The American Dream has become a nightmare for some in this country. For many it is a dream deferred, so elusive has become its reach.
Prior to the great financial collapse of 2008, most Americans felt that if they played by the rules, diligently paid their taxes, and engaged in good citizenry that they, too, would get a fair share of the national economic pie. For the past three years, however, this economic recession has ruined countless lives. Because of systemic -- rather than personal -- failures, millions have lost their jobs, houses, businesses, and other sources of income. Family ties have been weakened or, at the very least, severely strained in one way, shape, or form. Hope has been replaced by despondency and despair. Fear of the unknown has been widespread and an uncertain future awaits the unemployed and underemployed.
And yet, in the darkest hours of this country's history, Americans have always retained some sense of optimism and extended others a helping hand. Economic conditions will, our political leaders tell us, improve over time. But we are not there yet. Until the dawn of that day when economic misery gives way to prosperity and human suffering is significantly diminished, we must, to the extent possible, take care of our own.
More below the fold...
Over the nine years I have been on this blog, I have often read some version of this statement: "I came to Daily Kos for the politics. I stayed here for the community." emeraldmaiden -- one of our community members who has long been a diarist for "Top Comments" and contributed to the growing sense of community -- has fallen on hard times and desperately needs our help.
emeraldmaiden recently wrote a diary -- I'm Scared -- detailing her family's economic struggles in which she wrote about her faltering Ebay business. You can read her many comments in that diary. Significant health problems, sharply falling revenues, her husband chasing low-paying jobs, and stress have all contributed to a deteriorating financial situation, with all of their retirement savings long gone. A chronic hip injury (which may require hip replacement surgery at a relatively young age) has severely limited her mobility while enduring constant pain. All of this has resulted in bills past due and creditors knocking on their doors.
It is an all-too-familiar story heard in recent years and one that broke my heart.
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 two prizes -- a beautiful quilt by Sara R and an original painting by boran2 (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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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 TWO PRIZES
1. Anyone can make a donation of $5.00, $10.00, $20.00, $50.00, $100.00, or higher. Each donation of $10.00 or higher counts as one entry to win one of the two prizes.
2. So as to give more chances to everyone, the same person can only win one of the two 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