Letters from the Editors
Update on Ebony and Daniel
Posted by Jaki.
I wanted to give you all an update on Ebony and her family. After WBALTV picked up the story, CNN.com came to interview us.
That was really amazing. As of now, they have the money and they are talking with the bank. I didn’t know that getting a final payoff balance is a long involved process, but the bank is obviously willing to work with them once they heard how they got the money.
Christmas was wonderful. Several local charities found out about the story on the news and they sponsored their family for Christmas. Ebony’s pregnancy is coming along. She’s big as a house and I like to poke her belly to really piss her off. Daniel has at least one interview that I know of but now that they are getting the car fixed, he can continue to apply for jobs.
For everyone that donated, I wanted to say thank you. I apologize for not updating sooner but I was waiting to get the link for the CNN interview to add to the blog. I wanted to show that this was legitmate since there were still some people who doubted it. Things have also been a little crazy this holiday season so I apologize for not getting back to you all sooner. I owe you a huge thank you and so does Ebony.
The following is a message from Ebony to everyone who helped out:
My family and I would like to express our gratitude to all of the caring people that assisted us in raising money for our home. We never thought that God would touch so many hearts just to help us. This was truly a humbling experience that we will remember for years to come. I will never take the the kindness of strangers for granted. In a world that is slowly crumbling economically, you all found it in your hearts to give. So many gave out of their personal need and others sent their warm thoughts and prayers. Every simple gesture manifested into an overwhelming outcome.
As a result of everyone’s generosity, my family and I are able to bring our home out of foreclosure and my husband has gotten two job offers. Another great outcome is that I was able to pay for my training to become a licensed home child care provider. I plan on opening my daycare within the next 6-8 weeks. I am overjoyed and grateful for friends like Jaki, and miracles like all of you that made my only Christmas wish possible. I have a warm home for my children, and finally a chance at financial independence and stability.
Because of the blog, we have also been adopted by different families and local organizations for the holiday, and my children will also have presents for Christmas. As of right now, we are in search of an engine for our 2000 Ford Focus and plan to purchase that with the overflow of money received.
Again, we say thank you, and God Bless.
Sincerely,
Ebony Sampson & the Sampson Family of Aberdeen
Once again, thank you all. I hope you had a happy holiday and a prosperous New Year.
Editors | Comment (1)Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays
Posted by Sara.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!
For those of you who have been following the story of Daniel and Ebony and who contributed to the efforts to help them save their home, we would like to offer you this update, via CNN.
Editors | Comment (0)‘Tis the Season of Procrastinating…
Posted by Sara.
My entire life, I’ve gotten shit for being a procrastinator, for being a couple steps behind the game, a few minutes behind the clock, the whole “day late, dollar short” bit. I’ve been reminded that “the early bird gets the worm,” that “if I want to get ahead in life,” I have to be willing to show up early (or on time) to show initiative. For my entire life I’ve thought these people, the ones who bestow this advice or who angrily tap their condescending little finger to their glass face of their wristwatch, to be assholes. And during the Christmas season, I am proven totally, 100% correct.
Editors | Comment (0)Holiday happiness
Posted by Kate A..
I don’t know Ebony and Daniel. Most of the people who have come through this site in the past few weeks don’t know them either. But Jaki , one of my good friends and one of our awesome writers, set this goal to save their house. This is not something they did for themselves, it’s something Jaki thought to do as a friend.
Editors | Comment (0)Help a family keep their home.
Posted by Jaki.
I’m a pessimist. I’ve spent my life believing people aren’t willing to help others. For once, I really hope I’m wrong.
You see, my friend Ebony and her husband Daniel have a small problem. Actually they have several small problems that add up to a big problem. Ebony is a stay-at-home mom with her two kids. Things were going along well until Daniel lost his job. Then the car died and without money to get it fixed, they couldn’t go job hunting. And without a job, there is no money to fix the car. With bills piling up and their cars failing, they took out a second mortgage on the house to keep the family moving. Months later, now they’re facing foreclosure. They need the money by December 8th or they have no place to live. “You don’t happen to have $10,000 laying around, do you?” Ebony joked with me.
This bothers me because it shouldn’t happen to them. It shouldn’t be happening with anyone. But it hits me personally because she’s done so much to help so many people. When we went to high school together, her mom passed away and she used the money from that life insurance to buy the house her family is in. It’s sentimental for that reason and I would hate to see them have to leave it now. And god knows we aren’t getting a bailout package. It’s hopeless right? This is where the pessimist in me kicks in and I felt so useless because I want to help. After all, they’re both ministers who scraped together the money they had to help other people and now they don’t have anyone to turn to. Her oldest son is developmentally delayed so they have to pay for his nurse and special schooling. Then, surprise! Ebony found out she was pregnant on top of it all. You’re kidding me, right? It’s impossible. No one can possibility get $10,000 in that short of time. For once, I don’t want to believe the worse in people. Just this one, I’m putting on a happy face. So I said I’d ask around online.
I’ve been calling around to news stations to see if one of them would be interested in doing a human interest story on them. I feel like it wouldn’t take a lot for this to happen but I’m so doubtful. Look, I know you guys aren’t rich. And I don’t ask for this type of stuff often. Hell, I understand if you’re hesitant to help. But if we get 10,000 people to read this post and each one of them donates $1, we can help a family keep them home. I spend so much on things much less worthy and I’m willing to bet a lot of you do as well. Whether you want to call it a miracle or whether you believe in people coming together during the worst of times… whatever you believe, all I’m asking is $1 from each of you. One minute of your time and for you to believe that this can happen. Please prove this pessimist wrong.
