Many of the older members of this forum have expressed some concerns to me through PM about where the Pay It Forward thread had gone. It didn't go anywhere, just kind of slipped down the list of threads in the forum. This thread was the brainchild of RCU member Bubbagates, and many of us have come aboard to help him out. In the time that the thread slipped down the forum list Bubba was going through some things including changes at work and problems with his father's health. Out of respect for Bubba I left the PIF thread on the back burner until he was back into the position to get back involved with the project. I've talked to him and he says that he's ready to see if we can "relaunch" the project. So here we go.
For those older members that remember the PIF thread/project I don't need to explain what it's all about. But I'll give a description for the newer members who may not have seen this thread before. Basically the Pay it Forward thread was born out of somebody that had some extra equipment (an engine) that he wanted to give away, his only stipulation was that later on the person receiving the engine help somebody else out. And just like the movie of the same name, that's what this is all about. If you need some help getting into the hobby, or need individual items, let us know and we'll see if we can find something for you. The only condition is that later on down the road you should help out somebody else getting started (or here in the PIF thread). If you have items that you can donate to the PIF you can offer them up to people out there that might need them. This is basically what goes on in here. I know that this thread has helped a lot of people out in the past, and we're hoping we can get that going again. There are only a couple of little "rules" that need to be observed (isn't there always rules to get in the way??
). The first of which is that this isn't a "shopping" mall where you can come hunting for things that you might need, but don't want to pay for. This cause is here to help out people that may have some real need for some help in getting into this hobby. The second rules is that Bubbagates is the FINAL decision maker on any donations that go out of here, and his word is absolute. This may sound harsh but it's a necessary rule. In the past we have had people that have tried to "con" the PIF system just because they were too cheap to actually pay for something, or had their own little games going on (no names, but the older members know who I am talking about). So when a decision needs to be made Bubba gets to put his foot down because "he da boss" here. And the administration of RCU has given him their full support, so he gets to run this whole deal!!!!
If anybody out there wants to help out the PIF with items or cash but don't want to hold the items they can box them up and send them to me or Bubbagates as a holding area. Both of us have a stockpile left from last year when PIF was running at full steam and we're happy to add to that. Please feel free to contact either Bubbagate or me by PM if you want to contribute. The only thing I ask is that if you contact me you also include Bubba in that PM so that he can keep the master list of donations up to date.
So with that said, let's see if we can help some people out there get into this great hobby!!! Hopefully Bubba will jump in here and add his greeting in as we re-launch this thread.
Ken