RELAY FOR LIFE OF SECOND LIFE is back! The 2010 season starts Monday, February 1 when teams registration starts. Check for details on the RFL of SL Updates blog at:
http://rflofsl.blogspot.com/2010/01/relay-for-life-of-second-life-is-back.html
Showing posts with label Relay For Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Relay For Life. Show all posts
Friday, January 29, 2010
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Take a tour ... American Cancer Society in Second Life
The official promotional video by MarkTwain White for the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life in Second Life" campaign, which first screened at SL6B.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Milestone year for Relay For Life of Second Life
In this milestone year for Relay for Life of Second Life, the American Cancer Society's real world head office in Atlanta, GA has issued a statement recognizing the passion and dedication of survivors and volunteers in Second Life.
'Celebrating its fifth year in the virtual world, the 2009 American Cancer Society Relay For Life® of Second Life is set for July 18-19 as avatars representing cancer survivors, caregivers, their families and the millions of passionate supporters gather virtually to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and join the American Cancer Society in fighting for every birthday, threatened by every cancer in every community.
'This year’s virtual world event is expected to attract in excess of 3,000 participants as more than 125 teams unite toward reaching a fundraising goal of $250,000. In 2008, Relay For Life of Second Life raised $215,000 – surpassing its total for the previous three years, combined. Simultaneously, the real-world American Cancer Society Relay For Life is in the midst of its 25th birthday year, as the world’s most successful nonprofit fundraising special event brings together more than 3.5 million people across the United States and 20 other countries to raise funds to embolden the American Cancer Society’s fight for every birthday, threatened by every cancer in every community.
'The 2009 Relay For Life of Second Life celebrates “One World…One Hope,” thematic of the Society’s global mission and of the scope of Relay participation in its real and virtual world environments.
'During this year’s registration rally in February, 40 teams pledged their support for the event and signaled the largest, single-day team registration in Relay For Life of Second Life history.'
Scott P. Bennett, American Cancer Society national vice-president, marketing, said:
“The engagement of these committed, virtual world volunteers continues to grow each year and demonstrates the enormous impact they have within the Second Life community and with encouraging others to join the American Cancer Society’s mission to help save lives and create a world with more birthdays.” He continued: “Virtual world Relay participants, just like those in the real world, are passionate about their involvement, and they powerfully reflect Relay’s worldwide reach.”
For more information about Relay for Life of Second Life, go to:
http://relayforlife.org/secondlife
For information about the American Cancer Society in real life go to:
http://www.cancer.org/
'Celebrating its fifth year in the virtual world, the 2009 American Cancer Society Relay For Life® of Second Life is set for July 18-19 as avatars representing cancer survivors, caregivers, their families and the millions of passionate supporters gather virtually to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and join the American Cancer Society in fighting for every birthday, threatened by every cancer in every community.
'This year’s virtual world event is expected to attract in excess of 3,000 participants as more than 125 teams unite toward reaching a fundraising goal of $250,000. In 2008, Relay For Life of Second Life raised $215,000 – surpassing its total for the previous three years, combined. Simultaneously, the real-world American Cancer Society Relay For Life is in the midst of its 25th birthday year, as the world’s most successful nonprofit fundraising special event brings together more than 3.5 million people across the United States and 20 other countries to raise funds to embolden the American Cancer Society’s fight for every birthday, threatened by every cancer in every community.
'The 2009 Relay For Life of Second Life celebrates “One World…One Hope,” thematic of the Society’s global mission and of the scope of Relay participation in its real and virtual world environments.
'During this year’s registration rally in February, 40 teams pledged their support for the event and signaled the largest, single-day team registration in Relay For Life of Second Life history.'
Scott P. Bennett, American Cancer Society national vice-president, marketing, said:
“The engagement of these committed, virtual world volunteers continues to grow each year and demonstrates the enormous impact they have within the Second Life community and with encouraging others to join the American Cancer Society’s mission to help save lives and create a world with more birthdays.” He continued: “Virtual world Relay participants, just like those in the real world, are passionate about their involvement, and they powerfully reflect Relay’s worldwide reach.”
