SANTA STRIKE FORCE 2014! PLEASE DONATE AND SHARE!!!! :)

DeVore

Hey'all

Well its the 1st of December so its Santa Strike Force collection time!

SSF is a collection drive on Boards where 100% of the money is spent on life improving items for kids charities. Its that simple.

Please please donate and ALSO PLEASE SHARE THIS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS.
The further it spreads the more we can collect and the more we can help.

Here's the Paypal link: [SSF]stuff[/SSF]
The bank account details are here:

Last year we raised a record amount and here is what we did with it.

Don Bosco's House for street-kids in danger. We provided one of their houses with a communal PC and another with an Xbox. We're still working on a third for a garden conversion.

Extern asked us for surf boards (yep!) and an Xbox and Nexus Tablet.

Bumbleance! Love these guys... Tony is a work horse for them and asked us to fund two mobile Bumbleance-In-A-Suitcase for kids who have to travel by regular ambulance. (The Bumbleance has been a terrific success and is, unfortunately, now always booked up). In the mobile suitcases are things like iPads, DVD players and DVDs, music and headphones etc. We paid for them. See Tony's Response down below

Oznam House Asked us for a fit out of musical equipment for a new music room they wanted to build. We supplied all the instruments for it!

Coláiste Eoin is a special needs school in Crumlin and they wanted 4 interactive whiteboards to update their classes and to use the internet to make teaching more fun. These are expensive but in a year when we decided to pay bankers rather than Special Needs Assistants, we went with it
I particularly like this pic:
Check out their response below!

Maria Goretti Foundation These were a late and surprise addition to the list but we had the extra cash and so when I got a tip off that they might be a suitable target, I rang them out of the blue and asked them what they wanted Santa to buy them. This was about May.
They said they had wanted pedal powered racing karts but they were too expensive to justify on their meagre budget. The professional carers agreed that they would be great therapy... Perfect.... just our kinda thing.
Read their feedback here...
Reports are that the kids and parents have been having a ball with them!


There are outstanding projects we have committed to like Liams Lodge (from the Bumbleance people!) and Don Boscos garden (awaiting planning permission and other resources).

LizT

I'll start the ball rolling by donating €30, really glad to see the great causes last year's donations helped.

kfallon

I'll match LizT's €30, transaction number 10Y2745311164460M

Ruu

€20.00 donated. (last few digits/numbers of PP transaction 4463E)

If you want to add the siggie just add the below to your code.

[HTML][SSF]Donate[/SSF][/HTML]

Generic Dreadhead

Great work, great causes, I'm in

KERSPLAT!

€20 donated

99327912US917632R

DeVore

Oh yeah, we funded a Barretstown photography studio for developing pictures too! (sometimes I forget things we do during the year )

Tombi!

6C05884061693535S
That should be it. I never used Paypal to actually send money to someone. It was fifty quid I sent.

Edit: feck it. I have more than I thought. I put in an extra 80 just now.
0SK27598TK329910C

I'm waiting for my online banking to show a code from paypal. It is sitting in pending transactions but only shows "PAYPAL" but not the four digit code I need to activate the card.

I only have ten euro to spare, sorry if that seems like a small amount.

Ruu

No amount is too small, whatever people can manage helps. Tough time of year for a lot of people so if you are able to spare and think it is worthy, please share.

Mushy

I'll try sort out my paypal account now (never use it and its linked to an old ucd account I never use I think). If I can't, is there any other way of sorting a donation? Not that I'll be able to donate much!

EDIT: Not having an AIB code card reader will cause me a headache for this, I will sort something if there is another non-Paypal way (although I think all online transactions will be a curse too). But if there is an easier way, I can head to a branch to sort it out.

GLaDOS

€30 in the pot, transaction ending in V286403U

BeeForBattens

Hi all
Tony Heffernan here from the BUMBLEance.

Since the first day that BUMBLEance hit the road in September of 2013 we have been entertaining children on the BUMBLEance with your help.

