Filtered drinking water is free, free, free (although be forewarned, sometimes lines form at the filtration stations).
Have a problem with anything at all, head over to INFO where you guessed it, the information is totally free (although sometimes we throw in jokes at no extra charge).
Basically, once you are home there is no need for credit cards, US dollars, checks, etc. except for two small basic exceptions: Supplies you bring and The Magic Hat
Are you wondering how we create a temporary city in the woods that is totally free to everyone on the planet?
Well, I'm here to explain it to you.
Everything we eat, bandage ourselves with, all our medications, printed handouts, etc. is paid for by anyone and everyone. There are two ways that you can be part of anyone and everyone.
Method 1 - You buy it and bring it. You go to a store on your way to the gathering and buy the necessary supplies. Then you bring them with you and distribute them appropriately.
Method 2 - You donate US dollars to a Magic Hat, all the dollars are combined, and then people focalizing that effort use all donations to buy in bulk.
If you can buy in bulk or get discount rates, go for it and bring the supplies. If you have food stamps/food card, then you're only option is Method 1 as The Magic Hat does not accept food stamps.
Method 2 can include giving cash to the Magic Hat via the Magic Hat Parade as shown in the video below, it can include donating cash ahead of time for CALM (first aid) supplies or a food, or it can be given to a kitchen's Magic Hat at the gathering. (Note: kitchen's that feed off the rails may ask for donations but you are not required to donate to eat).
Now there are a lot of areas that need cash before the gathering. Since this year, I'm doing one blog post on begging for dollars, I will be linking to prior year's posts for the donation information. Please note I already verified the information hasn't changed. And yes, for the ahead of time cash donations, one can do it on-line using a credit or debit card. Please note, every donate ahead of time PayPal link is managed by a friend of mine and I trust them 100%.
CALM / MASH / FIRST AID - These are the folks who help us heal when we are not feeling well. Click here to see the needed supplies to bring or to make a cash donation on-line. If you want to bring supplies, it's best to email now for the up to date list of what is needed.
Food - Cooking is hard work at the gathering. Click here to see the process by which your cash or food donations become dinner. Remember to donate $$ early as it takes 1/2 week or longer for dollars to become a meal.
Organic Valley Food. Organic Valley is a brand you may recognize from your local co-op or health food store. What you may not know is that Organic Valley usually sends us multiple pallets of food - free of charge and delivered to the gathering. Organic Valley rocks! This year, some folks are trying to provide some funding for Organic Valley to help them in recovering from last year's fire. Unfortunately, we didn't get organized last year, but if you want to help us provide matching funds for our food order this year, a friend of mine with Rough and Ready Kitchen has a PayPal site set up for the matching funds. Click here to donate. Just an FYI, the food is distributed throughout the gathering.
Drinking Water. Team Hydration creates hydration stations that provide safe, filtered drinking water to keep you hydrated and healthy. They are looking for a few hundred dollars to round out their equipment purchase. To donate via Go Fund Me, click here. If you would like to donate via PayPal, click here. If you want to bring equipment,check out the FaceBook Page where folks are discussing sanitation options including drinking water. Make sure to check out the files for a DIY drip filtration system. Remember only .2 micron and below is what we are after.
Just a quick reminder, anyone who asks your for money on the way into the gathering is doing so to line his or her own pocket.
Hey Karin - in your e-mail you said you were looking for the water link to donate. I think you need to check with J**** H as he holds the current bank. That said the old link still works, it just gets forwarded to J so you can post that till you have a better link. It all gets to the right place. http://tinyurl.com/rainbowwater
ReplyDeleteHawker
I am interested in volunteering, and have professional experience cooking for large groups of people. Is that possible?
ReplyDeleteYour presence and gifts of good energy are completely welcome. Just come and find someplace you'd like to join in and offer what you will. We'll all like that!
DeleteThank you for posting this!
ReplyDeleteI was looking at the donation info on welcomehome.org but I wasn't sure if it was up-to- date. I am a single mom and I'll be travelling with a small child, it's much easier for me to donate than bring stuff, especially that I don't want too much stuff in the car when I cross the border.( I am only going camping, right?)
What are "matching funds for our food order" ?
ReplyDeleteMatching funds are upwards of $3000. All in all, the cost with delivery hovers around $5000. The last few years that bill has fallen on a few people. This year it was my intention to try to gather as many funds prior to gathering. If we can step up and take the load off, the bulk order will increase in size.
DeleteBest,
tenali
Sorry, I still don't really get it.
DeleteOrganic Valley Food is donating about $5000 of food (including delivery)
If the family gives them up to $3000 they will give us thousands dollars more worth of food? Or it will lower their cost?
"The last few years that bill has fallen on a few people"
What bill? The initial $5000 that they donate or...???
Anything to do with the fire?
Here goes: The last several years, the food bill including delivery has hovered around $5000 (and upwards to $7500). Delivering food in a remote setting is not cheap. We're talking about 8-10 pallets of food. We've collected close to $2000 the last few years on site, and a few - 2-3 folks - have covered the remaining balance.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found is that people are willing to give but often are tapped out once we are on site. It is my intention to collect donations early, so we can take the load off of the 2-3 who step up to cover the remaining balance.
If this is something which takes off, we have the connections in shipping and food, there's no reason the order could not increase in size in subsequent years, limiting the excessive town runs to gather bulk food.
Hope this answers your question. I realize I was not entirely clear on my initial reply.
"Organic Valley usually sends us multiple pallets of food - free of charge and delivered to the gathering."
ReplyDeleteWhat is free of charge?
I am not saying Organic Valley should give us that food but that is what I understood reading the article.
Is it the actual work of putting the order together that is free of charge?
I know that sometimes the food has been free and sometimes we have paid for it. As to the plan for this year, I'm not sure as I'm not coordinating this.
ReplyDeleteThe food is free, as always. The collection of funds is not related to their having a fire either. The order is put together by a few that work for OV who simply try to use their food and logistic connection to contribute to gathering. Just putting it out there for others to pitch in to take the burden off of the few.
ReplyDeletetenali
tenali