Four days.
Five thousand dollars.
Not a lot of money, in the scheme of things, but too much for edrie to come up with in a few days.
The last couple of years have been devastating to untold numbers of us. Several of us lost homes; others lost jobs; still others, health or even lives. We're among those who lost damn near everything. And it's why I can't sit by and watch yet another Kossack lose her home, if there's even a chance that we can prevent that from happening.
UPDATE 3: We've met Lorikeet's $500 challenge! Now, nannyboz and Persiflage have jointly offered another generous match of $200 toward donations made as of 6:30PM MST! Again, please note the amount of your donation in the comments, or Kosmail me with it, so we can keep tabs on it for purposes of the matching funds.
UPDATE 2 - MATCHING FUNDS:
Kossack Lorikeet has just issued a generous challenge: starting as of noon MST, if we can raise an additional $500 in donations, she will match it with another $500!
UPDATE, WITH A NOTE ABOUT SARA R:
From llbear:
I promised to keep everyone in the loop about donations to Sara. That's been a problem. Sara has been too sick to go on line but for a minute. At that time you fantastic Kossacks had contributed eenough to meet our goal of $2,800. Yesterday she went to the clinic, was there from 2:30 to 7:00, came home and went straight to bed.
I don't know PayPal totals and the first snail-mail will come in today. Ann is trying to keep me up to date.
If you haven't donated yet to Sara, please consider sending your available contribution to edrie instead. I am absolutely certain that Sara is covered at least until the 1st of the month. If need be, I will write another fund-raising diary then.
Love you all - llbear
The last year has been extremely difficult for edrie, but now, it's become virtually impossible. A 99-er, she was underpaid on her UI for months; when the error was finally found, the agency's attempt to "correct" resulted in weeks without a dingle unemployment check. But while her UI went wholly unpaid, the bills continued to mount. Add to that a couple of unexpected emergency expenses, and the effect rapidly becomes one of wholesale financial ruin. And while her landlords have tried to be understanding, they're in a bind on some fronts, too, and they can't wait any longer.
A few days ago, edrie wrote about her situation. She noted then that she had until January 15 to make up the entire arrearage on her rent, or lose her little cottage - and with it, the barn and land for her horse. The total is roughly $5,000 - and at that time, she was able to sell a few pieces of her jewelry, but the total came to less than $1,000. And even if she were to raise another $4,000, that wouldn't leave her any cushion for . . . oh, things like food, utilities, putting gas in the car . . . .
So here's what I'd like to do: I'd like us to try to raise, over the next four days, a full $5 grand to keep edrie in her home. There are a few ways we can do that.
First, you may not know that edrie makes jewelry. (Yes, I'm shilling for the competition. Wings approves.) She has an etsy shop with photos of several of her pieces already posted, and a few Kossacks have already found the perfect item there. Several gorgeous pieces are still available, and I'm going to post photos of a few of them here to give you an idea of her work.
The cross is priced at $225; the strand at $275. Both are made of freshwater pearls. At the etsy site, you'll find coordinating stud earrings, both fresh- and saltwater pearls, priced at $45 a pair.
These two are really cool: The rectangular beads are made of lava. The red lava at left is interspersed with citrine; the gray-blue lava on the right alternates with sodalite nuggets. Each is priced at $125. But what are necklaces without earrings? Naked, that's what. And she's got earrings that coordinate or contrast, depending on your taste:
On the left are yellow quartz drops accented with garnet beads, a steal at $35. On the right, ruby in zoisite (a really stunning combination of green and rose in the same stone) with onyx accents, for $50.
There's a lot more at her etsy site, including some works in progress. Which brings me to the second method of assistance.
Maybe you don't see precisely what you need, but you know you'll want something down the road. Maybe a gift for Valentine's Day or a birthday, for Mother's Day or Father's Day? Well, edrie does commissions, too. You can pay in advance and let her know what you'd like to order.
And if you know you won't need any jewelry, but you'd still like to help, you can always donate via her PayPal address:
edrie [dot] blackwelder [at] gmail [dot] com.
She's as stubborn as . . . well, as her horse when it comes to the idea of taking money outright, but this is an urgent situation. And she's the kind of person who will find a way to pay it forward, and sooner rather than later.
If you can place an order or drop a few bucks in the kitty, please do. Even $5 makes a difference. And it might just keep edrie, and the four-leggeds who depend on her, from becoming homeless in the middle of winter. And if you're tapped out, as so many of us are, please simply share these links far and wide - you never know when you might be the catalyst for getting them in front of just the right set of eyes.
Chi miigwech.