Mika's Sister in Serious Accident

[tiibet]

That was my guess, too, so there must be something in it.

It was actually part of the reason why I called the group donation a way of acting on self-interest, which may sound harsh but probably reflects reality more than making excuses for being unable to send money online. However, I do not mean that it is necessarily a bad thing, just human nature, really. You join groups and projects with which you can make a huge impact. If it means more money to that charity (that no one can ever prove, btw), I am definitely not against it.

 

Yes, I tried to explain something like that too I'm just so tired I can't say things properly.

 

Of *course* the point is to help the organization and show our

concern to the family. I don't think that I said anything that indicated

that wasn't the point.

 

What I meant is that if we all donate using the same

sort of signature, or designation, we can, in effect, show that we are

making a "group" donation, even though we're donating individually. And

to be honest, a hundred of us donating to the charity all at one time

could have the same negative effect on them as a hundred cards and

flower baskets might have on the hospital or the Penniman family --

especially since HEMS says on their site that they acknowledge each

contribution. I think

the objective is to HELP not create havoc, no matter how we decide to

proceed, which is why I think coordinating our efforts makes some sense.

 

Very good point, I didn't realize that earlier

[CazGirl]

But how will a lot of donations online cause a negative effect? Surely they have financial staff who don't deal with running round a hospital 24/7 and just handle money and donations?

[A. Clay]

But how will a lot of donations online cause a negative effect? Surely they have financial staff who don't deal with running round a hospital 24/7 and just handle money and donations?

 

I would think in this age computer automation,

an individual response could be achieved in a "click" . . .

[dcdeb]

I would think in this age computer automation,

an individual response could be achieved in a "click" . . .

 

Absolutely. But you never heard of computer systems getting overloaded?

It never happens *here*, does it?

[CazGirl]

Absolutely. But you never heard of computer systems getting overloaded?

It never happens *here*, does it?

 

well I'm sure that they have computer systems that can deal with large sums of money. we don't know unless we try.

[A. Clay]

Absolutely. But you never heard of computer systems getting overloaded?

It never happens *here*, does it?

 

OK, I'm a novice;

good to know you're thinking of all the angles --

"as you were" . . .

[Naectegale]

But how will a lot of donations online cause a negative effect? Surely they have financial staff who don't deal with running round a hospital 24/7 and just handle money and donations?

 

I'm sure they have systems that will cope just fine with an increase in traffic :thumb_yello:And it will be finance/clerical staff, not doctors and nurses and helicopter pilots, fixing any problems

 

As long as we don't pile in at exactly the same time, I'm sure they won't have a problem.

[babspanky]

I'm sure they have systems that will cope just fine with an increase in traffic :thumb_yello:And it will be finance/clerical staff, not doctors and nurses and helicopter pilots, fixing any problems

 

As long as we don't pile in at exactly the same time, I'm sure they won't have a problem.

 

I totally agree. I am going ahead in making my donation. It's a no strings gift, I'm just relieved that Paloma is on the road to recovery -I don't feel the need to tell them why I am donating or mention MFC what exactly would be the point of that?

[dcdeb]

well I'm sure that they have computer systems that can deal with large sums of money. we don't know unless we try.

 

So let's go ahead and see if we can overload their system? OK!

 

Sorry, that's what your reply sounds like -- "we don't know unless we try."

 

Look, I'm not stopping anyone from doing whatever they want to do,

whenever they want to do it. Obviously, I *can't*, and don't particularly

care to.

 

I'm just saying that if we want to act as a group, then it would be nice

*if we acted as a group*.

 

I can understand that some MFCers might want to work together on this,

and am trying to come up with a way that will satisfy the majority of

the fan club members, while not overwhelming the organization that we're

trying to help.

 

Wait a bit and see what we come up with. Then,

if you decide you want to be a part of that effort, you can be.

And if you decide instead that you want to go off and do things your own

way, you can do that, too.

[suisuimeko]

just finished having a glance of the posts i missed when i was at school

i do think the main idea of the donation act is very simple - make donation as simple and as efficient as possible. make our money as helpful as it can to the people in need instead of losing them to meaningless transit on paypal or else. We do this 'cos the HEM's saved Paloma's life, it's a way of us thanking them - and helping more ppl who need help.

 

therefore i totally agree making our donations individually.

 

i like dcdeb's idea of donating in Paloma's name or adding MFC to the donor's name. I understand charity is not a show-off act but i don't see there are any bad points for donating in those names, and as a Mika's fan group. Cos this may arouse a bit more ppl's attention on HEM. it's like a celebrity charity act, a impressive story or a famous ppl that related to an organisation always get more ppl involved in a charity campaign or donation. it is quite nice imo.

 

(sorry my english is not good i hope you understand what i mean :\)

 

donation is a very personal thing eventually, so it's up to you imho.

