Remember Contessa? I posted a bleg from her person, Karen, a couple of weeks ago:
I’m in a bad situation… I have a 14 year old kitty named Contessa who is diabetic.
I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in April… I’d be getting a double mastectomy. My whole world stopped from that moment and was only about the cancer. I gave Contessa as much of myself as I could but it wasn’t what she deserved or needed…
When I went in for surgery, I had something set up where a pet sitting person would feed Contessa, inject the insulin and do the litter. Between the hospital stay and the rehab to rebuild my strength it was almost three weeks til I got home. She was very angry at me but I tried as hard as I could to make it up to her. I had someone that was still handling the care of her because I was weak as a kitten but I thought eventually I’d be able to take care of her again…
I am getting help in paying for the care of her but that can’t last forever. My RA has progressed with a vengeance to the point where I’ve fallen three times in two weeks and I need to use a rollator everywhere. Taking care of myself is difficult since I live by myself in independent living and I have no help. The help I’m getting to pay for the cat care can’t go on forever and I can’t take care of her myself so I’ve come to the realization that I need to give Contessa up.
Another BJ commentor has volunteered to re-home Contessa, but Karen needs some help to get Contessa’s medical care up to date. She’s set up a GoFundMe site, here:
…Between the vet bills, the food, the insulin and the pet care person I’ve had to pay to take care of my Contessa, the amounts are reaching $500 already and that was just in 30 days. I’m on disability and I’m having to put all these costs on my credit card. I’m also going to have to reimburse the G-dsend who will be driving here from New Jersey and take Contessa to her new home…
Any help you can spare would be much appreciated!
raven
Done. And I ain’t even a cat person!
satby
I’m in! Passing it on on Twitter and FB too; people were very good to me and my guys last time.
lurker dean
Wow, good on the commentor who is re-homing Contessa, what a great thing to do. Best wishes on your recovery, Karen!
Tommy
Can I send some funds to the firm? Link and I will.
Gary
Done. Two of our five cats have medical issues, with one diabetic. I know what this like and sympathize. Good luck, Karen.
WaterGirl
Does volunteering to re-home contessa mean that the commenter is taking contessa home to live with them? Or does it mean that person is taking responsibility for finding contessa a new permanent home and fostering in the meantime?
WaterGirl
If funds are still needed when I get paid on Monday, I can contribute then.
Steeplejack
@raven:
Good on you. I’m also in for a few bucks on behalf of the housecat (my housecat, this is).
Creature_NYC
Done.
Erin
Is there a way to donate straight through PayPal? I’ve been avoiding signing up with gofundme, but I’d like to donate.
Matt
Donated, but be aware that GoFundMe is a nasty bunch of either assclowns or pushovers for the radical right.
They’ve explicitly banned fundraising for abortion care, but continue to allow sponsoring forced-birth terrorist groups:
http://www.salon.com/2014/09/10/gofundme_bans_all_content_relating_to_abortion_but_leaves_antiabortion_campaigns_active/
Oh yeah, and they were happy to take their 5% of the “You Go Darren Wilson, Kill Some More Of Those…” festivities:
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/22/darren_wilson_gofundme_campaign_has_become_hub_of_racism_and_hate/
raven
@Matt: Yea, I made this point when this first came up. I don’t think Karen had much choice. I think we need to make it clear that this is the last time.
geg6
Damn, just bought a car and I’m broke today (and for a while apparently…haven’t had a car payment since 2009). But I’ll still kick in a bit tomorrow when I get paid. I’m still beholden to BJ for my lovely Koda. Who just threw up all over the kitchen floor.
Nicole
I wish I could, but we’re about to be $2500 in debt to repair our dog’s torn CCL. It’s keeping me up nights, but she’s a young dog and it needs fixing. Sigh. The things we do for love. It makes me so glad that Contessa has a good home waiting, and best wishes to Karen and that the arthritis will ease a bit. My stepmom was diagnosed with RA in her early 30s; it’s no fun for sure.
Manyakitty
@Erin: What Erin said. Direct from Paypal works best if possible.
kc
@raven:
Please suggest an alternative.
Howard Beale IV
Google has a way of doing direct funding via GooglePay
Diana
looks like the money was donated! congrats to all who contributed! Especially that last person who rather generously gave the difference between the amount already raised and amount asked for.
MazeDancer
Well done to all. 28 people for 1K, good on everyone. May Karen and Contessa both find peace, health, and good futures. And many blessings to the person giving Contessa a new home.
Had no idea GoFundMe was a right wing thing. Thanks, Raven and Matt.
PayPal accounts are an alternative, but not everyone is comfortable with having to link a bank account to receive the funds. But clearly we need to find alternatives. Guess it is Google search time if no one has personal experience with other ways.
Erin
This is such a great bunch. Congrats!
Mnemosyne
Yay for funding! I hope Contessakitty is happy in her new retirement home. :-) One of my co-workers adopted a 10-year-old kitty after her owner was forced to give her up, and they couldn’t be happier together.
Mystical Chick
Done! Thank you for sharing this. I can barely resist a bleg. And here’s wishing the very best for Contessa and her sweet owner who seems to be having a very hard time.
