Wrdnrd
for WisCon Member Assistance Fund

Hi.  Wrdnrd here.

I’m the one who’s been muttering bitterly in the back of class panels for years.  I started coming to WisCon in 2005, before there was a Member Assistance Fund (though i’ve lost my program book from that year so i’m going off pure memory here).  By the time i knew about the Fund, which was originally called Scholarships, i was at a point in my life where i felt financially secure enough to not request help.

This was undoubtedly a straight-up lie that i told myself.  And it wouldn’t be the first time.  When i qualified for food stamps back in the ’90s, i told myself that groceries were one thing i was always able to buy or get from family and that other people needed the help more than i did.  I came by this idiocy honestly — growing up, when our single-mother-led family was below the poverty line and on the school lunch program, my mother didn’t apply for food stamps.  Other people needed the help more.

These days i’m lucky enough that i’m able to donate to WisCon’s Member Assistance Fund.  It’s a little weird — something of a mental shift for me.  But other people need the help.

I do get super mouthy about class issues, as all 160-ish poor souls who follow me on Twitter know.  The other year i was able to put my energy where my mouth is by co-founding Friends of Dennis.  This year, i’m able to put my wallet where my mouth is by offering a last-minute matching donation to the Assistance Fund’s fundraiser.

Here’s the deal:  For donations made to WisCon’s Member Assistance Fund from now until Saturday night (11:59pm Central Time), i will match every dollar up to $500 — TWICE.  So if you donate $5 to WMAF this week, i’ll donate $10.  If we all pull together, this could mean another $1,500 to help bring people to WisCon 40 this May.

Also, for every membership donated to the Fund, I’ll donate another one.  If you’re interested in donating a membership, please email treasurer@sf3.org.

On Sunday, the SF3 Treasurer and i will tally it all up, i’ll PayPal some monies over to WisCon, and we’ll announce here just how much damage we did to my tax refund.

Okay … GO: