Good morning, Kossacks. Like many people here, I came to Daily Kos for the politics over six years ago, but I stayed for the community. It has been a difficult couple of years for many members of our community. The published unemployment rate is 9.2%, but the true rate of un- and underemployment is probably twice that. We all need a little help from our friends to make it through these hard times.
This place would be just another political blog without the community diaries. Many of you know emeraldmaiden, one of our Top Comments diarists. She recently wrote a diary -- I'm Scared -- detailing her family's economic struggles in which she wrote about her faltering Ebay business. She needs our help to make it though these hard times.
My family recently received some help that will make it possible for Son 3 (DeviousPie here on DKos) to continue his education. He received an excellent financial aid package for his sophomore year that included a very generous scholarship. We are grateful to all the alumni, parents, and other supporters of Franklin & Marshall College for making this possible. I want to pay this forward. I will donate 20 cents to help emeraldmaiden for every recommendation that this diary receives. I understand that many other Kossacks are financially strapped right now. Even if you are unable to help emeraldmaiden yourself, please recommend the diary so that others can see it.
It is time for us to come together as a community to help our members in need. As Ben Franklin said, "We must all hang together...". Many thanks, in advance, for any help you can provide for our friend, emeraldmaiden. Follow me below the squiggle to learn about some of the prizes that generous Kossacks have offered to those who are able to donate at least ten dollars.
I am urging all of you to donate generously, if at all possible. If you make a donation, you will have a chance to win one of nine prizes -- a beautiful quilt by Sara R and an original painting by boran2 as well as seven additional prizes donated through the generosity of several other community members. (details below)
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A Beautiful Handmade Quilt By Sara R
"Cornucopia" is a charm quilt of "tumbler" blocks, all of photorealistic fruits and vegetables. It is meant to represent plenty, abundance.
The quilt is 58" x 62" and is sleeved for hanging on a wall. The backing fabric looks like Indian corn. The fabric and the batting are all cotton – and the quilt is entirely quilted by hand by Sara R.
It was designed and pieced by her, as well!
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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An Original Painting by boran2
A longtime community member, boran2 is also one of the "Top Comments" diarists and has posted hundreds of diaries on painting.
This is a 4x5 inch acrylic on canvas painting. It depicts a Hudson River overpass at dusk. It is painted on thick gallery wrapped canvas and can stand on its own. It was painted in April of 2010.
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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Seven Additional Prizes
Here's a description of the batik pillow by Chun Yang: it is 14 by 14 inches, a removable cotton cover that I batiked with soy wax, hand dyed in a low-immersion way (minimum water). I then added some deColorant to it (thanks for the tip, Sara R!) which took out some color in the design and added a bit of color. The pillow inside is foam and nice and firm.
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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Here are the rules for the drawing, to be conducted after we have reached our targeted goal of raising a minimum amount of $5,000.00 (hopefully more). Even this amount will provide emeraldmaiden and her family relief for only a few weeks. To be sure, your donations will alleviate some of her many difficulties.
HOW TO WIN ONE OF THE NINE PRIZES
1. Anyone can make a donation of $5.00, $10.00, $20.00, $50.00, $100.00, or higher. A donation of $10.00 or higher counts as one entry to win one of the nine prizes.
2. So as to give more chances to everyone, the same person can only win one of the nine prizes.
3. You can make a donation by clicking this Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account and paying by PayPal or credit card.
4. If you prefer to mail your donation through the U.S. Mail, email emeraldmaiden at emeraldmaiden@gmail.com and she will provide you with her mailing address. You can also message her through the DK4 messaging system.
5. If for some reason you are unable to make a donation, you can also enter the drawing by writing a brief diary (a couple of pages would suffice) on this topic: "What Should the Obama Administration and the U.S. Congress Do to Alleviate the Plight of the Unemployed and Underemployed?" Once you have written the diary, do inform emeraldmaiden by emailing her (emeraldmaiden@gmail.com) and providing a link to your diary so she can enter you in the drawing.
6. Once the fundraiser is closed, emeraldmaiden will send all the entries to Sara R, who will conduct the drawing, notify the winners, and ship the quilt. boran2 will ship the painting.
7. If you have any other questions about the fundraiser, email me at jekyllnhyde2@gmail.com or message me through DK4. If you have never used this feature before, enter my Daily Kos ID JekyllnHyde in the "To" section, subject heading, your message, preview, and send. It's that easy!
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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For those of us who have jobs or own businesses or, even, are privileged enough to have some inherited money, we should consider ourselves lucky. Millions of our fellow citizens have absolutely nothing. Many without health insurance are one major illness away from economic catastrophe or bankruptcy. A bit of bad luck here and there and many of us could as easily be in that abysmal situation.
I hope that you will consider donating as much as possible. I am appealing to the better angels of your nature to do so.
PLEASE DONATE GENEROUSLY. Thank you.
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Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account