2006 Cystic Fibrosis Fund Raiser

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 12:52:38 am

Well folks, the 2006 Cystic Fibrosis Fund Raiser has already begun. This years fund raiser finished with a bang and the total was amazing for this site. Who would have thought we could raise over $10,000+ for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

So, I thought there would be a break in all the action for a while until I was approached by our own Byrneout, who had a great idea... START EARLY on next years fund raiser. I thought why not ? So, I met Ric up in Phoenix last weekend at the 2006 Camarilla Convention in which Ric is a promenint member. I had no idea of what I was in for... basically (and Ric can speak more about this than I can) it is a role player gaming convention. Originally Ric said it was an RPG convention and I was all over it, thinking rocket propelled grenade and how I have had to duck a few of those in the past. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that it as live action role playing... but with vampires, werewolves and changlings. Folks, I have never met a nicer group of people than when I went up there to Phoenix.

OK long story short... we did a jail and bail, a raffle and an auction (I should say RIC did these as he was 'charity lead', I was just there to man the booth, attend the auction and answer questions about CF)... so ok, at the end of this four day event.... ready for this ?

We raised $13,200 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation !!! This was done in ONE four day weekend and we have already beaten the 2005 valiantfans.com record as the $13,200 goes into the 'system' NOW but goes for next years totals. Is this not outstanding or what ? And all thanks to my good friend, RIC.

So, our current 2006 Cystic Fibrosis fund raiser total is $13,200 !!!

depluto · Post by **depluto** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 12:54:59 am

Holy cow! That's great!

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:02:54 am

My thoughts exactly...

magnusr · Post by **magnusr** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:12:05 am

Tell us more about this weekend. A group of people who includes Ric, loves rocket propelled grenades and are so generous must have provided a great weekend.

/Magnus

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:17:35 am

It was a BLAST... hehehe. I wish I could have said that the time SUCKED or that it BITES but alas I cannot.

I was just there doing the fund raiser. Of the role playing, I didnt have a clue as to how it worked. I do know that I did sit with a nice gal who was really a stripper (Crystal) who tried to explain it to me but uh, I dont remember much of it.

MAN, was she ho.... nice.

magnusr · Post by **magnusr** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:25:56 am

Knightt wrote:who tried to explain it to me but uh, I dont remember much of it.

Ok, maybe Ric can tell us more. And receive our congratulations on a wonderful initiative. Good work guys.

/Magnus

mrwoogieman · Post by **mrwoogieman** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:39:35 am

Hory Makerer!!

tcolli · Post by **tcolli** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:46:51 am

WOW, this is a HUGE start for CF 2006!

Don't worry about the RPG info, lets see pixs of the GIRL!

Byrneout · Post by **Byrneout** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 10:50:27 am

I'll provide both details and pics tomorrow, when I get a chance.

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 12:00:57 pm

jedimarley · Post by **jedimarley** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 12:15:47 pm

dac55 · Post by **dac55** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 12:47:46 pm

Way to go guys.

dac

justin · Post by **justin** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 4:20:29 pm

I spoke to Knight about it last evening. When he told me the amount, I was speechless! Congrats Ric and Chris!

-j

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 7:34:23 pm

architect wrote:I was speechless!

He was... it was incredible. I have known Justin for how long now, just about talk to him every day/week and he was speechless... if I had know that was all it was going to take to quiet the guy down I would have done this sooner !!!

X-O HoboJoe · Post by **X-O HoboJoe** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 7:52:42 pm

OUTSTANDING!

x-omatic · Post by **x-omatic** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 8:10:28 pm

Your efforts to raise money for CF are incredible. It is not enough to have a fund raiser once a year. It should be a year round event. Please let us know if we can be of help.

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 8:49:09 pm

Thanks Chris... I know you folks have their hearts in the right place and it humbles me to actually know you great people. I try not to stress the system (and wallets) of this here message board. I know that I have found a great venue for raising funds for this great charity. The fund raiser for Cystic Fibrosis is very near and incredibly dear to my heart. I suppose I should give updates on Alyssa's condition at times and I forget to as it is hard for me to put words to keyboard about this.

Tomorrow we go up to Tucson for Alyssa's monthly visit to the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic they have there (one of the leading research and treatment facilities in the nation). At this time, Alyssa's main 'problem' with CF is her inability to gain wait. At this time she is SO under the power curve in weight gain vs height (in fact, she has fallen off the scale... not good) that she is scheduled to have a feeding tube placed in her tummy this coming January. We have just put her on a apetite stimulant to make her even more hungry but we only had dramatic results for about two weeks. I thought we could bridge the gap til January to prevent this invasive surgery but... I really do not think that this is going to happen. Alyssa turns 2 years old on December 10, the docs want her to weigh right now at 26 lbs... I just weighed her tonigh and she is at 21.20 lbs. Not even close so implacing a feeding tube is just gonna happen. Now those of you that have kids know how hard it is to have your kids completly 'taken under' and go under the knife so you can just imagine how this makes a parent feel. Guys, I would rather get shot again than have my little one go through this... Everyday I think about this and just imagine how it will be once she wakes up and have her say the words 'owie' or 'hurts' as she says now. Breaks my heart and I know that the months to come are going to be very difficult for me and my family but I know that with the great support of you guys, things will be ok and that we will get through this. The docs have already said that 'it will be harder on you (the parents) than it will be on Alyssa'. I hope so.

