Everything Sysadmin

Please read if you live in/near San Francisco

This is going to be one of my rare non-sysadmin/non-technology posts on EverythingSysadmin.com. If you have a problem with that, please skip this post.

Lyon-Martin Health Services (LM) needs your help. LM is a great institution in San Francisco that provides compassionate, respectful health care to women and transgender people at a sliding scale. They've done this for 30 years but yesterday they announced they will be closing their doors. If they can raise $250,000 soon they may be able to reorganize and stay open.

I'm setting up a matching donation challenge: I'm asking readers of this blog to chip in $10-20 to help them reach their goal. I'll match the first $1,000. If we reach this goal in less than 1 week, I'll donate another $500.

I'm not asking because I was moved by their press release. I'm doing this because I've been on a tour of their clinic and seen how they do so much with so little. Their clinic isn't fancy yet the see 2,500 patients each year. The services they provide are very important to the SF community. I have friends that have used their services, many work in IT. Even though I'm an east-coaster, I think LM is worth saving!

Let's face it. We're sysadmin. We have high employment, above average salaries, and usually have excellent healthcare provided by our employer. For many of us, the time we take to think, "Hmm... should I donate $10?" we've probably earned $10.

My specific request is that people donate one hour of their salary. Take your annual salary, divide by 2000 (There are about 2000 hours in the work-year. Did you know that?) and that's about how much you make in an hour.

LM has made is very easy to donate. Click here.

Without Lyon-Martin:

• 7 women would have had their breast cancer advance undiagnosed.
• 20 patients would have had their HIV viral load increase, risking advancement to AIDS and spread of HIV to others.
• Nearly 100 patients would have had their diabetes go out of control, risking blindness, limb loss and kidney failure.
• 150 people would have had their abnormal pap smears progress to cervical cancer.
• More than 400 transgender patients would have had to buy black market hormones.
• Nearly 2,500 people would not have had the necessary information to answer the question, "How are you?"

LM has made is very easy to donate. Click here.

Once you have made your donation, email the paypal receipt to tal@whatexit.org or paste your confirmation code into this form (Note: Form finally works!) and I'll count it towards the matching program.

More information at: http://www.lyon-martin.org/

THANK YOU!