X-Message-Number: 17859 Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 00:22:45 -0500 Subject: The James Swayze Fund -- Update From: One or two people have written me asking how the attempt to raise money to help James Swayze get a suspension is going. Well, to date, the James Swayze Fund has gotten about $7000 in hard contributions. As most readers here know, Robert Ettinger of CI has pledged to personally pay the remaining amount to guarantee a suspension for James, provided at least $20,000 can be raised. So, thus far, we've over one third of the way there. This is not as much in the way of contributions as we had hoped. On the other hand, all things considered, it is not a bad result either, and future prospects look encouraging. I say that because the James Swayze Fund has so far had to face four problems: 1. First, of course, the September Eleven bombings. That awful incident, and the continuing consequences, completed dominated all the media, internet included, for several weeks. Discussion of James Swayze's personal situation, and just about everything else, took a back seat. In addition, everyone's attention, donations, and giving went to disaster relief organizations like the Red Cross and so on. That attention and those donations were certainly appropriate, but they did set publicity and contributions for the Swayze Fund on temporary hold, and forced us to look at our fund-raising efforts in terms of a longer time-frame. It's unfortunate to consider that the effects of the bombing were such that nearly all its victims died almost immediately and that the great amounts of money donated could not save them; whereas James Swayze *can* still be saved. But then that's also a reason for optimism: in James' case, there's still a chance to make a difference. 2. Prior to Robert Ettinger's announcement, $10,000 was already pledged. A number of those previously pledged donations for James did not materialize. 3. James himself -- to very much understate things -- is not been in the best of health, and has in the past two months had to undergo some rather daunting tests and treatments. That's limited his own ability to take part in the effort, by responding to things like questions and interviews. 4. Lastly, the funding effort to date has so far been restricted to a very small number of potential contributors -- specifically, the readers of the Cryonet and Extropian lists, and the sci-cryonics newsgroup. Given these factors, I think it's fair to say that we've actually done rather well in reaching more than a third of our goal. And what is particularly heartening is that some of the factors above are changing, and are now moving back in James' favor. To be specific: 1. The complete domination of the September Eleven incident in the news and in the area of donations is easing up a bit. It's more likely that the message about James can get through now, and get a response. 2. Simply because some of the earlier pledges have not come in, it doesn't mean that they'll never come in. Those pledging may be a little tardy, but -- if you're one of those pledgers, and you're reading this -- bear in mind that the CI and the Swayze Fund are more than ready to accept your donation, and that with Robert Ettinger's announcement there is a real liklihood that your pledge will make a difference. There is a real fighting chance for James now, so if you've forgotten to send in your pledge because you've been caught up in events or in personal matters, or have just not been reading Cryonet and missed the developments, please: send your pledge in. 3. Though James' health is fragile, he's recovered enough to be able to deal with interviews and so on and his active involvement in the process will be a definite help. In addition, CI has set the membership process for James in motion by sending James the appropriate forms and so on. Thus, all the paperwork and conditions should be in place by the time suspension becomes necessary. Once the funding is in place, everything will be ready. 4. CI -- or rather, those people on the CI team that are trying to raise funds for James --has decided to try to get James' story out to a larger number of people, in hopes of getting contributions from the general public. To that end, we are putting out a set of press releases that hopefully will bring in contributions from outside the circle of regular Cryonet readers. That's how things stand now. What can you do to help? First and foremost -- donate. I'm sure we all wish James well, but the bottom line is that our wishes won't get James a suspension, and our donations will. Yes, large donations are better than small ones, but we ought to remember that if every signed-up cryonics member gave as little as ten dollars, that would nearly put us over the top. Just ten more cryonicists pledging a thousand dollars apiece would do the same thing. Through CI, the James Swayze Fund has even arranged to take donations by credit card via Paypal at http://www.paypal.com. So contributing doesn't mean taking a big bite out your savings: you can pay off your donation by credit card at as easy a pace as you like. The next best thing you can do? Tell others about James's situation and about the Swayze Fund. The fact is, even most cryonicists and people sympathetic to cryonics are not daily readers of Cryonet. There are people are out there who very much sympathize with the idea of cryonics and who might be very willing to contribute, but who just don't know about James' situation. Let them know. Mention it when you see or email them, and mention James' web site at http://www.davidpascal.com/swayze. Just casually letting people know doesn't cost anything and isn't very hard to do -- but it might just get through to those one or two people whose contribution could get us over the finish line. In this connection, I'd especially like to thank Charles Platt, for being good enough to allow me to mention the James Swayze Fund in his Alcor Forum newsletter, and Rick Potvin, for letting me do so on his online Alcor forum. I think this is a good example of cryonicists being able to pull together in a good cause, and also a good example of something that James Swayze has brought to the cryonics community: a reminder that we *are* a community, and that we *can* work together to help one another. Helping James Swayze may not only benefit James, but demonstrate that the cryonics community is willing to stand together and care for its own; and that may very well increase all our chances. David Pascal http://www.cryonics.org Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=17859