Hope for Pahokee #Eating Kickstarter Daily Update - It's all gravy now (1 week to go)
The Hope for Pahokee Kickstarter reached its funding goal of 35k yesterday afternoon and keeps climbing, at roughly 37.5k at the time of this post. Just because it is funded doesn't mean you can't still contribute, though. Any extra money will I'm sure be put to good use by Tae in his efforts to help his hometown. You can contribute here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1021358459/hope-eating-from-garden-to-table-season-one?ref=live
This will be the last of my daily updates. I've been posting them for a week now and I would have to assume that pretty much everyone has had the chance to read them and learn about the charity and contribute in some way had they wanted. The mods have been very kind to allow the promotion of the charity to this point but with the goal having been met, I didn't want to overstay my welcome, if you will.
I just wanted to close by saying how inspiring this last week has been for me personally. I don't have any personal connection to Pahokee, #Eating, or Tae, but the opportunity to make a difference was hard to pass up. I got goosebumps watching the donations accrue several times and yesterday, when the ticker moved to $35,010, the feeling I had was akin to the final seconds of a Michigan victory on the field (against a team other than UMass). Watching the great teamwork and seeing firsthand the collective financial power of the MGoCommunity that helped a young man reach his goal has given me faith in the world, as trite as that may sound. If you have helped in any way, be proud.
God bless the University of Michigan. Go Blue.
September 19th, 2012 at 11:40 AM ^
Well done for additional promotion of this! It's really been remarkable to watch the amount climb!
September 19th, 2012 at 11:41 AM ^
Let's get to $70k and build 2 gardens. GO BLUE!
September 19th, 2012 at 11:43 AM ^
I'm intererested to know what percentage of the funds raised are MGoFunds (not that we'd ever find out or that it matters). You did a very cool thing, Butterfield. Very cool indeed.
September 19th, 2012 at 12:31 PM ^
I'm willing to bet a lot. There's about 10 pages of brand new people to Kickstarter pledging for the first time. I can only assume that most of those people are MGoBlog driven. Not to mention people (like me) that have made pledges to other Kickstater projects that are also from MGoBlog.
Kudos to you Butterfield for making people aware of this every day. Go Blue.
September 19th, 2012 at 11:45 AM ^
Thanks for posting all the updates, please post atleast once more with the final amount at the closing bell! I know I can check myself, but it'll be good for everyone to see!
September 19th, 2012 at 11:49 AM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 11:50 AM ^
Tae added a new $12 pledge reward (or maybe I never saw it) that I thought was pretty cool of him, and may draw out more donors:
KIDS DAY 12 and UNDER. Play lazar tag with Martavious Odoms. This reward is for kids. We got some emails about how people wanted their kids to play but couldn't afford the higher price. So we will do a kids day If $12 is still too much please email us because we want everyone to be able to participate that wants to! (Dates and restrictions apply)
(35 of 35 remaining)
September 19th, 2012 at 12:00 PM ^
Wow, that is new, and it is pretty awesome! That is very good of Tae to do this, and makes me proud to have him represent the University!
September 19th, 2012 at 1:46 PM ^
So what's the difference between lasar tag and bubble tag?
Great to see this project get funded. Kudos to everyone who stepped up. Congrats, all!
September 19th, 2012 at 11:57 AM ^
Great job Butterfield and Brian for getting the word out.
To all the Mgocontributors out there, you made Bo proud. The team came through on this one.
September 19th, 2012 at 12:41 PM ^
Along the lines of what John Bacon said in his book about ex-Michigan players when Bo told them there was a need for help.
September 19th, 2012 at 12:03 PM ^
That's great it hit the goal. Thanks for posting the reminders. I'm definitely the type that needs that 3rd time to finally take the time to contribute.
And for Mr. Odoms, if he's still reading these boards: way to go. It's great to see someone so passionate about their community trying to make a difference. I loved watching you play, but what you are trying to do now is far more important. Best of luck!
September 19th, 2012 at 12:14 PM ^
There was a nice article here, in the Michigan Daily. It actually talks about the mgoblog community. Tae says we're the ones who made it happen.
“I’m not a blogger,” Odoms said, “but I do it because they’re really loyal and they really respect what I want to do and back me 100 percent on this project.
September 19th, 2012 at 12:18 PM ^
Also to the OP. Charity work almost always gives you a winning feeling. Kudos for staying on top of this. I changed my pledge to give more, and declined the gift. My son would have enjoyed any number of the shirts but its better to see that money go to the project.
September 19th, 2012 at 12:35 PM ^
As I mentioned in yesterday's thread, you shoud really at least get a shirt. I'm willing to bet it will spark up a lot of conversation and you can direct people to the Hope for Pahokee website so that people that didn't get a chance to contribute to Kickstarter, or didn't know about it, can now donate to the website.
It might sound selfish at first, but it will really help out the Hope for Pahokee project in the long run.
September 19th, 2012 at 1:26 PM ^
It would be for my 11 year old and he's not interested enough in this type of thing, yet. Plus he's got more mgoblog shirts than you can shake a stick at. I don't have much of an opportunity to wear such a thing so . . . its all good.
September 19th, 2012 at 12:21 PM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 1:42 PM ^
September 19th, 2012 at 12:36 PM ^
That is great to hear that the final week is gravy and that this great project started by Odoms is funded. Thanks to Butterfield for keeping us updated!
Like others, I have also increased my pledge as well. It will be great to see Hope For Pahokee move forward thanks in no small part to the generosity of the MGoCommunity.
September 19th, 2012 at 1:22 PM ^
No good excuse for why I waited so long. Feels good to contribute though.
September 19th, 2012 at 1:53 PM ^
Great work, Butterfield! Thanks for posting the daily reminders. Congratulations, Tae!
September 19th, 2012 at 1:56 PM ^
...so now I actually have to pay my pledge because the goal has been met?! I never though it had a chance which is why I offered such a big donation...
Nah...just kidding. Great job everybody!
September 19th, 2012 at 2:12 PM ^
Not to worry: You can apply for MGoFinancing. For the low, low APR of 99.9% you can finance just about anything your heart desires.
(To all you lawyers out there, this form of financing is exempted from state usury laws. Not sure why, other than because I say so.)
September 19th, 2012 at 2:10 PM ^
an addition to my #EATING wristband! Outstanding work everyone! Thanks for the occassional updates. Looking forward to seeing the final tally.
It's great, to be, a Michigan Wolverine.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:24 PM ^
with all of the athletes. I remember Odoms, along with Zack Novak (no surprise there) seeming like a decent, normal guy. Some of the athletes, football players in particular, were pretty arrogant and aloof, not associating with the non-athletes at all and goofing around immaturely during a lot of the sessions. Conversely, Odoms seemed like a pretty down to earth and level headed guy back then and this whole project demonstrates that he's got his head screwed on straight.
September 19th, 2012 at 2:33 PM ^
From a personal standpoint I prefer giving contributions to efforts such as this rather than respond to the multiple phone calls that are received from * charity asking for donations. I hope it succeeds beyond his wildest expectations. Thanks for giving back to your community Tae, Go Blue!
September 19th, 2012 at 3:25 PM ^
Having watched and enjoyed seeing Tae play, seeing his positivity even when injured, then following him in this terrific project, it makes the contribution so much more personal. The Boys from Pahokee have become our family, and now we can feel we're contributing to the well-being of our extended family.
September 19th, 2012 at 4:22 PM ^
thanks for pushing this. seeing it repeatedly made it easy for me to give.