(X-posted in modified form from The Albany Project.)
Our spring intern at The Albany Project is beyond awesome. Many of you read about him in the many diaries about the DFA scholarship program to Netroots Nation as I mercilessly flogged his candidacy at every opportunity. Young Robert harding has been tirelless in his efforts to help us build netroots infrastructure in New York and has proven himself to be a peerless asset to the New York blogosphere. Through the efforts of many of us here in the Empire State and many of you around the country, Robert was awarded one of those scholarships. Now we need your help once again to make sure he gets to use it.
How you can help on the flip...
Robert has had a hell of a summer as his dad has had two heart attacks in the last month and rather urgent open heart surgery a couple of weeks back. Robert, who just turned 22 and recently graduated from college, has been rock for his family these past few weeks and it still hasn't slowed down his work bringing about real progressive change here in New York. In fact, he's interviewing netroots star Jon Powers (NY-26) at this very minute.
He needs our help.
The post as it appears at TAP follows:
As many of you know, our intern, Robert Harding, is absolutely tireless. He does our state Senate Power Rankings, he interviews candidates all the time. He does it all. He has gone above and beyond for us time and time again. You probably also know that, through the efforts of many folks on this site, Robert was able to win a DFA scholarship to Netroots Nation in Austin. This scholarship program was made for folks like Robert, who just graduated from college and just turned 22 years old. That scholarship is making it possible for him to even attend, because without it, that just wasn't going to happen.
You probably also know that Robert's father recently had open heart surgery. He's had a hell of a summer. Robert emailed me the other day to tell me that he probably wasn't going to be able to go to Austin after all. His father had just come home (after going shopping for a walker) and that: 1, he was needed at home to help take care of his dad and that: 2, he probably couldn't afford the plane ticket from Buffalo. Since then, family members have stepped up to help pick up the slack at home and I told Robert that we were going to everything we can to get him to Austin.
Here's how you can help. You can help cover the cost of a plane ticket to Austin, something that, given the events of the past few weeks, is simply beyond Robert's means. Robert earned that scholarship, which is paying his registration and hotel room, and we need to make sure that he can actually use it.
We've set a goal of $750. This will cover the cost of the ticket (about $550 as of this morning) and put some BBQ money in his pocket. We helped get him that scholarship and now we can help get him to the conference. Robert always goes all out for us and we are all better for it. Now we have a chance to return the favor.
Toss a few bucks in the can for Robert and help send him to Austin, won't you?
Little help?