We have transported over 300 children in that time,many of them travelled more than once.

We have transported almost 30 children on Angel Trips, a child's final journey on earth before they grow their Angel Wings. My son Liam had his own Angel Trip in May before he joined his sister Saoirse.

As Devore stated we are so busy that we have to get a second BUMBLEance in the New year. We hope to raise the money to confirm the order for BUMBLEance2 between now and the end of the year.

Our partnership with the SSF has been brilliant and we want you to continue with us in 2015.

We help the sickest of Irish children from every county in Ireland on the BUMBLEance, let's double the impact together in 2015.

Have a great Christmas, check out our website and you tube channel to see the work you support.

Take care Tony

kenco

Well done to all, this is truly one of the great things Boardies do!

€20 (maybe more later) contributed - ......NU9059059

Santa Rules!

sammyjo90

I have a job this year so I can give ye some dosh! \o/
Will donate later when I get home!

€10 donated ref:5ER76423DC9547816

xxx

murria

On behalf of the kids in Coláiste Eoin, Crumlin, I would like to say a huge thank you to Santa’s Strike Force for our Interactive Projectors.

Unfortunately, because of cuts in funding and spending money on extravagant things like heating oil, toilet paper and books, we haven’t been able to afford luxury items over the last few years. There are so many deserving kids out there so I really didn’t expect anything when I contacted Devore with a wish list, but we were blown away when we were granted our top items.

The whiteboard rooms are timetabled so that each class gets one or two interactive sessions a week and then on treat days we can get all the kids in together to watch a movie, instead of wheeling round “tellies on trollies” like we did before. Our 6th year boys organised FIFA tournaments all by themselves, which might not sound like much, but a lot of them have confidence and self-esteem issues and it was great to see them bonding and generally just having fun together without adults telling them what to do. The projectors are used every day by every student in the school for learning and also for fun and relaxation.

Thank you so much to Devore for organising SSF and to everyone who contributes and gets the money out there to make life better for young people all over the country. You’re good people!

Merry Christmas to you all.

Yitzhak Rabin 3

€200

Your transaction ID for this payment is: 5HK08166CR9776504.

Tony.. Yourself and your wife Mary are absolutely inspirational people. Well done on the work you have done with Bumbleance I can't even imagine what the work you do means to the families that find themselves in the unfortunate position of using the bumbleance.

Cathmandooo

€30 in the pot, amazing work by all involved, fair play

....21934.

Maria Goretti Foundation

On behalf of all of us at the Maria Goretti Foundation, especially the kids we would like to sincerely thank the Santa Strike Force for their generous gifts throughout the year. The Maria Goretti Foundation is a newly built eight bed respite centre for children with disabilities based in Lordship, Co Louth. We opened our doors officially with the kids having their very first sleep over on Thursday 18th September 2014. During the year we ran summer schools which give us a chance to get to know the kids and do needs assessments to ensure we were fully ready to give them the best possible care when on respite with us. The tricycles and go-karts donated by the Santa Strike Force really added to the kids experience with them spending endless hours going round obstacle courses in the beautiful sunshine. Their kindness didn’t stop there as we received a second parcel in September which included a WII, loads of games, an IPAD4 and an IPAD Mini. We are deeply indebted to the Santa Strike Force for making this happen and to think it all came from a very random phone call asking would we have a wish list of things we needed for the children and hey presto they appeared!! It was as simple as that!! Thanks to all involved and keep up the good work

Ficheall

It may bankrupt me, but I'll match 10% of whatever that lunatic Beasty donates this festive season.

Banjo String

€50 pledged.

I'll get some spot prizes together if there's a boards Christmas beers this year again also.

Lucyfur

2 pages in and I'm a blubbering mess I love this thread every year.

I'm not paid until next week so I'll be donating my bit from myself and the young buck then.

Micky Dolenz

Lucyfur wrote: »

2 pages in and I'm a blubbering mess I love this thread every year.

I'm not paid until next week so I'll be donating my bit from myself and the young buck then.

