Random question!

The_Ink_Goddess · Jan 24, 2010

Really don't know if this is the place for this, but I'd like to appeal for some help here...

For a little while, I've had an itch to do something big and different. I mean, there are kids my age (I'm 15...) who set up charities and businesses, etc. I wouldn't know how to go about doing that, however, and I don't live in the kind of community where I can just ask my parents to throw a gala or anything

. I mean, I write novels, but...I wanted to do something quite rare and special, that wouldn't involve anyone else. I'm not terribly good at working in a team and I don't know anyone who'd really be willing to help me with a Big Project. So putting on a play or something like that is out of the question. However, does anyone have any recommendations? Something that I could do alone, with few resources (I mean, I have money that I could put towards it) and at my age. Any ideas?

Kitty Pryde · Jan 24, 2010

Have you thought about doing a long bike ride or marathon or triathlon to raise money for a cause you are passionate about? I have twice done a 335 mile bike ride to raise money for outdoor recreation for people with disabilities. I have many friends who have done the AIDS Life Cycle, a bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles which raises money for AIDS healthcare. And I have a friend currently working with Team In Training to train for an Ironman Triathlon to raise money for Lymphoma research. This kind of stuff goes on all over the country.

Anyways, you work by yourself to raise money and you can train alone or with other people...and then you raise lots of money for a good cause and you do a challenging physical endeavor and you feel really awesome about it.

If you google team in training or aids marathon or aids lifecycle, you can find some good links. or if you just google the Important Cause of your choice, many of them do fundraisers of this variety.

The_Ink_Goddess · Jan 24, 2010

Bwahaha, this is something I should have mentioned in my OP: I actually have cerebral palsy. Any kind of physical labour is completely out of the question. I can't ride a bicycle or do any kind of triathlon/training. Howver, Kitty, I think it's AWESOME that you did it. Also, sorry for not mentioning it earlier.

Kitty Pryde · Jan 24, 2010

The_Ink_Goddess said:
Bwahaha, this is something I should have mentioned in my OP: I actually have cerebral palsy. Any kind of physical labour is completely out of the question. I can't ride a bicycle or do any kind of triathlon/training. Howver, Kitty, I think it's AWESOME that you did it. Also, sorry for not mentioning it earlier.

Aha! I shall ponder some other ideas then. We actually had a lot of people with disabilities on the rides I did, a few paraplegics, one stroke survivor who could only use the right side of his body, a guy with no legs, and a young woman with a degenerative muscle disease, all using hand cycles or recumbent 3 wheel bikes. Most of them were faster than me :tongue

Setting a goal to raise a certain amount of money for an organization you care about is still a good idea. Think about what skills you have (like, writing i presume? and maybe you are an artist or a baker or a singer or something else too?) and how you could use those skills to raise money. You'd be surprised how many people are willing to make a donation when you are passionate for a worthy cause. I raised a lot of my money by baking cookies and stuff.

emilycross · Jan 24, 2010

Well in Ireland, two girls have made the news because they did a DVD on disabilities

This was certainly the case last week when 14 year old twin sisters Marie and Claire Kenny – daughters of Cathal and Julie – from Rath, Abbeyshrule. The twins presented their new DVD to highlight the issue of disability, which they wrote, produced and directed in conjunction with the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA).

Claire lives with a physical disability which causes her to limp, while Marie is able bodied. The seeds for the DVD – entitled 'The View From Here' – were sown earlier this year when the two girls began to examine the ways in which they were treated differently, even though they were both 14 years, sisters and both attending the same secondary school; Mercy Convent, Ballymahon.

'The View From Here' examines the whole area of physical disabilities from the perspective of the disabled person and highlights the attitudes of able bodied people towards that. The DVD is set around the life of 14 year old Kate who is wheelchair bound and the obstacles that she faces in her every day life, particularly at school.

I saw a clip on the news and it reminded my of 'peepshow' except if the main character was in a wheelchair. They attached a camera to wheelchair so this is the perspective that you see when watching dvd - from the clip i saw it was really interesting (simple things like people leaning into you from standing position etc.)

read more here

Fran · Jan 24, 2010

Since you don't like working as a team (neither do I!) you have to focus on your own skills. Could you write a history of your town? You could interview local residents which gets the whole community involved, or if you have a museum or town hall they might be interested in assisting you. You could ask people for their family stories or memories of childhood and how much the town has changed in the last x number of years. If you live in a big town or city you could focus it just on your area. If you have enough money you could have a few printed up (NOT by Publish America though!) and sell them locally.

I may be completely off-base here, but I hope it helps.

Random question!

The_Ink_Goddess

we're gonna make it out of the fire

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue

The_Ink_Goddess

we're gonna make it out of the fire

Kitty Pryde

i luv you giant bear statue

emilycross

is away with the fairies

Fran

Slate grey mole person