. But try convincing the other side of the equation of that fact without throwing a whole bunch of money at an attorney. So instead, I had worked out a visitation plan with my ex-wife, which immediately went out the window once I moved out. As of today's date, the last time I was able to see them was on July 19th. Send a text mid-week asking to see Sadie over the coming weekend, and 6 days later I'll get an "Oh I was busy" response.
But little did I know, around the same time that I last saw my dogs, there was another husky puppy penned up on the south side of Chicago that was in need of a far better home...
Enter the Animal Rescue Foundation, located in Wheaton, IL and not far from my new house. The little treasure above was rescued in early August and subsequently renamed Elsa. About a month later I happened across her photo on A.R.F.'s website, and I almost immediately jumped out of my skin. "YES! Wait...I'm on my own now, I do travel, some long days at the office...can I make this happen and do right by the dog?" I mulled things over for a week and noticed that the rescue was having a meet and greet at the nearby PetSmart on a Saturday. The perfect time to meet Elsa and explain my situation to anyone who would listen. And as it turned out, they were thrilled I came along as the task of caring for a 6 month old husky is not for the faint of heart. Puppy energy + husky energy = Oh my. So no, they weren't about to adopt her out to a non-husky experienced owner with young kids and/or seniors living in the home. I finished up the adoption application online before even leaving the parking lot, and shortly after I had a husky home once more! From where she was, to where she is now:
So, I mentioned to jaybuck that A.R.F. was my choice this year due to my obvious gratitude for my Elsa puppy and for everything that they do, and the photo immediately above convinced him to double down.
Therefore, everything raised this year is going to the Animal Rescue Foundation in Wheaton, IL. Website -- A.R.F.-Animal Rescue Foundation Home (arf-il.org)
How does this thread work?
I'll be accepting donation pledges from anyone who wishes to contribute, starting from the time this thread goes live until closing next Tuesday, 12/21, at 8 PM central time. No money is due until the thread closes.
Pledges can be anonymous or public. Anonymous pledges should be sent to me via PM with the subject line "2021 Holiday Charity Thread." The only way a PM donation will not remain anonymous is if I receive the highest and/or 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) highest pledge via PM (more on that later).
Public pledges, please just post in this thread.
I will post the current top pledge amount and the overall tally on a daily basis. I consider any pledge binding, so please Please PLEASE don't put up but not come through.
Is there a minimum? - No! Please pledge whatever you'd like. This is meant to be a fun little event to raise a few bucks for a great charitable organization, any amount is appreciated. As I like to say -- It's not about the money, it's about the gesture. Also, the amount pledged is the amount expected. No fine print about "this pledge is per day of the week, or per mile" or anything like that. A $10 pledge means that is the amount going to the rescue.
How do I send you my pledge money? - Fee free method would be appreciated by either PayPal F/F (no one is making money here, so this shouldn't violate their rules), Zelle, or even paper instrument through snail mail. However, I will take PayPal G/S too, and I'll cover any fees. Again, nothing is due until the thread closes. Upon closure, I will send out a mass PM to everyone that made a public pledge that contains all of my payment info (PayPal, Zelle, snail mail address if needed). Anonymous pledgers will be provided the same info on an individual PM basis.
Do you have references? - Absolutely! PM me if you need any.
Will you post proof of donation? - You better believe it. A spot will be reserved on page 1 to post the donation receipt.
So I see you gave away a few things last year too, is that happening again?
Absolutely! This year I've set aside a blue label 2.0 copy of Amazing Spider-Man 33 with ow/w pages. A nice $100ish in FMV.
But wait...there's more! @BuscemasAvengers has very graciously put up a 7.0 blue label copy of Sensation Comics 87!
And @wombat has been kind enough to put up a great stack of TPBs to enthrall your reading eyes for hours!
Yet still more! In celebration of surpassing last year's total, I've added in an 8.0 copy of Tales of Suspense 92.
Awarding of the books is solely based on the top four pledge amounts received, regardless of amount. Again, no minimum, top pledge could be $10, or $1000, we shall see! Top pledge gets their choice of book to take home, runner-up pledge will receive the remaining book!
Photos of both books will be posted in the spot reserved for the announcement of the top pledges.
I will ship my book insured USPS priority to the winner, and I will cover the shipping cost. @BuscemasAvengers - please feel free to chime in with your shipping details as well.
Note: me and jaybuck ARE NOT eligible for the books (and that Sensation 87 makes me wish I was!).
And because this is a charity thread, I see no reason not to allow pledges to be increased should someone desire to do so. If you feel like chasing any of the books, go for it! Just no pledge decreases please
I believe I have covered everything, but if there's any questions about this thread, please PM me. I will post any Q&A that will benefit the thread as a whole. Also, if anyone has any suggestions, comments, or anything else for this thread or possible future ones, please send those along as well.
Now let's get the tally climbing! And spread the word! Tell your friends, family...even people you don't like!
Books going to the top two three four pledges: From myself: From @BuscemasAvengers: And a great stack of reading material, courtesy of @wombat In celebration of us surpassing last year's total, I add in this 8.0 copy of TOS 92:
