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Hafa Adai goons, It's been a lovely year. I've been a self-absorbed bastard for most of it, and a couple of weeks ago I had a jarring moment of happiness - after helping someone in the smallest of ways. Seeing their face light up just felt amazing, and it made me remember how I used to be a better person. Enter Leo. I'm scrolling down my facebook feed, and see my friend organizing a small fundraiser to get Christmas lights for the island of Yap. And you can see where I'm going with this, and you have questions. Who's Leo? Where/What/Why Yap? Christmas lights? Leo's a tattoo artist who does traditional Yapese art tattoos, and works at a local hotel to pay the rest of the bills. Normal guy, wants to do something special for the kids on the island for Christmas, since their primary exposure to Christmas is the US military doing toy drops, which is now going to be part of a Hallmark movie coming soon. Yap is part of the Federated States of Micronesia, near Papua New Guinea and Guam. Way the hell on the other side of the planet from the US. It's where the giant stone money originated. It went through several colonial hands in the 20th century, eventually becoming part of a federation with a compact of free association with the US in the early 1980's. In the last couple years, it's been the target of Chinese investment/development and fishing, as US aid and interest has dwindled, though they're trying to combat it as best they can. It's a magical place, if you ever get to visit. There's footpaths crisscrossing the main island between the villages, with these bright red mangrove crabs running all over the place. Lots of subsistence farming, taro especially. Gorgeous waters, the diving there is one of the best places to see manta rays. The people are easygoing and friendly - they have one major holiday, called Yap Day, March 1, where they do traditional dance and other cultural activities. If you googled it, yes, there's toplessness, and no, that's not a usual daily thing unless you're over 50. Yap's gone through some poo poo recently. Other than the US funding decline, and tourism coming to an absolute halt due to covid, they had a grisly murder of their lone criminal prosecutor. I'd met Rachelle at a conference, she loved her work and the island, and it devastated everyone when she was gunned down. This island needs a spiritual boost. So Leo set up a modest fundraiser to get Christmas lights to put on the Yap Living History Museum. It's at around $720 out of $2000, and it doesn't look like it's getting too much more. Plus, Christmas is coming up soon, and shipping things to Yap takes A Long While, though anything that comes in late will be put towards next Christmas and beyond. A big thank you to the mods for allowing this thread. Which brings me to my pitch: first, please don't Doobie this up. Don't spend your kids' present money on this, don't skip rent or medical bills. This is not critical, life-saving work. This is just putting some smiles on the faces of kids you'll probably never meet. I'm not even telling Leo I'm doing this. I probably never will. I don't think he could even figure out who I am if someone sent him this post. The most I did was a 'post pics' suggestion after I donated, and I know he'll do that. Which I'll then post here. Honestly, I'd be thrilled if SA's efforts could crack $1k on it. I don't think he's expecting much more at this point:  So I'm posting the link below, with a one request - don't tell Leo what's happening. You could stay anonymous, or call yourself part of the Stone Money Appreciation Society, Doobie 2: Electric Lights Boogaloo, or anything funny you want, but just don't tip him off that we're doing this. I was one of those goons that donated to Doobie after Noni made a great post about it, and even though things turned into a shitshow, I still remember the smile on my face seeing ol' Doobs completely gobsmacked about the donations. That was worth it, to me. The chance to do that with Leo and a bunch of Yapese kids was too tempting to pass up and pass along. The world could do with some smiles right about now. https://gf.me/u/y4p6fw
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Oct 23, 2020 23:41
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| # ? Apr 29, 2024 11:56 |
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Well I love Christmas lights, and making kids happy is just a bonus. So I threw $50 Leo’s way. 
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Oct 24, 2020 00:01
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What does this mean? Hafa Adai goons
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Oct 24, 2020 00:09
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Mrs. Sexual posted:What does this mean? It’s a greeting, used in Guam, kind of like ‘aloha’. In Yapese it’d be ‘Mogethin’.
