The Five Dollars Go To Charity

The Five Dollar Vacation is a charity project which began in the Spring of 2009. The ultimate aim of the project was to use The Five Dollars in a variety of ways to raise money for a great many deserving charities around the world. Just as no vacation can last for ever, that is equally true for The Five Dollars' Vacation and the project will formally end on December 31st, 2009. This site is where The Five Dollars will be seen to go their separate ways in the fashions which I have devised.

A brief guide to what it was all about

The Five Dollars' Vacation technically began one Spring day in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was while I was in Edinburgh to assist in the charity project begun by Squidoo's Jaguar Julie, entitled, "The Journal of the Traveling Squid," that I unwrapped the associated parcel to find that Julie had sent me Five Dollars to assist with the ongoing postage for the material. It was at that point that I deemed to do, "Something," worthwhile with these Five Dollars and the rest, as is often said, is history...

The full story of The Five Dollar Vacation - and more extraordinary pictures like the one to the right taken at The Great Wall of China - can be found by accessing the link immediately below.

That wonderful quality so important yet frequently difficult to maintain

Faith is of course something which is a very personal issue for each of us. Faith is not just something which we may practise in a religious sense but something which touches so many aspects of our daily lives. As I stated on The Five Dollar Vacation principal site, I believe that it was faith which prompted me to start this project off in the first instance. I had faith that I could achieve more with The Five Dollars than simply donating them as they were to charity. I very much hope that I have now gone some considerable way towards justifying that faith which I had, not only in myself, but in all the people who have contributed to the project in so many different ways.

The genuine concern for the future and desire for a better tomorrow

Hope is another human attribute which can take so many different forms. When we talk about hope in the bigger picture, however, I like to think that we are referring to the hope for the future and for a better world in which everyone can live. This is an all-encompassing hope for an end to wars and famines, hatred and prejudice, crime and disease; so many widespread factors which contribute to what ails the world in which we presently live. Hope is a belief almost that we can combat these undesireable qualities and that even where they may not totally be eliminated, they can at least be brought under control for the greater benefit of all mankind.

What better symbol of hope, bearing all of the above in mind, can there be other than children? The future is about these children, what they learn, what they achieve and how they shape the world. It is imperative therefore that these young children be given every chance in life and that they be in the best possible position to make a positive impact upon the world.

Dollar Two will attempt to bring hope to countless young lives by raising funds for the hospital

It is my great pleasure to announce that Dollar Two will be used to raise funds for The Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) in Glasgow. The hospital treats tens of thousands of children from all over Scotland every year but is always in desperate need of donations from members of the public in order to give these children the best possible care that they can receive and provide them with the maximum hope for the future.

In this respect, a charitable evening of entertainment was held in The Horseshoe Bar, Muir Street, Motherwell, Lanarkshire on Tuesday, 1st December, 2009. Full details of this event can be found via the link in the previous sentence but it is my great pleasure to reveal that we managed to raise a total of £800.00 for this most deserving of charities.

If you could not attend the event - for whatever reason - but still wish to make a donation to Yorkhill Children's Hospital, you may do so via the link below:

Donate to Yorkhill Childrens' Foundation

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009, saw Jane Forrest and I visit the offices of the Yorkhill Children's Foundation at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill) in Glasgow. The above picture shows us presenting the cheque - as well as the framed and dedicated Dollar Two (Hope) - to Abigail of the Yorkhill Children's Foundation.

A close-up of the dedication plaque is shown below, with the small print text (difficult to read in the photograph) reading:

"The children are the future, the Hope the world does bear,

Their well-being and development, are duties we must share;

For those who give sick children Hope, who help them in their plight,

Let Dollar Two shine in the dark and bring to them some light.

Dollar Two is hereby presented to the Yorkhill Children's Foundation on behalf of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill), along with 800.00 raised by the staff and patrons of The Horseshoe Bar, Motherwell, this 8th day of December, 2009."

The process of giving selflessly of one's time or money to those in need

The Five Dollars will all of course be made to represent charity in their five distinct ways but Dollar Three is to be made to represent the concept of charity. Although it is possible to benefit charities in a great many ways by either donating one's money or one's time, the concept of being charitable is something which is practised almost as a lifestyle by a number of very special people. It is this type of charity which Dollar Three will be looking to help benefit.

The ability to take control of one's own destiny

There will of course be a majority of people reading this page who have been fortunate enough to know what we commonly define as freedom all of their lives. There are, however, hundreds of millions of people on this planet who have never known freedom. These people live under regimes which restrict their freedom in the name of politics, religion, or simple tyranny.

Equally, the freedom enjoyed in most of the Western World is not something which could have existed were it not for the sacrifices made by so many over the years, decades and centuries, in fighting against those who would oppress the masses and ensuring that their schemes and plans either did not come to fruition or were overturned, often by the payment of the ultimate price and the making of the ultimate sacrifice.

Frequently touted as the greatest of all emotions

The challenge I face in dedicating Dollar Five is, I believe, the most difficult one of the five. Not only is love often described as the greatest and most powerful of all human emotions, it can of course take many distinct forms. Love is very often unconditional, in the case of such as divine love or even a mother's love, but love can also be something which is made to wither and die through the actions or inactions of another. Love is something which each of us must find in our hearts and strive to hold on to wherever possible. Otherwise, our lives and our world will be all but meaningless, barren and empty.

Thank you for your visit to this site and hopefully to The Five Dollar Vacation site as well. I hope that you have enjoyed reading about The Five Dollars and their Vacation and that you can spare a moment to effectively sign the Guestbook below.