2009 Charity Auction  ◊   Charity Submissions  ◊   2009 Blood Drive

2009 Dragon*Con Charity Auction

Director: John Tackett

Imagine visiting your mother on Christmas day and not have her know who you are. How about watching your grandfather, who was once a master violinist, just sit and stare at his violin unable to even figure out what it is. Or an uncle, who holds 3 electronic patents, lying in bed in a fetal position unaware of the world around him. For me I do not have to imagine it.. it is real life.

As the director of Charity Events for Dragon*Con, I am proud to announce that this year’s charity auction will benefit the Georgia Chapter of the American Alzheimer’s Association.  Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and fatal brain disease. As many as 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer's destroys brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life. Alzheimer’s gets worse over time, and it is fatal. Today it is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States.

It is the most common form of dementia, a general term for the loss of memory and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 50 to 70 percent of dementia cases. It has no current cure, but treatments for symptoms, combined with the right services and support, can make life better for the millions of Americans living with Alzheimer’s. There is an accelerating worldwide effort under way to find better ways to treat the disease, delay its onset, or prevent it from developing. For more information on this devastating disease please visit http://www.alz.org/georgia/.

I am inviting all guests, attendees and programming tracks of Dragon*Con 2009 open up their wallets (and their programming schedules) and help us raise money for this worthwhile organization. Some of the items we currently have are; a signed hardback copy of Brisingr by Christopher Paolini; collectible Star Wars Action Figures, including the Lucas Family Action Figures; and autographed pictures from past D*C guests. But we need more to help make this year’s event a success.  We are looking for donations for this year’s auction, especially collectibles, one of a kind, or autographed items. If you would like to donate to this year’s auction, please contact John Tackett at charityevents@dragoncon.org.

On behalf of the conventions and the Charity Events staff, I just want to also say thanks to all that have made the Dragon*Con charity events successful in the past years. In the past 2 years we have raised over $40,000 for the American Diabetes Association and the American heart Association. We have also collected over 1500 pints of blood in our annual blood drive. In fact the blood drive last year won a national award for the creativity of the event. Let’s keep the streak going for 2009.

John Tackett
Director of Charity Events

»  Back to Top

Charity Submissions

Coming Soon!

»  Back to Top

2009 Robert A. Heinlein "Pay It Forward" Blood Drive

In 1976, only a few years after recovery from two years of extensive illnesses that prevented his final editing “cuts” of I Will Fear No Evil, Robert Heinlein put his own words into action. With the help of other science fiction devotees, including many well-known authors, he organized a blood drive at MidAmericon, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention. It was the first of many such blood drives and was the start of a tradition.

In 2008, Dragon*Con took up the challenge to more than double the number of units donated in 2007 (319 units), and beat the total collected by the San Diego Blood Bank of 856 units, just five weeks earlier at Comic Con—not an easy feat when one considers the size of Dragon*Con! 

Never a group to back down from a challenge, our attendees exceeded even our wildest and most optimistic expectations! By the time the dust settled, 1,165 individuals had registered to donate blood, 938 of them had successfully donated—75 of them double red donations using the ALYX machines—for a total of 1,013 units collected, making this the single largest blood drive ever at an SF related convention! Twenty people were even able to donate platelet aphaeresis, which is a first for any Sci-Fi convention.

In 2009, our 7th year of the “Pay It Forward” Blood Drive at Dragon*Con, sponsored by The Heinlein Society and LifeSouth Community Blood Center, we have a new, even more ambitious goal of 1200 units.

If you’ve ever enjoyed the Grand Master’s work as we have, thank him by “paying it forward” in the way he would have appreciated the most, and join us at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, on the Atrium Level, rooms A701–A702. Each donor receives a cloisonne pin originally designed by Heinlein for the MidAmericon blood drive, as well as a t-shirt and a chance to win other cool stuff! Please see below to see when we are open. We’ll see you there!

• Thursday - 11:00a.m. - 10:00p.m.
• Friday - 10:00a.m. - 7:00p.m
• Saturday- 10:00a.m. - 7:00p.m.
• Sunday - 10:00a.m. - 7:00p.m.
• Monday - 9:00a.m. - 3:00p.m.

Check out what the Heinlein Society had to say about last year's blood drive here.

"Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done."  ~ Robert A. Heinlein

JUST IN!---Just Add Hot Water...and they Bleed!
Be one of the first 500 people to give blood at the Dragon*Con Blood Drive and get one of these awesome "bleeding" mugs courtesy of CW 69's Atlanta and The Vampire Diaries.

»  Back to Top