Greetings everyone
I am putting up a Golden Ticket along with a number of add-ons into a charity auction running just over a week beginning June 24th. Details and the link are at the bottom of this post. All auction proceeds will go directly to the American Stroke Association Indianapolis chapter to fund stroke research and education. Additionally, I will match the winning bid amount in an additional donation to the Stroke Association (up to $10K).
Stroke education and research became an important topic for me after losing my mother to a stroke early this year. Her entire life, she always gave and helped others - ranging from volunteering to help elders to church and ASPCA work. It was important that I do more to help others as she did. This auction is a small part of those initiatives.
I decided to do something gaming related to raise money and awareness after running across D&D books a few months ago that she had bought me when I was about 10. It was the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons DMG and PHB. She had written my name and address in the inside cover along with our phone number so people could return them if they were lost. Despite what was being publicized about D&D ruining kids and promoting "devil worship", etc at that time - she supported my desire to get into gaming. The gaming experiences then through now helped mold who I have become. That's why I decided that doing an auction tied to gaming would be a fitting way to honor her and help towards an important cause.
Why Stroke awareness and research?
800,000 Americans have strokes each year resulting in 140,000 deaths (5% of all US deaths annually). Contrary to popular belief – strokes hit people of all ages: 34% of all strokes happened to people under the age of 65 years old (10% of all strokes happen to people under the age of 45). Additionally, 1 in 3 people have conditions such as Diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, or are smokers – these conditions are the leading causes of stroke. Strokes are something that will impact us either personally or through loved ones.
Stats that are critical to know:
- Only 38% of Americans can recognize the symptoms of a stroke
- Most people are unaware of treatments for strokes that are time-critical – application of stroke treatment drugs can reduce the impact of many strokes by more than 90% if applied immediately (at most, within 3 hours but the earlier the application – the more significant the impact the drugs can have)
Something as simple as promoting the concept of remembering the FAST acronym can save lives.
Face – Ask the person to smile – does one side of the face droop?
Arms – Ask the person to lift both arms – does one arm drift downward?
Speech – Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?
Time – If you observe any of these signs, call 911 immediately. Response time impacts both survival rates and reducing the impact of the stroke long-term. Note the time of the first symptom – this will impact how treatment is handled.
It's something we can make a difference in just by helping to educate each other.
As for the auction itself...
It is being run through the American Stroke Association on their Greater Giving page. The auction begins at noon EST on Monday running until July 8th at noon EST.
What is being auctioned off?
1 Golden Ticket (with a slot already reserved for E3)
add-ons:
10 charms of transmorph used for the run
100 2019 treasure draws (10 tokens for 10 draws each)
odds and ends tokens: Boots of the South Wind, 5th Tooth of Cavadar, Shoes of the Sneak, +2 light crossbow of stunning, Canteen of Quaffing, 10 Potions of Condensed Healing
Additionally, I am making quite a few tickets for sold out GenCon events open to the winner if they want them (at no cost). These include:
2 True Grind runs (up to 3 tickets and 1 ticket, respectively) (Friday night and Saturday early afternoon)
A pair of tickets to 2 different Call of Cthulhu Black Letter events (Thursday morning and Friday afternoon).
Please create an account and sign on to the web site below to bid in the auction. Thank you.
indyheartstrokeauction.ggo.bid/bidding/package-browse
Fred