For more information about Relay for Life of Second Life, go to:
http://relayforlife.org/secondlife
For information about the American Cancer Society in real life go to:
http://www.cancer.org/
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Ishtar Roux on air on'Two Martini Lunch'
So there I was, sipping my martini 'shaken not stirred', at the Sunset Jazz Club, listening to the 'Two Martini Lunch' radio show on 'Martini in the Morning'.
My reason for being there? Cancer survivor and Relay for Life of Second Life team captain Ishtar Roux was being interviewed on the show by Brad 'Martini' Chambers.
Ishtar Roux and Whenever Timeless in purple dancing at the Sunset Jazz Club
'Ish' talked about the history of Relay for Life, not forgetting to mention that it is 'International', and explained how RFL of SL is very similar to RFL in real life. She also gave simple and easy-to-follow advice about how to find out more and take part. And all this while she was dancing ... WTG Ish!
Belle Loll and Poppy Zabelin watching the dancing as they listen to the radio program
If only someone had told me that I needed to throw on something more respectable than t-shirt and jeans!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Springtime!
The Live Art Auction organized in Second Life by the RFL Survivors/Caregivers Committee was a great success judging by the results up to the time I went to bed. A good number of people turned out and there was some lively bidding competition.
The auction, which was due to be held last week but had to be rescheduled because large areas of SL went down, was organized by LadyKay Gable, with proceeds going to Relay for Life of Second Life.
The auction, which was due to be held last week but had to be rescheduled because large areas of SL went down, was organized by LadyKay Gable, with proceeds going to Relay for Life of Second Life.
I went to the auction set on one particular picture, and went home the proud owner of 'Spring #1' by Filthy Fluno. Filthy has long been one of my favorite artists in SL, and this particular work caught my interest because it is fresh, and bright, and full of hope. It is evocative of some of the artists whose works I admire, such as Matisse, and Kandinsky. And this particular picture reminded me of a time many years ago when I was feeling very low, and went out and bought a yellow couch to bring some sunshine and color into my life.
For more information about 'Filth' a.k.a. Jeffrey Lipsky see this New York Times article 'Portrait of an artist as an avatar':
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/news/09iht-08flunot.20688654.html?_r=2
For more information about 'Filth' a.k.a. Jeffrey Lipsky see this New York Times article 'Portrait of an artist as an avatar':
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/news/09iht-08flunot.20688654.html?_r=2
Lots of smoke but no fire
This year I am heading a team of 'ambassadors' to promote the international aspect of Relay for Life of Second Life. Like many others I've been concerned about the rumors out there that Second Life is being banned in Australia. I would have grave concerns about cancer survivors and supporters in ANY country being excluded from Relay for Life of Second Life, not to mention the wider ramifications of Second Lifers from any country being barred from entry into SL.
The source of the confusion appears to be a story published in the Sydney Morning Herald last week. Basically, selected ISP's are trialling a scheme to block access to adult content games. An internet critic is quoted in the article as saying that 'the move to extend the filtering to computer games would place a cloud over online-only games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, which aren't classified in Australia due to their online nature.'
Now, a ‘cloud’ is NOT the same as an outright ban, although some sources have said it IS so. The Metaverse Journal responded on June 25 in a long open letter to the Australian Minister in question, Senator Conroy, objecting to the ban. Over the weekend the thread was picked up by hundreds of blogs and forums around the world. On Monday June 29 the Australian Christian Today wrote that: ‘It was confirmed by Australian Minister for Censorship that online games such as Second Life is (sic) banned in the country.’
There is nothing like checking the facts first. So Ember Farina, Australian ‘Ambassador’ for RFL of SL and Team Captain of the Friends Fighting Cancer RFL of SL team, who in real life is an Australian firefighter, contacted the office of the Senator in question and spoke with an associate there, and says: ‘It appears to be something related to GAME ratings. SL is not classified as a game at this stage. IF there was a complaint received in the future to the Gaming Commission then it would be addressed but his associate seemed fairly comfortable that it's not an issue in this circumstance.’
Ember went on to say: ‘I asked the Senator's associate if there was anything in writing to support this but there wasn't. As far as the Senator's associate was concerned this only came to light because a newspaper article jumped on it - SL was never mentioned nor targetted by the Senator.’
