Only One Week Left Before "NOTHING"!

Tony and I are getting our final arrangements final... Actually, because it's Guyana, we are actually still finalizing almost everything!   The good thing about returning to the same place...is that we have come to see this as normal.

However, the real pressure on me has been the upcoming "Do Nothing-A-Thon".   I have been in training.  My Not-Working-Out schedule is being kept confidential  as there may be a book deal.

Seriously, I have raised some money for the computers, but the students require more units if we are to overcome  the problems from last year.   Of course, Tony and I will go no matter how many computers we actually raise.

I have never enjoyed fund raising, maybe because I don't enjoy being "Fund Raised".    Between Anne and me, the mail brings appeals everyday.   I get tired and feel overwhelmed, so I give them all to Anne to deal with.

So why should you part with your hard earned money for "Laptops for Guyana"?   To tell you the truth, I don't have a good answer, except that this would be a major contribution to the nursing students' education.

I know why I get involved at Mercy Hospital and the School of Nursing.   It is not hopeless.   A limited amount of money and effort can improve individual lives and the whole profession of Nursing in this small country.  

The young people work hard to get ahead and make their families proud.   Most have chores before and after school that would make our children get a human rights lawyer.  Though [don't get me wrong], they still have their share of "goof-off's".    However, all are grateful for our contributions to their education... and even say, "Thank you."

I can't say why you might make a donation.   I do have a small observation: Those people who have never met me have made more donations than those who know me.    I wonder what that means?

I have to admit that I am a little disappointed in my fund-raising skills.   Maybe I should have paid more attention in Economics 101?

Of course, everyone out there might just want to identify with The Guyanese... and are waiting till the last minute.   Well, NEWS FLASH: It is really close to the last minute.

 Hope that you can join in and support me in my grueling challenge this Sunday Evening.  The live link [I think it works.] is on the right side of the blog.


Take Care,  John

We Need Your Financial Assistance for Our Nursing Students.

Just about two weeks left to participate. 

Please consider making a contribution. 

There has been an overabundance of “thons” for every worthy cause, so we "beggars" need to be creative… We need to conceive of something never done before, so unique that people will be amazed.   But first, my Tear-Jerking cause, more cuddly than a teddy bear, more promising than a dozen lottery tickets, and for a group much poorer than anyone reading this!

A decade ago, I would have been asking for textbooks; however, this is the digital age.  Actually, one textbook costs about one-third the cost of a basic notebook computer.   More and more information is online and thanks to the United Nations and Google it is free to developing countries like my Guyana.    So I am going to raise money to provide a laptop/notebook to every hard working nursing student at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital School of Nursing. If a student uses a laptop for three or four courses that will make them cheaper than textbooks.   The students will be able to use their computers[1] for all four years – and maybe even for their extra years of a degree at University Guyana.[2]

I am willing to train with true perseverance to accomplish this lofty goal.

What can I do to capture the imagination of good people with some extra dollars?[3]

Walking for more miles than driving a full tank of gas gets you? [done by others],

Biking across continents? [dbo],

Climbing the CN Tower? [dbo],

Reading a thousand books? [dbo],

Eating a stack of hot dogs taller than a small NBA basketball player… 

         What is left?

Doing Nothing!

And since the usual is extreme length; this will be punishingly short.

Just Doing It for a Whole Hour… JUST SITTING. 

                     Wow!   Totally in awe???

So from 7:00 PM to 7:59 [Atlantic Daylight Time], Sunday, 19th June.
     [Doing  it on Father's Day will give me the encouragement I need to make the lives of "My Guyana Children " better …and I’ll be doing it before my bedtime] ......

...... I will be trying to sit for the entire 60 minutes,
                              and do nothing, not even drink a Canadian beer,
                                          not even meditate or clear my mind ..... NOTHING.

This is a one-time-only event that you will be able to tell your grandchildren about.

Don’t miss out on the chance to participate.

And how can you become an integral part?

Easy-peasy: Make a donation!

Remember: No donation too large.

So what I’d like you to do, seriously, is:  consider making a donation.  Then, JUST DO IT!

Donations will be accepted in cash [any currency] or cheque [or check for Americans] by sending to me… John O’Connor, P.O. Box 218, Middle West Pubnico, Nova Scotia, Canada  B0W 2M0.   However, I cannot issue a tax receipt.  

If you’d like a Canadian tax receipt, you may donate either online in Canada at  CanadaHelps.org.  [You can make a donation no matter where you are in the world, just no tax receipt except in Canada, “Pity, eh?”

Or by post to:
Guyana Christian Charities (Canada) Inc.,
Mercy Projects/O'Connor,  
534 Rouge Hills Drive
Toronto, ON   M1C 2Z8 

Tax Credits for Americans can be received by sending your contribution to Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – CCASA Community, 8380 Colesville Road, Suite 300, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

I am considering a live webcast of the event – if I can figure out how to do it.[4]

Thanks for helping the nursing students of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital School of Nursing.  

---

[1] Will the students be able to use a computer?  Dr. Tony and I would love to take credit for patiently instructing them; however, the credit goes to FaceBook -- being able to use FB is a huge learning incentive!.

[2] The money raised will first be spent on supplying notebooks for the new first year students as they will have the longest to use them.   This will put my life in danger from the Second and Third and Fourth Year students, so I am trying to supply all the students.

[3] To comply with the demands of full disclosure this event was necessitated by the bombing of my first attempt to secure laptops for my students.   I secured none.   So following in the footsteps of a patron saint, Samuel Beckett: “No matter… Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”    Or as Sister Mary Something said to me in 4^th Grade, “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.”    Well, Sister, this is worth doing.

[4] Someone told me that the skin sites get thousands of hits a day, so I may do the challenge naked!   (Unless I receive donations demanding “Don’t.”)