I must say I am loving the controversy surrounding the Homeless Awareness Hunt. Our mission with this Hunt and Exhibit was to raise awareness and get people talking about the Homeless and clearly we can see that is being accomplished. I wanted to thank everyone who is blogging, no matter what their views are because in the end one thing is certain.... people are talking about a cause that matters...Homelessness.
I must admit that the taunting and verbal abuse in private ims with disrespectful words towards me and put downs did hurt me and got me down and depressed. Thankfully the Mental Health Awareness Retreat group members were there to talk to and offered a great deal of support. I realized however that if I am doing something good and since I know this then there is nothing to fear and nothing to worry about.
Dam if you do bad and dam if you do good. At the end of the day I only have to live with myself and be able to sleep at night. I know 100% percent I can rest in peace because I know for a fact that I meant well with this cause and I have no profit at all from this. Heck, I put in from my own money and I don't regret it one bit.
Most of you who have done a hunt know that it takes tremendous amount of work. You have to gather the stores, makes sure it is properly organized, keep up with notices and things you are doing, and most of all you need to promote it. All of it equals work. It is why some people have sponsors. Not only do they promote the sponsors very well which benefits the sponsors and what they paid for but it also helps the person making the hunt feel some kind of compensation for the amount of work they have done.
Anyone reading this, have you ever put a hunt, event or fair together? Then you know what I am talking about =]
Unlike any other hunt though, we don't make any profit. We go through great length to make sure our sponsors stand out and yet we don't keep a dime. With sponsors we were able to pay for the cost of many of the items we used in the exhibit, keep in mind that uploading all those textures there is not free. We put their money into good works while still keeping our end of our deal which is to promote them. So, we work hard for the money given to us but in the end we only use it for good.
As far as donation goes, we are not in people's faces about it. On a daily basis, people donate to sims they love and enjoy. It is the same case here. People are donating because they love the hunt and exhibit. Instead of us keeping that money though (which by the way we could rightfully do so as many other sims that have exhibits, art, cafes, and beautiful landscaping do) we are giving it to a shelter in RL.
I know it is hard to believe with all the scams going around that we will really donate the money and we are not asking you to believe Mental Health Awareness Retreat. In fact, we have encouraged various times and even in the exhibit to donate to a shelter of your choice. There are other ways to donate other then monetarily. You can donate of your time in a soup kitchen or shelter. You can donate your clothes. You can write Christmas cards for people in the shelter. I mean there is literally so many ways you can help out. Money is not the important factor here, Raising awareness is. In the process, we are using our own money that we worked very hard for and that people donate because they enjoy the work, to go towards a shelter of our choice. No one is forcing anyone to donate. You don't have to.
Here is the link of the shelter we will be donating to
http://www.covenanthousetx.org/
At the end of the hunt/events we will post all the information with photos of where the money went. Keep in mind this is a Christian shelter although this shelter does not force religion upon their kids. What it means when it says its a Christian shelter is that it was created by Franciscan priest, Rev. Bruce Ritter and ran under the leadership of Sister Mary Rose and Sister Tricia Cruise. Currently is under Kevin Ryan who is not a religious figure (a priest, bishop, cardinal, etc). You can find more precise information in the link above.
If you feel skeptical about Mental Health Awareness Retreat, we encourage you to look for shelters of your choice around your area and donate however you like to them. Whether is monetarily, supplies or your time =]
Here is a link of places you can find to donate in the USA
http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/
Places you can donate to in the UK
http://www.shelter.org.uk/
http://england.shelter.org.uk/
Places you can donate in canada
http://www.homeless.org.au/directory/canada.htm
Places you can donate in Australia
http://www.homelessnessnsw.org.au/
If you are in another country not listed here and would like to donate, please im me in world, Joshuan Banx and I will get you the information.
We are very grateful to the generosity of the stores who participated in this hunt. They didn't have to give anything free but they did it from their hearts. Anyone who creates knows it takes time to even slap a textures on something. They choose to give of their time, creativity and themselves to you.
How do we pick on people who decided to dress as homeless in second life using grungy clothes? Then why not pick on people who roleplay Gor? Why not pick on people who chose to roleplay vampires, or furries, or children?
Second life offers a roleplay opportunity and I strongly believe everyone should be free to express how they feel and how they want to dress. No one should be put to shame for choosing that. Let everyone roleplay and wear what they want. Just because something doesn't fit your views and your ideas it doesn't mean it is wrong. How does a person dressing up as homeless in second life affect your real life? or second life for that matter? Because the designers made grungy looking clothes and people want to wear them? and OMG how dare people wear that when they should be wearing what you pictured in your head? lol
I say, be who you want to be. Dress how you want to dress. Roleplay what you want to roleplay so long as is rightful with TOS. Be an opposite avie to your Rl gender, who cares? If you are happy then that is all that matters.
We understand some will disagree with this hunt as people disagree over many things in general and we respect that. I am very grateful for the controversy and actually believe it is a great thing. It brings exposure to a cause that is worth talking about and discussing. It raises many questions such as what are we doing wrong politically and how can we fix it? And that is a very good thing =]
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