The whole thing seems to be a misinterpretation of the Australian government’s ongoing censorship/filtering scheme trying to block extreme violence games and child pornography. So it looks as if although there's a lot of smoke, there's no fire. Yet.
UPDATE
This morning I contacted Linden Labs who have now responded that: 'We have received no indication from the Australian government that it intends to block Second Life.'
Sources:
Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/web-filters-to-censor-video-games-20090625-cxrx.html
Christian Today
http://au.christiantoday.com/article/second-life-banned-in-australia/6526.htm
Metaverse Journal
http://www.metaversejournal.com/2009/06/25/an-open-letter-on-virtual-worlds-for-senator-conroy/
The source of the confusion appears to be a story published in the Sydney Morning Herald last week. Basically, selected ISP's are trialling a scheme to block access to adult content games. An internet critic is quoted in the article as saying that 'the move to extend the filtering to computer games would place a cloud over online-only games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, which aren't classified in Australia due to their online nature.'
Now, a ‘cloud’ is NOT the same as an outright ban, although some sources have said it IS so. The Metaverse Journal responded on June 25 in a long open letter to the Australian Minister in question, Senator Conroy, objecting to the ban. Over the weekend the thread was picked up by hundreds of blogs and forums around the world. On Monday June 29 the Australian Christian Today wrote that: ‘It was confirmed by Australian Minister for Censorship that online games such as Second Life is (sic) banned in the country.’
There is nothing like checking the facts first. So Ember Farina, Australian ‘Ambassador’ for RFL of SL and Team Captain of the Friends Fighting Cancer RFL of SL team, who in real life is an Australian firefighter, contacted the office of the Senator in question and spoke with an associate there, and says: ‘It appears to be something related to GAME ratings. SL is not classified as a game at this stage. IF there was a complaint received in the future to the Gaming Commission then it would be addressed but his associate seemed fairly comfortable that it's not an issue in this circumstance.’
Ember went on to say: ‘I asked the Senator's associate if there was anything in writing to support this but there wasn't. As far as the Senator's associate was concerned this only came to light because a newspaper article jumped on it - SL was never mentioned nor targetted by the Senator.’
The whole thing seems to be a misinterpretation of the Australian government’s ongoing censorship/filtering scheme trying to block extreme violence games and child pornography. So it looks as if although there's a lot of smoke, there's no fire. Yet.
UPDATE
This morning I contacted Linden Labs who have now responded that: 'We have received no indication from the Australian government that it intends to block Second Life.'
Sources:
Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/web-filters-to-censor-video-games-20090625-cxrx.html
Christian Today
http://au.christiantoday.com/article/second-life-banned-in-australia/6526.htm
Metaverse Journal
http://www.metaversejournal.com/2009/06/25/an-open-letter-on-virtual-worlds-for-senator-conroy/
Friday, June 26, 2009
Live art auction to benefit Relay for Life of Second Life
The live art auction being organized by members of the RFLSL Survivors and Caregivers Committee that was due to be held last saturday had to be postponed because of the sim outages in Second Life. I understand from LadyKay Gable who is the auction's main organizer that the auction has now been rescheduled to SUNDAY JUNE 28.
Above: a sneak preview of some of the works that will be auctioned on Sunday
The auction will be held on the north shore of ACS island. Chase Marellan will be wielding the gavel. An amazing array of artists have donated their works. So come, dig deep in your pockets, and bid! All proceeds to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life of Second Life.
The following artists have generously donated works:
Daruma Picnic, Sledge Roffo, Zhora Maynard, sakura2 Kohime, littleone Aries, Greenthumb Magic, StarZ33 Mccullough, LadyKay Gable, Silver Click, Elizabeth Tinsley, Delgado Cinquetti, Rain Somhers, Cheen Pitney, Cre8tive Chemistry, CHUCKMATRIX Clip, Josina Burgess, Sistagrlro Wei, Katarina Erin, Oberon Onmura, Artfox Daviau, Caitlin Tobias, Demi Blackhawk, Jazz Calhern, poi jarvinen2, Betty Tureaud, Maryva Mayo, Shellina Winkler, zephyru Zapedzki, Physeter Nicholls, Feathers Boa, Filthy Fluno, Misprint Thursday, and BrightamberG String. There is also a posthumous collection of works by Artistic Fimicoloud.
