Project Download

[cleolinda]

Okay, I have something to ask y'all to help with. Erin, aka redscorner, needs to have brain surgery and can't afford it:

I suffer from two neurological disorders (Chiari malformation and cranial lesions) that will require a combined total of 2-4 brain surgeries. I'm unemployed and uninsured and the state I live in is so broke, they have strictly limited who qualifies for Medicaid. Because I have no children and am not pregnant, I don't qualify.

No, really. Yes, the state of American health care is that bad--the care itself is excellent, except that either people can't afford it, or people who are insured discover that insurance companies know a thousand ways to weasel out of paying for things. Yes, I know people like to scam others on the internet all the time. But she doesn't want your money. Instead, she's thought of a fairly painless, creative way to get someone else's money: projectdownload. Apparently MegaUpload will pay out $10,000 if you achieve 5 million downloads. This is limited to one download per unique user per day, but over the course of, let's say, ten days, you'd only need 500,000 people a day, if I'm understanding this correctly. It doesn't matter what she's put up there for you to download, so she's put up a very small, perfunctory text file that basically says, "Thank you for downloading this" (the actual text is also on her user profile page). I downloaded it myself just now, from a direct link she posted (you don't even have to go to MegaUpload's actual site at all; she knows how annoying the site can be), and it's a virus-free, spyware-free, malware-free text document. Absolutely painless, and now she's one download closer to the payout. Very easy.

Yes, things can get ugly when people in dire need dare to ask for help; it's happened before, and it's one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen online. But back in September, Erin typed up a letter from the hospital, and I've encouraged her to scan some actual paperwork in as well; I think she'll have it up this weekend, as she's having gamma knife radiation today, Wednesday and Friday. She's posted a good deal of information as to the location of the surgery, the names of her doctors, her condition, etc. (Why is she unemployed? I'm going to take a wild guess and say because of her health problems.) As she says,

One of the biggest frustrations I'm coming up against is the handful of people who have a hard time believing this isn't a scam. And I'm not frustrated because those people think that, I completely understand the hesitation. I think we've all seen more than our fair share of con artists in our days on the Internet. What's frustrating is that I don't know how to "prove" I'm a real person, with very real medical issues. Do I start providing names of doctors? I could, but it could then be argued I googled the information. I could provide the phone number for the Oregon Health Plan (Oregon's Medicaid program) and people could call and ask who qualifies for OHP. Again, it could then be argued that just because I know that information, doesn't mean I'm not trying to scam a bunch of people. I could provide phone numbers and email addresses for those who have been by my side through this process, but... but, but, but.

What it really comes down to is I can't really prove anything. And because of some very well-known con artists involved in different fandoms, people are inherently reluctant to get conned anymore than they already have.

And that's why I tried to find a non-monetary way of asking for help. It's why I was reluctant to provide PayPal information until I was asked by quite a lot of people to. Because ultimately, I don't want anyone to have that moment of discomfort when deciding whether or not they wanted to help out. Click a download link? Sure! Give someone hard-earned money? Um... herm.

And that's the thing: if you choose to believe her, all you have to give is three seconds of your day. I'm not even sure the download took that long. You have absolutely nothing to lose. And yes, this does open the door for a thousand other people to try the same thing, some of whom may really need the money and some of whom may not, which I'm sure someone will point out, so yes, I anticipate taking some flack over choosing to post this. It's hard to figure out how many things you can post about before people completely shut down and don't want to help anyone else, but: she needs brain surgery, and at no inconvenience to you. She needs to pull the money together by something like mid-November, I think she said. Let's use a round number--thirty days, let's say. Now, I can't math too good, but that's about 160,000ish people a day, isn't it? That's completely doable. So please consider trying to help out with this, and if y'all are okay with it, I can even put a direct-download button down there with the click-a-day charity sites I always have anyway. You know, for a month. Please?

ETA: Yes, of course linking to this post is fine. And feel free to steal the button, just upload it to your own Photobucket account or whatever. It goes directly to the download, for ease of daily clicking. : )

Comments

[brittanygrace.livejournal.com]

I can do that daily.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Thanks. : )

[word-herder.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Will they let you download it multiple times? (I just did so, and you're right. It's just a simple text file.)

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Only once a day, but yeah, every day.

[nausicaa83.livejournal.com]

Done, and I'm going to do it every day. I know what it means, my sister had to go through two brain surgeries, but luckly here in Italy it's all free. I just hope this can help!

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Thank you! (Man, y'all must have good health care.)

[quenbolyn.livejournal.com]

Downloaded. And not even three seconds, at that.

