Kevin's Karaoke-thon for Charity: Wanna sponsor me?

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:03 am

Hey guys. Wanna hear a sad story? Yes? Well keep readin'.

A few weeks ago, the staff at my school got the awesome news that a teacher who'd been out on sick leave for the past month did not have cancer and would be returning to school the following month.

That's not the sad part.

The NEXT DAY we got news that another teacher's 3-year old son is very sick. He needs a heart transplant, but under Japanese law, nobody under the age of 20 can be an organ donor. Putting a 20 year old's heart into a 3 year old would be like trying to stuff a bowling ball into a coin purse and neither is a great idea. So, the boy and his family need to go to the United States to have the surgery done.

That's the saddest part.

What makes it worse is that this procedure is not covered by the family's insurance, so they have to raise an obscene amount of money very quickly. To try to help them the best I can, I've sold what few "big ticket" Transformers figures I have left, but it's still nowhere near enough. Of course, there are plenty of other people trying to help as well (and we should have some media coverage here in Japan starting next week).

Here's where the thread title comes into play.

A lot of people are doing a lot to help this kid and his family. Like I said, I've sold a bunch of stuff to help them out, but I feel that I can do more. So, I'm doing a pledge drive. The teachers at my school dubbed it, "Kevin's Karaoke-thon."

Here's the deal. On February 28th, I'm going to enter a Karaoke box (Japanese style karaoke room) and I am not going to leave until I am physically unable to continue. I am asking people to donate to this kid based on how long I'm able to endure in the box.

For example, if you pledge 1 pound/dollar/euro/etc per hour and I manage to stay in the booth for 10 hours, you'll donate 10 pounds/dollars/euros/etc to the charity.

I've already signed up a decent number of pledges in Japan and a few in the US. One gentleman even pledged 10 USD per hour (and said he didn't care if I stayed for an entire weekend. He'd pay up.)

The actual cost the karaoke box will be paid for by me.

The easiest way to make donations will be through paypal, but we're looking at alternative methods as well.

Any takers?

sprunkner · Post by **sprunkner** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:26 pm

hahahahaha!

edit: The karaoke, not the cancer.

I can spare a (very small) Paypal. PM me.

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:11 pm

I'm currently unemployed, so I can only contribute with a very small sum myself...

I actually got a Paypal account fairly recently, so give me a PM and we'll see if I can't give you a wee penny or two.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:43 am

The big charity drive to help him was scheduled to start on Sunday at noon. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The child died a few hours before it was to start. The meeting was retooled as a memorial service.

On Monday, I attended the wake along with about 1,000 other people. There were a few people who said some words about the child, but I think his seven year old sister said it best. Here's a translation for those that don't speak any Japanese.

I loved my brother very much. He was small and happy and cute. I miss him.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 4:51 pm

Professor Smooth wrote: I loved my brother very much. He was small and happy and cute. I miss him.

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:24 am

Damn.

That sucks.

Well, cheers for letting us know mate. I was actually just wondering when the drive was to start...

You be a good bloke for giving it your best, and caring more than most mate.

Post by **Best First** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:06 pm

What he said.

sorry man. Take care.