Friday, April 22, 2011

Guest Post by Ron Saikowski - From The Warp

Those of you who follow this blog closely will know that I usually don't have "guest posts" on my blog, primarily because I'm too busy/lazy to coordinate them. This time, however, this post dropped into my lap, all ready and job done! I'd like to thank Ron for encapsulating many of the things that I've come to realize over the last year or so. Without further ado, here's Ron's post on charitable actions.

THREE REASONS WHY CHARITY WORK IS IMPORTANT by Ron Saikowski (of From The Warp fame)

Why get involved with charity work when it comes to your hobby?

That's a good question. There are lots of people who don't... and there are lot's of folks who do. But what makes those people who do get involved do it?

1. It makes a difference in others lives.
A while ago, maybe a month or so, I had the opportunity to help out with a local charity, Battle for the Cure. It was to be an auction to raise money to help someone get through cancer.

I had this Blood Angel mini on my desk for a while, I just didn't know what to do with him. Once this opportunity came along, I knew he'd be the perfect fit for the auction.

I never met the person, I have no idea how much money I was able to help raise and I didn't benefit from it myself, but... I know I made an impact in that person's life. Whether it was a few dollars or a few hundred, every little bit helps.

Being able to donate this mini and help raise money for the fight against cancer made a difference in their life. And that's plenty for me.

2. You do things you might not otherwise get to do.
If you follow my work recently, you've no doubt seen this guy. I did this one to help out a fellow hobbyist with a promotion.

I deliberately withdrew my name from the chance at winning as this model was done simply to help get the word out and give myself the chance to try something new.

If I hadn't done this model, I would have never painted a Howling Griffon. Let's be honest here, when am I going to fit that into my schedule? But by getting involved and helping out, I was able to push my painting and weathering skills into areas I hadn't quite been before.

3. It can make you feel good.
The Storm Wardens project. I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am to have been a part of that project.

Knowing that I was able to help raise the money we did to help Doctors Without Borders is an amazing feeling.

This project was huge and while my part might have been small, it was important nonetheless and I poured my heart and soul into it. Others were relying on me to come through with my portion.

Being able to be part of something bigger that has a positive impact on others can put things in perspective in your life. I am very proud to have helped out with this project. In fact more than one person made out in this one, we gave a ton of money to a great cause and a ton of minis to a great winner.

So what can you do right now?

Get involved with the Heroes of Armageddon Project. That's right. The same guys who created the Storm Wardens Project last year are back at it again. And I'm in on it too. In fact, tons of people are.


This thing is going to be huge. It's going to dwarf the Storm Wardens when it's all said and done. So how do you get involved? Easy. There are a two main ways.

1. Contribute. That's right. We're looking to raise money for Doctors Without Borders again and want this one to be off the charts. Each dollar you contribute gets you a chance at winning a number of prizes. Everything you want to know about the project is in one place...

Heroes of Armageddon

2. Spread the word about the project.
You can fly the banner for the next few months and tell everyone you know.
All the information for getting the banner for your sidebar and the links you'll need can be found right here.

As for me, I have a small part in this one too. You didn't think I'd let an opportunity like this slip by did you? I'm still getting all my pieces together, but I plan on doing something even better this time around.

Charity work and plain old helping people out is the right thing to do. It doesn't matter what side you're on either. We've all been in both places... there were times when we all needed just a little bit of help and we've all be able to help someone out before. Get involved. Help us help others.



Guest Post by Ron, From the Warp
If you have any questions on something in this post, leave a comment and I'll be glad to answer!
Thanks goes to Dave for letting me share this post.

9 comments:

  1. I know what you mean and well done. I have held a charity event using the hobby. I am currently serving in the British Army and having served in Afgahn and seeing the injury's and the ultimate sacrifice some have made I wanted to do something. So I decided to do a event for Help For Hero's over a 48hr period. It went very well and we raised £500. In the grand scheme of things it's not alot but it does help and was very much appreciated, plus it made me feel like I had done something.

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  2. Commissar Dave: Excellent! And it doesn't matter what the amount is... every little bit helps when it comes to things like this.

    You should feel like you did something too, that kind of things makes a difference.

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  3. I don't whether this has been talked about yet, but for anyone not involved in the painting who wants to contribute not only financially, or get the word out more creatively, how about writing backstories for the models being painted, statting up Armageddon-related ideas like new troop types, or making up house rules?

    This is even easier for the bloggers of course as they have the ready-made platform. I can see that getting the interest up pretty high. I have an idea or two I'll get onto and I'd recommend it to others as well.

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  4. Porky: Now that's an interesting idea. I wonder if in our zeal to get the models done to the best of our abilities, we overlook or inadvertently leave out some of the cool "extras" like the backstory and such.

    As for making up new rules and stats, I don't if I'm the person to be doing that... there are others out there who are much better at that kind of thing.

    Now you've got me thinking about what kind of history I'd like to have for the models I'll be doing for the project.

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  5. Really we can all just play to our strengths. Doesn't matter if it's writing, statting or even modelling or painting. Why not have auxiliary forces going on?

    By this I mean someone not doing one of the armies with the talent and time could put together a unit of their own. Even if it's not auctioned, every update on progress is a reminder.

    I'm not especially good at any one thing, but I'll give it a go. A little while back for fun I statted up a lesser daemon of Malal. Not especially playable, but it got the attention and it's still getting hits. The weirder, the better.

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  6. Porky: You make a very good point. Lots of folks have different strengths. All them can be used to generate additional exposure for the project.

    Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

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  7. I've got the first posted, some ash waste events. They're not specific to Armageddon as a planet so they could be used in any games.

    With enough people working on it, we could really get under the skin of the setting, into the darker corners. I'm thinking ash-buried complexes, hive interiors, leftovers from the Chaos invasion.

    If anyone else does want to join in, just go for it. Let me know and I'll link to it from my blog.

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  8. I'll tell you what Porky, you might do well to get with John and Mike from Santa Cruz Warhammer and let them know what you're up to.

    It might be something that can be expanded on depending on what they've got planned for the project.

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  9. كيفية تنظيف المنزل وتطهيره يوميًا للوقاية من العدوى: تحضير أدوات التنظيف ، تحضير مواد التنظيف الطبيعية مثل الخل وصودا الخبز ، والمطهرات القوية والمطهرات مثل الكلور والكحول وما شابه ذلك من مواد التنظيف التي لها تأثير قوي على البكتيريا والفيروسات. - ارتداء القفازات عند استخدام المنظفات الكيماوية لمنع تلف الجلد وكذلك زجاجات الرش وأقنعة الأنف. أدوات التنظيف الشائعة هي الدلاء ، والأقمشة النظيفة والإسفنج.
    خطة تنظيف المنزل اليومية أولاً وقبل كل شيء: ابدأ في تنظيف جميع الأشياء التي يتم استخدامها بشكل متكرر ومنتظم ، مثل مقابض الأبواب وحوامل المصابيح والأسطح والطاولات ومقاعد الحمام والمفاتيح والأشياء الشخصية المستخدمة بشكل متكرر داخل المنزل وخارجه ، و امسحيهم بالماء النظيف. مطهر قوي مثل الكلور المخفف بالماء.
    كيفية تنظيف المنزل

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