Viva! A fundraising & El Gallo t-shirt update.

I have lots of marvelous things to report about the fundraising progress, but I know a bunch of you are wondering about when you're going to have your shirts, so let's start there.

We needed so many that they had to special order in the shirts to print them in the shop. The estimated date I will have them in my hands is August 29, and I will get them out in the mail within a few days of that date.

When I started the shirt fundraiser, I expected I'd be printing around 40 or 50 shirts. $40 to charity for a shirt isn't cheap! I underestimated the generosity and t-shirt loving nature of the readers of Viva El Birdos. When the deadline passed, I enlisted the help of the lil_scooter93 to assist me in sorting the flood of e-mails I had thus far failed to organize. When the smoke cleared, I needed to order 131 shirts.

There are shirts going to Europe, Asia, Canada, and all over the U.S. The majority of you preferred the powder blue color, but there are also many white shirts, and I was able to honor a few special requests as well.

The shirts are being made by ACME Hot and Fresh Shirts in downtown Columbia, MO. They were a real pleasure to work with, and the quality is going to be terrific. Speaking of quality, these are going to be American Apparel shirts. I was able to afford this because so many of you reached out to assist me in paying for the much larger than expected quantity. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Let's talk about the fundraiser now. We are over $7300, and have accounted for 1/5th of everything raised by the 6K thus far this year. We've already exceeded either of the last two years, and that number will climb as team 2 works to meet their $75 minimums. If you'd like to support them, make sure to let Bracken know here so you can participate in his very VEB secondary fundraiser where he'll run some numbers in exchange for charity cash. But do it soon, as fundraising closes August 29th.

edit: I've already had several people ask if it's too late for shirts. Yes, it is. The order is in and there are no extras. However, if you donate at least $20 to someone in team 2 (whoever has the least $ would be ideal) and then e-mail me at the address in my profile, I'll e-mail you the image that you can use to have a shirt printed online or locally to you.

This year's fundraiser has been an affirmation of the generosity of the community here, and it's just that: a community. I also want to add that it was really nice hearing from so many people who read the blog but don't generally comment. I will be looking for these shirts in the wild. If I spot one, I'll make sure to say hi. I hope you like them.

Special thanks to Brackenthebox for the design work, lil_scooter93 for helping me sort through the orders, and CSchepers who has volunteered to help me bag and address all the shirts. And thanks again to all who helped me pay for the shirts themselves, and everyone else who donated. You're the best!

Viva el Gallo, Viva el Birdos, and Viva Viva el Birdos!