But we have already gotten the valiantfans.com CF fund raiser off to a great start. I dont know... you think we can do a $20,000 plus year ? It's possible... and guys, isnt that a GREAT thing ? You guys are going to be part of finding a cure for CF. And once they find a way to cure CF it is only opening the door to curing OTHER diseases, it is a domino effect.

When we put our minds to it and put forth a 'Valiant effort'... we can work wonders !!!

Oh yeah, before I forget... I have already starting working on next years VfVSS for CF project. How do I put this ? How about... 'stop yer grinnin' and drop yer linen' because it's gonna ROCK !!! (do you expect any less ? Do ya ?

)

k_c_collectibles · Post by **k_c_collectibles** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:12:18 pm

Holy crap!

That is frickin' INCREDIBLE!! Congrats on the super fundraiser!!

Chris

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:17:14 pm

It's only the begining, my friend... only the begining.

X-O HoboJoe · Post by **X-O HoboJoe** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:35:19 pm

$20,000+? You and Byrneout already kicked the door in on over half that!

We busted 10K last year, so I'm thinking with that start, 25K is the # to race to!

Unblessed · Post by **Unblessed** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:36:32 pm

Chat!!!

~Unblessed

Byrneout · Post by **Byrneout** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 10:06:57 am

So, here's the promised long and short of it all post.

First, let me establish a few facts to bring you up to speed:

1. White Wolf is a publisher of role playing games based on mythical characters (vampires, werewolves, ghosts, fairies, etc.) and a few other odd genres (superheroes, D&D-style and future tech).

2. White Wolf has their own official fan club called the Camarilla, through which they provide a global play environment for the people who purchase their tabletop and Live Action Role Play products (aka LARP). Think of the Camarilla as a global MMORPG that doesn't use computers, and you'll be pretty close to understanding it.

3. There are people responsible for writing the story elements that interact with this world, editing other's stories, and generally working their butts off with little reward - such as myself.

4. Every year, White Wolf hold several conventions that gather their players. Each nation tends to have it's own national convention, and once a year in October, they have the International Camarilla Convention (aka ICC). Normally, this convention has a turnout in the 1000's, although a recent reboot of the White Wolf universes had a severe impact on attendance, dropping it to the 540 attendee range - the lowest ICC attendance ever.

5. One of the goals of the Camarilla is to help benefit the community through charitable causes and donations. This year at ICC, they chose me to lead the charity events (ergo the title "Charity Lead") and we decided to support both the CFF and the Children Of the Night charitable organizations.

So, all of that out of the way, I arrived on Wednesday to prepare for the convention (which officially begins on Thursday). Chris drove up and met me at the airport, acting as my local guide and just all-around good buddy for the weekend.

Thursday, at Opening Ceremonies for the event, I wore the $1000 T-Shirt as we threatened the hair of the most prominent member of the Camarilla (Alex, the German man sitting to my right).

<img src="http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/gallery ... d=18135&g2_">

Only at ICC could a Dracula Nutcracker command $300 in an auction.

<img src="http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/gallery ... d=18819&g2_">

No, I meant it, a DRACULA NUTCRACKER.

<img src="http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/gallery ... d=18821&g2_">

This is my sister, Michelle, as she prepared to auction off an item. She got distracted, though, when they started bidding on a slap from her outstretched hand that went for $150. No, I'm not kidding.

(PS - she's taken. I performed the ceremony myself.)

<img src="http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/gallery ... d=18823&g2_">

And below is just one reason to love the Camarilla:

<img src="http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/gallery ... d=19108&g2_">

Damn the hotel staff for making her put on a bikini UNDERNEATH the candy one.

(Hey, since most of this audience is guys, I have to make sure that you're all awake.)

Oh, and here we are at the Charity Booth. I am the exhausted one waving, Knightt is the one moving behind us, Crystal is the chick, and I have NO CLUE who the tool behind me is.

<img src="http://camarilla.white-wolf.com/gallery ... d=18321&g2_">

All told, we raised $16,500 for Charity, with $13,200 of that going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It was a long weekend spent without much sleep, with very little in the way of regular meals, but it was worth it to know that this year's VF CFF fundraiser will be topping last year's.

magnusr · Post by **magnusr** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 10:39:32 am

depluto · Post by **depluto** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 11:56:51 am

Byrneout wrote:I have NO CLUE who the tool behind me is.

He seems to getting ready for the Mr. Olympia contest. Check out the guns!

myron · Post by **myron** » Mon Nov 07, 2005 12:00:44 pm

<ok...where are the pics??? the dialogue is like they should be there but I got nothing...>

ok now they are there