GIVING IT AWAY, PART II - TO THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER*

JADE LILY AND LINDENS FOR LIFE

In-world, Jade Lily is a tiny little girl with wide eyes. Before that, she was a slender, sexy young woman who walked around in a kind of breezy, form-fitting nightgown sort of deal. Jade Lily is the founder of Lindens for Life, another SL group that's raising money for a real-world, non-profit cause-- in this case, the fight against cancer*. In-world, the group will raise money by hosting auctions and other special events. As of this writing, they've raised the Linden Dollar equivalent of close to US$1000-- the group's official website is here, where that figure is updated frequently, while upcoming event announcements are made.

Offline, Jade Lily will also participate in a related walkathon*, because she's the co-captain of a team comprised of her co-workers. When her team begins its run, on June 11th and 12th, much of their sponsorship money will come from Lindens for Life.

Jade's initial idea for her group actually came about after selling some of her virtual real estate. "I realized the value of the Linden dollar a couple months ago," says Jade, "when I sold my land in Hawthorne, and converted the virtual currency to US dollars."

"How much you end up with?"

"US$210 plus extra land in trade. That was an instant sale, really cheap, like 3 [Linden] dollars per square meter. So I remembered how I made that money, and realized how easy it would be to leverage Second Life to raise funds for my walkathon* team. My team, by the way, has been named the 'Lindens for Life' team, after the [in-world] campaign." There's a personal stake to the effort, for Jade Lily lost her grandmother and aunt to cancer. "Also," she adds, "I've met several friends in world-who are survivors." In fact, a member of Lindens for Life recently posted a moving story in the Second Life forum, recounting her own triumph over cancer.

When Jade co-captain's her team's run, in the walkathon*, she won't exactly look like a young woman or a little girl. Because as it turns out, Jade Lily is actually a male officer [actually, an enlisted airman, not an officer-- WJA] in the United States Air Force.

"I'm a computer programmer," say Jade. "I help to maintain several processes that produce weather products for the warfighter. My squadron at work has put together several teams for the walkathon*. I'm just a captain of one team, but Lindens for Life has become the primary source of our team's donations." So instead of a team of little schoolgirls, or a pack of babes jogging in lingerie, picture instead Jade Lily as a fairly buff military guy, jogging a few feet ahead of his fellow officers and gentlemen.

"[Are] you saying when you Air Force dudes are running in the [walkathon*], you'll have a Lindens For Life sign?" I ask him.

"I may very well have one made up to put next to our tent," says Jade.

* Apparently, there's been some policy issues behind Lindens for Life and its designated non-profit beneficiary-- related Forum discussion on this here. Respecting that, the name of the non-profit has been removed, pending further notice from Jade. -- WJA, 6/17/04