Help Me Share the Awesome Side of SF/F
I’m thinking about trying to do a weekly blog post highlighting some of the positive and amazing things being done by various folks in the SF/F community. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how many wonderful, kind-hearted, generous people there are in our geeked-out slice of the world.
Take Pat Rothfuss’ Worldbuilders fundraiser. Pat has poured so much time and energy into Worldbuilders. (Yes, I know some of you would rather he poured all of that time into writing, but none of us can write all the time.) In the past seven years, Worldbuilders has raised more than $3.5 million for Heifer International, helping to reduce hunger and poverty in the world.
Or look at conventions like Windycon, where fans worked to raise $753 for the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Illinois Chapter.
So I need your help. Email me at jchines -at- sff.net (or use the Contact Form) and tell me about people or groups in fandom doing good stuff. I’ll do my best to research and write them up, with links and pics and maybe even a quick interview or quote or something. And we can try at least once a week to recognize that yeah, at its worst, SF/F fandom can be a hot, flaming mess … but at our best, we are Frakking Awesome.
Mary Anne Mohanraj
April 27, 2016 @ 11:25 am
Jim, I’d love to talk to you about the Speculative Literature Foundation — what we’ve done so far, what we’re hoping to do going forward, how people can get involved. (www.speclit.org)
Jo
April 27, 2016 @ 11:46 am
Thanks for this. I’m beginning to be a big believer in celebrating the successes and highlighting folks doing things right.
Grace Alexander
April 27, 2016 @ 12:10 pm
Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles (along with Jared Padelecki) have been doing just great stuff… I know SPN’s a silly little CW show but (IMO) they deserve recognition for their You Are Not Alone campaign reaching out to those with depression – and Misha’s GISHWHES scavenger hunt event each year which is the top benefactor of Random Acts.
I’ve always loved the sci-fi/fantasy genres because a majority of the people – both authors and actors – are just awesome to their fanbases, compassionate and concerned, and extremely active in trying to make a positive difference. I like to think it’s the connection they have to the battle of good and evil and wanting to be on the right side… 🙂
Ken Marable
April 27, 2016 @ 1:18 pm
Agreed! My family has participated in GISHWHES for the past two years and will again this year, and it’s great! Beyond the money it raises for Random Acts (which alone is cool), it also embodies the idea as well with getting thousands of people around the world to do random acts that add more kindness and (especially) creativity into the world for a couple weeks. It really is amazing and a unique experience.
sistercoyote
April 27, 2016 @ 5:11 pm
I think the wrong episode of SPN got nominated for a Hugo — I thought Baby was a much better episode on a number of levels. 🙂
That said — GISHWHES, Random Acts, and in particular the #SPNFamily Crisis Support Network are definitely worth a mention, and if a show with Angels, Demons, Vampires, Werewolves, Lucifer, etc., isn’t a genre show then I don’t know what *is*.
E.J. Stevens
April 27, 2016 @ 5:32 pm
This is on a much smaller scale, but many of us (over 70 authors) recently contributed writing to ‪#‎AmWriting‬: A Collection of Letters to Benefit the Wayne Foundation. 100% of the net proceeds of #AmWriting will go to benefit The Wayne Foundation, a charity dedicated to offering aid and services to young women victimized by illegal sexual exploitation and the sexual trafficking of minors. Release date June 7, 2016.
Grace Alexander
April 27, 2016 @ 5:39 pm
I’m thrilled I’m not the only one with a serious case of SPN love. It’s awesome to see the support and love form the fans of the show spreading it around.
The Firefly cast is awesome about doing great stuff too. There’s a really great base in the SF/Fantasy community that focuses on doing good and we certainly can use all of that in this world we can get.
sistercoyote
April 27, 2016 @ 7:33 pm
@Grace & @Ken:
I don’t know if we’re GISHing this year or not (I work full-time and can’t really take a week off at the beginning of August, unfortunately) Which team are you?
Grace Alexander
April 28, 2016 @ 9:34 am
I’m not GISHing this year either, sadly – I expatriated to a little fishing village / tourist town in Uruguay, have a full time and a half business to run and August here is dead middle of winter. I’m hoping by next year I might have some freedom to hook up with some of the other folks in this part of South America who are participating.
I’ve donated to Random Acts and the Crisis Line as it’s been gotten up and running and I have a small fund of my own that I use to perform RAs of my own (have for years, ever since I was trying to get out of an abusive relationship and a woman I knew only from an online forum sent me $1600 no strings attached to move into my own place with my children. I paid her back, but she had NO way of knowing I would. Since then I try my best to pay it forward in any way I can.)
My partner used to counsel gay and trans youth – one of the top demographics for depression and suicide – so this is something close to our hearts!
Pam Adams
April 28, 2016 @ 11:45 am
LibertyCon, based in Chattanooga, TN, is a small (<500 people) con. Every year, they choose an organization for their charitable donations. They sponsor multiple events throughout the convention and the year. "Uncle Timmy" has been known to round up those donations to make sure the organizations are being helped.
http://www.libertycon.org/index.php/lc-info-3/charity-work
LibertyCon was my 'home' convention for many years, and I still support their charitable work, even if I can't get there these days.
sistercoyote
April 28, 2016 @ 3:08 pm
I’m waiting to hear back if I’m in that first 100 or not for the crisis line volunteer program at the moment.
Jeff Dougan
April 28, 2016 @ 9:36 pm
If you’re not familiar with it, I’d love to nominate Con or Bust! They’re now officially a non-profit whose main fundraising comes from an annual auction. They provide money to help folks be able to attend cons, especially those traditionally underrepresented in fandom.
Jilly Dreadful
April 29, 2016 @ 12:03 am
Hi! My name is Jilly and I run The Brainery: Online Speculative Fiction Workshops + Resources, which has been featured on The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy, Tor.com and io9.com. Last year, I started a Writer Support Fund which enables us to fund writers taking our workshops. Out of 90 students who’ve enrolled in our workshops, I have been able to fund 2 writers this way. And, recently, a donor contributed enough to support 2 more writers for the summer workshops (need to update the site to reflect the newest numbers).
The Noble Pen for May 12, 2016 | The Noble Pen
May 6, 2016 @ 8:42 pm
[…] Hines did a post about SF doing good in the community and it has drawn several posts with […]
Scott Kennedy
May 7, 2016 @ 9:35 pm
Penguicon chooses a charity to highlight each year. This year it was All Hands Active and their summer program teaching students how to experiment and write up a valid scientific paper. Last year it was Enabling The Future and their 3d printed prosthetic arms for children and families all over the world.