10,000 hits. $10,000. Please donate $1.
Help Daniel and Ebony keep their home.
If you can’t afford to help, please link this post around. I’d appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks a lot. If you don’t feel comfortable sending money online, I can provide an address to mail donations. Leave a comment with an email for details.
Editors | Comments (212)Lucy Continues to Grow
Posted by Lindsay.
In the past few months, Lucy has increased her number of writers and readers. With the extra help, we’re able to release this new issue, and we have plans to release a holiday mini-issue. This is a very exciting time for us, the staff, who started out with the desire to reach the masses. Thanks to Google Analytics, we’re positive that we’re getting readers from all over the US and different corners of the globe. That’s right, it’s not just the friends we spam on Facebook and AIM or our parents, we have you! (And we’re absolutely delighted.)
Lucy has also added a fourth to the staff. Because I’m obsessed with the movie The Craft, I feel that our new Entertainment Editor completes our Lucy coven. AJ Star, of TV Rewind and Stalking with the Stars, has agreed to take on supervision of our popular Entertainment Section and a myriad of other responsibilities including our newsletter to subscribers. With her help, we’re moving on to the challenges of self-promotion and finding sponsors. So check her out over at TV Rewind and leave some love. Also, while you’re in the loving mood, use the convenient Add This bar at the end of articles to promote your favorite Lucy pieces on Digg, Twitter, Facebook and whatever other sites you might be addicted to.
In the coming months, we hope to continue our progress. We have big plans for the new year including expanding our Style Section, making some shiny new graphics and marketing materials, less time between issues and much more! As always, we would love to hear from you with ideas. Feel free to leave a comment or email us with what you would like to see.
Thank you for helping to make Lucy all it has become!
Editors | Comment (1)Go, democracy, go!
Posted by Kate A..
Unfortunately, I am about as disconnected from this election as an American could probably be at this point. Not because I don’t care, but because I’m not actually IN America. I’m in Scotland. And throughout most of the meat of the campaigning, I was about as far away as anyone could be: Australia and New Zealand. I can’t help but feel as though I’ve missed out on something really big these past few months.
Editors, US Election 2008 | Comment (0)The Time is NOW.
Posted by Sara.
I will be the first to tell you, I’m not a morning person… I’m the person the “snooze” button was invented for and it’s assumed I will be at least 15 minutes late for whatever function I’m attending. So I was not particularly thrilled when my husband nudged me out of bed around 6 a.m. this morning. And although the thought DID cross my mind to just not get up, I got over myself and I did it.
Why?
‘Cause today is THE day. Today I voted.
Editors, US Election 2008 | Comment (1)Let’s go Phillies (clap, clap, clapclapclap).
Posted by Sara.
Let me preface this by saying that I am in no way a baseball fan. I’ve been to a handful of games and really only enjoy them during the 7th inning stretch or if I’m at a minor league game and there’s a t-shirt gun. I understand the basic gist of the game, but I don’t know the in-depth rules or stats. I don’t know players names or what RBI means. And frankly, I don’t really care.
But last night, while my husband, my friend, and I stood outside of Woolly Mammoth’s bar on South Street in Philadelphia, straining to see the widescreen TV over the hundreds fans crammed inside, I held my breath. And when Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske and the world around us exploded, I exploded too.
Editors | Comments (3)Lucy in November
Posted by Kate A..
It seems like ages since our last issue, but maybe that’s because I’ve been away for ages.
For the past month, I’ve been galavanting around Australia and New Zealand (more on that in the next issue’s leisure section) having a grand old time filled with kangaroos, sheep, wine, beer, beaches and mountains. Meanwhile, Sara and Lindsay were working their asses off recruiting new writers, getting the blogs going, and getting this absolutely awesome issue together. They really held it down with very little help from me and if I had the money, I’d send them off to Oz for a well deserved break. I just hope I can make up for all the abandonment.
As you can see, things look a little different around here. We’re working on making the site look better bit by bit. We’re also working on beefing up the content, getting relevant ads, and pretty much every possible thing we could think to be working on. The magazine is growing, sometimes faster than we imagined, and I’ve come back from my holiday full of energy for Lucy thanks to all the amazing stuff Sara and Lindsay did while I was away (and hopefully they’ve got some energy left after all that hard work).
On the long flight back from New Zealand, someone had left a copy of Cosmopolitan in my seatback pocket. I pulled it out and said to Scott, ‘Hey, let’s mock the enemy!’ We flipped through articles like ‘44 Things You Didn’t Know About Guys’, ‘53 Of Your Sex Questions Answered In 25 Words Or Less’, and ‘Is Your Friend Having More Sex Than You?’ And we got bored. It wasn’t even good enough to mock anymore. That combined with some of the Lucy reader responses we’ve seen over the past few weeks really reiterated to me that the world needs more Lucys and less Cosmos. Getting something like this magazine together can be a real challenge, but it’s the feedback we hear and the continuing awful quality of mainstream women’s mags we see that keeps us going.
Please keep the comments and suggestions coming. And if you like what you see, spread the love!
Thanks for reading,
Kate
Editors | Comment (0)