[meteorite-list] Raffle, The Final Tally

[Notkin]

Dear Friends and Listees:

I sold some last minute raffle tickets before the Denver show, and a 
considerable number during the show, so I wanted to advise you all of 
the final tally.

Paypal and e-checks:  $10,427.49
Personal checks and cash:   $1,710.00
Vernon County Ebay auction:  $300.00

Total:  $12,437.49

The bulk of that sum is already in the hands of the Red Cross. The 
final batch of checks go out tomorrow, and the final money transfer of 
$2,437.49 is under way. I made a series of six payments (four by 
electronic transfer; two by mailed checks) in order to keep funds 
moving to the Red Cross as quickly as possible.

I know there was some debate about where the funds should go, and I 
thought some of you might be interested to learn the following: I have 
a close friend here in Tucson who is an experienced Red Cross 
volunteer. She told me that the Red Cross are currently managing to get 
91% of donated funds directly into the hands of the Katrina victims who 
need it. That sounds like a pretty efficient number to me. I hope you 
agree.

Once again, I need to thank everyone who donated meteorites, bought 
tickets, sent emails of support, and came to the drawing at the COMETS 
party. Hats off especially to Mike Jensen, Anne Black, and Martin 
Altmann who gave so much of their own time to make this event happen.

Mike Jensen has kindly volunteered to take on the big job of mailing 
out the majority of your prizes. I am handling a few from here, and a 
number of donators thoughtfully offered to mail their pieces directly 
to the winners. Hopefully everyone will have their prizes within a week 
or less.

Congratulations to our lucky winners, but let's remember that this 
wasn't about winning meteorites, it was about getting some much-needed 
funds to our unfortunate Gulf States neighbors. The whole project 
turned out incredibly well, and I am very proud to have been part of 
it. It's nice to see everyone in the community working together.

Finally, the "Arizona Daily Star" will carry an article on our raffle 
in this Thursday's edition. I'll scan and post to the List if it's not 
too embarrassing   : )


Regards to all,

Geoff N.