Our second campaign officially ended on March 1, 2008, and Brande and Dana tied neat little bows on the campaign when they delivered the Fandom Rocks’ donations in person to the charities. After the cut, you will find excerpts from Brande’s account of her trip to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund offices at Camp Pendleton , Dana’s account of her trip to the Lawrence Humane Society, and a brief video of the LHS facilities.

The Fandom Rocks Frontline would like to thank the fans for their continued support of the campaigns. Every email, comment, and donation from each corner of the world keeps us motivated and enforces our appreciation of our awesome fandom. (We have said you guys rock, yes?)

Stay tuned for the campaign report and Campaign #3 charities announcement!

Brande’s Trip: I drove down to my parents’ place in Orange County from my house in Northern CA on Friday, about 9 hours’ drive. Saturday morning, I picked up ilovesn at the train station near my parents’ house as she came in from LA to join me. My father, a veteran Marine, my mother, my boys, Lissie and I were all planning to be there for the handoff.

The drive to Oceanside was very short and we actually were a bit early, so we killed some time outside the gates of Camp Pendleton. Once we were through the gates, we followed my parents (who were in a second car) as my dad used to be stationed at Pendleton and knows the base layout. It’s a very good thing as the Wounded Warrior Center is tucked away in a fairly secluded section of the base, just off the lake. The scenery was lovely and I wish we’d been able to take pictures, but due to Sec Regs we could not.

The IMSFF location is not just offices, as I previously thought. It is actually a 26-bed rehabilitation facility for Marines too injured to return to their regular unit, but not injured enough to require hospitalization. After transfer to the Wounded Warrior unit, they can continue with physiotherapy, meet with counselors, etc. About 50% are rehabilitated enough to return to their regular unit. Those that are unable to return to their unit and are scheduled for a medical discharge are then scheduled to work with counselors who assist them with the transition to civilian life. They also receive assistance with PTSD and other psychological issues related to their experiences and injuries.

(Read the rest of Brande’s report at our Livejournal community.)

Dana’s Trip: On Sunday, I drove from Champaign to Lawrence to participate in the St. Patrick’s Day parade with the Lawrence Humane Society and present them with our check from the second campaign. While in town, I stopped by Target and picked up two dozen or so travel-sized bathroom items (deodorant, sunblock, toothpaste, etc.) to drop at the community shelter from our first campaign. Loring, the director, was not in the office yet on Monday morning, so I left the donation with a note. It will be good to keep in touch with them over the next year as they work toward funding for a new building/location.

Late Sunday night, I sent an order to Kinko’s for 20 sheets of our bookmark. I had three bags of Starburst candies to tape to 100 bookmarks for the parade. We handed them all out within the first 5 blocks, but I am getting ahead of myself.

First, we stood in the drizzling rain for an hour, finishing the float, waiting, waiting, and waiting. Then we walked in the parade for 20-minutes, handed out all of the bookmarks, and were completely soaked by the end. My fingers are crossed that at least a few of those bookmarks made it into the hands of a new viewer.

When we went back to the humane society, I presented Midge with the check and took a photo with the staff who were on hand. We did a video tour of the shelter, and I will have that on the web site as soon as I get back home and can edit everything together.

The renovation/expansion completed last fall at the humane society had a $600,000 loan. They have paid it down, roughly, to the last $120,000. With our donation and other fundraisers, they hope to have it paid off this year.

(Read the rest of Dana’s report at our Livejournal community.)

Lawrence Humane Society Tour: Dana walked through the humane society with Midge, the director, on Monday, March 17. On Mondays, the shelter is closed to visits for cleaning, and you can see the staff hard at work while Dana and Midge continue through the building. The front of the building has meeting and offices spaces. On the tour, you can also see:

• the main dog and puppy area
• the dog holding area
• the opposite side of dog holding
• the food room
• the working room where staff do laundry, give baths, etc.
• the main cat and kitten areas
• the cat and kitten holding areas
• the media room for education purposes

(Dana apologizes in advance for all of her cooing over the animals. If she could take them all home, she would.)

The phone interview from last fall is included at the end of the video over the Humane Society’s fundraising/informational video.

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