Dear Listees:
Some great new prizes have been added to our Greensburg Charity
Raffle over the past few days. A big thanks to all the generous donors.
Maria Haas has done an extraordinary amount of work on this project,
and she has currently collected almost $6,000 in cash donations and/
or raffle ticket purchases. She has also designed a set of beautiful
placards showing many of the prizes, and we'll figure out a way to
get images of them on the website. The value of the prizes is well in
excess of $10,000. If you haven't already purchased tickets and wish
to, please see this page:
http://www.aerolite.org/events/greensburg-fundraiser.htm
The updated prize list is here:
http://www.aerolite.org/events/greensburg-raffle.htm
In other news: I have the unhappy duty of informing you all that
Donald Stimpson, a member of the Haviland Meteorite Festival
Committee, will not allow the raffle drawing to take place at the
festival on July 7. He described our fund-raiser as "not appropriate"
and a "publicity stunt."
As so many of you have given most generously to this event with your
time, money, and donations, we felt you should be informed exactly
why the raffle drawing will not take place as planned. Please see
press release below for details.
The raffle volunteers are looking at other options, and we will
inform you as soon as an alternative date and location have been
selected. Please note, the raffle WILL take place. If the organizers
of the Haviland Festival will not assist us in assisting their
neighbors in Greensburg, we will find another more accommodating venue.
Sincerely,
Geoff N.
Greensburg Raffle Volunteer
*************************************
PRESS RELEASE
*************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2007
KIOWA COUNTY FESTIVAL ORGANIZER SPURNS INTERNATIONAL AID FOR GREENSBURG
HAVILAND, KS, Jul. 2 — A group of prominent meteorite hunters and
collectors have spent seven weeks planning an international charity
raffle to aid residents of tornado-ravaged Greensburg, Kansas. The
fund-raiser was the subject of a front page story, “Outer Space Rocks
to the Rescue,” in the Kansas City Star on June 20. However, after
collecting thousands of dollars in donations for displaced Kiowa
County residents, the raffle volunteers—one of whom is a Greensburg
homeowner—have been told they cannot hand out prizes at Haviland’s
annual Meteorite Festival on July 7.
If it were not for world-famous meteorite hunter Steve Arnold, there
would be no Haviland Meteorite Festival. Mr. Arnold stunned the
scientific community in the fall of 2005 when he discovered a 3/4-ton
pallasite meteorite on a farm between Haviland and Greensburg. The
giant meteorite, which has since traveled around the country and been
displayed in several museums, generated new interest in the space
rocks of Kiowa County and the Meteorite Festival was born. Mr.
Arnold’s house in Greensburg was partially destroyed by the tornado,
and he is also one of the six charity raffle volunteers.
In May, shortly after the tornado struck, Mark Bostick of the Kansas
Meteorite Society stepped up to help run the charity raffle. He
repeatedly contacted the Haviland Festival organizers with a request
that he be allowed present proceeds from the raffle, in the form of a
large check, to the Haviland State Bank during the festival. In
addition, Mr. Bostick asked if he could draw numbers and award prizes
to raffle winners. Many well-known meteorite enthusiasts have donated
more than $15,000 in cash and prizes, and several were planning on
attending the event in person. Last week, Mr. Bostick was informed by
the festival committee that there “isn’t time” for the raffle to take
place.
Don Stimpson—a newly appointed Haviland Meteorite Festival committee
member, amateur meteorite hunter, and rival of Mr. Arnold’s—described
the charity event as “not appropriate” and “a publicity stunt.” With
only a few days until the planned date of the raffle the fund-raiser
volunteers, who have spent hundreds of unpaid hours on the project,
have nowhere to turn.
“Don Stimpson is putting up obstacles for our fund-raising efforts
but we’re not going to let him stop us. We are going to keep on
raising funds and we are going to keep on helping the people of
Greensburg,” said Anne Black, President of the International
Meteorite Collectors’ Association and one of the charity event
volunteers.
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