Wow! Positive dings for all involved. :smile:
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Second Annual NSX Prime Bikes For Kids Collection
- Thread starter NSX Prime
- Start date
KGP said:
I tried giving everyone involved postive feedback and received this pop up > You have given out too much Reputation in the last 24 hours, try again later. Doh!
- Joined
- 10 February 2000
- Messages
- 2,677
Thank you to everyone who contributed! I am still trying to get a chance to send individual thank yous but it's after Midnight and I haven't even started getting ready for my trip to CA tomorrow so I am afraid I'm just not going to get it done until next week.
Now, about the actual donation. It is completed, but I had to make some adjustments and I want to let everyone know the details. Sorry for the long message, but there is a lot to the story.
First, the Marines I needed to work with were off duty Monday though today. It seems they are short staffed (due to Iraq) and had been working for weeks straight so they got a couple much-needed days off right before the final toy collection/distribution push (in addition to their regular duties). Unfortunately that was also right when I was trying to contact them. There was nobody else there who could help me - in fact there was only ONE Marine in the whole place (it is a pretty large Reserve facility) until today when everyone else got back.
As soon as I found out on Monday that the Marines were going to be out until today I immediately tried to contact the national Toys For Tots headquarters in Quantico to see if they could somehow help. I figured worst case I could drive up there, buy a bunch of bikes and drive home (it's only about 4.5 hours away) but they were so slammed they were not even able to return my call until this evening!
I finally got in touch with the local Toys For Tots coordinator, SSgt Guzman, earlier today, but they were so busy trying to run around and pick up toys from the drop-off points all over the area that it just wasn't feasible to get them to pick up another 100-ish bikes from a couple Wal-Marts in the area (no single Wal-Mart had enough kids bikes in stock). They offered to try, but I could see it was just not going to work out and it was going to seriously impact their ability to take care of the other toy collections they were already working on.
Therefore I ended up simply writing them a check for the total amount. SSgt Guzman said they will use the money to buy bikes for kids later this week once they finish picking up all the toys from the dropoff points. However, another group did a bikes-for-kids type drive so they already have a good number of bikes. Ssgt Guzman said he is not sure if they have requests for another 100 (or however many) bikes this year. He said if they do not have enough bike requests, they could either hold the money until next year to buy more bikes or use it to buy other toys for kids in need this year. I told him to buy all the bikes they can and use the rest for other toys this year.
I worked pretty hard to to try and coordinate this ahead of time. Unfortunately the Marines being stretched way too thin to handle what they are trying to do made it necessary to change the plan. It is not their fault, I can tell they are doing everything they can. When I was there today the place was insanely busy. The phone kept ringing with people wanting to know where to drop off toys, how to contribute money, how to get on the list to receive toys, who could do an interview for the news, etc.
However, I do not like saying one thing and doing another, even a little bit, particularly when it involves other people's money which they have entrusted to me. I am confident that this is a good resolution, but it is not exactly what I said I was going to do with the money. Therefore if ANYBODY is the LEAST bit unhappy or uncomfortable with the way this worked out, please contact me and I will refund your donation. Refunds will be completely anonymous and I will not update the chart above to reflect anybody who decides to take a refund. It will not affect the donation to Toys For Tots as I have already written the check.
SSgt. Guzman said I should have a receipt in a few weeks and I also requested (and he promised) and itemized list of the bikes (and other toys if any) they purchase with the money I gave them today. I will post it here when that happens. In the meantime, if anyone wants to confirm that I gave him $5,310 today you can contact SSgt. Guzman at the USMC/USN Reserve facility. The number is <a href="http://www.toysfortots.org/coordinators/Va.html">here</a> on the Toys For Tots website. I am sure he would appreciate it if you could wait until after Christmas as they are clearly going to be very busy distributing toys until then.
I learned something doing this last year and learned more this year. Next year I am confident we will have an even better program. The gentleman from the national Toys For Tots organization who called me back this evening is the VP of the organization. He encouraged me to contact him in January or February once the holiday rush is over and we will begin working on a plan for national distribution of bikes for next year's NSX Prime Bikes For Kids drive. He also went out of his way to thank us for our generous donation.
In summary I apopogize it did not work out exactly as planned. It has been very frustating for me to say the least - I haven't been this stressed out in a long time. Last night I was trying to figure out how I could rearrange my plans in California to make the donation to the Toys For Tots group out there if I didn't hear back from the local guys today. But I feel it worked out well - even better than last year. The fact that under the original plan we may have donated bikes this year they would not have been able to distribute due to lack of requests makes me feel even more strongly that giving them the money was the best solution. The fact is I did not expect to raise over $5000 - at that level I really need to be working nationally.
Any way you look at it, $5,310 is a heck of a lot of bikes and other toys for a whole lot of underprivileged kids. To be able to say that there will most likely not be a kid Toys For Tots knows about in a whole region of the country who goes wanting for a bike this holiday season is really something. Again I want to thank everybody who contributed their hard earned money to this worth cause. It really makes me proud to be part of this group.
