Tonight (July 14th, 2012): Chili fundraiser for the Offroad Wheelchair Project

The Off-Road Wheelchair is a device that will enable a person of limited mobility to experience the outdoors. Freeside Atlanta is interested in putting our engineering skills to the test, and showing the world we can create anything we put our minds to. We have the space, the tools, and the talented people to make this happen - we just need your help to purchase the materials and make this project a reality. The idea originated with Robin Beattie, who participates in regional Burning Man events, like the Alchemy Arts Festival here in Georgia. The festival takes place on a farm, with terrain features like gravel, light mud, paths with tree roots, and moderate changes in elevation. The Off-Road Wheelchair will be designed to traverse this environment, enabling Robin to get around in a place that would normally be closed off to her and others with limited mobility. Upon completion, the Off-Road Wheelchair designs and notes will be released under a Creative Commons (by-nc) license, which means that anyone can continue to contribute improvements on the basic design, so long as it remains for non-commercial purposes. The hope is that the Off-Road Wheelchair can be replicated at other regional Burning Man events, so that even more of the disability community can participate in this unique survivalist camping experience. This is our second fundraising round for the project. The first round of the project was at the Alchemy Arts Fundraiser, where we were the 3rd highest funded project of the evening, pulling in about a third of our requested project budget. This is a link to the Google Document describing the project, detailing the proposed budget, and outlining a few design ideas: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZLHe4XJtBqOgrQDVOkIZ0MtLGelBoQc-T4lL8dtgoAE/edit Our fundraiser will feature unique chili creations from the kitchen of Joy and Pain Cooking, plus possibly an auction of some kind, and possibly other fun surprises. Additionally, let me explain how the parking situation will work. This is Freeside Atlanta's page explaining how to get to the space: http://wiki.freesideatlanta.org/the-space The parking needs to happen towards the "back" of Freeside and the Metropolitan, so that everyone comes in through the rear garage doors. This is the marker called "Roll-up door access" in the embedded Google Map. Generally, in order to avoid a parking disaster, I recommended parking along the north and north-west part of the property. Please do not park in front of any garage doors (including Freeside's) as this puts you at risk of getting towed. Don't hesitate to email me if you need help getting there. You can email [masked] with the subject gatecode (one word). That will automatically reply with this month's gate code, if you need it. http://www.meetup.com/Freeside-Atlanta/events/70965732/