FPP Contributions - Please get involved

[Ken Salisbury]

The Freedom Pen Project is growing leaps and bounds. The recent media coverage both from within the US and overseas, along with the public support of companies like DuPont, Woodcraft, Berea Hardwoods, Craft Supplies USA, Penn State Industries, Packard Woodworks, and others are generating more and more interest on a daily basis. You only need to see Keith’s and my e-mail in-boxes which makes it very apparent. It is obvious to me that we will meet or exceed this year’s goal of 20,000 pens shipped to the troops.


The number of members (>2300) and guests (an untold number) who use Saw Mill Creek that are supporting the project is disappointing to me. As an example, Julie Wright made a plea last week suggesting everyone to contribute a mere $5.00 via pay pal or check to the project. This resulted in a mere 14 people responding with a total of only $238.52. Considering we can get a pen in the hands of a troop for $2.00 that equates to 119 pens. That’s not much to dent the 20,000 pen goal.

On the flip side we have a number of members and non-members alike who are working diligently to meet that goal. With the number of turners who are turning pens presently, along with others coming on-board everyday, the manpower necessary to meet our goal is not of concern to me.

I would like to see more folks supporting this project with both monetary and active participation. There are lots of things that you can do to help.

• <LI class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in">Make your friends, neighbors, business associates, etc aware of the project. <LI class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in">Contact your local clubs, civic organizations, churches, etc and solicit their support. <LI class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in">Write your congressmen and local politicians and urge them to support us. <LI class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in">Make a donation yourself. <LI class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in">Get your local schools to help. <LI class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in">Contact local businesses that you patronize

The key to success of this project, like so many other worthwhile causes, comes down to money. If we can make the necessary 16,500 kits left to meet the goal available free to the turners involved, meeting the goal is inevitable. All it takes is for all of us to get actively involved – not just sit on the sidelines and applaud what is being done by those who are actively involved.

Regardless of your political views of the current war on terrorism you should set them aside and remember because our young men and women in the military and who are presently in harms way need you. “You are safe at home because they are not”.

My personal thanks go out to all the people who have come forth to help the cause to this point. We have 100’s of turners working towards the goal and some folks who have reached down and contributed to the fund.

As a veteran of the Korean War I know how important this effort is and the boost in morale it gives to those who have received and will receive Freedom Pens.

GET INVOLVED ! !

[Bruce Page]

Only 14 donations out of 2300+ members is pretty sad. I just sent Ken a second donation to help this great program stay successful. I believe we all receive benefits from places like SMC. I also believe that we sometimes take those benefits for granted (I know I do!) Donating to the Freedom Pen Project is a perfect way to pay back, especially for those of us that do not have, or want, a wood turning lathe in their shop.

[Carl Eyman]

Without further burdening the overworked administrators that a logo could be placed near the avatar of contributors? In this group I would include those who have collected money as well as those who have donated it. In this way we could see who is putting his wallet where his mouth is. Further, it would be nice if access to the Freedom Pen Forum could be restricted to contributers only.

[Chris Padilla]

Why? I think it is unfair to label people one way or the other. We all have our reason for donating or not donating and that should be kept that way.

Besides, you can go to the web page...Ken already has a list of people who have donated.

[Ken Garlock]

null message.

[Ken Salisbury]

Without further burdening the overworked administrators that a logo could be placed near the avatar of contributors? In this group I would include those who have collected money as well as those who have donated it. In this way we could see who is putting his wallet where his mouth is. Further, it would be nice if access to the Freedom Pen Forum could be restricted to contributers only.

The web page lists the names of all contributors.

We sure do not want to limit access to the FFP Forum. That would just be defeating our purpose - to get as much exposure as possible. We want everyone who visits here - even as a guest to be aware of what we are doing.

[Ken Salisbury]

Thanks to the following folks who responded yesterday:

Jim Becker (2nd contribution)
Eric Naessens
Bruce Page (2nd contribution)
Harold Hunt
Daniel McLaughlin
John Schreiber
Robert Russell
David Plaskett
Joe Bourbois
Tony Shaftel

I will be updating the contributors list web page later today to reflect these folks along with the $180 submitted by Dennis Peacock from the "Arkie Group" and a donation from Kevin Vuong which was received 3/31 prior to this thread.

GET YOUR NAME ON THE LIST TODAY ! ! ! !

[Steve Clardy]

Sent $--.-- via paypal.

[Dave Richards]

Never thought I'd feel guilty because I don't have a certain power tool.

I did make a donation, though.

[Ed Falis]

Bye, guys and gals.

I've enjoyed this forum immensely since it started, and appreciate the efforts of all. But I'm not about to be guilted over something that is just a bit too political in some of its dimensions for my tastes. I applaud those of you who support the FPP project because you believe it's the right thing to do. I hope you meet your goals.

But don't be guilting me if I don't agree with the particular adventure that has our troops over there. The lines between supporting our troops and supporting the agendas that sent them there are just too blurred for my comfort.

Best wishes to you all.

- Ed

[Daniel Yourdon]

Ken,
I would like to reply to you personnally after this last comment.
I thank you for speaking up with a no nonsense statment.
I personnally think it is very appropriate and well done. your comments relate how you personnlly see the situation. If this then weighs on the consience of others they need to look at themselves for the reason why.
your comments are facts and personnal viewpoint. I see no demand in them for anyone to alter theri view. but rather dissapointment.
I do not make this statment to defend you as I have come to see you as a character that is more than capable of speaking for themselves. but i make it to you for the benefit of others that may read it. along withthe previous comment

[Rob Bourgeois]

I was not going to post my feelings about asking for donations on here and on other sites but now I will because of the last few posts.

