Flag Idea -- Can I get your thoughts?

[DirtyMartini]

<LONG POST ALERT -- BEAR WITH ME PLEASE>


Hey, folks. I had a thought that I wanted to open up to the forum. I want to STRESS that if this idea were to be approved by you guys, it would be ABSOLUTELY VOLUNTARY, and NO ONE should feel pressured in any way to participate. Dig?


So we here at SC.net have this Flag. Maybe you've heard of it? Big, green, loud, obnoxious. Trust me -- you'd know it if you saw it. Anyway, it's traveling around the world, collecting signatures and showing the love to Stewart. And in return, Stewart -- the minx -- is showing the love right back. In addition to being fairly fabulous for the people involved, it has also rallied people together on a global scale in a way that I cannot even describe. It's a krazy beautiful thing to see the generosity and dedication that people have displayed for this silly little piece of cotton.

But way back when this crazy Flag Tour first got started, Moeskido (my husband) had said something that has stuck with me. He said, "It's too bad we didn't attach a charity to the flag." (As in the way that one might pledge a certain amount of money for every mile that a person runs in a charity marathon.)

The thought has popped in and out of my head ever since.

It is an insanely wonderful and touching thing to see this Flag bring together fans around the world and to bring them into "communication" (if you will) with The Stewart. But I -- personally -- can't help but wonder if we couldn't somehow make this project beneficial on a larger scale somehow?

So I wanted to find out how you folks would feel about "attaching" a charity to the Flag's journey, i.e., if those who wanted to (again, no pressure here) perhaps donated money in "honor" of this Flag project of ours.

Originally I was thinking that Water-Aid seemed a good choice since it is the charity attached to the Police Tour. But because this project is specifically for Stewart, perhaps an organization more related to Stewart's brother Ian might be more appropriate? For example, Ian's daughters had asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Live4Life Foundation for melanoma research ( http://www.live4life.org/ ). (Thanks to sockii for digging up this info.) Perhaps Live4Life (or similar) would be a better choice?

(Or perhaps people might just want to donate money to whomever they want (various charities) in the name of the Flag?)

Once again, I want to stress that I don't want anyone to feel pressured or compelled to participate in any way. Most of us are scraping together pennies to attend shows as it is, and I do NOT want anyone to feel pressured to take on any kind of financial burden. The Flag is flying WAY too far for any of us to even be able to afford a penny per mile for the whole journey -- but I was thinking that people could, if they wanted, choose a tour leg or even just a section from point-to-point and go from there. For example,

By the end of this first North American leg alone, the Flag will have flown more than 12,000 miles. (It will literally have traveled 20,000+, but it's way easier to just calculate from concert to concert.)

Here's the breakdown of the first North American leg:

DM's house to Vancouver, BC = 2418 miles
Vancouver, BC to Manchester, TN = 2091
Manchester, TN to Los Angeles, CA = 1833
Los Angeles, CA to Houston, TX = 1382
Houston, TX to New Orleans, LA = 328
New Orleans, LA to St. Louis, MO = 591
St. Louis, MO to Miami, FL = 1062
Miami, FL to Cleveland, OH = 1086
Cleveland, OH to Philadelphia, PA = 358
Philadelphia, PA to Hershey, PA = 82
Hershey, PA to Toronto, ON = 192
Toronto, ON to Boston, MA = 433
Boston, MA to New York, NY = 190
New York, NY to East Rutherford, NJ = 13

Total miles for first North American leg = 12,059

So if someone attended, say, the Miami show, they might look at the fact that it took the Flag 1062 miles to get to Miami, throw a decimal point in wherever, and call that a donation of $1.06 or $10.62 or $106.20. Or I, since I will have transported the Flag for three journeys, might add up those three journeys, throw in a decimal point, and write a check. (etc.)

The math is all up to whatever is most appropriate to your life and to your pocketbook, and I think it best to leave that decision to each individual.

But the main questions are

* whether or not you guys think it's a good idea at all?

* if so, if you think one particular charity should be chosen?

* if so, which charity?

None of this even has to be done in any kind of formal way. Someone could, of course, volunteer to be a point person (I've already got my hands full here Flag-wise, so it can't be me) -- but if people prefer, I can just post occasionally with the list of miles that the Flag has traveled so that people can act -- or not -- on their own without feeling obliged to any one organizing person. Informal can be a good thing, especially when it comes to financial stuff. All up to what you guys prefer.

I've already contacted Giovanni before posting about this as I wanted to make sure that I was not over-stepping. He has said it's okay for me to bring up the idea and leaves it to the forumers to decide how (if at all) to proceed.

