CYBERSPACE – A wide variety of adult companies and individual webmasters have announced fund-raisers and charity pledges for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, as evacuation, rescue and recovery efforts continue in the devastated Gulf Coast region.The collective charitable effort is a welcome show of unity in an industry too often split by petty personal gripes and political in-fighting. Listed below are just a few of the official efforts that have been announced, which are joined by numerous threads posted to industry message boards, encouraging donations to the Red Cross and other charities and relief agencies.
The Katrina Charity Auction (http://katrinacharityauction.com), organized by Pete-KT of SamsCash.com and sponsored by AAA Adult Design, CECash, YNOT Radio, NichePay, Epassporte and WebAir Hosting, is an effort to raise money for the American Red Cross through the auctioning of adult-industry related items. Webmasters are encouraged to “donate whatever they can: graphics work, programming work, content, anything that has a value in the biz,” with 100% of the proceeds going to the Red Cross, according to the auction website.
The BDSM Store (www.bdsmstore.com) has also announced a pledge to the American Red Cross, vowing to donate 10% of their sales for the entire month of September.
“Now is a time for all of us to be gracious and generous,” said BDSM Store spokesperson Jessica Ledbetter in a company release. “It is a time to help your fellow citizens and give back. It is a time for all of us to help those suffering an extreme hardship.”
The Red Cross will also benefit from the generosity of Dirty Boy Studios (www.dirtyboystudios.com), who have announced that they will donate 70% of all September DVD sales to the charitable organization. The company’s line of videos includes a popular collection of gay Mardi Gras videos shot in New Orleans.
“The people of New Orleans are wonderful, open and caring,” said Dirty Boy president Andy Fair, “and the city itself is beautiful. Seeing the devastation there is heartbreaking.”
