Sometime after the December issue of the VI was published, the subject of keeping the Virtual Indian online magazine alive and funding it came up on the list. Moen assured everyone that a new issue was in the works but it was taking up an increasing amount of his time and funds to keep going.

Prior to this, there was a tee shirt fundraiser which was fairly successful. I suggested to the list that perhaps we should try coffee mugs. Before I knew it, I had over 100 mugs committed to, and had volunteered for the job of obtaining them, collecting funds and shipping them off.

John Prusneck, another list member gave me a quote for 144 mugs and even sent me a sample based on Moen's artwork. John's price was within the ballpark of the prices I had received around my area so I decided to keep it a list effort and buy them from him.

Stan Jessup, the VI lister who collected the donations, sent me the funds he had collected. This money was enough to cover the entire cost of the mugs. For a detailed account go here.

After I received the mugs I notified the list. Orders were received and mugs shipped out. Out of the 156 mugs that were produced, 84 were sold. Of the remaining 72, 36 were shipped to Moen and 36 are still available in the States for purchase. Information on obtaining a mug to the right of here.

By the last mug sale, there was $731.22 in the VI kitty. Most of this money has been Western Unioned to Moen. For a detailed account go here.

I would like to thank everyone who participated for making this a truly group effort. The very fact that you are reading this means it was a successful effort and the VI is alive. It was touching to see the nice comments I received from people concerning the list and this effort. It was also neat getting some cool stamps from all over the world. 

Once again, thank you for making this a successful effort. 

Lyle

PS: In addition to the contributions and mug sales listed here, we had a donation of $20 from a VI Lister, and sales via our Amazon associate deal has netted around $50 so far. It all helps.

How to get your mug

USA, Canada Contact Lyle creepinogie@yahoo.com or send a check to him: Lyle Landstrom  224 S. 9th St.  Moorhead MN 56560  Shipping for one mug $4 (total $14) Shipping for 2 mugs $6 (total $26)

Australia, New Zealand Contact Lyle

Europe Contact Moen moen@get2net.dk Mugs will be sent COD, so you just pay the postman when he brings your mug. Cost is 15 Euro each including postage (but less COD fees) to any address in Europe.