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Tsunami and Earthquake Relief Fund - Correspondence

 
  PayPal Will Waive the Fees!

01-03-5002, 7:40 pm CST:  Last Saturday, I really started sweating. When this started, I had no idea that it would take off like it did.  I had a personal PayPal account that didn't incur fees. However, after the money started piling up, I had to upgrade the account to a "Premier" account. Suddenly, each incoming transaction started incurring a small fee...and those fees really started adding up. As of this morning, the fees were over $300!

I had promised that every penny that was donated would go to AmeriCares, and I was determined to keep that promise, even if it meant that I'd pay the fees out of my own pocket. You can imagine my relief when I got this email from PayPal tonight:

Dear Kevin McDonald,

Thank you for contacting PayPal and for allowing me the opportunity to
review your request to have your PayPal fees waived for the donations to
Americare and the disaster relief in Asia.

I believe we should be able to make an exception to our policy and assist
you with this matter. However, because you are withdrawing the funds to
your private bank account, we would need verification/confirmation that the
funds are actually being sent to the nonprofit group.

Please feel free to respond to the email with that information or fax
documentation to us at: Executive Escalations, 402-537-5765.

Please let me know if you need further assistance at crme@paypal.com.

Sincerely,
Leslie
Executive Escalations
PayPal, an eBay Company

Thank you, PayPal! You can bet that I'll be sending them the appropriate documentation tomorrow.  :-)
The Second Donation

The second donation totaling $4000 has been successfully transmitted to AmeriCares! The following is the confirmation email I received. It mentions that a formal letter will be sent. When I receive it, I will scan it and post it on this site along with the first donation letter.

Let's keep the money coming in!  This relief effort will take an estimate ten years to complete! 
Dear Kevin: 

Thank you very much for your donation! South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund has received your donation in the amount of $4000.00. We will be sending your formal acknowledgmenent in the mail. If you have any questions, please contact: 

South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund Donor Relations 
(203) 658-9500 
donorrelations@americares.org 

For your records, your confirmation number is VKME20351176. 

Sincerely,
 
South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund 
Donor Relations 
88 Hamilton Avenue 
Stamford, CT 06902 
(800) 486-HELP

The First Donation

The first $1000 has been successfully transmitted to AmeriCares! The following is the confirmation email I received. It mentions that a formal letter will be sent. When I receive it, I will scan it and post it on this site.

Once again, thank you all for your kindness and generosity! 
Dear Kevin: 

Thank you very much for your donation! South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund has received your donation in the amount of $1000.00. We will be sending your formal acknowledgmenent in the mail. If you have any questions, please contact: 

South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund Donor Relations 
(203) 658-9500 
donorrelations@americares.org 

For your records, your confirmation number is VKNE19699643. 

Sincerely,
 
South Asia Earthquake Relief Fund 
Donor Relations 
88 Hamilton Avenue 
Stamford, CT 06902 
(800) 486-HELP
On Trust

I've been asked many times:  "Why should we trust you?  How do we know that you'll send the money as promised?"  I've responded to several emails and online posts about these valid questions.  Here is pretty much my response "in a nutshell." December 29, 2004, 10:10 pm CST

Dear Online Friends,

Thank you for your question.  The best I'll be able to offer as proof that the money is donated is to send out the receipt that I receive from the first donation of $1000 as soon as it is transferred.  I plan to post it on the site, and also forward it to everyone that has donated.

Doing this is quite new for me.  I had no idea that it would take the "life of its own" that it has.  I hardly expected to even raise the amount of money that I spent on the classified ad that I put on Fark.com - $25 - but I was shocked the next morning to see that the site had raised over $200.  You can see what has happened since then.  The donations are gloriously "out of control!"

I have called AmeriCares and sent them emails.  I have sent information to the owner and operator of Fark.com who is very pleased with the results so far and will be taking further steps to promote the site tomorrow morning.  The best I can offer you is this:  My real name and real information is on the Writerscafe.net site, which I have run for a couple of years.  Over 1,000 people have read the site and have seen that information over the last few days.  They have kept watch over the funds as they have poured in.  They can see that, as soon as their donation is made, their initials appear on the site with the correct amount. With that much attention on me, if there is ever any question that the funds were not dispersed as promised, I'll be in a world of hurt!

It has always been my sincere intention to do what little I could to help those in need as a result of this tragedy.  The idea of "taking the money and running" truly makes me ill.  That would be a grave injustice to those who desperately need the funds, and those who have, for some reason, already put their trust in me.

Finally, you'll notice two new donations in the "Donations!" column of the main page. The initials are "BM" and "CM."  Those are my two oldest children, my ten year old girl and eight year old son. They, too, have been quite interested in what their daddy has been up to and in what has been going on in the news. Tonight, they asked me if they could give their money to me to send to the people who need it. I gladly accepted it and rejoice in their compassion.

Whatever your decision is, whether or not to donate here, I'm sure it will be a good one.  If not my site, please be encouraged to donate your time, money or efforts elsewhere.

Warmest Regards,

--Kevin L. McDonald

First Email to AmeriCares

I sent the following email to AmeriCares' "Donor Relations Department" on December 29 at 1:00 pm CST.  I will post any response here.

Hello,

I wanted to let you know about something that has been happening the last few days. I created a small web site to help raise money to send to your organization. I posted a small classified ad on www.fark.com , told friends and family, emailed everyone in my address book, and continued to post about it on Fark.

Now, less than 48 hours later, the site has raised $864.89, and the money continues to pour in.

The original plan was to let the site do it’s thing for a week, then send the money in one lump sum.  However, due to the overwhelming response, I feel certain that I’ll be able to send you the first $1000 very soon.

The web site is my own, but the donations are a community effort. The compassion and generosity of the “online community” has been more than I ever would have imagined. I wanted to let you know what is happening because I think it illustrates what is possible when people gather together for a cause.

You can find the web site here:

http://www.writerscafe.net/donations.html

Sincerely,

Kevin L. McDonald
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