And for the record, Iāve already equipped a help team from here locally with lights and cells and chargers and water to go in and assist with the cleanup. Itās an everyday thing. Taken one day at a time. You have no idea the mess down there, every house dumping massive piles of water soaked sheetrock and insulation and couches and TVās and refrigerators and washer/dryers and beds and antique furniture thatās been in the family for ages. Piles of rubbish as big as the destroyed houses, up one side and down the other on street after street after street. Thereās a LOT of need for a very long time in all this. Itās not a rush in and help and wash your hands and go back to business kind of venture. 10ās of thousands, 100ās of thousands of lives have been turned upside down. You really think $1200 is gonna save an area 200 miles long and 100 miles deep?
Dale, thanks for doing this.
Iāve been intimately involved in emergency situations (2 earthquakes, and 1 flood)
That is why I offered help
Do not tell me I donāt have any idea of the mess these ppl are suffering
I went through it in Sylmar and Northridge quakes and we had to move out while our home was rebuilt
We recently 2011 had a flood and we had to get out again as our home was again rebuilt.
So donāt even tell me that I donāt feel for those people that are displaced
I canāt say more or Iād be ruded
just do something
with my money
Sorry, didnāt mean that to be directed at you specifically, since this is an open forum with people from all over the world I speak in general terms.
And I will.
:+1: Awesome.
I donāt mind the wait, but the vagueness was quite annoying.
As for the money, iām sure it will end up where itās needed.
soā¦
Any word yet on this?
Tomorrow makes 2 weeks since the comment about Neal getting the info to lumintop. Hereās to hoping itās less than 2 more weeks to go.
This doesnāt bode well for future efforts to help people from here.
It isnāt easy, I know, butt communication is essential.
I am considering rescinding my Paypal payments for the Lumintop lights, and applying them to some other method of relief for the afflicted ppl in the area.
My donated light was paid for and I have sent it already.
Iām not trying to blame anyone, or worrying about the lights, I have lots of lights
I just want to get some help out to where it can do some good
Thatās why I participated, and it seems stalled and nothing is getting to the needy
And therein lies the rubā¦ if I pull the money out of the bank account, the bank account I created just for this purpose, and people like you get upset about the delivery of the light and rescind their payment, what happens to me with my depleted bank account? This is exactly why the money is still there.
Kind of sucks trying to do something nice, and be the middle man, and other people do not follow through with their wordā¦ blame goes to you even though you have done nothing but trying to be helpful.
Yeah, and the longer this goes on the more likely it is Iām going to have to pay taxes on these āprofitsā I have in the bank. :person_facepalming:
Well, i have lost my patience.
Just ordered a HLAAA from Banggood.
You can send my money to a Harvey relief fund of your choice.
Let us know how it is, and what we can expect.
So, just so yāall know, Chinooker is escalating a PayPal dispute to get his money back because he hasnāt received his lights. And THIS is why thereās a cool thousand dollars still waiting to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. People like this guy, that want their money back in a donation thread. The same guy that pushed so hard wanting HIS money to help someone. Sad, is it not?
If lights ever show up that is good. However the money should go to the needy even if we do not ever receive the flashlight(s).
not even half the truth.
just let me get my money back and put it to a better, more relative use,
I was an early responder for a donated light, and paid extra in order for the paid donor to receive it early.
Hardly an action of a troublemaker, I would hope.
I, at this point, just want to get the donated money to where it is needed.
I donāt expect any lights that were promised and just want my money to be applied to the purpose you said.
This is the message I sent to Paypal after 2 1/2 months of sitting idle on my fundsā¦
āRecipient has not provided goods, nor used funds to help people affected by hurricane Harvey. I wish to receive a refund and then re-direct them to The Salvation Army.ā
How do you know what the truth is? Or even half of it? You paid $65. You are fretting over $65 getting to the 100ās of thousands of people that need help. I already put $250 to work , sending a 4 man team from my wifeās church equipped with flashlights, cells, chargers, fuel money and they had a lot of supplies on their ownā¦ they spent a long weekend, 4 days, pulling up wet molded carpet, knocking sheetrock off walls that were wet and muddy, to get at wet muddy molding insulation and drag it out to the street for pick-up along with ruined appliances, furniture, clothes, and all the mess they found. They dealt with really great people, in a world of hurt. They came back feeling pride, and broken, saddened deeply by the sheer extent of damages they saw. Yet prideful in how people were coming together in a time of need.
I set up the Relief Fund to accept donations to help people, same for the gmail account associated with it. When the incoming purchases stopped, I didnāt go into the email account, simple as that. Nothing going in, nothing to forward, which is what I was using the mail account for, to gather the addresses and names and forward them to Neal for shipping the lights out. So yeah, your dispute went unanswered because I didnāt know about it. I donāt know a lot about a lot of things, including how to run something like this relief campaign.
Recipient was not selling goods. A PayPal dispute over non-received merchandise, when it was a donation to begin with?
I wish Lumintop would have sent me a box of lights to send to people in the affected area, along with monies on BLFās behalf. That would have been so much easier than how it all played out. I wonāt be doing anything like this again, that much is for certain! I saw a bunch of folks looking to pounce on a good discount on new lights. To a large percentage, it was about getting a good light at a good deal, not about helping people. It felt wrong. The lights were an incentive to help, gobbling up two or 3 or 4 of these lights wasnāt supposed to be the plan, that took incentives away from someone else, sorry, the good new lights are gone, no need to put money into the relief campaign anymore. Nothing to see, move alongā¦
Let me tell you āthe half of itāā¦ Neal and SB were hoping a larger percentage of the 22,000 BLF members would participate, and even bring others into the action. They were hoping it could escalate into possibly millions of dollars to help a vast number of people that found themselves victims of this storm. I was, truthfully, intimidated at what could happen here. We, all 22,000+ of us, managed to raise $1,250. What could we have done if every member here would have simply donated the price of a cup of coffee? We use this site, free of charge, every day. Right? And yet, when I give the church in Portland $1000 and say itās on behalf of the members of Budget Light Forum, what it boils down to is that we gave a whopping $0.06 each to aid the thousands that lost their homes, cars, clothes, virtually everything.
I AM still proud though, to be able to help at all, and to be part of the good intentions of an ever growing family of flashlight enthusiasts. A lot of good people stepped forward, and I for one appreciate it. Iām sure the good people down in South Texas will also appreciate the effort. Indeed I already know that they are humbled by the unbelievable number of people that have stepped forward to help.
Thank you BLF, not sure what Iād have done without you this past 5 yearsā¦
you are violating the spirit of a donation and causing trouble.
let it go
stop defending your indefensible position