Welcome to our fundraising page!  This is the best location to donate directly to Mercy Corps on behalf of The Creeping Blandness Prevention Group.  This is where you buy your raffle tickets.  Additionally, if you got money to us another way, (such as buying our t-shirts, or other promotional items), it will wind up here as well! 

Why are we raising money?

In July 2009 the Creeping Blandness Prevention Group will begin an epic journey from London, UK to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia.  We will be driving in a vehicle with no more than a one liter engine (i.e. a teeny tiny car!) through East through Europe, then Eastern Europe, then through Turkey and Azerbaijan, across the Caspian sea, further East through the Stans, and eventually to the capitol of Mongolia! 

Why are we doing this? 

We were lucky enough (mom, stop rolling your eyes) to win a place on the Mongol Rally, a charity road rally set up by some folks in the UK.  We must raise a minimum of 1000 pounds (or about $1500) for the charity of our choosing, Mercy Corps in Mongolia.  Mercy Corps supports rural communities in Mongolia to meet their economic and social needs, helping individuals, families and communities to become more self-sufficient, diversified in their production, and better linked to local, regional and national markets.  It is a great charity and they deserve all the help we can give! 

Who are we?

Anand and Sarah have been trying to get selected for the Mongol Rally almost since it has existed, and it has finally happened!  Here's a little bit about the krewe:

Anand Patil is a postdoc at Oxford (though originally from Detroit).  He makes maps of Malaria cases.  As he's the map-maker, he also serves as the team's superb sense of direction!  He's also the artistic master of our team's promotional items.  On the off-chance that we come across any Marathi speakers, he might come in handy there as well (or, if he remembers any Farsi, that's probably a better possibility).

Jessie Wender is a "Picture Researcher" at the New Yorker.  It could be a mutation from all the radioactive material he father brought home from Los Alamos, but she is, for some reason, irrepressibly enthusiastic about just about everything.  She will lend her expert photographing skills to the team to help document the hilarity that is sure to ensue now that she's aboard.

Sarah Olmstead is a grad student in Santa Monica, CA studying water and land management in Central Asia.  This trip isn't related to business, but her studies in the region at least give her a head start on bazaar-level bartering in Turkish, Uzbek, and Russian.  If she ever opens that "Teach Yourself Serbo-Croatioan" she bought 2 years ago, that could be an additional help. In the meantime, she serves as the team's crack Obstacle Avoidance Specialist.

Andrew Cole is a software consultant in Seattle, WA.  He’s working on an online game about insects that fight each other.  Your 8- to 12-year-old son will think it is totally awesome.  He roasts coffee and makes wine at home and has an overly-complex system of electronics to monitor the fermentation process live on the internet and in the library department, brings to the team the extremely helpful book "How to build a low-cost rally car." 

There are lots of ways to donate!

If you haven't seen it, there are more ways to donate - such as buying one of our calendars, shirts, or other products - here.  If you choose those other ways, you will get something in return, but we also get less money.  If you want all of your money to go directly to our charity (rather than some to charity and some to the product-makers), then this is the place to do it!  And don't worry: donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure.

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too! 

Don't forget to follow our adventures here: http://creepingblandness.com/