Author: ravenchair (Page 1 of 3)

Charity Auction 2023

June 30, 2023 / ravenchair

In 2023, our Charity Auction supported ReEstablish Richmond.

ReEstablish Richmond was chosen to honor Lelia Taylor. Lelia was the owner of the Richmond-based Creatures ‘n Crooks Bookshoppe. She was also a part of RavenCon from the beginning, a yearly presence in our Vendors’ Room until she finally retired after many years of bookselling. She supported many of our RavenCon authors early in their careers, carrying their books in the Vendors’ Room and in her Richmond store, recommending them to readers looking for new SFFH.

Besides her passion for books (and cats, scented candles, Thin Mints, gourmet snacks, nightshirts depicting kittens, Christmas ornament shops, friendships that lasted for decades, and playing mahjong on her computer), Lelia financially supported a long list of charitable organizations that she felt very passionate about.

Founded in 2010, ReEstablish Richmond is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization focused on helping refugees settle into Richmond while maintaining ties to their home culture. For the past two decades, they have developed programs related to housing, agriculture, transportation independence, employment, independence, health and wellness, economic empowerment, and community engagement. Their primary focus has been on connecting Richmond’s newest neighbors to life-building tools and resources, helping their integration into the community to be a positive and empowering experience.

If you would like to make a donation to ReEstablish Richmond you can do so through this link.

Ellen Datlow

June 8, 2023 / ravenchair

Ellen Datlow has been editing sf/f/h short fiction for four decades. She currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com and Nightfire. She has edited numerous anthologies for adults, young adults, and children, including The Best Horror of the Year annual series, When Things Get Dark: Stories inspired by Shirley Jackson, Screams From the Dark: 19 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous, and Christmas and Other Horrors. She’s won multiple Locus, Hugo, Stoker, International Horror Guild, Shirley Jackson, and World Fantasy Awards plus the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named the recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for “outstanding contribution to the genre” and was honored with the Life Achievement Award given by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention. The Shirley Jackson Awards, Inc. recently presented her with a special award in recognition of the anthology When Things Get Dark: Stories inspired by Shirley Jackson (Titan Books, 2021).

She runs the Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series in the east village, NYC, with Matthew Kressel. She can be found on the website Datlow.com, and on Twitter and Facebook (google her).

Ursula Vernon, aka T. Kingfisher

June 7, 2023 / ravenchair

Ursula Vernon, aka T. Kingfisher, is the author and illustrator of far more projects than is probably healthy. She has written over fifteen books for children, at least a dozen novels for adults, an epic webcomic called Digger, and various short stories and other odds and ends.

Charity Auction 2017

August 3, 2017 / ravenchair

In 2017, our Charity Auction supported the Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA). The Interstitial Cystitis Association is the only nonprofit charitable organization dedicated solely to improving the quality of healthcare and the lives of people living with interstitial cystitis (IC). IC is a recurring pelvic pain, pressure, or discomfort in the bladder and pelvic region, often associated with urinary frequency (needing to go often) and urgency (feeling a strong need to go). IC can affect anyone. More than 12 million people in the US have IC, including two members of the RavenCon staff.

If you would like to make a donation to the ICA you can do so through this link.

Charity Auction 2016

August 2, 2017 / ravenchair

2016’s Charity Auction was held in support of the Dialysis Patients Citizens’ Education Center. The Center is dedicated to improving kidney patients’ quality of life and reducing the occurrence of ESRD (end-stage renal disease) through education and by developing awareness of dialysis and kidney disease issues, improving the partnership between patients and caregivers, and developing favorable public policy solutions.

We chose this organization in honor of our good friend and co-conspirator, Ed Pope. Ed passed away on March 18th, a mere six weeks before the convention that he was looking forward to so much. Ed was our friendly Con Suite host—always smiling, always friendly, always positive. His one and only job at the convention was to make people feel welcome. Nobody did it better.

