to all the 17,456 Az'ers - just my thoughts?

hey Sam

Sam Waltz said:
Awesome deal Smokey! I just sent ya my first contribution to the fund. It isn't much but it's a start. Thanks in advance for the work I know you'll be putting in on this endeavor man.
Click to expand...

thanks for our first contribution to get us going!!

i hope this will be the beginning of something great for the givers as well as the receivers and our sport as well!

Thank YOU!
smokey
 
hey Dartman...

Dartman said:
The $64 question - who to give to.
If you settle on the B/G Clubs maybe you can have AZ members nominate clubs in their area that have a
billiards related need and kind of spread the wealth (contributions & donations) around.

We'll commit 3 cuts of pool table cloth to the pot. Just need to know size, color and where to ship.

As an aside, it would be nice at some point to see some pics posted or at least a post describing what
was done with whatever is donated.
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i think Boys/Girls Clubs will serve the 'most' [people] with the 'least' dollars, so it will go a long, long way i believe [Hope].

and yes, we NEED Az'ers to find and nominate clubs for this fund, and in the end we can ALL vote where and how to spend the money. Also, your having pictures posted is a GREAT idea, maybe a "before & after" so we can ALL enjoy our efforts more personally ans see the fruits we sow.

and finally:
WOW man - Thank YOU so much for your very, very generous gift! i don't know what to say but Thank YOU!

all the best,
smokey
 
donation sent.

Thanks much for getting this rolling!

I'm also contacting local Twin Cities B&G clubs to see if they need any help with billiard programs.

-Matt
 
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smokey said:
4.0 for whom to give, i think Rocket can help us to decide best [he volunteers his time for a Boy/Girls Club in Vegas]. but, i do not think it would be fair for las vegas to benefit from this. i and others have already contributed to las vegas Boys/Girls Club [with more to come; so? don't be made at me Rocket] but he can help us with Boys/Girls Clubs across the country. So? for this, please suggest where and hopefully Rocket 354 will guide us for this.
Click to expand...

I'm sure just about any club across the country could use donations. We should decide just how many I think after everything has been collected.

For the record, my goal with the Las Vegas Clubs was to donate to the ones I do not work at, as the one I work at has already received plenty of donations. The other 11/12 could probably use some help, as well.

But that can be a decision for after money is received and we know what we have to work with. Certainly, the more the merrier, and as long as some kids are helped it doesn't matter specifically where or who.
 
smokey said:
to keep the thread length to a minimum i will try to post my replies on 1 reply.

rackmsuckr: WOW - that is an unbelievable gesture. and i do not want to do anything to destroy such an amazing offer of kindness but i hope you will let me suggest an alternative to your unbelievable gift:

how about you donate this to 1 of our contributors but regardless of the amount they give? would that be acceptable you? the reason i say this is because to me it is not the size of the gift, but the size of the heart. for a rich man/woman $10 is a pittance and for one not rich/poor $10 dollars is hours of labor. Whose heart is greater? so? to me such a wonderful gift should go by lottery from all those who give - and not by the size of the gift. sorry if you do not agree, so please make "your" gift as you see best.
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Of course I agree that anything people give is awesome, but it was set up that way to attract and foster competition (you know how we pool players are!) among our members. So my offer stands, but I will also throw in another 3 day/2 night hotel stay that you can use as a general drawing for everyone. The winner can pick from a list of destinations.

I will also contribute as a donation, a vacation to Orlando or Anaheim (Disneyworld and Disneyland) areas for the Boys' Club, if that's where the donations are going.
 
I just saw this thread and.....I'm in, Smokey. Check your Paypal. Thanks for doing this.