40 posts a page, fwiw, n00b

I love this time of year and no donation is too small. Every cent of what is given is spent on the kids, no wages to be subsidised etc.

You rock.

I'll donate as soon as I'm paid. I've tried to spread the word a bit also.

Reading the posts from the places that received it is so touching

juke

This is one of my favourite threads every year

€50 donated, transaction ending 63154M

Pawwed Rig

I'm in for €20 transaction ending 38812

You know it's Christmas when SSF thread appears

deise08

Sorry I'm going to sound so stupid now.
trying the link but nothing happening.
is it because I'm on touch site?

DeVore

Possibly... do you know, SSF actually predates Mobile so I think we've never really tried it from a mobile before

I'll check it out tomorrow when I get a chance.

Benny_Cake

deise08 wrote: »

Sorry I'm going to sound so stupid now.
trying the link but nothing happening.
is it because I'm on touch site?

It is, I had to change to the full site to see the link.

€30 donated, transaction ending in 494892J. It's fantastic to see the different organisations that this supports.

Littlekittylou

Done diddly done :-) EB644602U. is the end of the thingy...:-)

Awh that made my morning now! :-)

Will share :-)

Littlekittylou

Erm how do you share just link to this thread??

Littlekittylou

Littlekittylou wrote: »

Erm how do you share just link to this thread??

It's ok i figured it out ..duh lol I just shared a link to this thread

Seasons greetings all of you and a Happy New Year well done to all others to donate too :P

angeldaisy

I've never posted here before, but I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who donates. We visit Barrettstown with my son, and I never realised you helped them as well. They love seeing photos of themselves and the friends they make whilst being as silly and funny as they can be.
Hopefully we'll never need to use any of the other services.
I'll donate when hubby gets paid!

kevmcdonnell

Keep up the good work, it is a fantastic thing you do. Was a struggling Phd student the last few years and was unable to donate anything. 25 euro donated from me and my wife transaction ending 237034

Donating to this cause brought me good luck. I won a Christmas hamper yesterday!

DeVore

angeldaisy wrote: »

I've never posted here before, but I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who donates. We visit Barrettstown with my son, and I never realised you helped them as well. They love seeing photos of themselves and the friends they make whilst being as silly and funny as they can be.
Hopefully we'll never need to use any of the other services.
I'll donate when hubby gets paid!

Barretstown has been hit at least 7 times in our history, they are a staple target for us because they pretty much align directly with our goals!

From memory we have funded:

1. The music room and instruments.
2. The lego room (which is AWESOME )
3. The giant toys and games in the forest
4. The lego logo over 1 square metre in size and built by the kids
5. The Mp3 players in each of the houses so they can rehearse for the big talent show!
6. We fitted out their wood workshop with tools (including saw's with *lasers*... easily the coolest thing I've ever bought ).
7. A computer and digital cameras and t-shirt printing ...


#7 is funny because it was the first time we ever hit them. We left it on their door step rang the doorbell and hid in a bush to watch. We left a greeting card in the box too! They came out, looked at it, left it there and rang the cops to report that someone had stolen a computer and then had a crisis of conscience and left it on their doorstep! (and the cops told them to keep it!!!!).

After that we kinda stopped doing the anonymous hits

Pawwed Rig

For those of us not in the know could you give a brief history of SSF. I heard the name and know that you buy cool stuff for disadvantaged kids but I never heard of the anonymous drops before :pac:

Is the concept like a elite squad of elves leaving pressies for the children in a shock 'attack'?

angeldaisy

DeVore wrote: »

Barretstown has been hit at least 7 times in our history, they are a staple target for us because they pretty much align directly with our goals!

From memory we have funded:

1. The music room and instruments.
2. The lego room (which is AWESOME )
3. The giant toys and games in the forest
4. The lego logo over 1 square metre in size and built by the kids
5. The Mp3 players in each of the houses so they can rehearse for the big talent show!
6. We fitted out their wood workshop with tools (including saw's with *lasers*... easily the coolest thing I've ever bought ).
7. A computer and digital cameras and t-shirt printing ...


