Entered 12.9.02 
by Velma  

$10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!! $10,442!!!!!!

You did it!!! You guys did it!!! I am totally sobbing my eyes out up in here!

I will provide more details here in the newsroom on how all of this went down as the hours roll on. I am just so giddy I can barely type!!!! *doin’ the booty dance*

  In the meanwhile, if you guys are out there and put together a big AIM chat or something . . . pull me in!

Congratulations, guys!  Group hug!

Entered 12.8.02 
by Velma  

Great wads of white cotton, Batman! I’ve got to have one of those T-shirts!

Already old news for some of you . . . another well-known Apolo fan, LucinDa has put herself and her cash out on the line to help support the effort.

She is selling a cool T-shirt that commemorates — of all things — In Apolo’s Name! Out of her own pocket, she is covering the cost of the T-shirts, the printing, the shipping, as well as handling and coordinating the shipment of all the T-shirts.

For every T-shirt sold, she is contributing $10 (or more depending on the cost of shipping) to Ronald McDonald House Charities in Apolo’s name.

10 shirts = $100 to RMHC

100 shirts = $1,000 to RMHC

You get the idea. LucinDa has sold 10 since Wednesday! And that was with very little promotion.

Ohno Velocity’s top banana, April put together the cool design.

Personally, I think this is going to be huge. These T-shirts will be a collector’s item! All sizes from small to super huge. Quality 100% cotton material. I am gonna have to get a few, myself!

If you have never been able to contribute before, this is a great way for you to make your mark. Get involved and get a T-shirt!

Many sites are already creating pages where you can link to LucinDa’s T-shirt order form. She is working through PayPal. She is also working with folks who want to pay by check. Just email her here:  Luml@cs.com

We’ll have a page linking off the I.A.N. site later tonight to help LucinDa market the T-shirt further. However, in the meanwhile, check out this page on Ohno Velocity, here. Buy one here, buy one there —  it’s all the same, and it’s all good!

Here’s the crucial part: LucinDa is selling these through Dec. 24th to help us meet the goal by the end of the year. So, get yours now!

Entered 11.28.02 
by Velma  

THANK YOU! Happy Thanksgiving Day to everyone in the United States, and heck, to everyone around the world! Cheers!

Entered 11.22.02 
by Velma  

MAJOR NEWS PART IV
There are a lot of pieces to this big news, so I am just gonna let it spill! Have a seat. You'll be here a while.

*Drum roll, please.*

As of today, we as a band of goodhearted Apolo fans have raised  . . .

$7,884! 

*Bah-ching!*

Are you happy? ‘Cause I am totally happy! Let’s dance! C’mon! Dance with me, people! *Dance. Dance. Bump. Bump. Twirl. Grind. Twist. Toss back the hair. Put your thang down, flip it, and reverse it!*

OMG. We are so close to our goal now. Sooooooooo close! That means we are $2,116 away from our goal of getting a room in Apolo’s name at the new Seattle Ronald McDonald House! Or does it? What about that book auction?

The Book Auction
Congratulations to the winners of the Apolo autographed book auctions! Bidding on the books: A Journey, the Autobiography of Apolo Anton Ohno and All About Apolo ended on Wednesday night and raised a total of $253 for the RMHC in Apolo’s name. That money hasn’t been counted yet for our tally. So, that means . . . our tally is actually more than $8,000! We are less than $2,000 away from reaching our goal! Dang! It just keeps getting better and better!

Thank you again to nycvenus and hawkfanboydsbears for their generous bids!

You can still view the bid pages here and here.

The Numbers
The amazing note to all this is that the official $7,884 came from a grand total of 83 people. Yep. Since June, 83 individuals have made a donation – some making multiple donations. (Does anyone remember my original theory about $10,000 fans with one dollar each? LOL. Well, I guess I had that all backwards!)

Look, we have less than $2,000 to raise now. We are so close; now more than ever EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS.

If you were holding out because you didn’t think it was worth your effort to send in a check for $5, now is the time to shed that assumption. I’ll tell you, the RMHC receipts that have been sent to us literally range from $1 to $1,000 donations. Each one as fabulous as the next.

Just check out this message from ma:

“We’ve just GOT to make that $10,000, Velma.  Thinking of all those parents, like we once were, hurting and worrying for their children...going into that room and seeing Apolo’s name on it and thinking good thoughts about him. Well, you just can't put a price tag on that . . . Why don’t y’all go out on a limb and suggest to the young fans without jobs that they ask family to give a donation to I.A.N. in lieu of that check for Christmas?  Then we'll see who really loves Apolo...LOL.  But that’s an idea that might just touch a few old hearts among the relatives of teenagers or college students.”

