June 27, 2003
BEER FUND ABSOLUTE LATEST
"Ill chip in on the beers," wrote Brian J. "Is there a donation fund?" asked D. At that point was born the great Jake Ryan Beer Fund, now in its final day. The amount raised so far: $A1,331.43
"No B.S., no high-minded rhetoric, just money for beer," writes contributor Josh Crockett. "This is how a charity drive should be run." Thank Brian J. and D. for the idea, Josh. And major league donors like Kevin and Kristin, among many others, for making the amount so huge.
Note: no cash will be diverted to unrelated healthcare facilities:
Mr Ryan says the Red Cross's allocation of public donations to other causes is a kick in the teeth to victims.
"Hundreds of people that I know on the Gold Coast that have donated money, not only to the Bali victims but to my brother and myself and the guys at the Sharks, only to have Red Cross go and throw it into a tuberculosis clinic out in the middle of nowhere," he said.
"We find that really insulting.
"People donated it for the Bali victims and that's where it should go."
The cheque flies Jake’s way on Monday.
Posted by Tim Blair at June 27, 2003 02:32 PMIs it wrong to chuckle at the mental image of the whole football team taken out by alcohol poisioning?
Then again, maybe we should campaign this as an acceptable vent for terrorists. Instead of killing westerners with bombs, do it by the pint.
Posted by: ErikZ at June 27, 2003 at 03:12 PMIf you want to get over the media hype re the Red Cross and the Bali Appeal, have a look at http://www.redcross.org.au/media/TheFacts_ARCBaliAppeal_260603.pdf
If the media spent as much time on real problems as it has spent on whining about the Red Cross doing what it said it would do, journalists would probably rate above used-car salesmen on the job status list rather than below.
Posted by: Paul Johnson at June 27, 2003 at 03:36 PMSpeaking as someone who did contribute to the Bali fund through Tim, I'm not upset in any way.
The people covered the Bali appeal will do fine. I thought of the appeal more as a memorial than anything else; it doesn't bother me that some of the money will be going to help other people instead. Of course, YMMV.
Posted by: John Nowak at June 27, 2003 at 05:56 PMThe red cross got busted for the same type of fraud in San Diego a few years ago. There was a fire in an area called Alpine and several houses were burned down.
The RC had a special appeal and raised over $400K, of which they only disbursed $51K until the journos called them on it.
Needless to say, my RC donation days are over.
Posted by: Kevin at June 27, 2003 at 06:42 PMI'm trying to donate but PayPal is giving me grief. Apparently I need to wait until my VISA statement arrives, to get my PayPal member number, or something like that.
Am I using PayPal wrong or something? Do you really need your own account just to donate to someone elses?
Help!
Posted by: Stewart Kelly at June 27, 2003 at 08:10 PMI don't know how to fix PayPal problems, Stew, but here's the address of the football club, in case you want to donate directly:
Southport Australian Rules Football Club.
Corner Musgrave & Olsen Avenues
PO Box 1610
SOUTHPORT, QUEENSLAND, 4215
The Red Cross was pulling the same shit after 9-11 as I recall.
Posted by: KJA at June 28, 2003 at 01:48 AMWow. Could it be true that I actually made some sort of difference? Possibly. Regardless, I must not miss a chance to cash in on my possibly deserved and certainly fleeting kudos.
I am the D refered to in the post. For some reason I decided to go anonymous. I have a blog, but I haven't updated it for a few weeks. I prefer to now haunt the comments of my regular reads.
Poor timing I suppose, but like I said, gotta toot my own horn when the blowing's good.
May Jake Ryan and his buddies get shitfaced beyond recognition, and maybe get some hot chicken fingers on the side. Aw hell, Jake deserves an inch thick t-bone with all the fixins. And don't stick to the Coronas even if you DO like the limes. It's Sammy Smith's Imperial Stout for you (would also accept Taddy Porter). Way to go buddy!
Posted by: D at June 28, 2003 at 02:06 AMTim, is it going to be made clear to Jake that the money is really really for beer? No feeling guilty and giving half of it to a charity. Drink to the fact he's alive, drink to the memory of the dead, or just plain drink and have a hell of a time is what I say.
Well, I guess an exception should be made if they wanted to spend some of it on steaks or hookers...
Posted by: Tom at June 28, 2003 at 08:02 AMAs long as they're drinking beer with the steaks and the hookers let em bring a beer in too, there shouldn't be an issue so say I.
Posted by: Jake D at June 28, 2003 at 11:27 AMDear Tim and the resy of you wonderfull donars,
I'm Jake Ryan and i would love to thank you for what u guys have done. I'v been redining all the comments and im laughing and crying myself silly. I'm very proud that people are so passionate about what i have said and done, and have set something up so i can gassed with my mates. The only problem is that i wont to have a beer with all of you.We will see what we can do about it. Thanks again and i will keep in contact. All the best, cheers Jake Ryan.
Dear Tim, Im Jakes mum Leanne and our family would like to thank you and all those involved so much for your support. We would also like to speak to at some stage as we dont want to put phone nos on this site pehaps you could leave your number with the football club so that jake could get back to you. Thanks again.
Posted by: Leanne Ryan at June 30, 2003 at 01:41 PM