Take the SLURL to: http://slurl.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/59/221/22.
Above: a sneak preview of some of the works that will be auctioned on Sunday
The auction will be held on the north shore of ACS island. Chase Marellan will be wielding the gavel. An amazing array of artists have donated their works. So come, dig deep in your pockets, and bid! All proceeds to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life of Second Life.
The following artists have generously donated works:
Daruma Picnic, Sledge Roffo, Zhora Maynard, sakura2 Kohime, littleone Aries, Greenthumb Magic, StarZ33 Mccullough, LadyKay Gable, Silver Click, Elizabeth Tinsley, Delgado Cinquetti, Rain Somhers, Cheen Pitney, Cre8tive Chemistry, CHUCKMATRIX Clip, Josina Burgess, Sistagrlro Wei, Katarina Erin, Oberon Onmura, Artfox Daviau, Caitlin Tobias, Demi Blackhawk, Jazz Calhern, poi jarvinen2, Betty Tureaud, Maryva Mayo, Shellina Winkler, zephyru Zapedzki, Physeter Nicholls, Feathers Boa, Filthy Fluno, Misprint Thursday, and BrightamberG String. There is also a posthumous collection of works by Artistic Fimicoloud.
Take the SLURL to: http://slurl.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/59/221/22.
Register for the first lap of Relay for Life of Second Life!
With less than a month to go, there's still time to register for the first lap of Relay for Life of Second Life!
The Fifth Relay for Life of Second Life will be held July 18-19 2009. More than 125 teams and 2,000 volunteers are hard at work raising funds to cure cancer. So far they've raised over $200,000 real American dollars!
The first lap honors cancer survivors and cancer caregivers from around the world. Survivors and caregivers walk the first lap to put a face to the battle against cancer. They've been on the 'front lines' in a battle on cancer, and are here to tell their story. Over 120 survivors and caregivers have already registered.
For more information on Relay for Life of Second Life, visit http://relayforlife.org/secondlife.
To register for the first lap, please go to that site and click on 'Survivor & Caregiver First Lap Registration'.
If you have any questions about the first lap or the Survivor/Caregiver Committee, please email Dwen Dooley, Chair, RFL of SL Survivor/Caregiver Committee, at dwendooley@gmail.com.
The Fifth Relay for Life of Second Life will be held July 18-19 2009. More than 125 teams and 2,000 volunteers are hard at work raising funds to cure cancer. So far they've raised over $200,000 real American dollars!
The first lap honors cancer survivors and cancer caregivers from around the world. Survivors and caregivers walk the first lap to put a face to the battle against cancer. They've been on the 'front lines' in a battle on cancer, and are here to tell their story. Over 120 survivors and caregivers have already registered.
For more information on Relay for Life of Second Life, visit http://relayforlife.org/secondlife.
To register for the first lap, please go to that site and click on 'Survivor & Caregiver First Lap Registration'.
If you have any questions about the first lap or the Survivor/Caregiver Committee, please email Dwen Dooley, Chair, RFL of SL Survivor/Caregiver Committee, at dwendooley@gmail.com.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Playing The 1st Question
Three Relay For Life team captains were among the four contestants in The 1st Question on Tuesday. I couldn't be there myself because of the timing but I watched it later on line.
Aryon Dagger is a breast cancer survivor who has been featured before in these pages when she took part in the Makeover Magic program last year. She's a consultant for this year's program and talked about the fashion show which is taking place on Sunday.
The other contestants were Jasmine Night and Katina Magic who are both team captains, and Franja Russell who runs the SciFi and Fantasy portal and was last week's winner.
Pooky Amsterdam and Hydra Shaftoe host this weekly fun quiz on SLTV, and there were plenty of plugs for Makeover Magic and for Relay For Life.
First up, each contestant was asked to define which element defines them best. Aryon and Jasmine both chose mercury, which Aryon chose because it is 'liquid, smooth, and mixes well with other elements'. Katina and Franja chose oxygen and cobalt respectively.
It was a closely run contest between the two 'mercurial avatars' but Aryon slid in front at the end. Woot Aryon!
