Good Causes

We will be working with St. Jude's Hospital again to help provide some entertainment for their kids and draw some attention to the wonderful research that they do there.

Have you ever wanted to be a hero? Did you ever wonder what it would be like to actually be the Paladin in that RPG you were playing and save the day, or someone's life? Or maybe you'd like to have enough money to donate a few grand a year to a good cause. How about doing both at the same time? Check out the info below and call them for an appointment - be a hero.

Calling All Angels!
At St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, many patients with catastrophic diseases like leukemia need Apheresis blood products daily. Apheresis is a special kind of blood donation that allows whole blood to be withdrawn from a donor and separated into its component parts with all but the needed component being returned to the donor. The needed blood component, platelets, is then made immediately available to the patient.

Many times during chemotherapy and radiation treatment both cancer cells and healthy cells are destroyed, so patients need transfusions to prevent bleeding or to fight infection. Platelet donations are completely safe and each donation is closely supervised by trained staff who observe the donor throughout the process. The donation does not significantly decrease the number of platelets in the donor's body and the donated platelets are quickly replaced.

Platelet donation takes about two hours. Donors are welcome to watch television or read during the process. With every platelet donation, donors save St. Jude an average of $500. Also, your donation could support a child through a critical time during his or her treatment. A platelet donor is an extraordinary person. When platelet donors are called to donate, they know someone is in critical need of a blood component that only the platelet donor is specially qualified to give. These special blood component donations save lives. If you already donate blood, you know how it feels to be a lifesaver. After all, it's in you to give.

Donating platelets is a great way to help. If you are interested in becoming a platelet donor for the children of St. Jude, please contact Angel Sanders or Kim Stevenson in the Blood Donor Center at (901) 495-2024 to schedule an appointment.

A candle loses none of its light by lighting another candle. - Author Unknown

This is the fortheenth year that MidSouthCon is holding an auction for the benefit of Literacy in Memphis and the SFWA emergency fund. This is the eighth year we are supporting the Memphis Literacy Council. All items to be auctioned for charities are on display in the Art Show and will be "on the block" during the Art Auction.

Once again, MidSouthCon is helping the effort to promote literacy Recent, two orgainization dedicated to this worthy cause have joined forces to become Literacy Mid-South (902 S. Cooper, Memphis, TN, 38104, phone 327-6000). Here a little about each of these former orgainizations:

Memphis Literacy Council

Memphis Literacy Council is an independent, nonprofit educational organization that provides programs for low-literate adults and disadvantaged families. The agency operates its adult learning program from a midtown location and is open days, evenings, and Saturday mornings. More than 350 trained volunteers provide private and group tutoring for adults who want to learn. The family literacy effort is a cooperative outreach service for parents who want to help their children become better readers. Memphis Literacy Council was founded in 1974 and has more than thirty years of experience in helping people who want to improve their own lives and those of their children.

We Believe ...

Literacy is a fundamental ingredient in building strong families and healthy communities.  One in three adults in Memphis lacks sufficient literacy skills to cope successfully in today’s society.  Ensuring that adults have access to quality literacy programs is vital to decreasing health and welfare costs, improving children’s school performance, boosting workplace productivity, and lessening prison recidivism.

Mid-South Reads

Mission

Mid South Reads is a unique partnership of the University of Memphis and the Mid South Reads coalition of literacy advocates. Mid South Reads exists to combine the expertise of these partners so as to empower, develop and unify literacy efforts within the Mid South and maximize the efficacy of services to all segments of our community.

Mid South Reads, using both community and university resources, provides services, research and professional development opportunities to assist in creating and maintaining environments where learning happens. These collaborative efforts increase community awareness and participation in literacy services and positively impact our quality of life.

Goals

We will maximize the collaboration and effectiveness of literacy services by:
   • Providing learning opportunities.
   • Creating public awareness of literacy issues.
   • Providing information and referrals for assistance.
   • Raising funds to support our mission, goals and service.
   • Coordinating professional development and research opportunities in literacy 
      through the University of Memphis.
   • Advocating for literacy by organizing community resources.
   • Serving as a catalyst for positive systemic change in attitudes toward reading 
     and learning.
   • Identifying and acting proactively regarding emerging community literacy and
     reading concerns.

The Science Fiction Writers of America Emergency Medical Fund was established to provide financial assistance to professional SF/F writers who have suffered reverses because of medical emergencies, such as incurred by MSC 9's posthumous Guest of Honor, Robert Adams. At MSC 9, we held a benefit auction for the family of Robert Adams to help defray medical costs after a long bout with lymphatic cancer. Since that time, the SFWA Fund was officially established. Pamela Crippen Adams suggested that any items not sold at MSC 9's auction be used to benefit the SFWA Emergency Fund. Since then, we have continued to contribute toward this effort via the auction of special items during the Art Auction.

SFWA uses the Emergency Medical Fund to help members when they find themselves in dire medical straits and insurance turns out not to be enough. It is sad that we live in a world where such problems come to be, but it is made a little easier by the support of science fiction and fantasy fans such as our attendees, who helped us raise $1500 for this fund last year. For more information on this and on SFWA, their website is http://www.sfwa.org.