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Oct 24, 2020 00:13
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going to assume its a regional greeting e:fb
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Oct 24, 2020 00:14
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Threw in 5bux 
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Oct 24, 2020 00:21
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Revins posted:Threw in 5bux Every bit counts, appreciate it
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Oct 24, 2020 00:21
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$25 to help out, good luck to your buddy and I hope that they get a nice surprise
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Oct 24, 2020 00:23
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Cool poo poo op! https://youtu.be/6wa4lJ5ER78 Google that stuff
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Oct 24, 2020 00:23
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The Clark Griswold in me couldn't say no. Neat project, in for $25
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Oct 24, 2020 00:25
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Threw in a Grant for a good cause
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Oct 24, 2020 00:28
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Leo seems like a cool dude, threw him $50.
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Oct 24, 2020 01:04
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Stuck and will donate.
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Oct 24, 2020 01:34
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Donated and now we’re over $1000. Thanks OP!
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Oct 24, 2020 01:53
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Im poor but a bump is the best I can do. Thanks for introducing me to the Yapese culture, and reminding the US still has an ounce of good left in it. I hope we get these guys some Christmas lights.
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Oct 24, 2020 01:54
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Donated:
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Oct 24, 2020 02:00
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Done, and spreading around to people I know who have been to/lived on/visited all those islands.
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Oct 24, 2020 02:00
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This seems like a nice project for the era of Jeff, Will donate when not drunk and tired.
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Oct 24, 2020 02:01
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Thank you for the sticky, and awesome that we hit my goal already, you guys are awesome!
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Oct 24, 2020 02:10
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threw in $25 for the stone money appreciation society, seems like a cool idea and I genuinely appreciate stone money
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Oct 24, 2020 03:04
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Threw in $25. Good luck to Leo, and here's hoping for a great Christmas in Yap!
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Oct 24, 2020 08:36
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threw in  , anything for a cheesehead
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Oct 24, 2020 12:35
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Threw in a little bit.
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Oct 24, 2020 13:03
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I like this, I'll chip in $50. E: Done. Haven't gotten a receipt yet but the donation number ticked up by 50. EE: Here we go: 
Frank Frank fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Oct 24, 2020 |
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Oct 24, 2020 13:51
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Donated reg fees, this is too nice
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Oct 24, 2020 14:25
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i'm kinda super poor at the moment, so i can't really spare anything out of my budget, but this is super cool. great stuff, op!
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Oct 24, 2020 16:34
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The Godfundme guy shows up at the island to present the novelty check for our donations but instead of a novelty check it's a Rai stone the size of a house.
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Oct 24, 2020 17:03
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If you raise way more than your goal, can you use the excess to build an Official Goon Guesthouse on Yap? I need a vacation.
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Oct 24, 2020 18:54
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 25 in, cool idea
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Oct 24, 2020 19:27
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I'm turning Yapanese I'm turning Yapanese I really think so
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Oct 24, 2020 19:28
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e: didnt read
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Oct 24, 2020 19:37
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I tossed 20 bucks in.
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Oct 24, 2020 20:05
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Found a way around it, tossed in ten bucks.
Mistaken Identity fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Nov 19, 2020 |
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Oct 24, 2020 21:21
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Donated 20$. Thanks for this OP
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Oct 25, 2020 03:28
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Before I became a goon I always wanted to travel to Yap. Do you have any Yap money and would you post a pic of it?
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Oct 25, 2020 04:02
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oh hey its over $1500 now!
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Oct 25, 2020 04:06
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Kiss Kiss Bang Bang posted:Before I became a goon I always wanted to travel to Yap. I don't own any Yap money, it stays put - nobody really moves them anymore, they sit in these 'banks'. So ownership changes hands, for things like large land purchases or other traditional ceremonial stuff, but the stones stay in the same place.  One day and we're already doubling the total, I can't thank you guys enough!
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Oct 25, 2020 04:17
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Chucked in a fiver, this is a sweet idea Edit:I don't have a lot but this seemed good NLJP fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Oct 26, 2020 |
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Oct 25, 2020 19:41
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Edit: wait, I'm a moron that didn't read the OP completely
DeadFatDuckFat fucked around with this message at 05:15 on Oct 26, 2020 |
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Oct 25, 2020 21:54
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| # ? Apr 29, 2024 11:56 |
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Donated. Christmas lights make me happy.
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Oct 26, 2020 03:31
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