Am I sensing a challenge coming on here? Hmm? Teenagers vs. adults? I’m sure we will be hearing more of this soon, as well as a bunch of fun ideas more motivation. So, stay tuned.  

Auction Thanks
Thank you again to everyone who bid on Abigail’s books, and massive kudos to Abigail. She came up with the idea to auction the books to benefit our project; went out and bought the books; went and got them autographed by the great one; then took the responsibility to auction them off! Tremendous. I have told her this before, but she is a living Nike commercial. “Just do it.” Well, she just did! Abigail, you have made an amazing impact on the effort – not only with your auction, but with your continued support and enthusiasm.

Secret Thanks
We wanted to shout out to another of our fellow contributors who has given our effort a big financial boost. How big? Well, when we reach the $10,000 mark, this person’s contributions will represent 25 percent of that. We do not want to encroach on this person’s privacy by revealing his or her name, nor do we want this message to diminish the amazing and vital contributions that each of us has made. However, we just want this person to know how much we appreciate the incredible gift. We know it didn’t come easily for you. Maybe in the grand scheme of things it is just money, but you gave much more of your heart. That is what is cool. Thank you.

Site Stuff
If you notice some items are starting to change on the site. Well, we are just trying to update the information to catch up to all the recent progress in our project. By your next visit to the site, we will likely have some nice new features and information for you, as well as archives of our old pages for reference.

Is there a Major News Part V? Hmmm. Maybe, just may be.

In the meanwhile, give us some feedback via email, on the tag board, or hey, here’s and idea - go make a donation.

Entered 11.20.02 
by Velma  

Hi guys! Sorry there was no new total on the site Monday night. The RMHC is providing a new one by the end of the week.

At that time we will also be announcing MAJOR NEWS PART IV, which will be related to the new total. The new total should be major news in itself. Plus we will also announce the winning bids in Abigail’s book auctions.

Entered 11.10.02 
by Velma  

MAJOR NEWS PART III (See below this entry for PARTS I & II)
One of I.A.N.’s enthusiastic and proactive supporters, Abigail, is auctioning off two autographed Apolo books: A Journey, the Autobiography of Apolo Anton Ohno and All About Apolo.  Both books were autographed by Apolo in Colorado Springs at the United States Olympic Complex specifically to benefit the I.A.N. project.

The books are being auctioned off separately rather than as a pair.

You can find the auction on eBay for A Journey here.

You can find the auction on eBay for All About Apolo here.

Auction Specifics: The winning bidder will send a check in the amount bid directly to RMHC in Apolo’s name, as usual. When the winner gets his or her receipt from the RMHC, send that receipt showing the amount donated to I.A.N. (Email Velma for addresses.) Then Abigail will be alerted to send the winner the autograph book the bidder won. The winner will work with Abigail on the best shipping arrangements.

Thank you, Abigail for taking this dynamic action to help us raise more funds In Apolo’s Name!

If you have questions about this event, please email them to Velma. If the questions seem relevant for all, she will post the questions and answers here.

MAJOR NEWS PART I (sent out in an email 11.8.02)
Seattle Ronald McDonald House Charities has met the Kresege Challenge!

With help from Apolo fans, the RMHC raised $1.7 million before the Nov. 30, deadline. From that they were awarded an additional $750,000 to help them meet construction costs.

Everyone who participated, either via donations or helping to spread the word, should feel great about being a part of this effort.

MAJOR NEWS PART II
Now, hey, I know what you are thinking. So, stop! It’s not over. The RMHC still needs our funds to help with operational costs. And . . .

We now have a whole extra month to continue raising funds in Apolo’s name!

Yep. We have until Dec. 31, to raise approximately $5,000 to reach our goal for Apolo’s room.

So, tell me, does Apolo have 5,000 fans that would each be willing to send $1 to the RMHC? 

Does he have 2,500 fans willing to send in $2?

1,000 fans to send in $5?

500 fans to send in $10?

We can do this. I know it.

All we have to do is get our second wind. It is coming.

We want to say, “thank you.” That is from fans to fans. Your enthusiasm and selflessness is going to go a long way to help many, many people . . . as well as giving Apolo the coolest gift ever.

For Webmasters
We quietly debuted a new I.A.N. page a few weeks ago just for you. We are still working on it. But for now you can go there for banners and instruction, as well as a listing of the top sites people are linking from to get to I.A.N. Check it out. Let us know how we can make supporting I.A.N. easier for you. www.oocities.org/inapolosname/webresource.html

Entered 11.5.02 
by Velma  

New tally! $4,823! Great work, guys!

ATTENTION! Major news coming! Check the site again this weekend! 

If you want to receive an email alert for this news and you have never corresponded with us before, just email us here and let us know before Friday.