IAmJoshBrown.com
Indian Taxi Fund: One More Round
Please read the whole thing. I’ll give you a hug.
We’re up to almost $2000 in only 2 weeks. And while I don’t have the money in hand, we’ve got another $1500 or so that will more than likely be coming in through the Red Cowboy promotion. Which puts us at about half way. Not bad. Not bad at all folks. I really want to thank and applaud those who have joined the cluster and loaned and/or promoted what we’re doing on their website.
We’ve made some incredible progress in a really short amount of time.
But here’s where I need you guys. Amit needed this money like yesterday. I could go ahead and send him some of it now, but he won’t be able to buy the taxi out right. But he still be stuck having to “finance” it which will screw him again with the interest rates.
I don’t want to put anybody on a guilt trip at all. Because it’s not my style nor should it be anybody’s style. But Amit is busting it on his end to take care of his family. And the honest facts are that he’s moved into the slums to save on rent so that he can get his wife the proper medical care. And he’s still lacking the money to get her decent medical care. She’s been sick all of the time because she can’t get vitamins and she’s not on a good diet. And all of that sad stuff. I had the (un)fortunate chance to visit the slum that Amit moved into while I was in Dehli. And let me just say that you really have no idea what a slum is until you’ve been to one. A huge field (like a city park) with tents and plywood packed in so tight that the paths between them are only about 3 feet wide. And lets just say there is no plumbing. So you’ve got all kinds of stuff floating down the paths with flies and the smell.
Again . . . definitely not a guilt trip. Just the reality and the facts of the situation.
So I’m not trying to force anyone into anything. But if you have or had any inclination to make a loan and join the project, now is the time. I don’t want to drag this thing on forever. But get Amit the money as quickly as possible so that he can start moving forward with doing whatever he needs to do. And I’ve had a lot of people send me emails saying they wanted to make a loan or were going to talk to some friends or book some designs with their church . . . if you’re one of those people and are still interested in doing so, I would humbly ask that you connect with me as soon as you can so that we can take the next step. The reality is that Amit doesn’t have another month to sit around and wait for me to raise the money. He needed it 2 months ago.
So while I don’t want to rush or force anything, I want to make sure we raise as much as we can as fast as we can. And if that is only $3000, then that’s fine. And if we can’t raise $7000 or if that was too ambitious, then that is fine as well . . . but we (the cluster) will just need to make a decision soon with all of our facts in front of us about what to do next.
Again, not a guilt trip. I just want to be humble and respectful about letting you know how dire things are and have been for Amit and his wife.
Thank you so much for even reading this and letting me propose this to you guys. I couldn’t ask for a better group of friends to be doing this with or sharing this with than my second family, my blogging community.
Here’s the info on how to loan and send the money.
Discussion
4 comments for “Indian Taxi Fund: One More Round”
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Josh,
I was hoping to send your way about $1000 in small graphic design projects. Sorry I’ve been so late getting that together. I’m happy to pay for those up front so that the money can get to Amit faster. I will try to send you a list of stuff this weekend, you can tell me how many of those you can do for that price range. Does that sound good?
Also, can I send a check to you or do we need to do through paypal?
Its tough knowing that someone needs the money asap, but I think going with the entire amount is a better idea, especially if it can get him into a taxi when it is sent at once and allow him to start paying him back the loan.
If we jump the gun, and he ends up using the partial amount sent to him for other needs instead of the taxi, then it might end up putting him into a situation of feeling indebted to you afterall.
I mean, I think we’ve all been in a tight financial situation and had to use money set aside to cover emergency needs. I can’t even imagine the pressure his situation puts on him.
Maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way, and if I am, please let me know. However, I would think the best idea is to keep the taxi money seperate until the full amount is gathered.
There have been comments here about this also being a gift. Maybe a gift fund could be setup seperately to help out with other needs?
And if it would pan out, you could have people use Revolution Money Exchange, since there are no fees to do the following:
People give something up, like a six-pack of Sam Adams Cherry Wheat (what I happen to be drinking right now) and donate that amount to the emergency fund. Since it is a little amount and Revolution has no fees, then the entire amount is kept intact and not nickel and dimed to death.
Then on the website, people can list what they gave up in this consumerist world and how much they donated instead.(Something real-time.) Kinda like the person who talked about $2 ownership elsewhere on this site. The total is listed and people can see how quickly the little things add up. People would think, “Hey, I can do that.” And it brings attention to our spending habits, especially those of us who use our debit cards for even the smallest purchase. (Red Box, anyone? I know, I know, I love it too.)
So you have this growing list, people start thinking twice, and Amit has a little extra flowing in as a gift. The simple basis being the followers bringing there stuff to the apostles and saying, “Here, give this to the people who need it.”
Just… If you say you gave up that meal at Ruby Tuesdays and you really didn’t, you can’t blame Josh or anyone else if you are struck dead for lying.
Anyway, just some ideas.
Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. come on man, buy some local goodness. where do you live? unless your reply is Boston i want you drinking something locally brewed.
Although i dont have much room to talk as i am drinking a Toronto brew (Blue Moon) right this very moment. But most of the time its Maritime (brewed just over a mile away from the abode) or Pike Kilt Lifter (maybe 3 or 4 miles down the road).
Ha. Well, I live in WV, and our local brews are decent, but I have to actually go to the pub as they don’t bottle.
Toronto, Boston, etc., if it is a good beer, does it matter?
LOL. I fear this is a topic that can lead any post to go astray…