[IC] THOK Awareness | GB Today!

[Tweec]

THOK Awareness is a project that I put together consisting of a metal artisan and a cable that is made to raise awareness of AIDS

The metal artisan shows a mix of the red ribbon and a heart, with the base being white so it's universal and would fit most board and sets

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is the name used to describe a number of potentially life-threatening infections and illnesses that happen when your immune system has been severely damaged by HIV.
There's currently no cure for HIV, but there are very effective drug treatments that enable most people with the virus to live a long and healthy life.
With an early diagnosis and effective treatments, most people with HIV will not develop any AIDS-related illnesses and will live a near-normal lifespan.

We're making this project for the purpose of raising awareness of AIDS, and to help people infected with AIDS treat their infection through donating our profits to ejaf.org

The World AIDS day is celebrated every year on the 1st of December, therefore, we decided that it would be best to start the GB on the 1st of December

Metal Artisan by THOK

Cable by THOK

Pricing

VENDORS

US: Mechs & Co
EU: MyKeyboard
CA: DeskHero
UK: proto[Typist]
SEA: Zion Studios
AU/OCE: THOK
CN/GLO: KBDFans

Facts about AIDS taken from here
Please join my Discord for further update!

[Jo_hannes]

I mean, if you like the artisan or the cable, go for it. But if you want your money to go to a good cause, just donate directly to a reputable organization. In that case, all of your money will go to that organization instead of just profits, as it is here. There's no need to consume to do good. Again, if you love this - buy it. But don't buy it for the charity, there are better ways.
/Johannes

[callmetal]

amazing insight @Jo_hannes

[slg1993]

To add to what Johannes said, this charity itself is also a bit odd to me, because it "partners with brands" to "get the message out about AIDS"...so you buy a product, the profits go to a charity, they take their overheard, and then the remaining money goes to a corporate PR campaign that (according to Wikipedia, anyways) has been criticized for not ensuring that a large enough percentage of their money goes directly to the cause itself, and then on top of THAT, some of the money goes to pharma companies that manufacture AIDS drugs but still price gouge poorer countries...seems like there are more efficient ways to work on this noble cause to me, just being honest

[ravenousrhino]

The charity isn't really a charity it's a PR firm

[joshuarubin]

I mean, if you like the artisan or the cable, go for it. But if you want your money to go to a good cause, just donate directly to a reputable organization. In that case, all of your money will go to that organization instead of just profits, as it is here. There's no need to consume to do good. Again, if you love this - buy it. But don't buy it for the charity, there are better ways.
/Johannes

Without commenting on the charity itself (which I agree sounds a bit suspect, but only from what's being mentioned here), I'm not sure I'm onboard with the idea that these kind of campaigns are without merit. Of course we should be giving charity and direct is better. However, initiatives like this also serve to bring awareness to causes that we might not have considered previously. In fact, awareness is in the title of the post itself. Awareness is what helps people to direct their giving.

I really don't think that campaigns like this are meaningless at all. We see them all over the place and they certainly benefit good causes in myriad ways. The alternative is not to have ideas like this and charities would still have to find ways to attract donors. Not every charity/cause can have its own "ice bucket challenge".

This effort is akin to Apple's efforts with the Global Fund through sales of its (PRODUCT)RED devices which have brought in over $220M. Sure this is a drop in the bucket for Apple, but it's still not nothing either. https://www.red.org/products/apple/

The OP is donating profit, yes, but also time to run a GB and for promoting something meaningful to him/her. So, while I really can't comment on the quality of the charity for the OP or for Apple, I'm definitely not going to disparage people who want to run campaigns like this or those who want to buy products to support them.

[vishydesigns]

Looks awesome and love the idea, one critique would be to make the ends of the heart slightly different lengths so they arent symmetrical, and also make the ends square/rectangular and not rounded

[NovaRMK]

Hate to say it but I agree with the other replies. The way I see it, I'm not sure the profit margins are reasonable enough to justify a campaign like this. I mean, the majority of what people pay for is going towards the production of the product while only a fraction of it is donated...

I don't doubt that this campaign was started with no ill intentions, but ima have to agree with Johannes that it would be better overall to just donate directly to an organization like red.org that way all of the money goes towards the cause.

[vishydesigns]

I disagree with what others are saying, the point of this project seems to be more to gain and spread awareness through the community, which is a good thing, and the cherry on top is the donation, thats not the whole thing. Keep up the work on this! looks great

[pool]

Geekhack never ceases to amuse and disappoint me. These are probably the same people that have never volunteered or ever contributed to a good cause in life. Incredible reverse virtue signaling.

On a more positive note, good job Thok for a starting a good cause. I'll be supporting.

[emalider]

I disagree with what others are saying, the point of this project seems to be more to gain and spread awareness through the community, which is a good thing, and the cherry on top is the donation, thats not the whole thing. Keep up the work on this! looks great

Agreed. With the stigma still surrounding HIV/AIDS, raising awareness (hopefully leading to open dialogue) is one way to help reduce said stigma, regardless of total amount raised/donated.

Personally, I'm into the cap and cable, and looking forward to Dec 1.

[ravenousrhino]

Geekhack never ceases to amuse and disappoint me. These are probably the same people that have never volunteered or ever contributed to a good cause in life. Incredible reverse virtue signaling.

On a more positive note, good job Thok for a starting a good cause. I'll be supporting.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just jaded because of working in the field for an NGO

[doggo1dance]

there are much better ways in raising awareness than this, no? whats even the point lmao

[Tweec]

Geekhack never ceases to amuse and disappoint me. These are probably the same people that have never volunteered or ever contributed to a good cause in life. Incredible reverse virtue signaling.

On a more positive note, good job Thok for a starting a good cause. I'll be supporting.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just jaded because of working in the field for an NGO

Regarding the charity, I've decided to take a look at other organizations that is also AIDS related since (RED) seems to get a lot of criticism. Currently, I'm planning on changing the charity to ejaf.org, but please let me know if there's any foundation that you would rather see be involved in this project.

[emalider]

I wanted to get a better understanding of the criticism towards Red, but there weren't many articles that were recent when I did a search. If anyone has anything to read, drop a link, I'd like to read more into it. But from what I've read, Red partners with businesses, which license Red products with portions from those profits going back to Red. The money is then used to help fund grants and other measures (mostly in Africa). Unless I'm reading things wrong, Red is a non-profit organization (though not a charity) that has had a major impact with the amount of money raised through these partnerships. I think it's a good idea to look into charities in lieu of Red, but don't rule it out either if it still aligns with your vision.

[Tweec]

It's 10 days before the GB! Pricing and CA vendor have been revealed.
I also have changed the charity foundation to ejaf.org

[Tweec]

The group buy is starting is 3 days!

[Tweec]

Happy World AIDS Day! The group buy of THOK Awareness will start today and will be live in every vendor soon, pricing for every vendor has also been announced

[azzipa]

Nice work! Charity Navigator rates the Elton John Aids Foundation at 93.9 out of 100, which gives it the watchdog's highest 4-star rating. Scoring is based on info reported to the IRS on Form 990, which all not for profit organizations are required to file.

PS - Your link to Elton John Aids Foundation is broken.

It's 10 days before the GB! Pricing and CA vendor have been revealed.
I also have changed the charity foundation to ejaf.org

edit: not sure there is a "happy" world aids day?

Happy World AIDS Day! The group buy of THOK Awareness will start today and will be live in every vendor soon, pricing for every vendor has also been announced