Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Smartphone Thoughts and Zune Thoughts as Communities
Posted by Jason Dunn in "Thoughts Media Off Topic" @ 07:00 PM
[Note: This was posted on Pocket PC Thoughts a few days ago, but it's been suggested to me that I post it on all Thoughts Media sites because it's equally valid across all sites. So here you go...just substitute the name of this site where you see Pocket PC Thoughts.]
The past few weeks have reminded me how much I value the community here at Pocket PC Thoughts (and indeed, all the Thoughts Media sites). Jon Westfall's post, A Loss in the Extended Family, had me thinking how unfortunate it was that ToFClock never reached out to his community at XDA Developers for help - the 100+ responses there show me he would have received a lot of support, if he had only asked for it. That's sort of what this post is about.
I recently finished reading through all of the supportive comments regarding the passing of my grandfather. I was amazed at the number of comments, and the honesty of them touched me. I had posted that on a whim, cloned from my personal blog posting, more out of a desire to inform people why I might not be responding to their email messages than any desire for sympathy. What I got back instead were some very supportive messages, and many stories about losses that my fellow community members had endured - some recently, some long in the past. All of the messages helped me greatly.
In a similar vein, there's a member of the Pocket PC Thoughts community that's in need of our help, today. Rex Winn, better known as code-frog in our forums, has been going through a rough situation with his sick daughter for several years now, but things reached a breaking point for him and his family recently and Rex reached out to me for help. Rex can probably chime in here to explain things better than I can, but in short his daughter has a rare condition that is extremely expensive to treat and despite Rex working 80 hours a week they've reached a financial breaking point where they can't afford to seek out new treatments for their daughter, and the month to month struggles of caring for her are slowly crushing them. There's a great deal of information about Rex, his family, and the struggles they're going through on his site Not Ready To Give Up.
I've known about Rex's struggle for a couple of years now, and I know this is a legitimate problem and not some Internet scam for money that will vanish tomorrow. I've donated some money to Rex and his family, and I'm openly calling on all willing members of Pocket PC Thoughts to do the same. We might not all have equal income levels, but I believe that everyone can help even in some small way. I believe that when a community of people come together with a common purpose, they can accomplish great things. Some of you can afford to donate $500 or more, while some of you can afford to donate $5. The amount doesn't matter - what matters is that a member of this community needs our help, and I believe Pocket PC Thoughts readers will rise to the occasion. Make your donation today and let's help a Pocket PC Thoughts community member that needs us.
UPDATE: I wanted to add that, in addition to monetary support, perhaps there are other, more creative ways this community can help Rex and his daughter Kaie. Maybe someone read this is part of the medical community and can assist? Or a non-profit agency that might have as its mandate helping families in need like this one? Or, if you're the praying type, do that too.
The past few weeks have reminded me how much I value the community here at Pocket PC Thoughts (and indeed, all the Thoughts Media sites). Jon Westfall's post, A Loss in the Extended Family, had me thinking how unfortunate it was that ToFClock never reached out to his community at XDA Developers for help - the 100+ responses there show me he would have received a lot of support, if he had only asked for it. That's sort of what this post is about.
I recently finished reading through all of the supportive comments regarding the passing of my grandfather. I was amazed at the number of comments, and the honesty of them touched me. I had posted that on a whim, cloned from my personal blog posting, more out of a desire to inform people why I might not be responding to their email messages than any desire for sympathy. What I got back instead were some very supportive messages, and many stories about losses that my fellow community members had endured - some recently, some long in the past. All of the messages helped me greatly.
In a similar vein, there's a member of the Pocket PC Thoughts community that's in need of our help, today. Rex Winn, better known as code-frog in our forums, has been going through a rough situation with his sick daughter for several years now, but things reached a breaking point for him and his family recently and Rex reached out to me for help. Rex can probably chime in here to explain things better than I can, but in short his daughter has a rare condition that is extremely expensive to treat and despite Rex working 80 hours a week they've reached a financial breaking point where they can't afford to seek out new treatments for their daughter, and the month to month struggles of caring for her are slowly crushing them. There's a great deal of information about Rex, his family, and the struggles they're going through on his site Not Ready To Give Up.
I've known about Rex's struggle for a couple of years now, and I know this is a legitimate problem and not some Internet scam for money that will vanish tomorrow. I've donated some money to Rex and his family, and I'm openly calling on all willing members of Pocket PC Thoughts to do the same. We might not all have equal income levels, but I believe that everyone can help even in some small way. I believe that when a community of people come together with a common purpose, they can accomplish great things. Some of you can afford to donate $500 or more, while some of you can afford to donate $5. The amount doesn't matter - what matters is that a member of this community needs our help, and I believe Pocket PC Thoughts readers will rise to the occasion. Make your donation today and let's help a Pocket PC Thoughts community member that needs us.
UPDATE: I wanted to add that, in addition to monetary support, perhaps there are other, more creative ways this community can help Rex and his daughter Kaie. Maybe someone read this is part of the medical community and can assist? Or a non-profit agency that might have as its mandate helping families in need like this one? Or, if you're the praying type, do that too.
