Monday, January 17, 2011

CharityPatch.com Needs To Identify Ten to Twelve Worthy Charities

It's a little early (because the patch is not designed yet) but there is a need to identify ten to twelve worthy charities which CharityPatch.com will support in 2011 when the patch is designed, made, in hand and available for sale for charitable causes and delivery to purchasers.

Within the next few days I intend to start to highlight several candidates CharityPatch.com may support in 2011.

If you are familiar with the specific charities, I ask that you leave an objective comment and weigh in with your opinion.

The goal is to identify some top tier organizations which are participants in missionfish.org so that donations may be collected and routed from PayPal payments.

At this point, this appears to be the most efficient way to support multiple charities. A bit of research needs to be done on MissionFish.org fee structure so things are structured so as little of the proceeds is taken in fees as possible.

So if you have familiarity on that topic, I invite your remarks as well in a further post which will solicit comments regarding MissionFish.org fees, etc.

CharityPatch is also banging a few ideas around regarding promotion and some interim products and ideas to raise some money for charitable causes.

Stay tuned for future details.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Times Are Tough - Another Harley Davidson Dealership Closes

A Vallejo, CA Harley Davidson Dealership that had been in business 20 years is throwing in the towel due to the recession.

I think Vallejo has had a Harley Davidson dealer for 100 years.

My closest dealership in Stone Mountain, GA - actually closer to Snellville, GA consolidated into one dealership which is located in Conyers, GA a while back.

The metropolitan Atlanta area still has seven Harley Davidson dealerships.

That's a lot of dealerships for one area.

Hope all of them stay open.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Speaking of Patriot Guard Riders . . .

The Patriot Guard Riders have a challenge coin that they hand out to injured soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital.

I'd like to encourage you to visit their link and read about what they are doing. I think that is a good idea, and I'd like to help out with it.

I'd like to encourage you to either visit their store and order some of those yourself for our wounded military, or visit CharityPatch.com and consider making a gift and earmarking it toward Patriot Guard Rider Challenge Coins.

I'd really like to help put some of those in the hands of wounded soldiers.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Another Example of a Charity Patch

The Patriot Guard Riders have a new patch they are using to raise money for their charitable causes.

Their patch is $10 and goes toward their trademark defense fund.

Apparently they have a dispute with an individual over trademark.

I don't know the details of their trademark dispute, and frankly don't care to know the details of their trademark dispute, but I do know that the Patriot Guard Riders paying respect to our fallen military and shielding military families from inappropriate protests at military funerals is a just cause.

Maybe you would like to consider visiting their website and buying a patch, maybe not.

It's another example of a charity patch.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Some time to think . . .

I spent over four hours in my car today traveling about 30 miles in metropolitan Atlanta.

Four days after getting about six inches of sleet, snow and freezing rain and our roads were still a mess.

Spending four hours in car going no where gives you some time to think.

I thought about the weather and how cold it was (below freezing) and it reminded me of a time when I had visited the Tomb of the Unknown soldier in Arlington National Cemetery one winter when it was spitting snow.

I watched the change of the guards in the cold and the snow. It's a very impressive thing to see at any time, I've been there more than once, but it's particularly impressive if you are there sometime when the weather isn't exactly perfect.

I'd really encourage you to visit there if your travels ever take you to the capital city of Washington, DC.

I can't convey the caliber of people we have in this country. If you ever visit there and see the changing of the guard, you'll know what I mean.

Do that some time before you die.

Put it on your "things to do before I die" list if you haven't been there and personally witnessed the changing of the guard.

Very impressive.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

One Small Gesture - Winter Solitude

Today I read a few people posting about taking their own personal rides locally in different parts of the country (thank you Texas), and more indicating they would have ridden had the weather conditions been better (thank you southerners).

I understand that the middle of the winter and the middle of a winter snow storm with temperatures below freezing isn't exactly the best time to roll out an idea for riding a motorcycle.

The cause, despite the weather, is a warm one. I know for me, it is both the right thing to do, and the right time to be doing it.

Maybe doing a just a small thing to show respect to others is the right thing for someone somewhere else to be doing, also.

The King James Version of the Bible, Luke Chapter 16, Verse 10 reads:

He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much.

Personal honesty, personal integrity.

They both matter.

Here's a photograph I took of my Christmas present against a snowy background yesterday. My neighbor is a veteran and he has his flying also.


They look good against a snowy background. (You can click the image and view a larger one.)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 - The date of the first rides

Well folks, it was freezing over most of the south today; and I mean freezing in the sense of ice freezing, as in frozen ice all over the place.

I didn't see any cars, and I didn't see any -other- motorcycles.

I actually don't know of anyone else locally that took a ride in Honor of Those Who Serve, but I did.

It was 29 degrees in Atlanta when I rode. I had to work on the 11th, so I didn't ride until after dark. The streets were empty and it was like riding on solid ice, mainly because at times - I was actually riding on solid ice. I wouldn't recommend that to most people. It's a great way to royally mess up a nice motorcycle in just a couple of seconds. (Hey ya'll - watch this.)

