By now, everyone knows about the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan. Since the 11th, millions of people across the world have given what they can to help Japan during its time of need.
Even in Second Life.
Last year, I wrote several articles about Panacea Luminos and the wonderful work she's doing at NY Health Scapes and the Southern Tier Healthlink (STHL) [article #1, article #2, article #3]. Luminos joined with Amaretto Breedables then to raise funds for breast cancer awareness. That fundraising event was a success, with it raising over $64,000 USD for the cause. When Luminos contacted Amaretto about creating a breedable horse as part of their Breast Cancer Awareness Center opening last October, she realized that the two entities had the same goal..."to raise awareness and funds for research, education and disaster relief."
It was only right that these two would reconnect again--this time to help Japan.
STHL, in assisting with the planning of these special events and identifying appropriate charities, chose AmeriCares to support in this latest endeavor. All funds raised would go to AmeriCares to support their deliveries of medicine and relief supplies for the crises in Japan.
As a non-profit organization, STHL handles the accounting and communication activities while Amaretto Breedables designed and distributed two limited edition horses that were available for purchase. Avid collectors, equine enthusiasts, and those who simply wanted to help in the fundraising efforts could buy one of the limited edition horses for L$1,111 each.
And buy they did as the fundraising event raised 21,428,157 in Lindens--with exchange rates, that's $82,000 USD!
It always makes me feel good and warm inside when I see people within Second Life using the space to assist the world they belong to--inside and outside of Second Life. It's all real, even the virtual, and our Lindens can help those even beyond the metaverse.
Although this event is over and no more of the limited edition horses will be sold, there are still other worthwhile events and projects going on in-world that you can take part in to help in the Japan relief efforts; here's a [link] to learn more!
The work between STHL and Amaretto Breedables isn't over, however. The two plan to incorporate the STHL's NYHealthScape Quest game into some awareness and fundraising activities in the future.
About Amaretto Breedables
Amaretto Breedables is an organization in Second Life (SL), the virtual world available through the internet. It was created by a group of people who thought it would be amazing to have breedable and rideable horses in SL. The site was launched in September 2010 and the Amaretto Horses have been received with great enthusiasm by the SL breedable community. Horses are purchased by SL collectors and bred for their unique traits, with funds periodically donated to Real World charity. For more information, go to http://amarettobreedables.com/?page_id=2. For more information regarding the collectible and limited edition Amaretto horses please visit: http://amarettobreedables.com
About Southern Tier HealthLink (NYHealthScape in SL)
STHL is a non-profit organization designed as a partnership which brings together healthcare providers and consumers in Central New York to connect the dots with technology that will improve healthcare quality, access and safety while reducing costs. One of STHLs primary roles as a Health Information Exchange (HIE) is to educate health care patients and providers on the value of an interoperable HIE and the benefits of maintaining a Personal Healthcare Record (PHR).
Because Second Life offers a low cost and far reaching opportunity to engage the healthcare consumer in a hands-on and compelling new setting, STHL has begun to tap its potential as an education and communication tool to help meet the community outreach goals of STHLs mission, including interacting with a PHR and HIE (www.sthlny.com). For more information contact Christina Galanis at 607.651.9150 or cgalanis at sthlny.com.
About AmeriCares
AmeriCares is a nonprofit global health and disaster relief organization which delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in need around the world and across the United States. Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $10 billion in humanitarian aid to 147 countries. For more information, visit www.AmeriCares.org.
Posts
Thank you for posting about the amazing fund raising efforts of our community. It's our charitable works that really bring the community of Second Life together, rallying for great causes such as the Japan relief efforts.
ReplyDeleteThe final total for SouthernTier HealthLink and Amaretto Horses was over $82,000 USD which was donated to AmeriCares. New York HealthScape was one of many organizations in Second Life that rose to answer in response to the crises in Japan.
Amazing work... by everyone :) And something to be truly proud of.
Skylar Smythe