The Bubel Aiken Foundation Comes in 6th Place in "America's Giving Challenge", But Its All Good!!

Parade Magazine's "America's Giving Challenge" ended on Thursday, 1/31, with The Bubel Aiken Foundation in 6th place. As you know, the top 4 charities won $50,000 from Network For Good. But though BAF did not win the $50,000, everyone still came out a winner! Through the hard work and dedication of the fans, a total of $25,774 was given in donations by 1922 donors! This is enough for over two summer camps, and we are all very excited about that! In addition to this, the top 100 charities will receive $1000 from Network For Change.

The donor rankings will not be verified until later in February. According to Parade Magazine:

Our donation partners are currently analyzing results. We will announce the official challenge champions on or about February 21 - so be sure to check back soon!

But the best news of all is that The Bubel Aiken Foundation will be included in Parade's article about "America's Giving Challenge". LVClayCDparty at The Clayboard wrote the following:

The VP of Marketing for Network for Good said that they want to do the write up for Parade magazine of not only the top 4, but to include several of the others who did an awesome job with the fundraising, including The Bubel/Aiken Foundation!!! WOOHOOO!! I told her that when we thought we might lose the write up in Parade by losing that 4th spot, that was almost as bad as losing the $50K to us. Because the BAF is not well known and is still a relatively new organization, we were really wanting to get in the top 4 for the write up in Parade & that national exposure! She said that they were interested in more than just the top 4 getting that coverage in Parade magazine!! I would think that Aron will be glad to work on them with that!!

This will get the word out about BAF in a huge way! The readership of Parade is huge.

In conclusion, it was extremely encouraging to see so many people looking at the positive aspects of this fundraiser, in spite of our loss. Really we didn't lose. We all came out winners. BAF received $25,000 in donations, $1000 from Network For Change, and will be included in the Parade article. And the fans gave this their all and worked so well together in trying to make this happen for BAF. They encouraged each other and cheered each other on, asked others to donate, made banners and lists of people willing to donate for others, and never gave up. This has brought the fans closer together and shown that we not only care about Clay, but we care about his charity and the children it will help. To quote some of those from The Clayboard who took part in this wonderful experience:

Just think of all of the children whose summer we have made for this year. Way to go ClayNation... Clayncfan

We were in competition with 859 US based charities. We did a FANTASTIC JOB!!... annieg9

We sure made a valiant effort and raised over $25,000 in that short amount of time!... Claymama

Great news about TBAF getting in the PARADE writeup! This will give the foundation HUGE national exposure and who knows what wonderful things will come out of that alone? We have enough in donations to fund 2 1/2 summer camps even though we got a late start on this challenge, don't forget that! We are WINNERS in EVERY respect but the REAL winners are the kids that this money will help to learn, to grow and to accept others for the special people that they are no matter their abilities. We did well guys. Really well!... Tiggy52winkle

Those on this Board that just never gave up are the heros in this endeavor. I am so proud of the energy and tenacity you displayed. I will know more about "cards", etc. when we are given another opportunity. $25,000 is an admirable accomplishment and mainly just $10. 47 at a time. Those that won the $50,000 are to be commended and will take that money and do good in our world. It is all good!... Invisiblemmay

Alright everyone, its finally hitting me! All these late nights on the computer. All the conversations with so many of you helping to keep this outfront and in the limelight! I was hoping I could wait until I got off work.. I guess not.. Reading all your wonderful posts and how excited we all are with what we accomplished is truly melting my heart! My coworkers can't understand why I have tears in my eyes.. You all amaze me more than I can possibly say. It has been such a pleasure working with such a wonderful group of people. I feel so blessed to be a part of this GREAT CLAY NATION!! Thank you all SO MUCH!...Claydreamer07

Many thanks to those who led the cause: Claydreamer07, Foxylady, LVClayCDparty, and Rainlover who started the whole idea by posting about Parade's contest in the first place!! This was a most awesome experience. Everyone should be proud of their contribution.