Aside from the effects of an economic downturn on our own, immediate circumstances, spare a thought for the many not-for-profit organisations that rely on our ordinary generosity and goodwill. Whether their cause is for animals, people or the planet, these various charity and community organisations are by and large at the complete mercy of the economic climate of the day. As a person who rarely says “No” to the nice lady from the Children’s Mater Hospital (Hi Christine, hope the family’s well) each month as their new raffle prize home is offered over the phone, or the almost countless others (PCYC, RSPCA and the list continues) I am now that person who cuts the call short.

Saying “No”, like anything, is a whole lot easier when you don’t have a choice.

There’s no need to listen to the spiel about the beautiful home or nice cars on offer as the outcome is the same: I can’t help this time. Before I’m taken to task on the concept that buying tickets in a raffle is not exactly a donation, I should point out that in over fifteen years of doing this I have won not a brass razoo. I know I’m not really going to be spending my summer cruising the Gold Coast in a new black Mustang Fastback (unless I buy one) so the only help I’ll be to the Surf Life Savers right now is to swim between the flags. So I politely thank the various callers for their patience and wish them a nice evening, suggesting they call back next month to see how I’m traveling.  Whether that’s optimism or confidence time will tell.

Now the world doesn’t stop just because Greg Anderson can’t spare some change, I know that. I also know that I’m not the only person in this situation and the ramifications for those organisations relying on the rest of us are huge. When a lot of people make a small contribution or effort the results can be immense. The opposite is equally true when they don’t.

Saying “No” for now.

-Greg

Related posts:

1. Greed vs Charity, and having to say “No”

Surfers Paradise

Being trackside for the Gold Coast Super GP this year was once again full of excitement, thrills and of course spills.  I arrived Saturday at the end of the V8 Supercars race 1 with Garth Tander taking line honours.

Even the Mini cup racing was captivating with an accident on the 1st lap right where I was standing at the fence. Then some on-track entertainment in the form of some V8 ute drifting, Victor Bray and his legendary burnouts and some more drifting from local rising stars.

A real highlight every year for the fans is the F-111 fly-by and fuel dump & burn, and this year although the last for the aging F-111 was no disappointment.

F-111 dump & burn

I did my best to capture as much of this action as possible using my Canon digital still camera and a new Flipcam. I have to say the Flipcam is the easiest HD video camera on Earth with built-in usb plug (no cables) and software that will automatically install on any PC. Trimming and uploading videos to Youtube is a breeze and with 2 hours of HD video & audio capacity this small, light and inexpensive camera is ideal for anyone who doesn’t need all the bells and whistles of dearer models.

The weather was superb and over 200,000 people flocked to the streets of Surfers Paradise for what was a truly home-grown motorsport spectacular. Mark Winterbottom (affectionately known as “Frosty”) won 2 of the 4 races in the round and is currently 5th in the V8 Supercar Championship series

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