There U Glow Camp Fundraiser (Help Claire Out!)

Hey friends! Claire here.

First off, please know that this is not a survival fundraiser. If giving funds doesn't feel great and sustainable to you, please don't feel pressure. Money is just one way of showing me love. I have a sliding scale guide at the bottom of this description, please review it.

Thanks!

I run an educational technical/electronics space called There U Glow, geared towards non-technical babes, femmes & the gender binary-averse. This space currently takes the form of a Burning Man-style camp. This camp exists at an event called SOAK, each May, and increasingly as a vibe, community and online.

Imagine a chill, aesthetic, welcoming space to engage in electronics, LEDs and soldering for the first time, intended for adults that never got that chance or feel safe doing so.

We have already been accepted, placed, and everything is set for this year. This is our second year, and we are coming back bigger and better!

We are, on the surface, an LED fix-it camp. We have supplies, tools and assistance available to fix whatever glowy problems may arise for anyone at the event.

But underneath we are much more. We provide intentional space, like a Learn-to-Lockpick Lounge, workbenches, soldering stations, presentation space, a Cyberpunk Night Market, a take-something-leave-something hardware/craft scrap swap, and more!

We also have activities, like an "Intro to LEDs for Artists and Non-Technical Babes" workshop along with a full grassroots lineup of awesome, inviting technical presentations. This year we are hosting a full beginners soldering workshop with custom camp PCB art badges as gifts. And we are hand-tooling incredible, educational, custom decor for every wall.

We also give away a lot of swag, including stickers, beautiful art PCB badges, and new for this year, Soldering Scout Badges! We particularly intend this swag to bring in diverse people who are curious about electronics who could use a lovely, no-expectations gift to help them feel loved and included.

All of this structure and equipment will live on beyond SOAK. This year we have a camp Discord server that we will be inviting our community to, and most of our resources and supplies get used in other educational spaces throughout the year. Again, particularly in non-traditional environments with an express goal to combat tech learned-helplessness.

All of this said, here's where we come to the point of this fundraiser. This endeavor is a labor of passion and love. It takes a decent chunk my (Claire's) savings, time and labor to run, so I'm running this fundraiser to lean on my community. If you resonate with anything I've described here, I would so appreciate your support.

If I raise *anything* I will be stoked. This is not an all-or-nothing campaign. If I raise $1,500 that covers the basics of what I have put into SOAK for this year. If I raise $1,800 that will put me back in a great place to financially take on other camp projects and add to the ones already going. More raised would be put to excellent, similar use.

Thank you so much!

Please review the sliding scale below:

IF YOU:

- Frequently stress about meeting basic needs and don’t always achieve them

- Have debt that sometimes prevents you from meeting basic needs

- Rent lower-end or have unstable housing

- Do not have a car or have limited access

- Are unemployed or underemployed

- Qualify for government assistance

- Have no access to savings

- Rarely buy new

- Cannot afford vacation or time off

PLEASE DO NOT FEEL ANY PRESSURE TO GIVE

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IF YOU:

- Stress about meeting your basic needs but still meet them

- Have debt but it does not prohibit attainment of basic needs

- Own or lease a car

- Are employed

- Have access to healthcare

- Have some expendable income

- Are able to buy new and still thrift

- Can take vacations and time off annually or every few years

PLEASE ONLY GIVE IF IT FEELS COMFORTABLE, IN A COMFORTABLE AMOUNT

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IF YOU:

- Can comfortably meet all of your basic needs and assist your loved ones

- Have some debt but it is not a large stress

- Own property or rent higher-end

- Own or lease a car

- Are employed or do not need to work to meet your needs

- Have access to savings that brings security

- Have expendable income (might mean you can afford coffee or drinks, go to moves or concerts, buy new clothes, books, etc regularly)

- Can take vacations and time off regularly

PLEASE CONSIDER GIVING GENEROUSLY TO OFFSET OTHERS, AND TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE SUCCESS OF THIS CAMPAIGN AND ME

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Full transparency: As of this spring and for about the last year, I am in the last bracket, I make $80,000 a year. I have many friends in my same position. I have many other friends in the first and second brackets. I want to be very clear: I DO NOT need these funds to succeed and meet my needs. It will help, and I want that help as sustainably as possible.

You can also venmo (@claire-cassidy-2) or paypal ([email redacted]) to subvert fees. I will try to be clear about how much has been raised that way.

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Sliding scale pulled from here: https://www.rootedheart.ca/blog/2018/3/17/accessibility-sliding-scale-pricing-and-energy-exchange

If you have feedback on how I can make this more inclusive, please message me.