The Tattoo has raised money for homeless teens and young mothers, but we’ve never tried to help one of our own before.
But now we are.
Samantha Perez, our 17-year-old Louisiana writer, is scraping by with an old Dell laptop that is on its last legs. She desperately needs a new one so she can keep writing her gripping Hurricane Journals that are bringing us thousands of readers who’d never heard of The Tattoo before.
Sammy lost almost everything when Katrina washed away her town. But she has a writer’s eye, a way with words and talent that shines through all the darkness that’s enveloped her in recent weeks.
So we’re going to try to get her a new laptop with help from her readers, friends and kind-hearted people everywhere. If you can help, send a bit of cash to our PayPal account to this address: thetattoo@gmail.com. Put “LAPTOP” somewhere in the description for formality’s sake. But we know that all the money that goes there is for Sammy’s computer.
For those who don’t know PayPal, it’s easy. You can send someone money with a credit card, a debit card, an electronic check, a direct bank transfer and probably ways we don’t understand. Just go to paypal.com and follow the instructions.
The nice thing is that you can donate anything, from $1 to, well, whatever.
This is a good time to hit up your neighbors, your cousins, your colleagues and anybody else who might have a few dollars they can spare for a great writer who needs the tools to keep going. The reward is to have the ability to keep reading, but it’s also a chance to assist one deserving girl whose old life was blown away in the winds of Aug. 29. Let’s show her that we care, now, when it matters most.
If we should happen to wind up with extra, which we doubt, it will be used to help other young writers who are struggling.
Thanks!