Cheers,

Dave
 
Hello Smokey sent you a paypal . I only wish it could be more your doing a great thing here . I have my hands is so much right now that things are a little tight and Christmas is coming on ... Let me know when you have your next fund raiser ... I wish it could of been all the money you would need to make every kid happy ... Maybe someday we can come close at least taking this first step we are starting towards that goal of helping as many as possible in these tough times this is really a great thing your doing ... Keep up the good work man....
 
where we stand as on now: 11/22 @ 10:25 PM

legend:
{} = gave already
$ = gave money
^ = will be making a material gift
* = fulfilled their commitment

*{The King}$

*{srs314}$

Jerry Forsyth

Mike Howerton

Black-Balled

rayjay

^{Purdman} [contribution given on a PM - so I can not say what it is, but trust me it is a really wonderful gift]

poolhustler

koop

AnitoKid (and me together)

*{iba7467}$

drawman623

^{rackmsuckr} [all i can say it will be very substantial gifts]

^{Dartman} - [contributing cloth for 3 tables]

KoolKat9Lives

kath13

Klink

^{manwon} - [WOW - purchase cues/accessories for donations at cost + 2 mcdermott cues with cases]

^{will8834} - [donating custom cue]

Cuephoric

*{Sam Waltz}$

rossaroni

ratnip

smokey

*{OneArmed}$

*{12squared}$

*{burns420}$

there is one more but would rather remain anonymous

if i missed anybody, please chime in.

WOW WOW WOW - you guys/girls are just sooooo kind,
smokey
 
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i have requested help from Rocket354 - please read...

Rocket354 is a volinteer in one of the local Boys/Girls Clubs here in las vagas. he knows these clubs more intimately than most of us will ever know. so...

i have asked him to be 'our' chairperson for the gift giving. i hope that meets with everybody's acceptance.

i will do my best to handle the money and gifts, but this is getting to big for me to handle alone and i feel Rockert354 experience will be invaluable for us to do the most good.

further, we need YOU to help us decide where and to whom we donate all these gifts for 'our' community. so i ask you ALL to send Rockert354 a PM or send info to his email addy eeverst@hotmail.com so we can determine where to spend our money and material gifts.

please confirm your acceptance.

all i can tell you is this: he is a young man with a heart of Gold!

please confirm,
smokey
 
Payment sent

Smokey I just sent the payment.

God bless what you've started and what we're doing.

Jay P
 
Firstly it sounds good to me about Rocket354 figuring out where to direct the funds.

Second, I looked up our local Boys and Girls clubs here in Ontario and there are a couple close to me. Besides the money I contributed to help this cause I'm going to take a personal interest in checking up on them in my community.

I have many close friends here in the cue and table business so I called my buddy who ownes a cue business and installs and fixes tables to see if he would donate some time and equipment if it's needed. Well he was excited about the idea! I also have a couple of the top players here in Ontario that would be more than happy to go out, visit the kids and maybe teach them a few things or do some trick shots.

I will be happy to report how it all goes here and give credit to the people I get to help I just need to get the ball rolling.

I hope other people take the time to call a couple of these clubs in their own area, see what condition things are in and if you can help them in anyway. I'm sure like me all of us have great local resources in the billiard business we can call on.

I've been invloved in things like this in that past and there is no better feeling than seeing kids excited to get something new, smiling and having fun.
 
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hey srs314 - some news i must tell you...

i am sorry to say, we can not accept your gift from Canada [and our biggest gift so far]. I accepted it in Canadian funds, but I must return it to you. The reason being, per kath13 and the conversation with our IRS, we can not accept foreign funds. It was the same for The Anito Kid from the Philippines.

so...
if it is okay with you, how about you take care of all of the Canadian contributions? that would be best. and give to a good cause.

as i said before, we are just a rag-tag group. we just started this idea maybe a little late and we don't really know what we are doing, besides just giving our thanks and sharing human kindness for 'our' kids.

please confirm your understanding and please accept to help us, 'our' kids and therefore please handle this for our northern neighboors.

hoping you will accept,
smokey

srs314 said:
Firstly it sounds good to me about Rocket354 figuring out where to direct the funds.

Second, I looked up our local Boys and Girls clubs here in Ontario and there are a couple close to me. Besides the money I contributed to help this cause I'm going to take a personal interest in checking up on them in my community.

I have many close friends here in the cue and table business so I called my buddy who ownes a cue business and installs and fixes tables to see if he would donate some time and equipment if it's needed. Well he was excited about the idea! I also have a couple of the top players here in Ontario that would be more than happy to go out, visit the kids and maybe teach them a few things or do some trick shots.

I will be happy to report how it all goes here and give credit to the people I get to help I just need to get the ball rolling.

I hope other people take the time to call a couple of these clubs in their own area, see what condition things are in and if you can help them in anyway. I'm sure like me all of us have great local resources in the billiard business we can call on.