At SMC we are not allowed to have any web sites that might have a commercial nature or are we supposed to have any mention of politics or political statements in our posts. This is a good idea, but now FPP is allowed to some what break the spirit of the rules by asking for donations. People are made to feel guilty because they haven't sent in their $5 donation. Other Wood working forumns have a fund drive twice a year, but never has anyone come back and said we only have X number of members willing to donate x dollars. This causes people to feel guilt and thats exactly what was meant by the post. Its wrong and should have never been posted. We all have our reasons for giving or not giving to FPP, wether they are political, financial or personal in nature. I haven't given anything yet, and won't until I can turn the pens myself (don't have a lathe yet). Maybe in the future all FPP posts should be limited to the FPP forumn, those that want to know about the FPP will look there and those that don't won't.

In addition, the amount of money given by people should also be erased, as I feel that too is just another way of guilting people into giving. FPP is not about guilt or being patriotic, its about giving a small sacrifice in time, money or supplies for those that are gving much, much more to us. I think that maybe the program is losing its focus and pushing for more numbers and not the feelings that were intended from the begining. This project was supposed to be a unifying project but it appears to be making a split between those that are patriotic (and supporters of the project) and those who are unpatriotic and haven't given support to the project.

I hope that this will not get edited or removed, but I don't have the power to stop it if it does.

[Joe Suelter]

As I said in my post about wanting to start turning some pens, money is very tight right now. I'd rather save the $5 and put it toward the supplies I need to start up and collect the pieces and parts needed. Would you rather have money or pens? I would have to say that this post really should have been posted on the FPP forum, as it really shouldn't be "everyone read", because there are bound to be some folks that don't want to cooperate due to beliefs/money/etc. Now, as for me, yes, I will most definately have some pens donated this year, but Rome wasn't built in a day! 8) It upsets me to see that there is someone leaving this site due to 1 post, it isn't a matter of guilting somebody into donating, it is merely a request to help out. Jerry Lewis does it every year on TV, and we don't have our cable/satellite shut off because of it. I was under the assumption that this was supposed to be unified, bringing us all together a little closer, but after reading some of the posts above, I'm seeing the opposite happen. The monetary donations should be kept private (dollar amount), but the donators should be admired. I would like to see something next to the name saying something like that. Maybe an American Flag, red/white/blue star, something noting that they are a contributor in some way shape or form. But the post with the dollar amount really needs to be edited. I could see how a person could feel like their $5 donation isn't really worth it, we need a feeling of equality.

[Keith Outten]

I would like to clarify a few points concerning the Freedom Pen Project and on a broader scale the issue of SawMill Creek community projects that are hopefully in our future.

First the FPP is not a political project, our Terms of Service do not allow politics and you will note that we have all refrained from debating the facts concerning the War on Terrorism. It isn't surprising that we will have members who will disagree with any particular point of view, as Americans it is our birthright to exercise our freedom of speech and we often disagree on almost any subject except our Liberty. The protection of our Liberty is a subject that the American people will almost always agree.

Ken Salisbury is a military veteran as am I, and it is not surprising that he feels so strongly about Americans who are serving our country. All of our members who have embraced the Freedom Pen Project simply feel passionate about the program. Ken and many others have made their feelings public and they have a right to do so, I don't believe for one minute that anyone is trying to make any individual feel guilty for not participating in this project.

If a member of SawMill Creek had asked us all to support a project making toys for sick children or collecting money for one of our members whose child needed medical attention it is our hope that every Member of SawMill Creek would show their support. It is more important that we have everyone participate rather than just a few, in this situation the unity of our group is the issue not the amount that each member contributes. We are hoping that over time those who join our community will understand that we encourage everyone to be a Member and not just a User of our Forums. We all benefit as Guests become Members and eventually Friends.

In the past communities would get together to build houses and barns when a friend was in need, this is the idea behind SawMill Creek Special Projects like Freedom Pens and all those in our future. There is nothing inappropriate about one friend asking another for help.

In my original post I asked for help making pens for our troops and I felt then as I do now that over a period of time many of my friends would join me in a project that I feel is important. Once again I would like to say thank you to all who have offered their support for the Freedom Pen Project and our community here at SawMill Creek.

[Ken Salisbury]

Several responses to this thread disagreed with posting the amount contributed by an individual.

1. "The monetary donations should be kept private (dollar amount), but the donators should be admired. I would like to see something next to the name saying something like that."

2. "But the post with the dollar amount really needs to be edited. I could see how a person could feel like their $5 donation isn't really worth it, we need a feeling of equality".

The specific amount donated by any individual has always remained confidential. The details of all contributions are recorded in a ledger resident on my computer which I maintain as a record in the event any audits need to be conducted. I consider this data base confidential as to who gave what - although those details are present in the data base for all to see if and when an audit is required. I will continue to list contributor's names and the total amount of contributions as I get them. This information has always been available on my web site for all to see.

There is nothing wrong with an individual posting how much he/she has contributed. That is the choice of the individual.

"I hope that this will not get edited or removed, but I don't have the power to stop it if it does."

Everyone is certainly entitled to his/her opinion. Disagreeing with an opinion per se would not cause editing/deleting a post as long as the TOS are not violated.

I feel the any plea for involvement in this project is appropriate.