I am certain this site has literally saved lives. It has helped many of us understand ourselves and has helped some come out of the darkness. It is an oasis in the desert for hundreds if not thousands of people drifting between two worlds. I believe anyone who posts something on this site helps someone else. The information and support I found here gave me the strength to start an unexpected journey. Even though I still have a long way to go it has already helped me find joy again.
Thanks to many generous supporters Susan's reached the donation goal this month, but that was an exception. The donations for most months this year fell short. I realize not everyone can help out financially, especially this time of year with all the extra expenses.
Let's help Susan's end the year on a positive note. I will match the total donations made to this site between now and the end of the year up to $500.
Right now (20 Dec) the current 'Donate' panel shows total receipts of a little over $2600. If that gets up to $3100 or more I will add $500. For any total under $3100 I will match the additional donations dollar for dollar.
I hope I don't get in trouble for this...
Challenge accepted! Come on girls and guys, let's make it happen!
Cheering, Jess 🙋♀️
I'll play. ;)
Merry Christmas, Susan!
Hugs, Devlyn
I'm in. I know Susan will put it to good use. I like this thread. Remember it is for all of us regardless of ability to donate. We all benefit from the donations. Even hitting the challenge goal will not cover the shortfall from the year but dang it, it helps.
Hugs to all,
Laurie
Thanks for that generous offer Jessica_Rose... I'll play too!
The only way I can play in this game is to dutifully bump it up on a regular basis....
Rowan
Done with seasonal love. X
Sent from my MI 5s using Tapatalk
Only 70 more dollars to go to have met the challenge! We can do this!!
Done... Cough up Jessica! [emoji23]
Sent from my MI 5s using Tapatalk
Jessica, you are so awesome for this post!
Thank you for your generous offer and challenge!
The other Jessica 💁♀️
This means that we will at least break even on fundraising for the year! Anything more will go into to the operations buffer! Thank you all so much!
Not to rain on the victory parade, but just so you know the official total is the one above the forum which updates every 15 minutes. That is what we have raised with the Paypal fees figured in. That has us at $2823.45, leaving us $275.55 to go.
As a thank you to the members for their support I am going to randomly pick 5 members for free Gold subscriptions (1 year, $240 value) on Jan 1st 2018. You do not have to be a donor or a current subscriber to have a chance to receive one, just be an active registered member on the forums (Registered and made posts in the month of December 2017).
Merry Christmas!
Mechanism of the drawing
Each post made in December is an entry. On Jan 1st at 12:00:00am CST, I will do a SQL dump of all posts in the month of December. I will exclude all Deleted messages, and I will exclude the staff forums. Staff are otherwise eligible to win for their public posts.
I will then generate 5 random numbers between 1 and the total number of posts in question. The posts which match those numbers will win a free gold account, provided they are still a registered member, and have not already won one.
I have seen this work in another situation and it works very well, and it's also very fair. Someone with even 1 post can win.
If we feel that someone is inflating their post counts specifically for this (IE Making junk posts), we reserve the right to sanction the member in question.
How some of it was spent.
When paid myself what I had been shorted from last month, I went ahead and bought the items I need to re-purpose the old server into my new desktop PC. This results in a massive upgrade for me: +1ghz processor speed, an additional 4 CPU cores, and 16 GB of ram when compared to my old system.
I purchased a larger hard drive, and plan on reusing the 960gb SSD from the old server. I also purchased two hotswappable drive mounting bays one for ssd's and one for the new hard drive. With the drives from my old pc and the new drive, I should end up with around 14tb of storage capacity.
I was constantly running out of space on the 240gb SSD I had in my old system, so the upgrade I gain reusing from the one from the old server is massively appreciated!
Backing up this website is very space intensive :P My currently 5 year old desktop pc was also used for running the chat bot; Development environment (web, graphic, and application design), coordinating with staff and members, and personal entertainment. I spend more time on the PC than I spend away from it. So believe me when I say I appreciate it!
We have now hit above Jessica's stated goal and are just over the $500 net goal Susan was referring to.
Thank You to everyone who made it happen and also to all those that would have helped if they had been able to.
Merry Christmas Susan!
Still at $2848.45, I just updated the donation totals :) Again the one that counts is the one above the forums IE:
(https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=231962.0;attach=40018;image)
Going by that one we still need $275.55. :)
25 more in the pot ... Merry Christmas All 😀
Onward to the New Year
Ashley 😀❤️🌻
A little late to the party but I'm in too. 'Tis the season of giving after all
☃️☃️☃️ Merry Christmas everyone ☃️☃️☃️
Charlotte x
Merry Christmas, just put in £20 before I saw this. XXXXXX
Awesome job everyone! You have exceeded my challenge, and as promised I have donated $500.
I would like to thank everyone who has donated to Susan's Place this year, and everyone who has posted to this site. I realize not everyone can contribute financially. Although finances keep this site running, without your posts it would not be nearly as valuable. I have seen countless posts which have provided useful information, humor, inspiration, and even some much needed courage.
Thanks again to everyone, and I wish all of you a joyous holiday season and an early Happy New Year!
I have never donated anywhere close to this much to anyone before. When I saw the totals it felt so good I started crying. Susan's has helped me more than I could ever have imagined. This is by far the best $500 I have ever spent!
Quote from: Jessica_Rose on December 21, 2017, 06:47:16 PM
> Susan's has helped me more than I could ever have imagined.
^ Yes. ^
Susan's has indeed helped me so much. The community here, sharing experiences and knowledge and compassion. We all have our challenging moments, and every time I do - I think about Susan's and know that we are not alone.
Thank you all! I really appreciate everyone who stepped up, and everyone who even wished that they could do so!
I have met some truly wonderful people on this board which has translated to meeting some very special friends IRL. People who get me for me... ;D Thanks for everyone who's supporting this place and not only with cash donations but everyone who cares and participates.
Again thanks to Jessica Rose for making this challenge and for her $500.00 donation.
Hugs Jessica,
Laurie
Yes, thank you Jessica Rose, for both your generosity, and for encouraging it in others. X
Sent from my MI 5s using Tapatalk
*bump*, *bump*, *bupity*, *bump*
Keeping the donations front of mind
Rowan
I subscribe and donate. Donations come when I can. Without the selfless effort Susan puts in, the WORLD would be sooo worse off. If you can, please chuck something into the hat. Thank you Susan for being there for all of us.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quote from: Jessica_Rose on December 21, 2017, 06:47:16 PM
I have never donated anywhere close to this much to anyone before. When I saw the totals it felt so good I started crying. Susan's has helped me more than I could ever have imagined. This is by far the best $500 I have ever spent!
Jessica, thank you. I do not know you or you me. We are all in this together and your call to help has been answered. I thank you as a member for helping Susan keep this invaluable site going.
Merry a Christmas and I hope you good things happen your way.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ahh, I missed all the fun. However, the next month when I see we are running short, I'll make a nice donation. I don't know if I will be able to match Jessica Rose though, Wonder Woman status!
Bari Jo
*only a few days left*
To give Susan the best Christmas present ever - no worries for the next few months :)
Rowan
It's just creaking over into Christmas, the gifts should be bought by now, and jobs done to make it festive and bright .
I'm amazed at the total, it's fabulous, but if you find a little extra behind the cushion on the sofa, or under the seat in the car, please think about sending it this way.
To all the beautiful folk here, merry Christmas, and Susan, make sure it's special.
To you with love from all of us
Rowan