I've been working up this new joke to fill some space. Check it out.
It's the middle of summer; a social calendar walks into a bar and orders a happening. Bartender says, "What's a happening?" Social calendar says, "Not much, boy-o."
Groan.
I'll tell you, the joke originally had the calendar ordering a thumb tack so when the barkeep says, "What's a thumb tack?" she can say, "Just something to hang myself with."
Grim.
A bagatelle brought to you by summer -- vacation paradise for you, newsgathering wasteland for me. The sun clears the cyan from my photos -- no matter, because the galagoers have gone off to the beach. Which one? Why, Destin, Fla., duh. (You know there are other oceanfront towns, right, central Arkansas? Some on other oceans.)
IN THE BLACK
I said you'd not hear again about Into the Blue, the new-to-Little Rock fundraiser May 13 for the Thea Foundation that was closed to cameramen. Well, we at the newspaper weren't about to get bowdlerized from a high-profile affair in our own backyard, so we strategically placed a staff member at a table inside the Clinton Presidential Center. (OK, she was freely invited by another guest.)
She reports that the gala was glam and luxe from crown to bucks, and that Jacob Keith Watson, with credits such as Violet on Broadway and the touring companies of Chicago and Bye Bye Birdie, stole the show. Watson was the second-place finisher in the arts education nonprofit's 2007 scholarship competition.
"We literally had support from around the country and the world," said Paul Leopoulos. "My cousin, Agis Leopoulos from Athens, who now lives in Zurich, flew in, in support of Thea."
Watson and several other past scholarship winners spoke about the impact the foundation has had on their lives.
Into the Blue raised $325,000, Leopoulos said, and planning for a sequel has already begun.
And it turns out there was a photographer there! You can see some of the photos taken if you visit TheaFoundation.org and type the event name into the search box.
IN THE WHITE HOT
Leslie Oslica of Conway is sweating. She's sweating right now. Brace yourself. This is charity 2.0.
Oslica and three other women -- Hannah Turnbough, also of Conway, Julie Hathcock of Malvern and Texan Angela Earle -- are pedaling through Salome, Ariz., or maybe Congress, Prescott or Cottonwood. Over the next six days, they'll be in Utah, Kansas, Ohio and half a dozen other states en route to Annapolis, Md.
It's the Race Across America, and it's not a fundraiser -- last year's fastest rider did it in seven days and 16 hours -- but there are people in it for the cause. In Oslica's case, she's Arkansas chapter president of the Children's Tumor Foundation.
Why is this next-generation charity? Because charities are getting tough about asking for money. I mean it. Tough. Pain is the new gain. Wait, pain was the old gain. Then pronation is the new donation. Um, that doesn't -- ugh!
Have you heard of the martyrdom effect?
From the abstract of a paper by Christopher Olivola and Eldar Shafir published in 2011 in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, "people are willing to donate more to charity when they anticipate having to suffer to raise money." Counterintuitive, right? Give people a cupcake, and they give you a pittance. Give them a bucket of ice water to dump on their heads and watch the lucre accrue.
Consider another two-wheeled fundraiser, Billy Starr's Pan-Mass Challenge: a not-quite-200-mile bicycle race ending in Provincetown, Mass., that's serious, and seriously tough, even deadly (there was one fatality). Riders train for the thing, but more than that, they must raise about $5,000. That's the minimum contribution each rider peddles to the peloton.
So before the pain, there's the campaign. For a few months these cyclists are avocational fundraisers. By the time rubber hits asphalt, it's practically a protracted victory lap.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy in March reported that revenue for the Relay for Life (American Cancer Society) has fallen off about a quarter since 2008, and similar low-impact events for JDRF, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and March of Dimes are flat or falling. The Pan-Mass, on the other hand, "is not a come-one, come-all event." The fundraising minimum and the 200 miles are figures "that scare off all but an elite few who have either extraordinary commitment to the cause or a network of well-to-do friends."
That's the word! Elite.
The last two Arkansas Arts Center Tabriz $750-a-seat fundraisers and, more recently, the Thea Foundation's successful $1,000-$2,000-a-seat fundraiser may suffer the outward appearance of elitism but they are elite. They are novel. What's happening with these evening events isn't exhausting and dangerous, but the frisson among the registered guests must feel the same -- if we're here, we've done something special.
Back to Oslica on her bike.
These four women don't ride at once. Pairs are on the course 12 hours at a time, exchanging every hour. Every half day, the pairs will trade, and the ones who are off-route will catch some Zzz's. Oslica, who helped crew a team in 2011, says the riders only get four to six hours sleep a night -- the other six to eight hours are consumed by transportation to sleeping quarters, eating, bathing, resting before sleep; then, backpedaling to the course for the next exchange.
"This is my last big outing before I turn 50," says Oslica, whose teammates call her "grandma," which isn't as withering since the birth of her grandbaby last fall.
The goal for her group is $100,000. When I spoke with her several days ago, they were at roughly half that. If you're interested in feeling her pain, go to Raam4nf.org. You can follow the team's progress and make a pledge. There's actually a smartphone app, too -- Tractalis -- that reports the individual rider's speed and elevation and how far it is to the next designated check-in. Type in team name CrankNForacure.
"We endure something harder so that others will also give more," Oslica says.
Look, the "old" model of gowns and galas and corporate sponsorships and affordable admission isn't going away, and for that I am thankful. But neither is this trend toward niche or adventure fundraising. Charity has always been about need and emotion. The needs are fixed, but the emotions, they evolve. It's a finesse game. Novelty is rewarded.
Give me what-for at
bampezzan@arkansasonline.com
High Profile on 06/21/2015