Watch it here on:
http://archive.treet.tv/1st-question-02jun09
UPDATED Friday, June 5 - Aryon has blogged about her experience here:
http://christhebutch.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/the-1st-question-show-in-second-life/#more-774
Aryon Dagger is a breast cancer survivor who has been featured before in these pages when she took part in the Makeover Magic program last year. She's a consultant for this year's program and talked about the fashion show which is taking place on Sunday.
The other contestants were Jasmine Night and Katina Magic who are both team captains, and Franja Russell who runs the SciFi and Fantasy portal and was last week's winner.
Pooky Amsterdam and Hydra Shaftoe host this weekly fun quiz on SLTV, and there were plenty of plugs for Makeover Magic and for Relay For Life.
First up, each contestant was asked to define which element defines them best. Aryon and Jasmine both chose mercury, which Aryon chose because it is 'liquid, smooth, and mixes well with other elements'. Katina and Franja chose oxygen and cobalt respectively.
It was a closely run contest between the two 'mercurial avatars' but Aryon slid in front at the end. Woot Aryon!
Watch it here on:
http://archive.treet.tv/1st-question-02jun09
UPDATED Friday, June 5 - Aryon has blogged about her experience here:
http://christhebutch.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/the-1st-question-show-in-second-life/#more-774
I painted my house purple ...
After brainstorming with some Relay For Life volunteers, RFL of SL event chair Fayandria Foley came up with the idea of showing our hope by turning our land, our clothes, everything we could think of, purple on a chosen day. So, Monday, June 1 we turned SL purple.
Poppy's Place
I painted my house and died my hair in the cause.
For more images see the Daily SL News blog:
http://15timez.blogspot.com/2009/06/well-sl-showed-us-all-their-hope.html
Poppy's Place
I painted my house and died my hair in the cause.
For more images see the Daily SL News blog:
http://15timez.blogspot.com/2009/06/well-sl-showed-us-all-their-hope.html
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Mixed reality conference on impact of virtual worlds in public health
I was honored to be one of the speakers recently at a mixed reality all-day Health Expo to celebrate the launch of the Health Commons. It was organized by the Non-Profit Commons, an online community initiative of Techsoup Global, and part of the NetSquared Conference in San Jose, CA.
The expo consisted of a number of panels, with the aim according to the organizers of 'bringing together healthcare leaders and practitioners to share best practices and develop new strategies for incorporating technology to address the need to organize and disseminate health-related information and to connect with other nonprofit health organizations to promote the advancement of innovative projects, cures, research and advocacy'.
Left to right: Poppy, Sting and Fay
Stingray9798 Raymaker, the ACS representative in Second Life; Fayandria Foley, Event Chair of Relay For Life of Second Life; and I were on a panel to discuss the ways in which the cancer support community, the cancer treatment community and the cancer research community can meet together and share ideas and support, through the various inworld support networks in the virtual world of Second Life. We also explored the fundraising success of Relay For Life.
There were five panels in total and the other four panels consisted of: mental health issues (Coughran Mayo), HIV/AIDS awareness (Ricken Flow), healthy lifestyles (Rebecca E. Lee & Sameer Siddiqi, Texas Obesity Research Center), and disabilities (Gentle Heron of Virtual Ability).
The expo consisted of a number of panels, with the aim according to the organizers of 'bringing together healthcare leaders and practitioners to share best practices and develop new strategies for incorporating technology to address the need to organize and disseminate health-related information and to connect with other nonprofit health organizations to promote the advancement of innovative projects, cures, research and advocacy'.
Left to right: Poppy, Sting and Fay
Stingray9798 Raymaker, the ACS representative in Second Life; Fayandria Foley, Event Chair of Relay For Life of Second Life; and I were on a panel to discuss the ways in which the cancer support community, the cancer treatment community and the cancer research community can meet together and share ideas and support, through the various inworld support networks in the virtual world of Second Life. We also explored the fundraising success of Relay For Life.
There were five panels in total and the other four panels consisted of: mental health issues (Coughran Mayo), HIV/AIDS awareness (Ricken Flow), healthy lifestyles (Rebecca E. Lee & Sameer Siddiqi, Texas Obesity Research Center), and disabilities (Gentle Heron of Virtual Ability).
