This is a hard post to write, but I need to inform and vent a little bit. A few months ago, we were contacted by the folks over at Marissa's Bunny that Romy was 1 of 40 winners of an iPad, $500 dollars worth of apps, and a gift card to buy a case. We were so incredibly humbled and excited to be chosen for this wonderful gift and at his request, I eagerly posted a link for anyone to donate to Mike, Marissa's dad, so that he could continue to provide iPads for other special needs kid. I even forked over some money that I really didn't have because I felt so strongly about the cause. Family members of ours and even some of our readers did the same. We've been waiting patiently for this iPad and it seemed to hit a few stumbling blocks, but Mike emailed updates several times. First, the delays were due to legal issues with his lawyers and then with Apple and their lawyers. Then it was mistakes made by his employees that had things delayed even more. It was at this point I began to feel a little uneasy. I wasn't really understanding how so many mistakes and delays were made and the fact that a few of his emails were more than a little cryptic had me a bit suspicious. However I'm a pretty positive person and I choose to see the best in all people, I chalked it up to a bit of paranoia as Mike himself is a special needs parent and would never deceive other special needs parents. Right? He even said that 15 iPads were shipped, so at least some of us have received them by now, right?
Then came the kick in the gut. He claims that he received a threatening email from some anonymous person claiming to know very intricate details about him and his family as well as the company he works for and his, get this, extensive criminal record. The email wanted him to shut down all of the giveaways and donation buttons, which up to that point totaled 29k, or he would face an investigation. Mike informed us that his lawyers requested that he stop the giveaway until things could get cleared up. Cue special needs community unrest! The SN blogging community exploded. Nobody has received an iPad, or a clear, transparent reason why. Ellen, over at LoveThatMax posted about it that turned into a thread that included Mike himself. Check it out and be sure to read the comments. Even so, I kept mum and chose to wait it out and hang on to the hope of Mike being the honest man he seemed to be. Uhhhh, is there a cure for being too naive? Anyway, I just received what I'm assuming will be my last email with Mike. There are no iPads. The 15 that were sent? Never happened.. He claims it was a misstep from his secretive company. I say it smells awfully fishy 'round here.
I feel duped. Angry. Sad. Pissssssssssed. This is not about an iPad. It's about a guy who has a child with special needs and has been well liked and respected in the special needs community, completely getting 40 children and their families hopes up and had us feeling like FINALLY, someone cares, we won! And then he threw a brick in our face. We TRUSTED him, we liked him, and we felt a connection to him and his family over similar stories. We even emailed back and forth about living in Hawaii (he was in the Navy out here a decade or so ago) Where is this 29k now? I don't know. What happens next? I don't know. He claims he'll refund any money if requested, but frankly it's hard to believe him. So if any of you dear readers donated, I would request that you try to get your money back and I really pray that you will.
However, there is a small glimmer of hope. Two other supposed 'winners' have banded together to form Mission iPossible. Their goal is to set up a legitimate, completely transparent way to finish what was started. They want to get iPads out to the families that were promised one. Some families were pretty severely affected by this, one child even got put at the very bottom of a communication therapy list because of his 'winning an iPad.' They're in the midst of establishing a non-profit organization as a 501k with the IRS to make this fully legit. You can read about it from Kenneth over at Blogzilly. I'll continue to update on how all of this plays out.
I'm so deeply and truly sorry to any of my friends, family, or readers that I sent over to Mike's blog to donate. I really should have checked it out more thoroughly, and that is completely my fault. I really do hope that this gets sorted out and that money is given back.
On another note. We're all packed. Our house is gone and Romy and I will be flying outta paradise in a few weeks. It's stressful and extremely sad, but I'm looking forward to the future.
