Heyyyyyyyyyyyy
Just wanted to pop in here to say thank you to everyone that has so generously donated. There is no "right" amount, because any amount is an appreciated amount. It's been a really cool thing to see the e-mails pop in randomly about a donation here and there, and it's all for the benefit of the site! So thank you all, seriously, sincerely, it really does help.
We purposely have been trying to work out a system that DOESN'T involve companies paying us to keep the site running. For years this was paid for out of personal pocket. And it's not that we didn't have crazy illusions of grandeur about this being a business (because there was a moment we did,) but it was in those moments that every effort to try to make AFN a "business," we all fucking hated it to put it bluntly. It's just not the skin that fits this community. And we could try to make this a pure profitable piggy bank, fucking A we could make MONEY with this if that was the intent/goal, but.... then what? You guys want another bullshit forum on the internet? Aren't there plenty of those already (I call them our competitors
) But truthfully we're not in competition. AFN does not model itself after other forums. I have no accounts on any other forum out there for cannabis other than Unleash Da Green, and I don't even know if that's around anymore. We do things OUR way
But, I do understand the merit of your suggestion. If companies want to donate to the GoFundMe, they are more than welcome and maybe that's something we can help at least encourage in the near to immediate future (but we're not going to make it a requirement, nor is it a requirement for anyone in this community.) No member of this community has to do anything. As a group of volunteer staff, we asked ourselves "how should we go about this" and a number of suggestions were for a fundraiser. We wanted to stress that we were NOT in the pocket of the vendors.
In lieu of payments from these companies, instead AFN has donated I'd say easily over $100,000+ in genetics, grow lights, nutrients, and other products to growers in this community. Instead of making fat stacks, we're helping growers. And while tough times and weak bank accounts sometimes make us feel the opposite, ultimately I know that's what makes this the place worth logging into