Fundraising

Now that I'm in the process of helping someone I know who is in need, and I know that there are not very many resources for water assistance, I would like to start a fundraiser or something that can help people in need. I'm not sure how I would do this, and I want to make sure that it is completely legal. I think it would feel great to help people in need in an area that is not very well talked about and seems to lack a lot of funding and awareness (at least in the area I live in.) I think it is very unfortunate that it has to be that way, and I think that people who have the power to help others who need help should do so, even if it is by donating time and love, and not money. For me, helping people gives a good feeling inside. I like the idea of knowing that if I help someone, maybe somebody will return the favor if I'm ever in need of help. It's hard to think that there is so much money and so much funding that could be available for people in need, but that not all of it is allocated properly. I know I'm ranting and raving about this, but my recent experience has somewhat inspired me to help others in an area that I, and many others, take for granted. So my new goal is to do a little bit of research and see what I can do to help people, and if I cannot do that with money, I would like to at least raise a little bit awareness about the situation and the lack of understanding about the entire situation (emergency assistance for people who do not have running water.)

Rant - Water Not Considered Necessity

For about the past week or so I've been trying to help someone who currently does not have running water. I've looked at every online resource, I've called all of the public help numbers, local charities, asked for suggestions, tried to talk with the water company, and so far I have only found a couple of different places who could actually help. When on the phone with the water company, the man I spoke with was completely rude the whole time, making it seem like I was a low-life for asking for any kind of assistance, like I was disgusting because I was helping someone who at this time is not capable of making ends meet. He did not explain the process very well, and after getting so upset at the way he was talking to me that I started shaking, I asked to speak to his supervisor. His supervisor, who was also a bit of an asshole, told me that he was sure it was explained to me correctly and that I just wasn't listening. Now, I don't know about you, but I think that is a little bit twisted and inconsiderate. Anyways, the talk with the water company didn't go so well, and the end result was that most of the past due balance had to be paid before this person would qualify for their "Emergency Assistance Program". I could have sworn the point of emergency assistance is to help at that exact point in time when there is no running water in the house. So after talking with about 30 different organizations on the phone, the only assistance we got out of the whole thing was about $200.00, which was definitely not enough to get the water turned back on. On top of that, more than one of the places I spoke with said that lack of running water in a household (and this one has children in it also) does not really count as a crisis, since you can go to the store and buy water. Do they realize that it is extremely difficult to live in a house with no running water? Did they think of the fact that if someone cannot afford to keep the water running in their house, that maybe they cannot afford to buy water at the store? And that access to water is an extremely important necessity to life on the planet Earth? I am deeply disgusted and dissapointed that the lack of common sense, lack of sensitivity, and lack of help with regards to the issue of running water is so great. People cannot live without water, and for the government or any other agency to make it seem like water is not a vital part of life and that it should be okay to turn water off in a household with children in it is appalling. I think there need to be laws that allow for a certain amount of water in a household, regardless of the situation.

The Drama of School Registration and Procrastination

So today was a little bit of a stressful day. I'm the queen of procrastination, and of course it's always with the really important things. So today I'm at work, and I'm talking to the school counselor of the school I'm trying to enroll in, and they tell me that today is the first day of the drop period, which means that if I don't pay one third of my $5600 tuition by today, I'm dropped from my classes. So after talking with the financial aid office (I was procrastinating with them and now I'm waiting on the IRS to send the Proof of Non-Filing for my mom because for some stupid reason they automatically make you qualify as a dependent even if your parents aren't supporting you) Anyways, I didn't turn in any of the other financial aid paperwork because I figured it would make more sense to turn it all in at once. Guess what? Wrong!!! They told me that if I didn't fax in the majority of the paperwork by today to get my file started, I would lose my spot in classes. That would be terrible. So I talked to my supervisor at work, and she told me that I could leave early to go get all of that taken care of. So I ran home, grabbed the stuff I needed, ran over to the offsite campus of the college I'm at so I could fax it in to the main branch. Guess what though? I didn't look everything over completely, and there was a spot that required my parents signature. So I drove back home, had my mom sign the little paper, ran my butt all the way to the Safeway close to my house to fax it because I decided I would just pay for the fax, but their customer service department was closed. So then, I had to drive to the UPS store that was not to far away, but ended up paying $9 bucks to fax everything over to them. It all got taken care of, but needless to say the running around I did for three hours to get all of my ducks in a row was so not worth the effort I had to put forth when all I had to do was get this stuff taken care of when I supposed to and everything would have been okay. Maybe one of these days I'll learn that procrastination is a very nasty habit and that in the long run, it's only gonna make me have high blood pressure at a young age. :)