I've been invloved in things like this in that past and there is no better feeling than seeing kids excited to get something new, smiling and having fun.
Click to expand...
 
smokey said:
Rocket354 is a volinteer in one of the local Boys/Girls Clubs here in las vagas. he knows these clubs more intimately than most of us will ever know. so...

i have asked him to be 'our' chairperson for the gift giving. i hope that meets with everybody's acceptance.

i will do my best to handle the money and gifts, but this is getting to big for me to handle alone and i feel Rockert354 experience will be invaluable for us to do the most good.

further, we need YOU to help us decide where and to whom we donate all these gifts for 'our' community. so i ask you ALL to send Rockert354 a PM or send info to his email addy eeverst@hotmail.com so we can determine where to spend our money and material gifts.

please confirm your acceptance.

all i can tell you is this: he is a young man with a heart of Gold!

please confirm,
smokey
Click to expand...

I think the most efficient way to discuss ideas is to have open discussion in this thread about where and what to do with the money. While how we allocate the money relies heavily on the final total amount, I think we should begin discussing different scenarios.

1) Smallish amount raised, say $500-1000 total. This is a good amount I think to target one club. Maybe put felt and rubber on a table, and give them some new house cues and maybe some balls. Any other ideas?

2) Medium amount $1-3k. Enough for two maybe three clubs. Different cities? Or do we think outside the box a bit, and try for something else, like trying to sponsor a city-wide BGC pool tournament. Maybe have teams from different clubs and the winning team's club gets revamped pool tables and equipment, 2nd and 3rd maybe get smaller prizes. Other ideas?

3) Larger amount, $5k whatever. That'd be great if we got this much. But what to do with it? Just help even more clubs? Have a couple sponsored city-wide tournaments in different cities? Other?

Another idea, which might fit even better into the BGC's goals is to, say, sponsor a tournament where the winner wins the donated amount (say, $2k) towards college tuition. With maybe a pool cue thrown in to increase interest a bit--the high school junior and seniors might very well see the value in having some money for college, but the 13- and 14-year olds would be motivated much more by something tangible they can have in their hands today.

Anyways, I'd love to hear some ideas bandied about, and am excited to be a part of this, no matter how big or small it ends up being.
 
Great going, Smokey, keep it up! I've tried to PayPal several times but, apparently, since I removed my bank account from my paypal account (and added a creditcard) I can't just send money, so...I will send you a check tomorrow. Thanks for doing this in these hard times.
:p
 
Purdman said:
Taxes? No taxes were paid when we all sent Rude Dog to the US Open.
Also, I believe I already paid taxes on the money I donate. Does that count or do they want to tax it again?
Purd
Click to expand...

Uncle Sam will alway find a way to squeese more taxes of of the working class.:wink:
 
My 3 cents

Every person that is willing to make this work should GO and Visit the BGCs in your local area that have a table (determine by phone). You can get a list of local clubs with tel#s here by entering your zip code > http://www.bgca.org/clubs/

Check out what they have and see what they need (honest assessment) then post it here.
I think we need a cutoff date to get members input on who may need what otherwise this is just going to drag on and nothing will get done. Between Smokey and Rocket they can develop a needs list.
 
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Dartman said:
Every person that is willing to make this work should GO and Visit the BGCs in your local area that have a table (determine by phone). You can get a list of local clubs with tel#s here by entering your zip code > http://www.bgca.org/clubs/

Check out what they have and see what they need (honest assessment) then post it here.
I think we need a cutoff date to get members input on who may need what otherwise this is just going to drag on and nothing will get done. Between Smokey and Rocket they can develop a needs list.
Click to expand...

Thank you for giving us the link. I was very surprised to find 5 chapters close to me. And guess what I found on the first one I visited...a wish list that included new 'felt' for their pool table! Anyone have any to donate? I will go visit and see what I can do.

http://www.bgcrv.com/forms/WCWishList.pdf
 
Paypal now

OK you're looking for $1.30 donation per member. I think we can make that on average for all members if everybody who feels strongly about giving steps up. I have dealt with Smokey and I have come to trust him.

I'm in for 50 unspoken members. Paypal for $65 is on the way to

smokeyblack@cox.net
 
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