Charity Auction 2016

March 10, 2017 / ravenchair

In 2016, RavenCon’s Charity Auction supported the Dialysis Patients Citizens Education Center. The Center is dedicated to improving kidney patients’ quality of life and reducing the occurrence of ESRD (end-stage renal disease) through education and by developing awareness of dialysis and kidney disease issues, improving the partnership between patients and caregivers, and developing favorable public policy solutions.

The Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC) Education Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and the affiliate organization of Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC). Founded in 2012, the Center is led by a board of directors composed of 10 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, including six currently on dialysis and four transplant recipients.

In the opening months of 2016, we lost our good friends Ed Pope and Bud Webster. Our donation to the DPC was made in their names.

Charity Auction 2015

February 22, 2015 / ravenchair

RavenCon chose the Richmond Animal League (RAL) as 2015’s charity in memory of our late Vice Chair, John Patrick Jones. John was very fond of animals and RavenCon was happy to support one his favorite organizations.

Since 1979, Richmond Animal League has been finding homes for homeless dogs and cats in the Richmond area.

For many years they rented a kennel in Chesterfield County. In 1987 the property was sold to a residential developer and they were asked to leave the facility. In spite of this setback, they continued to care for many needy animals and boarded them at veterinarian offices and foster homes. Their goal was to raise enough money to build a brand new facility.

After seven years of fundraising activities and the generosity of their community, their dreams became a reality! In May 1994, they opened their new kennel near Chesterfield Towne Center. This facility can house up to 30 dogs, and 60 cats and kittens.

Since their facility opened, they have helped thousands of animals. They found homes for over 1,700 animals last year.

Though there is now a small staff of eight full-time employees, RAL has always been led by a volunteer board dedicated to reducing euthanasia rates in their community.

In 2009, they saw the great need for a low-cost, high-volume spay neuter clinic on the south side of the James. A year later, they opened an onsite clinic. The Loving Spay & Neuter Clinic provides low-cost services to municipal shelters, rescue groups, and private pet owners, as well as free services for feral cats. Free spay and neuter services are available for pet owners who meet low-income guidelines.

Their history continues to be written as they grow.

Charity Auction 2014

June 14, 2014 / ravenchair

RavenCon chose the Foundation Fighting Blindness as 2014’s charity.

The Foundation Fighting Blindness is dedicated to funding innovative research to find preventions, treatments, and cures for inherited retinal degenerative diseases that lead to blindness and affect more than 10 million people in the United States.

The urgent mission of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, Inc. (FFB) is to drive the research that will provide preventions, treatments and cures for people affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP), macular degeneration, Usher Syndrome, and the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases.

Anita Bruckert

March 14, 2014 / ravenchair

Vice Chair

Anita is a multi-media artist who has enjoyed RavenCon from day one, and has progressively become more involved.

In her art, she has exhibited in galleries throughout the Central New York and Adirondack region, Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Richmond, VA. As a henna artist, she has covered the feet, hands, and backs of local Richmonders.

Aside from her that, she spent many years in theater, working primarily behind the scenes designing sets and costumes. She worked on the sets for A Midsummer Nights’s Dream, Sleeping Beauty or Coma, Anything Goes, The Sound of Music, Little Shop of Horrors, and All in the Timing to name a few. She now makes costumes just for herself and friends, and focuses more on her artwork, and working with the cast members of Charming Underclothes in Roanoke, VA as she plays Magenta.

The boring info: she has several degrees; Fine and Performing Art, Studio Art, and Curriculum Design and Instruction. She is a certified corporate trainer and is a practicing licensed Optician and Arbonne Consultant.

mailto:vice-chair@ravencon.com

Charity Auction 2013

June 13, 2013 / ravenchair

RavenCon chose the Huntington’s Disease Society of America for 2013’s Charity Auction beneficiary as a way to honor the memory of an attendee who passed away at the 2012 convention.

In March 2000, the Huntington’s Disease Society of America named the University of Virginia Health System a Center of Excellence for the care of patients with HD and their families. The UVA HD Program was one of the first ten Huntington’s Centers of Excellence in the nation and is the only one in Virginia.