 

for the present part, i'll support any ideas come out at the end (: a card on behalf of mfc to Paloma is nice. the online page is brilliant. but we already have a thread on mfc and a guestbook by mikafans.net and some pages on facebook, i dun think it is necessary to make a new one.

 

instead, we can organise all the msg into ONE page/ online book (there are some online book/ magazine hosting services) if anyone thinks it's better and easier for Paloma to read. i dun think it is a must, but it is possible to do so.

[A. Clay]

I'm sure they have systems that will cope just fine with an increase in traffic :thumb_yello:And it will be finance/clerical staff, not doctors and nurses and helicopter pilots, fixing any problems

 

As long as we don't pile in at exactly the same time, I'm sure they won't have a problem.

 

Hey, maybe some one (who?) could give a cue to do it at a certain time

according to the fist letter of each persons last name . . . ?

 

then, in the end, they'd have a nice alpha list AND avoid the overload issue!

 

OR, maybe, just contact them and inquire what would work for them best.

[Enniey]

Seems like we came to a conclusion that UK residents could donate more if they make individual donations due to the tax system and avoiding unnecessary paypal fees.

 

But one more thing came to my mind. How about foreign fans? I am not really sure how the system works(how much do we loose in fees etc.), so this is not a statement, but just a question: Can't it be that if all the foreign fans sent their donations to one of the UK residents and then he made a donation on behalf of us, it would in the end turn out as more amount of the money due to the tax system and despite paypal fees?

 

I guess it could depend on the amount of donations, but may it turn out to be this way? Please someone correct me, if I am wrong. Anyone better with all these calculations - please help!

[dcdeb]

I totally agree. I am going ahead in making my donation. It's a no strings gift, I'm just relieved that Paloma is on the road to recovery -I don't feel the need to tell them why I am donating or mention MFC what exactly would be the point of that?

 

Bab, whenever I make a donation to an organization, I don't *have* to tell

them why I'm donating, and I don't always, but sometimes I do. If, for

example, I'm donating to the Cancer Society after the death of a friend, I

will say that I'm donating in memory of that person -- it's a special way

to honor that person. And if it's for a friend's parent or sibling, I do tend to

let that friend know that I've made the donation, not as a way of saying,

"Look at what a wonderful person I am," but to let my friend know that I

was thinking of them and sharing in their experience in some small way.

 

Obviously, you don't need to let the air ambulance service know why you're

donating, and if you don't want your donation to be affiliated with the MFC,

you don't have to make it so. But there are plenty of people here who

might want that -- and so we're trying to come up with a way that will

best represent us as a fan club. I don't think there's any reason to deny

anyone who wants the chance to participate in that sort of group effort,

just like there's no reason that those who wish to be independent

contributors should not be able to do that.

[dcdeb]

 

OR, maybe, just contact them and inquire what would work for them best.

 

A step ahead of you...

[RAK1]

Bab, whenever I make a donation to an organization, I don't *have* to tell

them why I'm donating, and I don't always, but sometimes I do. If, for

example, I'm donating to the Cancer Society after the death of a friend, I

will say that I'm donating in memory of that person -- it's a special way

to honor that person. And if it's for a friend's parent or sibling, I do tend to

let that friend know that I've made the donation, not as a way of saying,

"Look at what a wonderful person I am," but to let my friend know that I

was thinking of them and sharing in their experience in some small way.

 

Obviously, you don't need to let the air ambulance service know why you're

donating, and if you don't want your donation to be affiliated with the MFC,

you don't have to make it so. But there are plenty of people here who

might want that -- and so we're trying to come up with way that will

best represent us as a fan club. I don't think there's any reason to deny

anyone who wants the chance to participate in that sort of group effort,

just like there's no reason that those who wish to be independent

contributors should not be able to do that.

 

 

I've done that in the past too.

[sariflor]

But how will a lot of donations online cause a negative effect? Surely they have financial staff who don't deal with running round a hospital 24/7 and just handle money and donations?

 

Exactly

To be honest, if they get a hundred donations all at once, they will be too happy thinking of the cash that they are getting for their cause to find anything negative about it.

But hey, whatever, each to their own. I feel very strongly myself that the most efficient way to help here is to donate directly and personally to the HEMS site, so *if* I decide to donate, I will be doing that. I don't need Mika or anyone in the Penniman family "knowing" that I am helping, because that is not the reason why I would do it, and it doesn't affect me in any way if they know that I'm doing it. I'm positive that Mika knows that each and every one of us are supporthing him and Paloma and the whole family from afar, so I don't feel the need to do any more public displays of it

 

[Louiza]

 

Wait a bit and see what we come up with. Then,

if you decide you want to be a part of that effort, you can be.

And if you decide instead that you want to go off and do things your own

way, you can do that, too.

