Over the next week or so, Nerdy Minds will be publishing a good bit of content on Anime Weekend Atlanta, a convention that took place last weekend. This article, though, while relevant to the convention, starts before the con.
Last Wednesday, two days before she was supposed to attend AWA, a cosplayer named Kathleen Morphew (also known affectionately as “Sailor Venus”) was in a horrible car accident while driving with her mother. She was sent to the ICU, and later she had to have emergency surgery on two of her organs.
This sort of tragedy would be tough enough to deal with, but Kathleen also lost her mother in the accident. Kathleen was left with no medical insurance, no income, and, worst of all, no mother to help her through her recovery.
Her friends, though, stepped up to the plate. They created an Indiegogo page asking for donations to help with Kathleen’s medical bills, as well as with her physical and emotional recovery from what has happened. Her friends asked for a modest $500, and within six hours, the goal had been met. With forty-five days left, the campaign has raised over $2000. This sounds like a lot by itself, but anyone who has spent time in a hospital knows that, even with medical insurance, the bills can be overwhelming.
This isn’t a large budget project. There are no t-shirts or buttons or coffee mugs or VIP trips for people who donate. The rewards consist of smiles, tears, and “the warm fuzzy”, which, as they describe it, is “that bit of warmth that radiates from the inside to melt away even the coldest of thoughts because your donation is going to do so much.”
The “Nerd Community” is capable of amazing things. Firefly got a movie. Veronica Mars is returning on the big screen… And now we have a chance to do something that really matters. We have the chance to help make the toughest time in a young cosplayer’s life a little less overwhelming.
We have no connection with the page. We haven’t spoken with anyone involved in the project. But when one of our own faces what Kathleen is facing, we have to do something, and that’s what we are urging our readers to do as well. Even if it’s only a donation of one dollar, that is one dollar less that she will have to worry about as she works through her recovery.
We encourage you to visit the Indiegogo page to get more information, and we hope that you will consider donating, regardless of the amount. Of course, if you can’t donate, even just sharing this post will help because your friends and family probably can.
Even if you are unable to donate, spread the signal! Share this link on your preferred social networking site! Let’s take this campaign to the moon!
If we can rally together, donating to and spreading the word of our favorite video games, TV shows, and comics, we can certainly come together on something that really matters.
Find the “Love for Venus” Indiegogo page here. Join the facebook community of others determined to do something here.
Nerdy Minds Magazine 
Comments? Questions?