Dear Friends and Family!

I have wrestled with this update for a week now. There is a large part of me that believes that I have the right to privacy, notwithstanding the generosity of the people who have made donations to the vehicle fund. There is another larger part of me that believes I owe those donors the assurance that I am behaving in a fiscally responsible manner. To that end, I will now be detailing exactly how my $10,000 prize money will be spent.

First, let me explain why the red donation meter was not changed until tonight. I was waiting until the check arrived, and then cleared. It should clear by Tuesday, so the meter will reflect the changes at that time.

The meter is only going to increase by $4900. This is why. About six weeks ago Shawn and I were given the devastating news that our air-conditioning was shot. To let you know how old this air-conditioner was, they stopped making the parts for it 30 years ago. It was an amazing air-conditioner and it gave its all to us. We had several estimates and the best price was $5,100. This of course includes tax and all of that.

For those of you who don't live in Arizona, it is impossible to spend the summer (and all two weeks of spring and fall) without air-conditioning. For instance, today the temperature climbed to 106°.

When we received the news that our air-conditioner was no longer repairable, I literally wept! At that time, I had no idea how we were going to replace it. I could put it on a credit card, but with the automobile payments, I was not going to be able to afford to pay the payments. And then God blessed me and I won the $10,000 at Iwon.com.

Because $5,100 of this $10,000 is going toward my air-conditioner, it will not be reflected in the goal meter. The rest of the money will be reflected in the goal meter.

It is going to be spent toward building the fence area, outlined on the web site, in order to protect the vehicle. If there are any funds left over, they will be applied toward the vehicle payments.

I hope this explanation satisfies everyone. I know that many of you are going to write to me and tell me that I did not need to explain myself. I thank you for that. But I have had many inquiries in the past week about the goal meter and how I planned to spend the $10,000. After much contemplation, I knew that if I were donating to a fund such as this, I would want the recipient to be fiscally responsible and forthright.

The fund is now up to approximately $9,000! Thank you all so much. I am working on a fundraiser. When it is ready, I will announce it. Also, thank you to everyone who has written Oprah on my behalf. I have also written to her, as well as several other talk shows and morning news shows. For those of you who would like to write them, I will soon post web site addresses and e-mail addresses on my web site. Also, I tried to get publicity for the vehicle fund when I received the $10,000. Unfortunately, none of the newspapers or local news stations wanted to run the story. One station wanted to, but a bigger news story came along. The reporter asked me to contact him as soon as we receive our not-for-profit status. Hopefully, this will be soon, as the papers arrived on Friday.

I hope this update finds all of you well and happy. Take care and have a great day!

Laura