Now, about the actual donation. It is completed, but I had to make some adjustments and I want to let everyone know the details. Sorry for the long message, but there is a lot to the story.
First, the Marines I needed to work with were off duty Monday though today. It seems they are short staffed (due to Iraq) and had been working for weeks straight so they got a couple much-needed days off right before the final toy collection/distribution push (in addition to their regular duties). Unfortunately that was also right when I was trying to contact them. There was nobody else there who could help me - in fact there was only ONE Marine in the whole place (it is a pretty large Reserve facility) until today when everyone else got back.
As soon as I found out on Monday that the Marines were going to be out until today I immediately tried to contact the national Toys For Tots headquarters in Quantico to see if they could somehow help. I figured worst case I could drive up there, buy a bunch of bikes and drive home (it's only about 4.5 hours away) but they were so slammed they were not even able to return my call until this evening!
I finally got in touch with the local Toys For Tots coordinator, SSgt Guzman, earlier today, but they were so busy trying to run around and pick up toys from the drop-off points all over the area that it just wasn't feasible to get them to pick up another 100-ish bikes from a couple Wal-Marts in the area (no single Wal-Mart had enough kids bikes in stock). They offered to try, but I could see it was just not going to work out and it was going to seriously impact their ability to take care of the other toy collections they were already working on.
Therefore I ended up simply writing them a check for the total amount. SSgt Guzman said they will use the money to buy bikes for kids later this week once they finish picking up all the toys from the dropoff points. However, another group did a bikes-for-kids type drive so they already have a good number of bikes. Ssgt Guzman said he is not sure if they have requests for another 100 (or however many) bikes this year. He said if they do not have enough bike requests, they could either hold the money until next year to buy more bikes or use it to buy other toys for kids in need this year. I told him to buy all the bikes they can and use the rest for other toys this year.
I worked pretty hard to to try and coordinate this ahead of time. Unfortunately the Marines being stretched way too thin to handle what they are trying to do made it necessary to change the plan. It is not their fault, I can tell they are doing everything they can. When I was there today the place was insanely busy. The phone kept ringing with people wanting to know where to drop off toys, how to contribute money, how to get on the list to receive toys, who could do an interview for the news, etc.
However, I do not like saying one thing and doing another, even a little bit, particularly when it involves other people's money which they have entrusted to me. I am confident that this is a good resolution, but it is not exactly what I said I was going to do with the money. Therefore if ANYBODY is the LEAST bit unhappy or uncomfortable with the way this worked out, please contact me and I will refund your donation. Refunds will be completely anonymous and I will not update the chart above to reflect anybody who decides to take a refund. It will not affect the donation to Toys For Tots as I have already written the check.
SSgt. Guzman said I should have a receipt in a few weeks and I also requested (and he promised) and itemized list of the bikes (and other toys if any) they purchase with the money I gave them today. I will post it here when that happens. In the meantime, if anyone wants to confirm that I gave him $5,310 today you can contact SSgt. Guzman at the USMC/USN Reserve facility. The number is <a href="http://www.toysfortots.org/coordinators/Va.html">here</a> on the Toys For Tots website. I am sure he would appreciate it if you could wait until after Christmas as they are clearly going to be very busy distributing toys until then.
I learned something doing this last year and learned more this year. Next year I am confident we will have an even better program. The gentleman from the national Toys For Tots organization who called me back this evening is the VP of the organization. He encouraged me to contact him in January or February once the holiday rush is over and we will begin working on a plan for national distribution of bikes for next year's NSX Prime Bikes For Kids drive. He also went out of his way to thank us for our generous donation.
In summary I apopogize it did not work out exactly as planned. It has been very frustating for me to say the least - I haven't been this stressed out in a long time. Last night I was trying to figure out how I could rearrange my plans in California to make the donation to the Toys For Tots group out there if I didn't hear back from the local guys today. But I feel it worked out well - even better than last year. The fact that under the original plan we may have donated bikes this year they would not have been able to distribute due to lack of requests makes me feel even more strongly that giving them the money was the best solution. The fact is I did not expect to raise over $5000 - at that level I really need to be working nationally.
Any way you look at it, $5,310 is a heck of a lot of bikes and other toys for a whole lot of underprivileged kids. To be able to say that there will most likely not be a kid Toys For Tots knows about in a whole region of the country who goes wanting for a bike this holiday season is really something. Again I want to thank everybody who contributed their hard earned money to this worth cause. It really makes me proud to be part of this group.
Quit apologizing for going above and beyond and making us look good while we sit here bitching about brakes and SC. And if anyone checks up on you let me know and the Miami boys will make sure its the last time they check anything but their prostate. Again thanks for everything you are doing for the kids. Now back to busting balls
Armando
Armando
^Yea, what guru-donor said!^ :smile:
Including the "Prostate " comment? damnKGP said:
Armando
Way to go everyone. Lud, don't sweat it, Toys, bikes, whatever, the kids will get a present. That is all that matters.. I used to love the brown paper bag with the fruit and nuts and other goodies as a kid. That was my favorite gift.. Any toy was a huuuge treat. So as long as they are smiling Christmas day or Christmas Eve, I don't care what my family's donation buys them. You did a great job, no need to say I'm sorry. We furnished a nice Christmas for those that needed one... Kudo's all around.