So I wanted to open it up to SC.net. Thoughts?


BTW, STEWART, if this idea makes you feel unhappy/uncomfortable/uneasy/un-anything, please just send word through the grapevine, and I'll nix it without another thought. You may not be able to talk, but you do get to vote.


Thanks, everyone.

[samburusunset]

DM -
That's an excellent idea. I would definitely participate. I like the selected charity. My mom had colon cancer and I support any kind of cancer research. It's absolutely worthwhile to me personally.
I can only speak for myself of course, but I know there's some good folks here who are much more than just spreaders of Stewart love and witty slingers of BS.

SS

[BongoBoy]

I think it is a very good idea.

I'm sure it would really touch Stewart that is not just a regular "fan" thing, we could actually do some good.

I vote YES.

..for good ole Leroy Coolbreeze...he deserves it and much more !

Awesome DM !

BB.

[policerule]

well, it's like you said, participation is up to the person.... no pressure or requirement.

i vote "yea"

all sounds good, kind and appropriate. nicely done.

[bella]

I agree. Great idea. I like the one charity idea and I like your suggestion of the live4life charity particularly.

[sockii]

You know I'm up for it, and in support of the charity suggested.

And I like the idea of being able to sponsor a "leg" of the journey, however feels appropriate.

For instance, with vespapod and I driving it Boston-->New York (actually Boston-->Philly-->New York ) that would definitely be a leg I'll throw some sponsorship toward.

At the end of the journey we can certainly have a web tribute to the flag's travels and thanking all sponsors, something like that, to help keep awareness going after the fact.

[sandy]

like the idea, and the charity chosen. will support any way i can. have had several family members fight cancer, and this would be something i could get behind. thanks for thinking about it.

[Rusty James]

DM, great idea! I would support just about any charity. My wife and I have sponsored a wee girl in a very nasty part of the world (Congo / Africa) through World Vision for the past few years...a very humbling and rewarding experience.

[tonydrums]

DM, this is such a good idea. I like the idea of one charity as well and live4life is a good one.

[kimmy]

DM great idea....

My only thought is does Stewart have his own charity in mind.....?

I think the idea of Ian's charity is good, but Stewart might have his own.....

We could look at how much it costs to post the flag and double the cost (the extra going to charity?)

Or whatever?

I don't know if someone could ask Stewart to see which one he would like?

Kim

[DirtyMartini]

Thanks you guys. Please keep the thoughts coming in.

Kimmy, we're each individually covering the postage costs -- in some cases (where there's a person transporting the Flag) some people don't have to pay anything. In other cases (such as international overnight shipping), people are getting hit with some fairly massive postage bills. It all varies, and it's all luck of the draw by way of how the tour travels. People have been wonderfully generous about paying for the Flag postage out of their own pockets.

For charity calculations, I just thought mileage would be a fairly easy way to figure stuff, especially since we also get to track just how crazy far this baby is traveling. People wouldn't have to commit to a specific section for any reason, of course -- hell, they can just make up a number that makes them comfortable. Doesn't really matter. It's all up to you guys as individuals. I was just following the charity marathon idea.

As asking Stewart goes, though . . . If a little bird whispers the name of a specific charity in my ear, then I'll be sure to steer the group in the appropriate direction. But I think we need to decide this one on our own.


Have I mentioned today how amazing you guys are?

[janieliz]

Leave it to something near and dear to my heart -- charitable giving -- to lure me out of lurking again.

Cool idea. Wonderful cause. The tour and the flag are giving us so much joy -- it's a great thing to give something back in return.

[Jennythenipper]

Bongo is right. We should do Live4life and call it the Leroy Coolbreeze fund.

I will certainly sponsor a NA leg of the flag. I think this is a great idea, DM.

[georgygirl]

DirtyMartiniii, your flag idea is really wonderful to congregate fan's effort to show deep love to our Music Idol!



Clap clap clap!



Just imagine the Stewart's fans flag going with across many cities of The Police world tour, make me chill!

[GinaSuperCat]

Fabulous idea, although we are giving to Stewart and he back to us in triplicate it can also proceed outwards again. Lovely thought and I am with you fellas on whatever the committee of the whole decides.

Just another idea although I think Sockii's is better: all 3 Copeand bros. [aka the Original Team Copeland] were honored as humanitarians for the AMC cancer research center in the 80s.

No matter what, I think it must be the Leroy Coolbreeze Fund, no doubt!