Reef Check Raffle is For Real

[Gregor Hodgson]

Dear Coral List Folks,

I have received a number of inquiries about a Reef Check raffle and
after checking with Jim Hendee, I am providing the following
announcement.
which I hope does not offend anyone or cause them to
doubt my sanity more than they normally do. The fact is that Reef Check
is doing well internationally and has strong support in dozens of
countries and grants and donations are coming in for teams all over. But
like most NGOs, we are having trouble finding funders to support our HQ
administrative costs during RCs transition period out of HKUST and into 
full NGO status. The reality is that we are getting fairly desperate for 
operating funds.

So along comes Trish Bailey, RC's British Virgin Islands coordinator,
who impressed John Williams, the CEO of the internet company Comsite
Asset
Management. Comsite is starting a business that runs raffles in support
of 
selected charities. We are pleased to announce that Comsite decided to
run their 
first internet raffle to benefit Reef Check. 

Churches have bingo, and now Reef Check has the generous help of the
"Help and Win" web-raffle. It may sound silly, but the
basic concept is similar to bingo or the Hong Kong Jockey Club, where
all horse racing proceeds go to charity. Each $20 raffle ticket enters
you for one chance to win a  US$450,000 property and US$150,000
cash. For more info, see www.helpandwin.com but PLEASE NOTE THAT THE
RAFFLE WILL NOT START UNTIL NOV. 1, 1999. It will run until April

Of the cash raised, a signed contract stipulates that 55% of the gross
proceeds will be provided to the Reef Check Foundation, a registered
charity in Hong Kong, and of this amount, 33% will go to the ARK
foundation in BVI. The whole operation will be audited by a chartered
accounting firm.

I am aware that we are not supposed to use this list to promote
commerce, however, I have received a number of notes from folks who are
worried that someone is using the Reef Check name without permission or
that this is a hoax, therefore I thought it important to let people know
that the Reef Raffle is real. I hope you will support it.

Regards,
Greg
--
Gregor Hodgson, PhD
Coordinator, Reef Check Global Survey Program
GPO Box 12375, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2802-6937
Fax: (852) 2887-5454
Email: gregorh at pacific.net.hk
Web: www.ReefCheck.org