Those that are going, I will see you in Fontana...
Thanks Lud and everyone else.
Those that are going, I will see you in Fontana...
Thanks Lud and everyone else.
All great Lud, I'm proud of all the effort you and everybody involved put forth. Maybe we can get Huffy (Wal-Marts bike supplier, I think) to make up a special run just for us, that would be really cool.
Good Job to all!
**
However, I'm actually quite against "other toys" category. Most other toys just promote consumerism and materialism; it hits those least able to afford it and sets off a questionable learned behavior very early in life. Evil at best.
I strongly endorse: bikes, skates, skateboards, simple sporting goods (bats, balls, safety equipment, etc...) and most any toy made with wood. Ikea has a lot of nice quality durable inexpensive toys that are well thought out and ingenius.
Read more about it here
While I understand "they are just kids", it is up to us to help guide their decision making process, promote exercise and enable their grey matter.
In short: I want to get good value for my money, maybe other people agree?
Drew
/subscribes heavily to "your stuff owns you"
Good Job to all!
**
However, I'm actually quite against "other toys" category. Most other toys just promote consumerism and materialism; it hits those least able to afford it and sets off a questionable learned behavior very early in life. Evil at best.
I strongly endorse: bikes, skates, skateboards, simple sporting goods (bats, balls, safety equipment, etc...) and most any toy made with wood. Ikea has a lot of nice quality durable inexpensive toys that are well thought out and ingenius.
Read more about it here
While I understand "they are just kids", it is up to us to help guide their decision making process, promote exercise and enable their grey matter.
In short: I want to get good value for my money, maybe other people agree?
Drew
/subscribes heavily to "your stuff owns you"
Lud give your self a pat on the back for a job well done...
I may have only taken 5 minutes out of my time to go to the bank machine, withdraw money, get a money order, fill it out, and send it to you.
You took the time to organize, collect, and distribute the money to the less priviledged. Money can be made back. Time and effort cannot. Stop apologizing for all your hard work that you have done. You have done an outstanding job given the time constraints set upon you.
Way to go Lud..
I may have only taken 5 minutes out of my time to go to the bank machine, withdraw money, get a money order, fill it out, and send it to you.
You took the time to organize, collect, and distribute the money to the less priviledged. Money can be made back. Time and effort cannot. Stop apologizing for all your hard work that you have done. You have done an outstanding job given the time constraints set upon you.
Way to go Lud..
Great job Lud! Anything that makes children smile at a time that they may not otherwise have had the opportunity to is a perfect use of the donations as far as I am concerned.
Thanks again for all your efforts this holiday season and, as always, with this site that enables the rest of the NSX community to come together for worthy causes such as this.
Thanks again for all your efforts this holiday season and, as always, with this site that enables the rest of the NSX community to come together for worthy causes such as this.
As long as the kids are left smiling, I don't care what they receive. The idea was to provide a little happiness for some underprivilaged kids, so bikes or other toys are fin by me.
Thanks for coordinating such an avenue for all of us to help those less fortunate.
Thanks for coordinating such an avenue for all of us to help those less fortunate.
Lud--
It's all good. If it's any consolation, beyond donating to Prime's fund, the wife and I bought ten bikes of various sizes (with helmets), and a couple of oldschool Big Wheels*, for a local kid's christmas charity that we researched reaaaaally carefully.
It weren't for last year's drive, we'd probably never have done it, so you and everyone who donated last year are indirectly responsible for at least ten more kids getting bikes this year.
Cheers!
* Man, I used to love my Big Wheel.
It's all good. If it's any consolation, beyond donating to Prime's fund, the wife and I bought ten bikes of various sizes (with helmets), and a couple of oldschool Big Wheels*, for a local kid's christmas charity that we researched reaaaaally carefully.
It weren't for last year's drive, we'd probably never have done it, so you and everyone who donated last year are indirectly responsible for at least ten more kids getting bikes this year.
Cheers!
* Man, I used to love my Big Wheel.
As they say, "No good deed, goes unpunished" :wink:NSX Prime said:
Seriously though, I second the suggestion of getting Huffy to participate, possibly a challenge match to our own donations, doubling the bikes donated. For a national program, their PR person may be interested.
Well knowing Lud as I do ,I know he really lost sleep over this,and I also know that whatever was done was well and carefuly thought out,so the purpose of our charity is still served!I just hope that our dedicated service men did'nt help themselves to 250 lap dances! :wink: Just kidding.
It's great to see such an awesome turnout this year! Great work everyone! :biggrin:
- Joined
- 10 February 2000
- Messages
- 2,677
serialNSXer said:
A couple manufacturers and retailers were contacted this year and all politely declined. I will try again next year. Now that the amount of money involved has gone up, and if we can get coordinated with Toys For Tots on a national level, hopefully they will reconsider.
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