Bridging Gaps through Random Acts of Kindness..Avatar Charitable Trust (ACT)- Edd Graycloud Reporting... ~ The SL Enquirer

For those of you who have an interest in music, art, theatre or are involved with bringing educational endeavors to Second Life, this article will definitely be of interest to you.

Are you aware of your community? Nicely, I’ve got news for you! For those of you who have an interest in music, art, theatre or are involved with bringing educational endeavors to Second Life, this article will definitely be of interest to you. Remember this name, if you’re not already familiar with it, ACT.

ACT is an acronym for Avatar Charitable Trust, a non-profit group in Second Life that is an important and valuable community resource. ACT was founded in March of 2011 by Chuk and Lillie Edman.

“We founded the ACT as a means of supporting those things in Second Life that had been most meaningful for us. Lillie and I were both incredibly impressed by the creativity we saw in the art world, the intiative we saw in education, and the sincere and heartwarming kindness we saw withinin humanitarian causes within the virtual world. We wanted to be a part of what we saw, so we decided to support them in the best way we knew how, and that was financially”.

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with Chuk, Lillie and the organization’s Board of Trustees. It is well known that every successful organization requires a strong, active core of individuals to accomplish its’ objectives. ACT’s appears to have that integral core in the persons of Executive Director Chuk Edman , ACT Operations Director Lillie Radek-Edman, Board Chairperson Leslie Ekstein, Board Members Alestria Corryong, Frey Bravin and Banks Copperfield.

ACT headquarters and office complex houses their very own enterprising and tastefully done art gallery as well as a rooftop garden area for music venues and additional artist showcasing. The office complex/headquarters combines a mix of modern functionality with artistic values firmly etched. The interior serves as meeting and office space for Chuk and Lillie as well as the art gallery. The exterior

highlights include tranquil, serene landscape of wide open space, breathtaking water views, trees and sculptures strategically placed. Two noteworthy items would be ACT's signature statue representing loudly the virtue in the act of giving and the blossoming cherry tree representative of ACT's official logo and mission statement to which “While the roots are firmly etched to the ground the branches reach out wide in the way we want to reach out to as many residents as we possibly can.”

ACT’s motto “Opening Doors of Hope” is the epitome of kindness from one avatar/human soul to the other. Expecting almost nothing in return, the group realizes that we are all inter-dependent on one another for support. Rather lament at the lack of quality, standards, resources and sit back attitudes ACT has chosen to indeed act upon it (no pun intended). Firing on all cylinders, the group strives “to raise funds to be used to financially promote charitable endeavors for the arts, humanitarianism, education, and the general welfare of avatars in Second Life and people in real life; to promote goodwill, personal fulfillment, and enjoyment among those in the Second Life community; to promote non-political, non-sectarian, non-discriminatory, and non-violent causes for the overall good of second life residents and to improve the standard of our lives in the virtual world of Second Life.”

In short, if you have a project group, establishment or organization that endeavors to bring these subjects to Second Life and find you may be in need of some financial support ACT may be able to help.

I couldn't help but wonder where ACT found all the funds and resources to be able to help these groups. I asked Chuk and he explained to me that ACT has been working tirelessly in accruing donations – which makes up for the majority of the funding. They are continuously organizing fund-raisers in the likes of live musical performances from some of the best performers in SL in a diverse genre. They a I was told ACT tries to showcase a different artist on a monthly basis along with a musical performance to coincide with the opening and closing of the event. Among the exciting line-up of an eclectic mix of talented artists slated are Fuschia Nightfire, Antenna Rae and Milly Sharple. In addition, they are continuously enterprising to finding new ways in which to create awareness, build and expand bridges within and beyond SL and to solicit donations from the general public.

“The grant applications that we receive are generally from humanitarian, charitable, educational or artistic groups. We have a little saying that we work very hard to raise money, but we work even harder to give it away. We welcome applications from all different organizations and have been very far reaching in the types of organizations that we have provided funds to”.

The group’s largest grant awarded to date was to “The Dramatiques”, a performing arts group, at the sum of L$25K. The group will put the grant to good use by purchasing a new lighting system for all their future performances and to help support a Fall performance. This grant and others has almost certainly paved the way for countless possibilities and has brightened the horizons for the purveyors of art. Whether it is art, drama, music, building, writing, or designing worthy residents are more than welcomed to apply for assistance. Queries pertaining to grants and applications thereof can be submitted to either Chuk or Lillie. If either of the two is not available, any other board of members would be more than willing to assist. Those who would like to help support their mission are more than welcomed to do so. Donations can be made either by “(1) paying our Treasurer, Banks Copperfield, directly, or (2) giving directly to an Avatar Charitable Trust donation kiosk located in our ACT Headquarters and Gallery on the Gemini Elysia sim”.

Lastly I would inform you great things are on the horizons with ACT steering itself to new territories and climbing to greater heights. In the words of Chuk Edman, “ I hope to move us more into education over the next few months as well. We have made some significant inroads. Assistance in the arts world is but one facet in our mission with education being another. I intend to explore some of the in-world colleges and universities, as well as other educational entities for grant possibilities. I am particularly impressed with the virtual campus of Arkansas State University”.

As for myself, I am in awe of this organizational group and will sing praises long into the night! -EDD Graycloud