Charity, Meetings, Merchandise

[BotanicalMedley]

Hello everyone. So I came up with these ideas yesterday, and I hope you all like them and agree on them.

Idea 1: As you all know, the 'Avatar' fan community is a big community. I don't even know how big. And I'm pretty sure almost every fan has been motivated to help the planet in some way after watching this movie. So, I think we should do something charity related. Like....once every few months we gather a lot of money and donate it to a voted charity. Maybe we could even get the other fan sites to start doing this.

Idea 2: On the subject of how big the Avatar fan community is, I think it would be cool for us to have meetings, gatherings every once in a while. Whether it be on Skype(or whatever other webchat things that are out there), or in person. I think it would help us become more connected and become even more of a family. Yet again, maybe we could give this idea to other sites.

Idea 3: My last idea is for us to start making our own merchandies, like shirts, pants, tank tops, etc. Maybe we could even make Na'vi like clothing. I've been wanting to do that for a long time. If we start doing this, we could use the money we get from it for the charity, if we start doing THAT.

So yeah, these are my ideas. I'm most excited about the possibility of doing charity, since I know a lot of you and I care about helping others. And if we and other fan sites get together, but even if it's only us, and start doing charity stuff regularly, we would be making such a wonderful change. If you have any suggestions to make these better, go ahead and tell me. I'm all ears.

[ISV Venture Star]

This is a cool idea! Would be great if be could co-ordinate ourselves in this way to positive effect.

[Human No More]

The charity thing is interesting, but it really depends on what, also on how we're actually going to get the money/what is done - doing something specific? Or just mentioning one for people to donate to?

I'd love to see some more meetups, there is the Seattle trip at the moment, but seeing a few that are more local for others would be a good thing

As for merchandise, there's a thread on tshirts at the moment, which is hopefully going to be ready to go soon

[Empty Glass]

I'm all for anything that helps out a worthy charity. I'm sure we can think of a few.

If in-person meetings could be easily arranged, everyone who met could do some direct charity and/or volunteer work together. I used to do things like gleanings, trailbuildings, and park cleanups some years ago; it'd be nice to set aside some time for doing that again.

[BotanicalMedley]

@Empty Glass

Great idea, thank you! I'm glad you'd like to do that.

[Empty Glass]

You're welcome! And why not - might as well put our positive post-Avatar energy and inspiration to good use somehow.

I'm only scratching the surface here, but here's a few lists of possible charities we could donate to. They all happen to be environmental, but we can consider others, such as human rights charities. Also, many tend to be focused on efforts within the United States; I think choosing a good international charity would be a better thing to do, considering how international this community is.

charitywatch.org - environment
charitynavigator.org - environment

[BotanicalMedley]

@ Empty Glass

Most definately! I feel we should do other species' rights charity stuff too. Not just human rights charity.

Man, can you imagine the difference we could make by doing this? I don't even know how many people are part of the Avatar fansites all together. I'm presuming A LOT. If every person were to donate.... *shakes head in awe*

[Empty Glass]

Earth Day is next week; what if we got people from all the Avatar fansites to make a donation(s) to one or more charities on that day? That could definitely be a lot of money raised.

But what's really needed is continuing donations and/or support beyond a single day. One instance of donations and volunteer work won't be enough, but by making it a regularly occurring thing, some kind of change can be made at some level.

...or at least we won't be sitting on our arses and not making an effort at improving our communities.

[apache_blanca]

Our merchandise... how about beads? Really Na'vi-like. Also, armlets would be cool... At one point I got obsessed with Neytiri's necklace, couldn't find anything similar - it seems I shall make it myself
I found this: Pandora Jewelry Pandora Jewelry Store - Official Beads, Charms, Bracelets, Necklaces but it doesn't seem a very Avatar thing however, iirc, I saw their ads on AF (?) Ads are another option to raise funds, no?

About charities - here you'll find quite a range of what to do: helping the victims of disasters, education & medical services, kitchens for homeless, tree planting... ... ...: Amma.org . Me, I am in the prisoner helping department
The inspiring point is that all the collections really go to the needy. And it's an ongoing program, not just a one-off action. She is in the States soon, btw.

Of course, there are many other charities, too. And many other ways to help. Let's see if we invent something, in the end...

[BotanicalMedley]

Those are great ideas! Thank you so much for them! Now all we need is for the people who made this site to come here and agree to this.