[waltzingalong.livejournal.com]

Consider it done and yep, a download button sounds like a good idea to me :)

[maetang.livejournal.com]

Downloaded. And I'll post info about this in my own journal.

[poinsley.livejournal.com]

I downloaded it and bookmarked this entry to I remember to download every day.

[evilbearhunter.livejournal.com]

Downloaded! I'll try to remember to do it every day.

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

Downloaded!

[ladyaurora1ca.livejournal.com]

Done. I wish her the best of luck!

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

How often can I download and can I link to your post?

[fiveforsilver]

I would also like to link to this post, since it explains everything so clearly, if that's ok.

[jigglykat.livejournal.com]

Downloaded!

[cassildra.livejournal.com]

I can do this daily. Please add it to your bottom-link-clicky bits.

My words, they fail me today.

[krazycat.livejournal.com]

I think the direct download button is a good idea, especially for scatter brains like myself who really do want to help, but can forget. I'd rather see the button every day and go 'oh yeah' and do it, rather than forgetting for four days for example.

I hope this works!

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

One thing about this is that I'm not sure if asking other people to click violates the terms of the MegaUpload contest rules (the part about no manipulation of the results). I also wonder whether they will keep their promise or try to weasel out. The company is based in Hong Kong, so they don't have to (or at any rate can't easily be forced to) abide by American law. It's probably okay, and it's worth a try, but I hope she isn't pinning everything on this.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

(I downloaded, of course.)

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

Done! Sure, put a link on your posts so I remember to do it...

[kutsuwamushi.livejournal.com]

My mom had a chiari malformation that required surgery, but she wasn't in nearly as bad a situation. I posted about this to my journal.

Anyway, commenting to say I also think a link next to your daily button things will definitely drive up her hits. I'll be more likely to remember to click if it keeps popping up on my friendslist.

[amberdulen.livejournal.com]

I read an article once on panhandling where the author decided that it was worth it to him to give a few dollars and believe that the beggars really needed it, rather than succumb to a cynical view of society. I'm downloading (daily) for the same reason.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Downloaded from work. Will download from home once I get there.

I have a great deal of sympathy for her. Thanks to a legislative snafu here in Alaska, my temp agency is no longer allowed to offer a mini-medical insurance package to their candidates--and you don't even want to know what it's done to college students. They can't fix it until next session, so I'm screwed out of insurance for now. I'm just glad the accident I had in June (fell down some stairs, dislocated both shoulders) happened at my sister's house and her homeowner's policy is there to pay for any care I might need.

I'm not a fan of socialized medicine in general, but there needs to be *something* available for those who can't pay. No one should have to suffer because they don't have the money for medical help.

[dolfairy173.livejournal.com]

Where in Alaska are you from? I'm going to college in Fairbanks ^_^

[zoniduck.livejournal.com]

I've also downloaded from work, and will download when I get home. I'd love it if you added a button to your posts. I might not remember on my own, but I'm sure to see your posts every day to remind me.

[ladyhawke-wings.livejournal.com]

The direct link was a good idea. ;-)

[theendofallthat.livejournal.com]

is there a way to put her paypal info here, too? I will gladly do this daily and encourage others to do so, but I worry, like one of the other commenters, that megaupload might try to weasel out. there's no reason people can't do the downloading and give her some extra funding as well, since it seems like she'll need a lot of it.

[redscorner.livejournal.com]

Hi there! First and foremost, thank you for expressing interest in Project Download. It's amazing how quickly this is growing.

In terms of PayPal, I made this (http://community.livejournal.com/projectdownload/5767.html) entry and in it, I talk about my inner conflict with providing the information. I've provided a link to an a journal off of LJ that has a bunch of tags you can click to learn more about what this process has been.

On one hand, I'm trying to dissuade people from sending money, because this was never about begging for money. On the other, I'm not really in a position to turn down something someone wants to offer. The only thing I ask is that you read the information and decide one way or another this is really something you want to get behind. I don't want anyone feeling like they're being scammed or lied to.

Again, thank you.

[k-puff.livejournal.com]

I would totally support you putting this link up along with your click-a-day charity sites. I work as an insurance biller in the eyecare industry, and am also in the midst of changing insurance companies, so I am fully aware of how conniving those little bloodsuckers can be. She sounds like a good person, and I want to help her.

*clicka-clicka*

[alatariel10.livejournal.com]

Downloaded, and I intend to do it every day. You should really add a button for the month. And I'll probably link to this.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

I downloaded. I know what it's like to have health problems and having no insurance. Although, thankfully, mine aren't nearly as bad as hers.