Wow...no, seriously. Wow.

Da Nag

Da Nag

Administrator
Staff member
Went for my run yesterday afternoon, and it was pouring rain. Thick, heavy, wet - the kind that drenches you to the bone in minutes. Given our lack of summer so far, running in the rain isn't anything new to me - but it's usually just a drizzle and/or intermittent.

Anyway, I'm driving back home, completely soaked, defroster barely able to keep things visible due to the humidity escaping my person. Just a couple miles from my house on highway 112, I see a very odd sight...some guy is running down the side of the road, pushing a baby carriage. It's still pouring rain. If that wasn't odd enough, this "kook" even waved at me - a random car traveling down a fairly busy highway. I waved back, but thought...man. There's somebody more nuts than me.

Fast forward to this morning. I'm sitting here reading the online local paper, and what do I see - this guy. No...friggin...way. He's on his way to Miami.

Here's a better page that tells his inspirational story, why he's doing it, and why I encourage anyone reading here to do as I did and drop a few nickles in his tip jar.
 
Wow is right. My knees hurt just thinking about it.

I'd have to agree with him when he wrote: "...I believe the advantages offered by a private education would significantly improve their ability to do that."

There is no comparison. I wish him luck in his en devour.
 
Interesting. From his website: "Legal Disclosure: Perspiration for Chris and Megan’s Education is a registered Washington State nonprofit corporation, UBI# 603-201-452. As stated in our Articles of Incorporation, all donations will be used for the purpose of obtaining a private school education for Chris and Megan Bonds. You may order a copy of our Articles of Incorporation through the Washington Secretary of State’s Office website at http://www.sos.wa.gov/corps/.

From the website quoted, the WA State website returns:

"There were no matches for "Perspiration for Chris and Megan’s Education", doesn't mean it isn't real but opens a question in my mind...
Guess I've seen too many scams lately. We'll see how much money he raises but, for now, none of it will be from me.

Charlie
 
Captains Cat":tzec1l1x said:
Guess I've seen too many scams lately. We'll see how much money he raises but, for now, none of it will be from me.
Click to expand...

Always a skeptic myself, but being that I saw him running near the middle of nowhere with my own eyes, in the pouring rain, almost 70 miles from his starting point - I risked it.

Looks like Marty dug up the non-profit docs as well.
 
Generally a charitable corporation files a 501 C 3 application, and thus is recognized as a charitable contribution. Just filing in a state does not give a party this IRS status, and without the 502 C3 status, the donation is not deductible on federal taxes.

I also have some questions--what does Greg Hamblock do for a living? How much of this charity goes for his expenses, and how much to the education? (Charity Navigator does not list this charity). Yes there are many local causes which do not register as either 501 C 3 or come up on Charity Navigator.

However, how many bright black kids from under privileged backgrounds need a good education? I suspect over a million. Actually the New Orleans School District has made an amazing come back after the ravages of Ivan, and Louisiana does have a very good voucher program for those who excel.

The charity is registered in WA to Molly Maloney
Address 2226 Eastlake Ave E #119, Seattle.

So I googled that address, and it is "EastlakeMailService.com".....A mail service #119 certainly sounds like a mail box.....

I am skeptical, despite the sighting of this person.

I strongly support local and national charities, but I want to know exactly where my money is going.
 
I applaud the man, his purpose and his convictions, but I feel he is squandering a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm. If he truly feels that a private education for two children is more valuable to society than working to improve the public system he implicitly condemns his attitudes are a part of the problem rather than a part of the solution. If he can be successful in raising $60k to fund a private system then his exuberance would be much better directed toward the greater needs of the public system and his actions would seem less of a stunt and more genuine. The greatest heros in this world are those who never appear in the news.
 
Interesting thoughts Mike.

I traced out this thing a bit more--there is a disclaimer that this is not tax exempt at the bottom of his web site, because this is for the benefit of two people....

Check out indiegogo.com He gives administrative fees to this organization. "The world's funding platform. Go fund yourself." It looks as this organization is involved with short indie films.

Greg appeared to have graduated from Butte (MT) high school in 2005, he was a page in the Mt. Senate for a week. He then went to U of M Missoula, not sure if graduated. He did a number of volunteer projects. The video was made by Josef Metesh, who is currently a student at U of Montana. He has some links with educators in the Seattle area in BizNik, and claims to be an "Educator".

So, the question I ask myself is this someone who has not found employment and is attempting to promote XXXX? post college in todays world?
 
thataway":rk2v83dh said:
Generally a charitable corporation files a 501 C 3 application, and thus is recognized as a charitable contribution. Just filing in a state does not give a party this IRS status, and without the 502 C3 status, the donation is not deductible on federal taxes.
Click to expand...

And, as anyone who has ever attempted to set up a 501(c)(3) will attest to - it is a daunting, time consuming and often expensive process. It took over a year for the dog rescue I work with, and was only done at a reasonable expense due to volunteer work from an experienced attorney and accountant.

For somebody to go through this effort for a one-time act of kindness, simply so folks contributing a few bucks can get a deduction - that's a little unreasonable.

Regardless, I guess the title of this thread equally applies to the responses I'm reading here - albeit with a negative connotation.

Sorry I brought it up - never would have guessed in a million years, the responses here would be anything other than supportive. But..."That's Life."
 
thataway":1q5vsxzg said:
The charity is registered in WA to Molly Maloney
Address 2226 Eastlake Ave E #119, Seattle.

