BRIDGE/Newsletter: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:29, 12 November 2008

Most Recent Newsletter 10.12.8

Hello all, things slowed down around BRIDGE for awhile while we got through the midterm crunch, but things are heating up in preparation for January. Gas is cheep so plane tickets are too, so don't think you can't still join.

IHCenter

We are now an official project of the International Humanities Center (IHC), a 501[c](3) nonprofit, which means that all donations to BRIDGE Nicaragua are now tax deductible. This includes material items like laptops:

Laptop Drive

It is looking like we won't raise enough cash to build the library that we were hoping for, but that's just fine, we will be explaining the change to those who have already donated and sending them a check which we hope they won't cash.

In the mean time, we are exploring what else we can do with the money we have raised, and launching the laptop drive. meet us this Monday, November 17 at 9am in Science 152 (the student societies office). We will spend an hour or two running all over campus and writing on black boards that people should make a tax deductible laptop donation to BRIDGE Nicaragua. People will drop off their laptops at the stock room. We will fix them (Ubuntu!) over thanksgiving break, and then ship them down to Nicaragua as checked baggage. Then we will donate them to the schools of Morrito so that the students can learn to type and other basic computer tasks.

Christmas Cards

We will be producing Christmas cards for fund raising purposes. If you want a stack of cards to distribute to your friends and family, just ask for them.

Callathon/road trip

The callathon/road trip are a go. Saturday and Sunday the 22nd and 23rd, we will be in Science 143 calling people up and asking them if they are interested in donating to our cause. Then on Monday we are hitting the road for a road trip until Wednesday. If you are interested in being a part of this, please respond.

Unsubscribe

You are receiving this email because you at some potint gave us your email address. If your monthly(ish) emails annoy you, tell us and we will stop sending them to you.

Newsletter Archive

These are old newsletters that you can read if you want to get caught up on what we've been up to.

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 == Most Recent Newsletter 10.12.8 ==
-===What is BRIDGE, anyway?===
+Hello all, things slowed down around BRIDGE for awhile while we got through the midterm crunch, but things are heating up in preparation for January.  Gas is cheep so plane tickets are too, so don't think you can't still join.
-I wanted to bring attention something that I haven't emphasized enough so far.  I have always encouraged you all to take a leadership roll, but I have never really explained what I meant.  BRIDGE is a leaderless organization.
+===IHCenter===
+We are now an official project of the International Humanities Center (IHC), a 501[c](3) nonprofit, which means that all donations to BRIDGE Nicaragua are now tax deductible.  This includes material items like laptops:
-Some would call us a "do-ocracy" which is to say that whoever gets it done gets to decide how it gets done.
+===Laptop Drive===
+It is looking like we won't raise enough cash to build the library that we were hoping for, but that's just fine, we will be explaining the change to those who have already donated and sending them a check which we hope they won't cash.
-Sure, the school wants us to have a "president" and other "officers" but often, the people who contribute the most aren't even "members".  To me, if you help us, if you come to a meeting, if you are on the mailing list, you are a member.  As far as leadership goes, we have no leaders, only doers.
+In the mean time, we are exploring what else we can do with the money we have raised, and launching the laptop drive. '''meet us this Monday, November 17 at 9am in Science 152 (the student societies office).'''  We will spend an hour or two running all over campus and writing on black boards that people should make a tax deductible laptop donation to BRIDGE Nicaragua.  People will drop off their laptops at the stock room.  We will fix them (Ubuntu!) over thanksgiving break, and then ship them down to Nicaragua as checked baggage.  Then we will donate them to the schools of Morrito so that the students can learn to type and other basic computer tasks.
-It is a kind of distributed way of getting things done.  In traditional organizations, the reward for involvement is a paycheck which encourages a hierarchical organization.  In BRIDGE, we are united by a common vision of a world that is a slightly better place.  In our instance, that is a world which includes a small library in Morrito.  If you help BRIDGE, it is because you share that vision, and you feel rewarded by something deeper than money.
+===Christmas Cards===
+We will be producing Christmas cards for fund raising purposes.  If you want a stack of cards to distribute to your friends and family, just ask for them.
-Trying to institute a hierarchy "you do this my way or the highway" will only serve to run off people who could have aided us in our common vision. Throughout history, people have operated in these communities guided only by their shared vision and community spirit.  BRIDGE is just bringing it back, making it real, and we need your help to build our community.
+===Callathon/road trip===
+The callathon/road trip are a go.  Saturday and Sunday the 22nd and 23rd, we will be in Science 143 calling people up and asking them if they are interested in donating to our cause.  Then on Monday we are hitting the road for a road trip until Wednesday.  If you are interested in being a part of this, please respond.
-All of that having been said, we can not accomplish our vision without concrete and rebar, and that takes money.  Having worked on this issue a lot over the last 2 months (raising over $700 in the process)  we have found that the best way to raise money is to ask for it.  So we are instituting the:
+===Unsubscribe===
+You are receiving this email because you at some potint gave us your email address.  If your monthly(ish) emails annoy you, tell us and we will stop sending them to you.
-===Thanksgiving 2008 Call-a-thon/Road-trip===
-As the SFSU students on this mailing list know, we get the week of Thanksgiving off.  Please don't think that you can't come if you're not a student.  We need your help too.
-For BRIDGE to remain on schedule to build the library this January, we have to have the rest of the $12,000 raised by the end of November incidentally enough.
-Classes get out on Firday the 21st of November.
-On Saturday the 22nd, we will all congregate for the callathon (Location TBD).  On Saturday, most cell phone plans have unlimited minuits and free long distance on weekends.  We will all bring a list of everyone we know and their phone numbers.  If you don't feel comfortable calling your friends and family asking for money, you can switch lists with someone else.  If you don't have a cell phone you can use, we will hook up computers and laptops with microphones and use Skype.  If you really can't be there, give us your list so that we can call your friends and family.
-We will hang out, call people, ask for money, play some video games, and eat takeout.  If we don't reach our goal on Saturday, we will continue on Sunday.
-However, if we do manage to raise all of the funding on Saturday, we will hop in our cars and go on a road trip somewhere togeather on Sunday through Wednesday.  Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Denver, the Grand Canyon, Mexico, St Louis, or wherever else we decide to go.
-We will return to San Francisco on Wednesday the 26th, the day before Thanksgiving so you can all get some turkey with your folks.
-Feel free to participate in any portion of this week that you want, just come to the callathon or just come on the road trip.
-We can't build this library alone.
-If you have been on the fence about getting more involved with BRIDGE, here is your chance.  Help us make our callathon a success that we can build that library.
-PS.  we have a website:
-www.bridgenicaragua.org
-===Older Stuff===
-We have a new website at [http://BRIDGENicaragua.com BRIDGENicaragua] thanks to Tim O.  Hats off to ya!  Our Paypal account is up and running and still have a couple of seats left in our January trip.  Please check it out, send it to your friends and make a donation if you can.
-Our finances page will be coming up soon!
-Kristine attended the SF Rotary lunch last week and twas a lot of fun.  We are planning to go back next week, Tuesday the 30th of September from 12-1:30.  Check out [http://www.sfrotary.org/MeetingInfo.cfm SF Rotary] for more information.
-We are having BBQ's at SFSU this week and in the future so please come down and have a hot dog or hamburger with us.  Do you realize that each meal you buy is roughly the minimum daily wage of a Nicaraguan?
-If you have announcements you would like to add to the next newsletter, add them here.
 == Newsletter Archive ==