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Fimi we love you and remember you
Remember Artistic Fimicoloud, the feisty little pink fox? It is a year ago since she passed, but she touched so many people in SL that I know she will always be remembered.
Fimi's team, the Passionate Redheads, celebrated her life a few days ago with a party at the Park Galleries. See:
http://passionateredheads.blogspot.com/2009/05/we-miss-you-fimi.html
Fimi's team, the Passionate Redheads, celebrated her life a few days ago with a party at the Park Galleries. See:
http://passionateredheads.blogspot.com/2009/05/we-miss-you-fimi.html
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Trader cycles his socks off for cancer research
Some people think about it, others talk about it, and a few go for it.
Trader1 Whiplash was one of our first Fighting Spirit speakers in Hope Haven on the American Cancer Society island in SL. As a real life leukemia survivor he is passionate about Relay for Life of Second Life and as co-owner of T1 Radio which covers the event live he is sometimes known as the 'Voice of Relay". This year he is taking on the in-world challenge of Mission Integrity Chair for RFL of SL 2009. And in real life, he is taking on another challenge ...
In June, Trader is going to be cycling his socks off when he hopes to take part in the America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride - Lake Tahoe - as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. The aim is to raise funds to help stop blood cancers from taking more lives.
If you would like to support him or just take a peek see:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/snj/ambbr09/emcfadden
WTG Trader!
Trader1 Whiplash was one of our first Fighting Spirit speakers in Hope Haven on the American Cancer Society island in SL. As a real life leukemia survivor he is passionate about Relay for Life of Second Life and as co-owner of T1 Radio which covers the event live he is sometimes known as the 'Voice of Relay". This year he is taking on the in-world challenge of Mission Integrity Chair for RFL of SL 2009. And in real life, he is taking on another challenge ...
In June, Trader is going to be cycling his socks off when he hopes to take part in the America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride - Lake Tahoe - as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. The aim is to raise funds to help stop blood cancers from taking more lives.
If you would like to support him or just take a peek see:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/snj/ambbr09/emcfadden
WTG Trader!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Top of the Lindens!
M Linden in his end of year address mentioned two important cancer events on his list of favorite things in SL. Top of a randomized list was our very own much-loved Relay for Life of Second Life which raised over 200,000 real US dollars this year, with the virtual breast cancer conference held in Modena last month listed third. In the words of Fayandria Foley, Event Chair for RFL of SL in 2007, 2008 and looking forward, in 2009 - "WHAT A GREAT WAY TO END 2008 and START 2009!'
See:
http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/12/29/a-look-back-a-look-ahead/
And a Happy New Year to y'all too!
See:
http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/12/29/a-look-back-a-look-ahead/
And a Happy New Year to y'all too!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
RFL of SL 2008 Survivorship Awards
At the Wrap Up party for RFLof SL 2008, I announced two Survivorship Awards.
It was hard, very hard, to single someone out. Each and every one of our Survivors Group as well as all our unnamed survivors deserves an award for the way they deal with their cancer. But I reviewed the names with Marissa Goodliffe, who runs the Caregivers Group, and we came up with two names. Two very special people who each in their own way are an example to us all.
We decided on giving the awards to LadyKay Gable and (posthumously) to Artistic (Fimi) Fimicoloud.
As many of their friends were unable to attend the wrap-up party, we held a separate party on Sunday, August 24, in the new Hope Haven on the new American Cancer Society island.
LadyKay Gable, or Kay as she likes to be known (above left) is a very special lady. A long term breast cancer survivor who is a regular and caring participant in our peer support meetings, she is devoted to Relay For Life, and above all a team player.
When Marissa and I were up to our ears in the preparations for the survivors and caregivers art auction for the halfway there fair, she stepped up to help, as she has helped in countless other ways throughout this past year. She has, quite simply, a heart of gold.
Artistic (Fimi) Fimicoloud was not able to Relay with us this year because she is sadly no longer here. But so many of us relayed for her and she has touched and inspired so many people both in first life and second life that we wanted to make this award posthumously. And I am delighted that so many of Fimi's friends (pictured above) from the Park Gallery, the Passionate Redheads, and the Sunweaver Islanders were able to join us for the presentation.
