Happy New Year one and all! Frank N. Foode™ here to give you an update on Biofortified’s fundraising drive for 2012. We’ve got big plans for the blog for this next year, and that means taking in some big money to make it possible. Last week, we announced that we wanted to raise $2012 for 2012, and almost one week later, I am pleased to announce that we are almost all the way there!
Donations have been coming in from all over the place. Word of mouth has spread amongst public scientists, who have been providing the bulk of donations. We’re sending along a little blog shwag to a really generous group that is part of a nonprofit breeding foundation, who not only gave personal donations, but also encouraged their colleagues to do the same! I think we may have picked up some readers in the process too.
PZ Myers, possibly the most cuddly cuttlefish in the world, stepped in to promote our effort on Pharyngula, and soon enough some science blog supporters came in and moved the needle as well! Thank you PZ, and thank you everyone from the Pharyngulation horde!
Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. As of today, Biofortified has raised $1765.79 toward our $2012 goal! That’s almost 88% of the way there, with only $246.21 left to go. I know we can do it! Just look at the corn plant in the sidebar – the tassels are just starting to bloom!
I spent my holiday season with some friends, as I hope all of you did. I told them how excited I am about the coming year and all the things we want to do. And they told me I should put myself out there more. I have to say as far as plants go, I’m quite the adventurous type, and one thing I really hope to do this year is a lot more traveling. See more people, attend more conferences, and travel to more exotic lands to help bring genetics cheer to all the girls and boys of the world. I’ve got many helpers just aching to take me on a trip to a museum, the farmer’s market, or to a foreign country. A small donation from each of you can help get me there.
For example, this summer I went on a trip to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, or CIMMYT. While I was there, I had a grand old time, and you can see the whole experience here in our photo album. I just heard that I will also have the opportunity to join a grad student on a trip to Ecuador this summer, and I’m just aching to go – but we need to buy my ticket there! Luckily, I travel pretty light, and First Class for me runs about $20 round-trip. If you would like to see more awesome photo journals of my journeys like these, please consider making a donation!
There’s another way you can help, too. You can help support my travels around the world by buying your very own 2012 calendar that shows some of the awesome places I have been! From rice in Thailand, to Wheat in Mexico, and DNA helices in Chicago, each month you can join me in some place new and help me go on adventures to put in next year’s calendar. We’ve only sold one so far, but if there is enough interest in a Frank N. Foode™ calendar, then next year we will fill the days of the calendar with custom days like Gregor Mendel and Norman Borlaug’s birthday, and events like the World Food Prize, and Biofortified’s Birthday! You’ll never forget these important dates again! 25% of the price will go to support the blog. Everyone needs a calendar, why not make it one with me, Frank?
That’s it for now, I hope your new year was as warm and cozy as mine, and that the new year of blogging here at Biofortified will be better than the last!
Oh, one more thing, I thought I would give y’all a little teaser…
Now what am I going to do in this place? 🙂
You won’t take ‘corporate’ money? I thought money from such vile sources became ‘cleansed’ by donations to efforts such as yours…