TrishB
@MazeDancer: Didn’t know that GoFund was a rightwing thing, but I gave nonetheless. My pup Pepper died last year, but it was 4 years of crazy ass med bills between diabetes and Cushing’s, and all the complications that were involved. Even without the vets bills (including specialists), Ms Pepper’s meds reached over $300/month. I was damn fucking lucky that I could cover that during a year of unemployment.
satby
So we need to help people and we need an alternative crowdfunding site. Here’s an article I found, what platform should we encourage people to use? Or should we pressure and shame the rightwingers on Gofundme?
Oops, forgot link: http://www.giveforward.com/p/crowdfunding/best-crowdfunding-websites
Beeb
Late to the party but happy to help out. A little extra never hurts, and GoFundMe’s rotten politics are not Contessa’s fault. I look forward to a better way to do this in the future, though.
Paul W.
Wow, I was just reading this post and thinking “I’ve never had an animal live past 12” and wondering if I could chip in after being so cynical (or jealous)… Well folks here have shone much brighter than me before I could even decide. Truly blown away by the support by Contessa and Karen, and will help out for the next unfortunate owner or kitty in need of help. This was especially needed for me after a night of being around very self serving personalities. Thank you bj community!
MazeDancer
Adding to @satby link, here are some possibilities from a Forbes piece: http://www.forbes.com/sites/katetaylor/2013/08/06/6-top-crowdfunding-websites-which-one-is-right-for-your-project/
Looks like they all take 7-8%. PayPal direct would be less fees. But advantage of a site is everyone can see the total and how it’s going no need for person to have to report back. Also easier to link on other social media.
Another question is anonymity. How much info does the site want from the giver? Less is more in that area. Some sites also oriented towards pet help kind of projects, some more creative projects. The ones where you have to reach a goal to get the money probably not for BJ.
Further search will no doubt reveal more options.
@TrishB: So sorry for your losing Pepper. Such hard going.
Paul in KY
Personally, I think it is time to put Contessa down (unless someone rich is able to take care of her). She is a beautiful animal, but has lived 14 years.
lurker dean
@satby: giveforward.com looks promising. the founders don’t at first blush seem to be RWNJs:
Desiree Vargas graduated from Yale University with B.A. in Latin American Studies in 2004. Prior to launching GiveForward, she worked as a specialist in collegiate entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City and as an independent consultant for Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors. She is passionate about the role that small-scale donors can have.
Ethan Austin is originally from Southern California. He graduated from Emory University in 2004 with a B.A. in political science and holds a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law where he was member of the Law Review. Ethan volunteers for Imerman Angels, a cancer-support organization and also serves on the steering committee for Climate Cycle, a Chicago-based environmental non-profit that helps put solar panels on Chicago public schools. Ethan is licensed to practice law in California.
http://www.businessinterviews.com/ethan-austin
MazeDancer
@lurker dean:
They do look possibly okay. Except this crowdfund site says they don’t release the money immediately http://crowdsunite.com/platforms/giveforward/#&panel1-1 There is a two week to 1 month delay. So not so useful in emergencies. (But maybe they’ve changed that policy?)
YouCaring.com got “picked” best free crowdfund site by same site, reported at BusinessWire http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140505006036/en/YouCaring.com-Named-Crowdfunding-Platform#.VCsNpecdVe4 YouCaring uses PayPal.
This is going to take some cross searching. And, of course, every person will have their own preference and needs.
lurker dean
@MazeDancer: thanks for catching that, a delay certainly wouldn’t make sense. i’ll see what i can find on youcaring.
lurker dean
also, it looks like giveforward may have changed their policies so that there is no delay in starting a fundraiser or receiving contributions. i sent them an emailing asking them to clarify.
MazeDancer
@lurker dean:
Good news about policy change. Just reading that policy did bring up suspicions they might have changed because it’s a dumb idea. Smart of you to email them. So it’s possible there are two options at least. If youcaring checks out, at least they have no fees, just volunteer contribution solicitations, possibly a “will you give” screen at end of each contribution. Which makes sense since they’re PayPal based and PayPal always asks if you want to cover the fee when you send someone money. (Though who knows what their new owner will decide to do with them after Ebay sells.)
So two possible sites is a start. We can look for more. And discuss along the way with other searchers in open threads or next bleg as this thread dies. And someone out there in BJ land has to have had some kind of personal experience with one of these crowdfund sites.
Good searching!
lurker dean
Okay, this thread is long dead, but I wanted to post what I found so far. giveforward responded and said there is no 2-week waiting period up front. you can publish a fundraiser and receive donations right away. it takes 2-5 days for wepay to connect with the receiver’s bank, but after that, money can be withdrawn daily.
the youcaring founders seem to be a standard tech startup – one of the founders, luke miner, is a 23 year old. of the other 2 founders, one, naomi badu, has very little info/presence on the internet, which is odd because she’s supposed to be the marketing director, and the other, brock ketcher, seems like he has had a bunch of different careers. in other words, i didn’t see anything that suggested a DFH desire to help others, lol. which isn’t to say the web site is bad, it’s rated highly as you said.
i’ll repost this the next fundraising comes up. :o)