So I googled that address, and it is "EastlakeMailService.com".....A mail service #119 certainly sounds like a mail box.....

I am skeptical, despite the sighting of this person.
Click to expand...

Just for clarification, Molly Maloney is an attorney in Seattle. The address above is her mail drop.
 
TyBoo":2zh28zrv said:
I applaud the man, his purpose and his convictions, but I feel he is squandering a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm. If he truly feels that a private education for two children is more valuable to society than working to improve the public system he implicitly condemns his attitudes are a part of the problem rather than a part of the solution.
Click to expand...

Can't go along with that. Whatever inspires somebody to give of themselves is fine by me, and I'm not going to question whether they could have applied the same energies elsewhere for a greater societal good. It's not a competition, and it's certainly not mandatory that society as a whole benefits from one's altruistic efforts.

My wife is a prime example. She saves dogs. Drooling, dirty, often flea-ridden 4-legged critters. And even then, only one breed. She spends countless hours doing so, putting forth more effort and time with this passion of hers than many folks do in their day jobs.

Should she be saving starving kids? Assisting the destitute? Volunteering at a Veteran's hospital giving back to those who gave to all of us? How can she justify spending $7K on vet expenses for a dog, when there are humans who have zero access to medical care?

Something struck her fancy, and it happened to be a specific type of furry critter. For this guy - it was two kids in a crummy situation. And, it's not just these two kids who will hopefully benefit - acts like his, inspire others. The circle continues.

One gives of their time and money to causes and people however they wish. The fact that they do it at all, is good enough for me.
 
A healthy dose of cynicism/skepticism re: this type of thing will serve you well in the world we live in. I see it weekly @ work. Some are stupid and the victims just as stupid for biting. Some are ingenious and insidious and the victims could be you or me.
 
I have no doubt the gentleman is legitimate and his goal is admirable. I think it is a wonderful thing he is trying to do and I hope he meets his goal. I am simply saying if there is a crowd of hungry kids and two are selected for a banquet the benefactor is a hero to those two alone.

Perhaps success in this endeavor will inspire him and those who support his quest so they may create even more energy and work to solve the problems he perceives as limiting the chances of these children in the same education system that has to suffice for 90% of American children. At that point he will become a hero to me.

Dana, through her work, is indeed a hero to me. No, she does not need to change her focus, because her energies come from her heart. Now if she should select two out of all the helpless animals she cares for and run across the country pushing a cart to raise money to give them what she thinks is an advantage over all the other dogs out there, and pronounce she was running in order to "give myself a platform to ask people to help me make it a reality" so that I might contribute to it, I would still appreciate her caring but would not see her as so great a hero.

Here's where I am coming from on this, and perhaps why I am going at it so headstrong. I know a guy who just yesterday took several brand new items from the Nike store to the local CASA office and, feeling pretty good about himself, asked the director if she happened to know of any teenage girls who would like them. Nearly in tears she said there are an unusually large number of teenage girls in the system right now. He felt at once very gratified he had chosen to go there that day, and very disheartened that there were so few items in the bag.

So, Bill - perhaps we are both taking this a little too personally. There is no question this gentleman is doing a wonderful thing, but reading his own words it is nearly impossible to escape the number of times the word "I" appears. To tell you the truth, he deserves much more admiration and praise for volunteering at the shelter initially. I do not take anything away from the goodness of his gift to these two kids. As for the other children, let them eat cake.
 
Mr. T - I'd like to give you a nice, big man hug and make up.

Partly because we so rarely disagree, but mostly because I know you would hate it.
 
I have to disagree with Bill about the difficulty of a 501 C3, since I have set up several with budgets which were less than this chap is attempting to raise ($60,000), and although it was a little work, it was well worth the time and certainly was of benefit to those who donated to the causes. I did it without the help of an accountant or attorney. The reason I mention this is that I believe that if you have a charitable organization, that it is worth setting up a 501 C3. After having set up one, the next are easier.

One of the two levels of donation is $500 for this mentioned charity.

Maybe this guy will make it, maybe attract fame and fortune for himself and the charity--maybe not. It is a very long trip across country. I drive much of it at least twice a year and have been doing this for over 25 years of my life. I know some of the perils that friends who ride bikes across country have run into.

Thanks for clarifying that the person running the fund was an attorney--Hopefully this is a trust fund done pro bono.
 
As an aside...I just got back from my nightly 5 miler, and set a new personal best time.

I'd like to think I drew inspiration from the gorgeous weather, so perfect and dramatically different from yesterday.

Or, that running along one of the most gorgeous PNW forest paths taking in the natural beauty of an almost-wild river had something to do with it.

Maybe it was the most perfect music mix I've ever run to. Started off with Stairway to Heaven, warming up to soothing sounds and lyrics of Plant/Page, building into that awesome finishing crescendo as my pace picked up. From there, I just kept going ever quicker...pumped up by a non-stop high energy beat with several tunes from Earth Wind & Fire, Tower of Power and James Brown. I was totally into my virtual horn section mindset, and had my air trumpet going big time - just smiling and jamming at all the passerby's trying to avoid me.

But no, perhaps the record fell for a much simpler reason. I was just really pissed when I read the last set of replies here.

Thanks for the assist, friends - I feel better now.
 
I think the record fell in an attempt to get away from the music. Ever hear of George Strait?

What are you mad about?? You're the only guy on here who got to see Mahatma Gandhi pushing Mother Teresa in a baby stroller, waving and saying "Look at me! Look at me!"
 
Back
Top