hi
This. Quoted for truth.
Spot On⌠if you are genuinely concerned about giving donations, then it shouldânt matter if you are in a GB uniform or a pair of shorts, thongs and a singlet âŚif you are of the opinion that you will only donate to a charity if you can wear your pack and uniform, then you may have to face the cold ,hard reality that GB Fans may not be the place for you !!
Again Well done mburkit !!!
Itâs this very cynicism thatâs led to the worthwhile charities having to push harder and harder to bring in a reasonable amount of donations for their cause.
The acts of the selfless costuming-for-charity Ghostheads shouldnât be tarred with the same brush as the creator of the kickstarter page.
One group asking for donations for their props is not the norm. Why is the âethicalâ question of costumed Ghostheads doing charity work only being asked now after years of good work being done.
Itâs no skin off your nose if someone wants to help raise money for charity. It sets a good example not just for the rest of us but sets a great example to the public of the sort of people we can be, not just a bunch of geeks hanging out at conventions but people helping to make a differance, and raising a smile whilst doing it.
You might hate bell-ringing Santas but I think Ghostbusters raising money for charity, and a lot of other charity costume groups are more approachable⌠largely because theyâre there because theyâre passionate about helping, not because the charity hired them to pester people on the street.
Iâve helped raise money for charity through three events now, once as part of the U.K. Ghostbusters and once specifically through Doctor Who costuming and once through a mixture of sci fi and action hero characters⌠all concerned had a great time and we were invited to visit some of the kids at Great Ormond Street Hospital who would be benefitting from the money we helped to raise.
And donât even get me started on the long list of things the Arizona Ghostbusters have done to date. More people could learn from their example.
A lot of us dress up in costume for conventions, thereâs nothing wrong with going to that effort for something that actually benefits someone other than ourselves. You donât like charitable Ghostheads? Fine, you donât have to participate, nobodyâs forcing you to.
Just donât go out of your way to spoil the atruism of others.
Donât take my comments wrong: I feel doing charity in general is a great thing. Iâve done many charities both as part of the Philadelphia Ghostbusters and on my own accord. But charities are there to help individuals in need, not to give you a reason to wear a proton pack. Some stand by the stance that âcharity is charity, it doesnât matter why you do it, as long as you are doing it is what matters.â But I feel if you do charity as an attempt to justify yourself and your actions, I donât feel that is appropriate. If you are using charity as a way to flex your ego or even as a way to have stuff donated to you (instead of a charitable organization), well then I think you need to re-evaluate your choices.
Iâm not saying Iâve necessarily seen this in this community, its just one of my fears that I feel is inherent within what we do and has the ability to exist.
Iâm going to weigh in on this since the Columbus Ghostbusters have done charitable events. Weâve also had heated discussions on where to draw the line. Iâve always maintained that if we do a charity/family event, it should be something that makes sense for us to be there like Halloween events or movie showings or other movie themed events. Weâve actually done a few events that I was personally uncomfortable with because it was something we shouldnât have been involved with as a costume group. As volunteers maybe, but not as a GB. However weâve never taken donations. Weâve only done events to be part of the entertainment. Plus we always contact the event planner to make sure they are comfortable with us being there. We donât just show up in costume. Personally Iâve changed my opinion on doing charity events. I mean itâs really easy to get caught up in all the stuff the Arizona guys do and think " Oh man I wanna do that too." But honestly it comes back to the question of whether or not Ghostbusters are appropriate for the event. I would think a good rule for franchises concerning charity events should come down to appropriateness for event or specifically asked by the event coordinator.
Costuming in general is narcissistic to begin with. Whether youâre willing to admit it or not, you do it for attention. If you try to deny it then you can also add denial to your list of personality flaws.
Does this make you a bad person? No, not at all, but donât use phony altruism to try to justify your narcissistic nature.
If anyone says that they got into this hobby purely for the sake of doing charitable work then I say, leave the proton pack at home and just do charity because itâs the right thing to do. Either that or get a Santa Claus costume and leave us alone.
Itâs only a matter of time before one of you gets caught in a legal battle over your âcharityâ work.
My stance on this has been exactly the same all along and this debate has been going on for months, itâs just been happening behind the scenes to spare the feelings of those groups who think they are genuine non-profit organizations.
This kickstarter nonsense was just a perfect opportunity to showcase all that is wrong with the concpept of bell-ringing Ghostbusters.
I normally do not agree with Kingpin, but this time I think he is spot on. We all got into this for fun. And that fun has given us the abilty to raise a bit of money for charity. So if you want to do it thats fine. If you donât thats fine too. I see no harm done when helping people when dressed as a ghostbuster. On the flip side I do not agree with teams who charge people to show up places. Or teams who will only take pictures with people if they donate money. When it becomes only about money or how much you raised the fun is gone.
A+
I brought this up about 2 years ago. The AZGBâs didnât care for my opinion, but thatâs certainly their right to disagree. I still donât see the point of dressing up like a Ghostbuster, outside of October, to collect money for charity. I donât think most people associate Ghostbusters with cancer walk-a-thons. They didnât do it in the movie, plus itâs not very practical. If you want to draw attention to yourself so people will donate, there are probably better, more rational ways to do it. Thatâs just my opinion.
A++
Ultimately my draw here was its not the 501st.
There are no rules as far as what you can and canât do costume wise etc.
