5 Things to Crowdfund

Five different projects that you can help get off the ground, including a mural, a graphic novel, and something NASCAR-related.

April 15, 2014; 6:00 AM • by Sam Davies

Your neighbors have really upped their game so let’s reward them by funding all of their campaigns. You’ll be a small part of their success and feel great about it.

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Glide Skateboards

Brian Lopez’s Glide Skateboards turns Richmond’s reclaimed wood into hand-crafted skateboards. He’s seeking funding to purchase new machinery and materials to help him create “unique artifacts” for more people.

• Goal: $11,000
• Campaign Ends: May 10th
• Best Reward: If you are a skateboarder, $200 gets you an “Ahi” deck crafted out of reclaimed floorboards. If you aren’t, $35 gets you a laser-engraved bottle opener made out of the same.

I Am Michael Watcher Graphic Novel

Local writer Brian Hawkins is looking for funding to help print the first six-issue arc of his comic, I Am Michael Watcher. He describes it as a “serial mystery comic” and just from reading the sample pages on the Kickstarter site, I really want to see what happens next.

• Goal: $2,500
• Campaign Ends: April 19th
• Best Reward: $5 gets you a PDF of each issue as it is released.

Taboo Art Whino Mural

I hadn’t thought about it before, but it makes sense that adult stores don’t have windows. While walls provide a valuable community service in this regard, Taboo–“Richmond’s newest and largest adult store”–doesn’t have the most exciting external aesthetic. Owner, Alison Barber, wants to change that by sponsoring their own Art Whino Mural.

• Goal: $2,000
• Campaign Ends: April 25th
• Best Reward: If you are a person inclined to wear a hoodie with the logo of an adult store on it, $75 is a small amount to pay to fulfill your dream.

NASCAR at the Valentine Richmond History Center

I know what you are thinking, won’t putting a NASCAR “Thing” next to the Adult Store “Thing” cause some sort of universe implosion? Maybe, but hear me out. I’m going to talk about actual school children later and needed a buffer. The Valentine–seeking to bring a NASCAR fender to its What Do We Value? section of its This is Richmond, Virginia exhibition–was the only one I had left.¹

• Goal: $1,000
• Campaign Ends: May 11th
• Best Reward: Pledge $100 and your name will be listed on the fender’s label in the exhibit. People will think you are fancy.

Send a Local Team of 4th-7th Graders to the Global Destination Imagination Tournament

Destination Imagination is an organization that offers open-ended challenges in “STEM, Improv, Visual Arts, Service Learning, and Early Learning.” A local team, The Voldegarmatines, has a chance to compete at the Global Tournament this May in Tennessee. They are asking you to help fund 40% of their travel costs to get there.

• Goal: $3,500
• Campaign Ends: May 20
• Best Reward: If you donate $35, The Voldegarmatines will photoshop you into a photo with their very own Octodad-inspired Chief of the Calculator Rescue Squad. I don’t know what that is, but I really want it.

April 15, 2014 6:00 AM 0