So needless to say, my ride was abbreviated and I was lucky because the road gremlins were apparently too frozen to bother me. So, I managed a little out and back ride without crashing.

Fishtailing on ice on a heavy Harley bagger is an "interesting" feeling, avoiding frozen ruts in the ice and trying to judge your speed when stopping so you don't shoot the bike out from underneath you on the ice is something you pretty much get right or not. Instant feedback. Pass or fail. Win or lose. That's what life is like sometimes. No ambiguity.

When I pulled back into my driveway, there was about a 14' x 10' stretch of solid ice that you could ice skate on.

I took a motorcycle ride on snow and solid ice in 29 degree weather because it is such an insignificant thing to do, compared to what our first responders do; that I just did not see anyway that I could not have done it.

Doing something like that if nothing else gives you something to focus your mind on and it gives you perspective.

Perspective that wind is cold, ice is hard and slick, and some people are just better than most of us.

I'm just a normal sort of person, but our military, our veterans, our first responders - those people whether they would acknowledge it or not - they are heroes and they deserve our respect.

PS. Yes - an American flag was on my motorcycle. Put one on yours and join me in February wherever you are located.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Six Inches of Snow In Atlanta, GA

Mother nature just isn't cooperating with the idea of lots of people riding their motorcycles with American flags flying on the 11th this month. The entire southern USA got pummeled with a global warming event called "snow".

That's right, first snow on Christmas since the late 1800's and now I'm looking at six inches of snow sitting on a base of frozen sleet topped off with about a quarter inch of freezing rain.

All indications are that this is going to travel right up the east coast to New England and mucky muck up the whole shebang from across the south right up the east coast.

Here's a news article about the Georgia weather.

Believe me when I say it's a mess, which brings me to my point.

Our first responders are out in the elements and just deal with it. If you were to watch the local news and believe the things coming out of people's mouths one could think people have never encountered snow or ice before. Granted, some people in Atlanta drive like they never have, but our service men and service women and first responders deal with the elements all the time.

They go when no one else wants to to deal with things most people would prefer to just conveniently ignore or just watch on TV.

That's one example of why they're better than most of us and a small example of why they deserve our respect.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

I like it when companies do things like this . . .

I read an article about Victory Motorcycles giving away two Vegas Eight Ball Motorcycles to two individuals in the military.

How cool is that?

And what is a Vegas 8 Ball motorcycle you might ask . . .


Clutch and Chrome has the full article, go read it.

Pretty cool thing to do, I say.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

What is a charity patch?

This one is an under handed lobbed soft ball right over the plate that we'll just go ahead and knock out of the park.

A patch is little thing made of cloth and thread that in an of itself really doesn't have a lot of material value. They are usually made of cotton or a cotton nylon blend and the materials that go into the patch aren't particularly valuable.

A finished patch however usually has personal meaning to the holder of the patch and depending on the nature of the patch, one can have great personal meaning. Patches have historically been given to symbolize rites of passage through a group's internal codes and ranks. They're used in the military, in law enforcement and in the boy and girl scouts.

A charity patch is a patch that is sold and some or all of the proceeds given to a charitable cause.

Here's an example of a different company selling a charity patch (not CharityPatch.com).

Lowbrow Customs - a really neat-o company out of Ohio, I believe, has a motorcycle patch they have designed to be sold for $5.00 with the proceeds going to charity. They're looking to raise $12,000 for local schools by June. It's a pretty cool retro patch with a motorcycle wheel and wings.

Their stuff is always different and interesting, or at least it is to me.

Check out Lowbrow Custom's charity patch.

You might even want to order 20 for your friends.

That's an example of a charity patch.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Charity Patch's Other Websites

Since I'm on the tangent of chit chatting about website rankings, and super secret search engine optimization and guru tricks, but mainly just so you know - the website CharityPatch.info links back to this blog, and CharityPatch.org also links back to the CharityPatch.com website.

Why do all that?

It's proprietary, our resident geeky wizards won't let us get into details on what they are doing, why they do it or how they do it, but it sure works!

Those geeky wizards are devoted to seeing American Flags flying in 2011 too, so you just gotta respect that.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Excellent News for a new website!

CharityPatch.com has managed to grab the number one #1 spot in the Google search engine for the term "charity patch" which is an awesome accomplishment for a simple start up website with just a few links that hasn't been around more than a couple of weeks.

Just goes to show you that doing things the old fashioned way can and still does work. A website hosted using free hosting from GoDaddy.com and built using MicroSoft's NotePad.

Pretty cool.

Since we're now starting to be smoking hot in the search engines, there's really no reason why you shouldn't come by, enter some information about your biker event, ride or rally that you're planning on 911Rides.com.