Whatever charity you want to do is up to you. Profiting from anything under the guise of charity though is wrong.
Vinny you are 150% correct.
Against my better judgement, Iâm going to throw in as well. Why there is a belief that Ghostbusting groups doing charity will destroy the image of the entire community is beyond my comprehension. Weâre all in this hobby (or we all SHOULD be in this hobby) for the fun of the thing. If that fun leads to helping someone in need, then I think thatâs terrific.
The Houston group has (so far) been involved with four charity events, and we were invited by the event coordinators to attend. The first was a Memory Walk to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimers. We were inivted to be at the event for entertainment and photo ops, and we decided that if weâre going to be there anyway we would do better to register as a team and raise funds for the thing and actually participate.
We wound up earning over $1,300 for the cause, we had fun and people were entertained. Whatâs wrong with that? Seriously ⌠if you can actually give me a compelling argument for why thatâs a bad thing, then Iâll actually reconsider doing charity work as a Ghostbuster.
What was the point of providing a dollar amount in your post? This is exactly what all the âcharityâ franchises do all the time.
âSo and so Ghostbusters just raised so and so dollars for so and so charity.â Is it about how much money you raise or the fact that youâre doing something good? Are you really being selfless or are you just self-promoting?
Is this a competition to see how much charity you can do for bragging rights among the other groups? Why not just say âWe were invited by a charitable group to help out and we showed up and we had some fun and did some good in the world.â
There are people out there who do charity weekly or even daily and they donât go around boasting dollar amount or saying âI fed 25 homeless people today so I must be a good person.â They do it selflessly and they donât have to put on a costume for attention to do it. There are better ways to get yourself on the news. Donât dress this up as something more than it really is.
We all enjoy the attention but this entire deal just cheapens the face of charity and those who really believe in it.
Donate some blood or volunteer at an animal shelter or do whatever makes you happy but do it in civilian clothes because you actually care and not for a chance to be on the local news.
QUICK, EVERYONE, LOOK AT THE TORTURED MEMBER, THAT NO ONE EVER TALKS TO BECAUSE HE THINKS EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET HIM.
QUICK, EVERYONE, LOOK AT THE GUY THAT HAS A DIFFICULT TIME SEEING THROUGH ALTRUISM AND THE SELFISH NEED TO WEAR A COSTUME. you can wear regular clothes just the same as a ghostbuster uniform. i didnt know the minute i put mine on it came with a change bucket.
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Like most have been saying, thereâs absolutely nothing wrong with it, but some people are using it solely as an excuse to get attention for themselves, and wind up getting a big head (ie - charging for appearances, with a âdonationâ even though they donât say where it goesâŚ) or acting high and mighty because they do charity work. For example with this Kickstarter project: âWeâre going to help Charity so give us money to make props.â What? No. One could get the same effect by walking around in a jumpsuit, doing the dance with the Ghostbusters theme playing on a boombox behind you.
If you can drum up extra donations because youâre having fun, awesome! If youâre using charity events to benefit only yourself thatâs where the problem arises.
I never once mentioned being on the news, or wanting to be on the news. I didnât have an ulterior motive for giving a dollar amount, it was a simple fact of the matter, not a competition or a benchmark for âbeing a good person.â Iâm sorry that offended you. If you wish, Iâll reword it âWe did good for the community, we had fun, people were entertained.â
I fully understand that weâre getting attention for being in costume, but in this case that attention was diverted into the charity. Like I said, none of us went to this charity for the express purpose of promoting our group or our costumes. Quite the contrary, we used our group and our costumes to promote the charity. If there is something fundamentally wrong with that, then youâve still not convinced me why.
I know that there are people who work for non-profits and volunteer every day for the homeless, the sick, children, elderly, etc. And I applaud them for that, I really honestly do. But thatâs not the path that my life has led me down. I havenât dedicated my life to volunteering 24/7. That doesnât make me a bad person. So I use my hobby to do good when I can, and I do it because I care, not JUST to get attention. Iâm not saying I donât enjoy the attention. That also doesnât make me a bad person, no matter what you might think. What Iâm saying is whatâs wrong with getting attention AND doing something good at the same time?
Iâm not accusing you personally of anything. Everything I put out was in the form of an open ended question. This is more for the sake of those who are reading this and who have been or might be planning on getting involved in charity work.
New groups are popping up weekly and are just following the cookie cutter patterns of those around them.
You do not need to get involved with charity work to be a Ghostbuster fan and the two need to have separate distinctions. A lot of people are just not qualified to be responsible for the endeavors that theyâre getting themselves into.
As soon as you start collecting any money youâre putting yourself in to a precarious position and there may be consequences. At least know that much going in.
Ah, fair enough. My bad.
I definitely agree that no one IS REQUIRED to do charity work to be a Ghostbuster. Thatâs not the sole purpose of costuming, nor should it be for anyone. Also, there ARENâT requirements for being a Ghostbuster. This isnât a centrally controlled community. I just donât understand why some people here believe that NO ONE should do charity work as a Ghostbuster.
And like I said. Good for them. Thatâs how they do charity, this is how I do it. You canât make me feel guilty for doing so.
I never said that NO ONE should do it. But why do it at all if for the wrong reasons? There is just too much risk involved in using Ghostbusters as an incentive.
Such as?