Back in October '06, one of the members on The Board, Brano, asked Paul if he could post something. This was pretty remarkable right? No one else ever asks! Then again, this wasn't your normal post; Brano wanted to auction his new waders. "Screw off and go to ebay", but there was a catch. He wanted the proceeds to go to a charity, to remove landmines from his homeland Bosnia. Paul said, "Sure, but how about we raise some real money?" And so, the charity auction was born.
In November, a separate forum was created with a few rules (the highest bidder makes a donation and is shipped the item), and it was let loose. Anyone could put anything up for bid, and it seemed like we all pitched in a little something. Things started slowly with the waders, leaders, stickers, and a day of flycasting instruction from Paul. But soon after Dale got the ball rolling, it kept rolling.
Within a few days, there were books, DVDs, guided fishing days, packs, a poster, lines, beads, hackles, flies, more flies, a vice, a rod, a watch, a bunch of reels, a mustache, hooks, a couple different gadgets, and a couple socks. Even Paul's day of instruction sold… twice. All combined, about £3500 (nearly $7000) was raised and donated.
The Adopt-a-Minefield organization was the benefactor of these funds. With millions of the evil little devices buried and waiting for the unsuspecting, I'm proud to have been part of an effort to destroy some of them, and wish to pass on these words.
My deepest gratitude to all the great Sexyloopers who have supported this good cause in such a wonderful and unselfish way. Best regards, Brano |
Paul, Just a quick note to say a Big Thank You, from the UK side of things, for choosing Adopt-A-Minefield as the beneficiary for your online action ... 100% of this money will be put towards clearing minefields in Bosnia. Our administration costs are funded separately. These contributions will make a profound difference to people's lives. It only costs about a pound to clear a square metre of minefield, about fifty pounds to help a child walk again. Every 30 minutes an innocent civilian somewhere in the world finds a landmine by accident when going about their daily business, often many years after conflict has ended. Landmines also affect thousands of communities struggling to recover from conflict and which are already very poor. Minefields in and around these communities cannot be used for agriculture, infrastructure, resettlement, schools, access to water resource etc. Once landmines are removed not only are lives and limbs saved but a whole community is freed forever from the fear and disruption caused by landmines. Many thanks. Chris Gore |
Hopefully, next fall we can select another charity and run another auction to make this an annual event. Until then, I'd like to extend my offer to send a Sexyloops sticker to anyone who makes a $10 donation (or more) to Adopt-a-Minefield (US, UK, Canada, Sweden). If you'd like to, forward your donation receipt (take out any private info) and your mailing address to eric@sexyloops.com.
Cheers and Thanks to all who made it all happen, Eric