Fimi, as she liked to be known, had advanced metastatic breast cancer. She knew that she would have a tough battle. And she chose to fight it with her paintbrush and crayons. Her painting kept her from spending every moment wondering if her disease has spread to this part or that. Instead, her mind was filled with thoughts on how to portray the nature she so loved.
Although I am quite sure that Fimi knew she was dying, she was able to set it to one side and focus on her art and her family and friends to the last. She taught us quite simply ...
... how to live.
After celebrating we visited the new 'heroes gallery' memorial on the ACS island, where Fimi's friends paused at the memorial to Fimi and placed the award by her picture.
It was hard, very hard, to single someone out. Each and every one of our Survivors Group as well as all our unnamed survivors deserves an award for the way they deal with their cancer. But I reviewed the names with Marissa Goodliffe, who runs the Caregivers Group, and we came up with two names. Two very special people who each in their own way are an example to us all.
We decided on giving the awards to LadyKay Gable and (posthumously) to Artistic (Fimi) Fimicoloud.
As many of their friends were unable to attend the wrap-up party, we held a separate party on Sunday, August 24, in the new Hope Haven on the new American Cancer Society island.
LadyKay Gable, or Kay as she likes to be known (above left) is a very special lady. A long term breast cancer survivor who is a regular and caring participant in our peer support meetings, she is devoted to Relay For Life, and above all a team player.
When Marissa and I were up to our ears in the preparations for the survivors and caregivers art auction for the halfway there fair, she stepped up to help, as she has helped in countless other ways throughout this past year. She has, quite simply, a heart of gold.
Artistic (Fimi) Fimicoloud was not able to Relay with us this year because she is sadly no longer here. But so many of us relayed for her and she has touched and inspired so many people both in first life and second life that we wanted to make this award posthumously. And I am delighted that so many of Fimi's friends (pictured above) from the Park Gallery, the Passionate Redheads, and the Sunweaver Islanders were able to join us for the presentation.
Fimi, as she liked to be known, had advanced metastatic breast cancer. She knew that she would have a tough battle. And she chose to fight it with her paintbrush and crayons. Her painting kept her from spending every moment wondering if her disease has spread to this part or that. Instead, her mind was filled with thoughts on how to portray the nature she so loved.
Although I am quite sure that Fimi knew she was dying, she was able to set it to one side and focus on her art and her family and friends to the last. She taught us quite simply ...
... how to live.
After celebrating we visited the new 'heroes gallery' memorial on the ACS island, where Fimi's friends paused at the memorial to Fimi and placed the award by her picture.
Friday, August 1, 2008
A picture is worth a thousand words
For the curious coming across this blog, who haven't experienced Relay for Life of Second Life, this picture says it all. It shows Dwen Dooley, an avatar member of the Relay Rockers RFL of SL team and cancer survivor, next to a picture of Dwen snapped at his real life Relay for Life. Verrrry coooool.
Thanks Dwen for sharing. (And I like the cap!) And here's a link to Dwen's blog on the Relay for Life website (you will need to register if you haven't done so already).
http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/node/4234
Thanks Dwen for sharing. (And I like the cap!) And here's a link to Dwen's blog on the Relay for Life website (you will need to register if you haven't done so already).
http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/node/4234
Saturday, July 26, 2008
We relayed until our hair fell out ...
Well, my avatar's feet are soaking in a bowl of virtual water and I need bandages on my typing fingers. It's amazing, we raised over $200,000 real US dollars. Fay (Fayandria Foley, our Event Chair) challenged all of the RFL of SL Planning Committee to go bald for a month if we raised $200K. And we did. Here's the proof ... (I seem to be brandishing a pair of giant scissors ...) I am so proud of being part of the team that made this possible.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The survivor and caregiver lap
All of the months of organization paid off and we finally set out from ten different starting points on the Relay for Life of Second Life survivor and caregiver lap. We had more than 130 avatars registered beforehand, and although some couldn't make it, we had an estimated 120 pink and purple shirts on the lap at one time.
