Miracles are spontaneous, they cannot be summoned, but come of themselves.
~Katherine Anne Porter
Update: Thank you contributors and commentors for your delicious generosity! Sufficient funds have been received. I knew it wasn't possible for Heather to be anywhere but Minneapolis June 16-19!
Well, this IS actually a summons. My friend, Heather (known here as Chacounne), has been planning on attending NN11 in Minneapolis this week, and it was already something of a miracle that she had been able to pull it together to be there.
Many of you know her for contributions to Daily Kos on the torture issue, and you may also know that she has been deeply inolved with torture coverage at DK in general and specifically the anti-torture activist/roundtable discussion at Netroots Nation.
If you've read any of Heather's diaries and comments, you are aware that she does this work as a memory tribute for her beloved husband, Dan. She tells me that this week is actually the sixth anniversary of his heart attack:
My husband, Dan, was a Vietnam vet who survived torture. Six years ago, Dan had a fatal heart attack & left me a mission, to stop torture as the law, policy & practice of the US, & to fight for accountability, For Dan.
If you read Chronic Tonic, you're also aware that she has physical challenges and that she has pain and accessibility issues as well as the predictable obstacles which come from living on a fixed income.
A few months ago, Heather moved into a space which was comfortable and accommodated her needs. Unfortunately for all concerned, that ended abruptly when one of her room mates died unexpectedly. In addition to the shock of the loss of her friend, this required that Heather's funds be directed toward finding new accommodations and moving. This is the THIRD move she's made in the past year.
Having overcome the unexpected, it still appeared possible for Chacounne to attend Netroots Nation - she has a (nonrefundable) airline ticket as well as hotel and the conference fees already taken care of.
She was counting on her tax refund to fuel her expenses for the journey, and she expected $200 would take care of meals and incidentals and luggage fees... Only there has been some kind of bureaucratic snafu, and the refund is likely going to take a couple weeks for her to get additional paperwork submitted and then waaaaait for the refund to be issued.
The math is simple enough even for my Lyme brain: In this case a miracle would be 20 people helping out with $10 make it possible for Chacounne to live the dream of being with all of you who are attending. My contribution means that only 19 others are needed. Heather belongs in Minneapolis - would you please do me the favor of giving her a hand to make that possible?
Ellinorianne is coordinating intake of funds through paypal for those who can assist to address: ellinorianne@hotmail.com.
Hat Tip to UnaSpenser:
HOW TO SEND $:
1.go to http://www.paypal.com
2.click on the Personal Tab
3.click on Send Money in the navigation bar
4. in the "Send Money Now" box change country to Canada
5. enter amount and choose your currency
6. click "Friends and Family" so she isn't charged a fee
7. click continue
8. enter "ellinorianne@hotmail.com" in the "to" box
9. enter your email address in the "from" box
10. click continue
11. IF you have a paypal account, enter your password here
A. IF you DON'T have a paypal account, create one and connect it to a credit card.
(It seems they no longer let you pay with a credit card without having a paypal account. If someone else has more info about this please update in a reply.)
With gratitude,
MsGrin
8:34 AM PT: Update: Thank you contributors and commentors for your delicious generosity! Sufficient funds have been received. I knew it wasn't possible for Heather to be anywhere but Minneapolis June 16-19!