This is my friend Tara. She's a writer, owner of The Geek Initiative  , and an avid LARPer (Live Action Role-Play-er). She attends conferences on press passes to further her writing career, and gives back to her community in so many ways, like editing in trade, or running games in trade, or borrowing outfits in trade for content creation.

Tara is a feminist and celebrates women in gaming, and advocates for change within the industry.  I've known her since I was in high school, and she was in college. We were role-playing buddies on AOL, in the Red Dragon Inn. She's always been there to edit a paper for me, or look over my resume, and give me business when she could.  

It's been a really rough couple of years for Tara; she's going through a divorce, her support dog passed away, she's had to move several times, and there's some chronic illness thrown in for an extra boost of stress. Tara is one of the hardest working people I know, and yet she has to scrape by. Currently, she's moved all her belongings into a storage unit, and is living with two bags and her computer in her car, traveling between Richmond, VA and various events in the Northeast/Philly area for work.  

Tara and Odin, her dog who passed away who helped her cope with her multiple chronic illnesses.

Okay, so. How can you help?

Share or donate to this fundraiser. 

Tara needs to make it through the next few weeks. She's got a part-time job starting in a couple weeks or so and reliable housing. She just needs help making her ends meet until she starts getting a paycheck. The biggest thing right now is getting her car payment, registration, and taxes paid for so that she can keep her car, in order for her to get to her first payday, and her next few gigs in between. She's in the very end stages of getting out of a painful marriage, and filing for divorce at this time. I've set the goal at $1700, as I think this would give her a good cushion, just in case something else falls in her lap.  (Edited to fix location inaccuracies.)



---- Perhaps some questions you might have are more like criticisms about the events she attends, the costuming she wears, etc.   Her job as a freelance journalist allows her to get into certain events with a Press Pass, as she has a large following on Twitter and her website, The Geek Initiative . Her costumes are borrowed or bartered for. She trades services for goods, and people are often in a position to gift her entrance to renaissance fairs and such other events, so that she can spend what funds she does have on things like... food, or her car payment. If you can't donate, but want to help, please share this GoFundMe page.

If you can donate, please do. I will be helping Tara out on this front as well, so I'm not asking something for nothing.  


Also, for those who donate over $75, I will send you a pair of sterling silver Wishes earrings, totally on me. You just have to forward me your receipt, and once the payment is deposited, etc, I will mail them out to you. (Find me on Facebook: Carolyn A Buss, or Carolyn Buss Jewelry and send me a message. Please!)