{"id":2448,"date":"2018-03-06T19:59:05","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T19:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnpicacio.com\/onthefront\/?p=2448"},"modified":"2018-03-06T22:29:55","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T22:29:55","slug":"there-is-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnpicacio.com\/onthefront\/2018\/03\/06\/there-is-another\/","title":{"rendered":"“There Is Another.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p> $\"\"$ On January 24th, I created The Mexicanx Initiative<\/a> to sponsor Worldcon 76<\/a> Attending Memberships for a few deserving Mexicanx sf\/f professionals and fans to attend the con. It was an idea I imagined when I was named Artist Guest of Honor last August, and the idea quickly became a \u2018thing\u2019 as some amazing friends and allies joined in, until we fully funded 50(!!!) Attending Memberships to Worldcon this summer.\n

The number of requests for these memberships has been overwhelming, rolling in from north and south of the current US\/Mexico border \u2014 and they continue to roll in. To date, we\u2019ve granted 34 Attending Memberships and you can see those amazing all-star Recipients pictured above. That means 16 more decisions have to be made in the coming weeks. I\u2019ve been moving at a fast, but thorough pace, announcing several per week, but that will now slow down as final roster spots are considered. So once that\u2019s done, mission accomplished, right?<\/p>\n

Publicly, I\u2019ve been generating Sponsorship money for the Mexicanx Initiative\u2019s Membership Fund, but all the while, I\u2019ve also been secretly working on a second Mexicanx Initiative Fund<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Enter the M.I.\u2019s Assistance Fund.<\/p>\n

While the initial Membership Fund is essentially \u201cmission accomplished\u201d because we fully funded 50 Attending Memberships, the Assistance Fund<\/strong> has been accepting separate monies since January, for helping Recipients with their travel, hotel and food needs because so many face an expensive, sometimes complex, journey. I\u2019ve been doing that without going public, but as of today \u2014 anyone<\/em> can give to The Fund, encouraging diversity and inclusion toward a stronger, more balanced sf\/f field.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s where you make it happen:
\nDonate To MEXICANX INITIATIVE ASSISTANCE FUND.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your money will go directly to Worldcon\u2019s Treasury. They will allocate it toward The Assistance Fund (different from the already-completed Sponsored Membership Fund). How will the Assistance Fund money be distributed to the Recipients? Every dollar will be given to the Recipients via Worldcon 76\u2019s Registration Team at the convention in August, and will be distributed in equal portions. I suspect our south-of-the-border Mexicanx will receive the bulk of the funds, divided evenly amongst them. The north-of-the-border Mexicanx will receive the remainder, again divided evenly amongst them. No Assistance grants will be distributed until funding is completed, but 100% will go to our Membership Recipients at Worldcon 76.<\/p>\n

This way, all will receive a share of assistance, but the south-of-the-border attendees will receive more than the north, which is what I want. In the coming weeks, I hope we can generate at least $15,000 to help these folks make their Worldcon dream come true, and from what I\u2019m hearing, we already have $6000 toward that figure.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s do this.<\/strong>
\n
\nAppreciated, all.<\/em><\/p>\n

In Loteria We Trust.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"