 

Patiently waiting for what your suggestion. The mods are always thoughtful and helpful so I'm sure it'll be a good one:thumb_yello:

[Siu]

And at the end of the day, if our aim is to help the charity, why does it matter that it's "officially from MFC"? That won't matter to the HEMS or to the patients

 

Doing a joint donation would indirectly be voluntarily "donating" part of the money to the banks. I personally don't see that is necessary. Someone said she wouldn't mind donating £2 instead on £1 and so to say split it between the hospital and banks. I rather see the £2 going straight to the hospital with the state paying ... was it 28p extra per each £.

 

As Sariflor nicely put it, to the hospital and patient it does not matter, where or who the money comes from. The sum, on the other hand, does.

 

If some of us need to have the feeling of doing something together or to be "awarded" for donating money, well why not have a little something we can add to our signature in MFC, for example, to show that we have donated. Who else would we want to show our generosity but our fellow MFCers. Using the tag would fully be based on each and everyone's honesty.

 

As for letting MIKA know about our donations, I'm sure he knows we care but if we want to point that out to him one more time (just to be sure or actually I don't know, what the reason would be, because we know that he knows that we care, but anyway) we could let him know. Not to get his eternal gratitude, but just to tell him that we have become aware of the difference HEMS can make and we wish to make our contribution to keep it going. We don't want him to get the impression that we do it only because of what happened to Paloma and otherwise we wouldn't really care.

[Christine]

Whoa, I don't understand what the problem here is. I'm sure we can find a way to donate individually and have the money earmarked as coming from MFC at the same time. It's just a matter of working out the logistics. If it can't be done then we can discuss the alternatives.

 

Can everyone just hold off for a bit until it's sorted? What is the huge rush??

 

I really like the idea of donating to HEMS and to do it as a group. There's no reason not to at least TRY to make both these things happen without any loss to HEMS via unnecessary charges or loss on tax breaks.

[miek]

I think everyone should do as they feel best, wether as a group or as individuals. There is no point in discussing what is best as opinions always are different.

 

Thanks Deb for sorting things out! That way everyone can choose an option to contribute (alone or as a group)

[natacha]

I think everyone should do as they feel best, wether as a group or as individuals. There is no point in discussing what is best as opinions always are different.

 

Thanks Deb for sorting things out! That way everyone can choose an option to contribute (alone or as a group)

 

I could not agree more

[RAK1]

Doing a joint donation would indirectly be voluntarily "donating" part of the money to the banks. I personally don't see that is necessary. Someone said she wouldn't mind donating £2 instead on £1 and so to say split it between the hospital and banks. I rather see the £2 going straight to the hospital with the state paying ... was it 28p extra per each £.

 

As Sariflor nicely put it, to the hospital and patient it does not matter, where or who the money comes from. The sum, on the other hand, does.

 

If some of us need to have the feeling of doing something together or to be "awarded" for donating money, well why not have a little something we can add to our signature in MFC, for example, to show that we have donated. Who else would we want to show our generosity but our fellow MFCers. Using the tag would fully be based on each and everyone's honesty.

 

As for letting MIKA know about our donations, I'm sure he knows we care but if we want to point that out to him one more time (just to be sure or actually I don't know, what the reason would be, because we know that he knows that we care, but anyway) we could let him know. Not to get his eternal gratitude, but just to tell him that we have become aware of the difference HEMS can make and we wish to make our contribution to keep it going. We don't want him to get the impression that we do it only because of what happened to Paloma and otherwise we wouldn't really care.

 

 

That's why I was looking at the standing order option, you can continue to contribute indefinitely with that.

[mellody]

i think we can send a small bunch of flowers with a card from the MFC explaining that we are donating both individually and as a group (for the ones who are not confident with donating online - and we can find an easy way to do that, just be patient *mods at work*)

 

 

i like this. individual donations (that's what i prefer), and a small present from mfc together, like a card or flowers or chocolate.

 

Hey, don't we all know a certain someone who has a couple of bright red dishwashers sitting around unused?

 

wasn't it washing machines?

[RAK1]

Whoa, I don't understand what the problem here is. I'm sure we can find a way to donate individually and have the money earmarked as coming from MFC at the same time. It's just a matter of working out the logistics. If it can't be done then we can discuss the alternatives.

 

Can everyone just hold off for a bit until it's sorted? What is the huge rush??

 

I really like the idea of donating to HEMS and to do it as a group. There's no reason not to at least TRY to make both these things happen without any loss to HEMS via unnecessary charges or loss on tax breaks.

 

Agreed:thumb_yello:

[guylainem123]

i'll wait til deb hears from HEMS before donating, there is no "big rush".

I like the idea of personal donations, if that means more money goes to HEMS. but if it is possible, i will write MikaFanClub in there somewhere.

To me, if Mika and family see that members of the MFC give a donation, it means that we are not just there for the "taking", but also there to give back, by doing something good to HEMS.

 

When my parents died, we got many donations made to causes and it made me happy to see that people did.