While you're there, check out the Charity Patch website and sign the Guest Book. There's a place where you can leave your home page in the guest book and if you say something cool, that's a free link right back to your website from a #1 ranked website. How cool is that?

Maybe you should be super Fonzie cool, and also give CharityPatch.com a link back from your website or home page, or social networking site or whatever and support our cause in that small way. Why?

If people can find it, they'll read about it and if they read about it, they'll like it, and if they like it, they'll tell their friends, who will tell their friends, and so on, and so on, and so on.

Which is the objective.

Let's see those flags flying in 2011!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

What sort of donation projects do you have in progress?

CharityPatch.com is currently seeking gifts for three open projects, one for the website and two for injured soldiers:

1) ~ $47.88 to fund CharityPatch.com web hosting through December 31, 2011, at $3.99 a month.

2) $59.25 to fund 15 Patriot Guard coins at $3.95 each. (Patriot Guard delivers these to soldiers in hospitals.)

3) $150 to place a second Wounded Warrior Pack

If you would care to help out, even a small donation matters and is appreciated.

CharityPatch.com is working on identifying the charities it intends to support in the fall of 2011 and will provide additional information about each one as time progresses.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Has CharityPatch.com made any charitable donations yet?

Yes, ChairtyPatch.com purchased its first Wounded Warrior Pack from the Under Armour company on January 1st, 2011 and the Under Armour company indicated it had shipped the Wounded Warrior Pack on January 3rd, 2011.

So, the first Wounded Warrior Pack should be arriving at a hospital for delivery to a wounded soldier very soon.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Does CharityPatch.com have a charitable goal?

CharityPatch.com seeks to raise money for charitable causes by designing and having a patch made which will be sold via eBayin the fall of 2011 with the proceeds of the patch sales (less the shipping and handling charges) donated to various charities registered with MissionFish.org.

CharityPatch.com hopes to increase awareness of specific charitable causes, to provide the tools for others to inform others about events which they have organized that honor and respect veterans, first responders and soldiers.

CharityPatch.com also seeks to provide a means for people to support specific charitable ideas by allowing people to make fractional smaller gift earmarked for a specific purpose.

For example, CharityPatch.com has identified a large corporate sponsor, the Under Armour company, that works with a charitable organization, the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity that supports soldiers injured in the line of duty. The Under Armour company offers a backpack which contains toiletries, clothing items and comfort items to make a soldier's hospital stay more comfortable which is available for $150.00 from Under Armour for delivery to a hospital and ultimate delivery to a wounded soldier.

CharityPatch.com allows donors to make a fractional donation earmarked for a Wounded Warrior Pack and when enough donations are received to purchase the item, or matching contributions are made, the item is purchased. This allows someone who may prefer or need to support a cause with a smaller gift participate in a larger gift.

Through a patchwork of people from diverse geographic areas, CharityPatch.com provides a means for people to collectively help others.

CharityPatch.com will typically list on the website the donors who made a specific gift possible, the next goal and the money needed to reach the next goal.

Please note that gifts to CharityPatch.com are not tax deductible, similar to the Wounded Warrior Packs which may be purchased from Under Armour are not tax deductible when CharityPatch.com purchases those.

If your primary goal in making a small charitable contribution is that your gift be tax deductible, you probably should not gift to CharityPatch.com. However, if you would like to participate in something bigger than yourself and can gift in a small way, please consider gifting to one of our worthy causes.

Gifts directly to charities CharityPatch.com identifies are also encouraged. If you would be willing to let the charity know you found out about them through CharityPatch.com that would be terrific, as would any direct donation to a third party charity identified by CharityPatch on behalf of CharityPatch.com

Sunday, January 2, 2011

What is 911Rides.com

911Rides.com is a rides calendar website that allows people organizing tribute rides throughout 2011 to locate tribute rides to attend, or to submit rides which they organize to a rides calendar so others may know about the rides and attend them.

The rides calendar served up at 911Rides.com was made possible by some very nice people who operate Bikers Welcome USA. I encourage you to visit their websites and to support them.

As you plan your rides in 2011, one thing I would encourage you to consider attending is National Armed Services Freedom Ride on May 21st of 2011 which is going on simultaneously in several states. This is their second year doing this, their ride last year was on May 15th.

If their ride is too far away for you to attend, consider looking on the 911Rides.com rides calendar to see if there has been something organized in your area and if not, maybe you can use the tools available to organize and promote your own ride.

Good resources for promoting local rides are social media websites, like bikerornot.com for example, and others.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

What is CharityPatch.com?

CharityPatch.com is a new website established in December 2010 to promote the idea of people nationwide organizing tribute rides for veterans, first responders, service men and service women on a local level and flying the American flag.

Rides of love, honor and respect.

To further this goal, CharityPatch.com has sponsored a website where people can post local rides and events 911Rides.com.

Please consider joining in local events in your area in 2011, flying the American flag while you ride and if your local area doesn't have a local event, please consider organizing one and sharing it on 911Rides.com.