My camera controls froze so I couldn't take pictures of the lap itself, but here are the pictures of the survivor camp and starting points.
My camera controls froze so I couldn't take pictures of the lap itself, but here are the pictures of the survivor camp and starting points.
The survivor campsite, designed by Stella Costello
This was one of the nine survivor starting points around the 35 sims with those amazing survivor cherry trees in the background.
Flash and Poppy get ready for the opening lap
Cinders gets her skates on ...
Above two pics show some of the 80 survivor pictures lining the walk
Gone, but not forgotten ... these luminaria pay tribute to our survivor heroes, many of whom walked the Survivors Lap with us last year.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
H is for Heroes ... and for HOPE
We're off! Just take a look at this ... all of those green dots are avatars walking for cancer ... for Relay for Life. Covering 35 sims! The 'H' is for Heroes, the theme of this year's Relay for Life of Second Life. And it stands for HOPE, too.
For more information see: http://www.rflofsl.org/
For more information see: http://www.rflofsl.org/
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Only two days to go ...
With only TWO days to go until the start of Relay for Life of Second Life, the Survivors / Caregivers Committee members have been burning lots of candles at both ends to get our part ready in time.
The survivors and caregivers are honored to walk the opening lap, which starts at 11 am SL time on Saturday.
Pre-registration closes today and Dwen Dooley, who has set up an awesome registration form on the web, emailed me yesterday to say we have 119 avatars signed up. That's already around twice the number who took part last year, and we're expecting more to register today, so we're very very relieved that we now have eight starting points and can avoid lag as far as possible.
This year we also have a team of greeters, coordinated by HollyJean Allen, who will answer questions, give out T-shirts, and generally help everyone to have a memorable experience.
Stella Costello has done an amazing job of designing and building us a survivors campsite, and Barnesworth Anubis has built us a walkway to display around 80 survivor pictures which were collected by Harper Montgomery. Stella and Barnes are two great designers who know how to combine bold lines and simple but very effective colors and I am just SO excited about it opening for the public. Come and see us there when you're in world, on the Heroes 3 sim.
Elizabeth Antonelli is responsible for collecting the music which is played on T1 Radio during the Survivors/Caregivers Lap and at other times. SL's musicians have donated 17 'Songs of Inspiration'.
Meanwhile, Marissa Goodliffe and I have been putting the finishing touches to the starting points and we're preparing a gift bag for the survivors and caregivers.
The survivors and caregivers are honored to walk the opening lap, which starts at 11 am SL time on Saturday.
Pre-registration closes today and Dwen Dooley, who has set up an awesome registration form on the web, emailed me yesterday to say we have 119 avatars signed up. That's already around twice the number who took part last year, and we're expecting more to register today, so we're very very relieved that we now have eight starting points and can avoid lag as far as possible.
This year we also have a team of greeters, coordinated by HollyJean Allen, who will answer questions, give out T-shirts, and generally help everyone to have a memorable experience.
Stella Costello has done an amazing job of designing and building us a survivors campsite, and Barnesworth Anubis has built us a walkway to display around 80 survivor pictures which were collected by Harper Montgomery. Stella and Barnes are two great designers who know how to combine bold lines and simple but very effective colors and I am just SO excited about it opening for the public. Come and see us there when you're in world, on the Heroes 3 sim.
Elizabeth Antonelli is responsible for collecting the music which is played on T1 Radio during the Survivors/Caregivers Lap and at other times. SL's musicians have donated 17 'Songs of Inspiration'.
Meanwhile, Marissa Goodliffe and I have been putting the finishing touches to the starting points and we're preparing a gift bag for the survivors and caregivers.
Marissa and Poppy putting out road markers by the Survivors and Caregivers camp
Getting ready for this year's Relay has already been a memorable experience. I've made so many new friends. I've laughed, and I've cried, with survivors who have contacted me in the past few weeks to ask if they can join us on the lap. I've heard so many touching stories.
Come and cheer us on, on Saturday, and don't forget to get to the sims early. The opening ceremony is at 10 am and will be streamed throughout by T1 Radio. And if you are a survivor or caregiver, contact me (survivors), Marissa Goodliffe (caregivers) or Dwen Dooley (registration) to find out how you can take part.
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