Each year, Quabbin Quills brings the community together for our 50/50-style Charity Fundraiser — a celebration of creativity, connection, and giving.
This year, we’re thrilled to partner with the Worcester County Poetry Association to support and uplift the literary arts across our region.
This is a collective milestone fundraiser, meaning every contribution helps move us toward shared community goals. You can give any amount, big or small.
As total donations reach certain community fundraising milestones, we unlock unique, one-of-a-kind rewards — including creative performances, donor-submission features, and random donor prizes.
These rewards are not tied to individual donation amounts. Instead, they are unlocked by what we achieve together. Some rewards use selected donor submissions, while others are awarded to random donors where noted.
You may submit a piece of writing for possible use in an unlocked reward, or you may simply donate without submitting anything. Either way, your contribution helps move the fundraiser forward.
All unlocked video rewards will be shared through a private YouTube channel hosted on our website, so everyone can enjoy what we create as a community.
Our fundraiser will take place between July 8 and July 21.
To participate:
- Look over the donation milestones below.
- Fill out the donation form.
- Choose whether to submit writing or donate without a submission.
- Donate your chosen amount directly through our PayPal account.
If you have any questions, feel free to message us through our contact page.
Rewards are unlocked collectively as total donations reach each milestone, and each milestone reward happens once when that amount is reached.
How This Fundraiser Works
- Donate any amount. Every donation helps move the whole fundraiser toward the next milestone.
- Milestones unlock rewards. Rewards are based on the total amount raised by everyone together.
- Submit writing if you want to. Your submission may be selected for one of the creative rewards.
- No submission? No problem. You can donate without submitting anything.
- Everyone helps make the chaos happen. The more we raise together, the more rewards we unlock.
Donations do not purchase individual rewards. Instead, each donation helps unlock shared community rewards.
When a milestone is reached, a donor submission may be selected for that reward, or we may use one of our own delightfully ridiculous backup options.
Want to Submit Something?
After donating, you may submit a short piece of writing, excerpt, prompt, note, poem, complaint, deeply unnecessary memo,
or other text you would like considered for one of the unlocked creative rewards.
Your submission might be read aloud, songified, saxified, transformed into a poem, interpreted through dance,
or otherwise subjected to artistic nonsense.
Don’t want to submit your own writing?
Totally fine. You can still donate and help unlock rewards without submitting anything.
If a reward needs text and no suitable donor submission is selected, we may use one of our own backup options.
Possible backup texts may include:
- A melodramatic grocery list
- A fake Victorian apology letter
- A suspiciously intense weather complaint
- A tiny argument between two houseplants
- An over-formal resignation letter from a pencil
- A petty excerpt from a legal brief, if generously provided
- A poem about soup that takes itself much too seriously
In short: you may submit writing, or you may simply donate and let us supply the weirdness.
Milestone Rewards
These rewards unlock when the total amount raised reaches each milestone.
Unless otherwise noted, donor-related rewards will use a selected donor submission or donor name at random.
| Total Raised | Reward Unlocked | Description |
|---|---|---|
| $100 | Reading Your Donation | Fred reads a selected donor excerpt with his signature buttery voice in a YouTube video. |
| $200 | Free Quarter Ad | A free quarter-page ad in the Turning of Leaves anthology awarded to a random donor. |
| $300 | Songify Your Donation | James turns a selected donor excerpt into a song for a YouTube video. |
| $400 | Custom Poem | An original 12-line poem inspired by a selected donor submission. |
| $500 | Free Half Ad | A free half-page ad in the anthology awarded to a random donor. |
| $600 | Doing a Jig | Fred dances with spellbinding moves in a YouTube video. |
| $700 | Free Full Ad | A free full-page ad in the anthology awarded to a random donor. |
| $800 | Shakespearean Reading | Steve performs a dramatic Shakespearean-style reading in costume for a YouTube video. |
| $900 | Birth Chart Reading | A 5-minute birth chart reading awarded to a random donor. |
| $1,000 | Queen Fairy Dance | Karen interprets a selected donor submission in full regalia for a YouTube video. |
| $1,100 | Free Deluxe Ad | A deluxe ad placement in the anthology awarded to a random donor. |
| $1,200 | Saxify Your Donation | Custom saxophone accompaniment inspired by a selected donor submission. |
| $1,300 | Reading Your Donation, Again | Fred reads another selected donor excerpt with his signature buttery voice in a YouTube video. |
| $1,400 | Instagram Feature | A selected donor poem or short written piece is featured on WPCA’s Instagram. |
| $1,500 | Pie to the Face | Steve takes a pie to the face in a YouTube video. |
| $1,600 | Storify Your Kid | A custom one-page story inspired by a selected donor submission. |
| $1,700 | Songify Your Donation, Again | James turns another selected donor excerpt into a song for a YouTube video. |
| $1,800 | Dedicate an Issue | The next Triple Decker journal issue is dedicated to a random donor. |
| $1,900 | Saxify Your Donation, Again | Another custom saxophone accompaniment inspired by a selected donor submission. |
| $2,000 | Double Pie to the Face | Steve takes TWO pies to the face in a YouTube video. |
Ready to Donate?
Use the donation form below to contribute. You may either submit something for possible use in a reward,
or donate without submitting writing.