#7 is funny because it was the first time we ever hit them. We left it on their door step rang the doorbell and hid in a bush to watch. We left a greeting card in the box too! They came out, looked at it, left it there and rang the cops to report that someone had stolen a computer and then had a crisis of conscience and left it on their doorstep! (and the cops told them to keep it!!!!).

After that we kinda stopped doing the anonymous hits

Devore, I have to say that in my opinion, Barrettstown is the best place ever for kids (and adults). When we were there, we did kayaking, horse riding, archery, rock climbing, theatre and arts and crafts to name just a few!! The Lego room is awesome and my son loved it in there. Its a brilliant place, because it allows children to be the best they can be with no limits! The Cara's are amazing and I would encourage those who can volunteer to get involved with them.

Keep up the great work!!!

DeVore

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

For those of us not in the know could you give a brief history of SSF. I heard the name and know that you buy cool stuff for disadvantaged kids but I never heard of the anonymous drops before :pac:

Is the concept like a elite squad of elves leaving pressies for the children in a shock 'attack'?

Do you know what... I'll write the history of it over the next 24 hours and put that up in its own thread. It still amazes me that this is our 12th year (afaicr!) .... it seems like yesterday we started!

Quin_Dub

Done - €20

2*******VV6732150

Pawwed Rig

DeVore wrote: »

Do you know what... I'll write the history of it over the next 24 hours and put that up in its own thread. It still amazes me that this is our 12th year (afaicr!) .... it seems like yesterday we started!

Ah Jaysus, I didn't mean to give you extra work to do!! A brief synopsis would be fine.:P

Most importantly is will there be nudity this year?

Beasty

Ficheall wrote: »

It may bankrupt me, but I'll match 10% of whatever that lunatic Beasty donates this festive season.

I like a challenge;)

Anyway I'll match that:pac:

I'll throw in €400

Oh wait, that means I've got to add 10% - make it €440

...Sh!t another 10% of the extra 40 - OK €444

The only way to get this right is to round this up to €500 (as a starter:p)

Now before making the transfer and subjecting it to Paypal fees - I take it last year's bank account is still accepting payments? If so I'll make a direct transfer

DeVore

Yep the bank account is still the same! (I wonder how much interest we have generated over the 12 years come to think of it....)

Mushy

DeVore wrote: »

Yep the bank account is still the same! (I wonder how much interest we have generated over the 12 years come to think of it....)

Can details of this bank account be posted so I can make a transfer please? I posted earlier in the thread about problems with me transferring money, but I can make it into a branch to do it directly.

DeVore

Its in this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=129282 ...

I'll post it in the OP too, thanks!

[ssf] commando [/ssf]

Just added link to my signature, not that I've ever noticed anyones signature before.

Do you think I'd be classed as a nuisance if I copied link to the bottom of each and every post?

[ssf] commando [/ssf]

KERSPLAT!

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

[ssf] commando [/ssf]

Just added link to my signature, not that I've ever noticed anyones signature before.

Do you think I'd be classed as a nuisance if I copied link to the bottom of each and every post?

[ssf] commando [/ssf]

I'd say just leave it to your sig

Crunchienut

Done €50 - xxxxxx36M3076242T

Chris Martin

After going through 10 years of SSF, finally found the up to date thread...
Saw some nice photos of pets on the way though.. :P

€20 Donated in the most roundabout way possible..
2 installments, one of 6.96 and 13.04..

Encounter the same problem every year with PayPal, except I set i up this year but I'm stuck in a foreign country without a card reader, but I send it via Skrill to tom@spin.ie.

Both payments pending but I'll let you know when it's verified.

If not I'll send money as soon as I hit Irish shores on the 23rd of this month..
Hoping for another successful year!

knucklehead6

Only €20. All i can spare at the moment

XXXXXX25FM601630L.