{"id":3418,"date":"2015-06-30T05:49:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-30T13:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wisdom-of-the-crowds-online-effort-seeks-to-raise-funds-for-greece\/3418\/"},"modified":"2015-06-30T05:49:00","modified_gmt":"2015-06-30T13:49:00","slug":"wisdom-of-the-crowds-online-effort-seeks-to-raise-funds-for-greece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wisdom-of-the-crowds-online-effort-seeks-to-raise-funds-for-greece\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisdom Of The Crowds? Online Effort Seeks To Raise Funds For Greece"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-style:italic;font-size:16px\">By  <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/06\/30\/418837690\/wisdom-of-the-crowds-online-effort-seeks-to-raise-funds-for-greece?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\">Krishnadev Calamur<\/a><\/span>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/06\/30\/418837690\/wisdom-of-the-crowds-online-effort-seeks-to-raise-funds-for-greece?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2015\/06\/30\/euro_wide-0ea0be508b075f9a8e8598a1569d3f886d572d73-s1100-c15.jpg\" title=\"A collection of old Greek Drachma and euro notes and coins.\" alt=\"A collection of old Greek Drachma and euro notes and coins.\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>A collection of old Greek Drachma and euro notes and coins. <strong>Geert Vanden Wijngaert\/AP<\/strong> <strong>hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>i<\/strong>toggle caption <span>Geert Vanden Wijngaert\/AP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Updated at 12:14 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Only 1,599,888,909 euros to go. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.indiegogo.com\/projects\/greek-bailout-fund#\/story\">A crowd-funding effort<\/a> to raise the 1.6 billion euros (about $1.8 billion) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/06\/30\/418786642\/greece-hours-away-from-defaulting-on-imf-loan\">Greece needs to make a loan payment<\/a> to the International Monetary Fund has so far raised 111,091 euros ($124,569) from 7,275 donors.<\/p>\n<p>The organizer of the effort on IndieGogo says the European Union&#8217;s 503 million people need to chip in just over 3 euros each ($3.37).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s about the same as half a pint in London. Or everyone in the EU just having a Feta and Olive salad for lunch,&#8221; the organizer writes. &#8220;So come on, order a Feta and Olive salad, maybe wash it down with an Ouzo or glass of Assyrtiko greek wine and let&#8217;s sort this s \u2014- &#8211; out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s more:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Pledge \u20ac3 and get a postcard sent from Greece of Alex Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister. We&#8217;ll get them made and posted in Greece and give a boost to some local printers and post offices.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Pledge \u20ac6 and get a greek Feta and Olive salad<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Pledge \u20ac10 and get a small bottle of Ouzo sent to you<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Pledge \u20ac25 and get a bottle of Greek wine&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The effort also offers a Greek food basket for 160 euros (about $180), a Greek holiday for two for 5,000 euros (about $5,616) and &#8220;gratitude from citizens of Europe and particularly from the Greek people&#8221; for 1 million euros ($1.12 million).<\/p>\n<p>The effort&#8217;s organizer is Thom Feeney, 29, who works in a shoe shop in London. He insists the effort isn&#8217;t a joke. He says:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;I can understand why people might take it as a joke, but Crowdfunding can really help because it&#8217;s just a case of getting on and doing it. I was fed up of the Greek crisis going round in circles, while politicians are dithering, this is affecting real people. While all the posturing is going on, then it&#8217;s easy for the politicians to forget that. I just thought, sod it, I&#8217;ll have a crack.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Those donating money have seven days to make the goal. If they don&#8217;t, they get a refund. Feeney says he believes Europeans are generous enough to save Greece:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Europeans are pretty generous on the whole, maybe Ms [German Chancellor Angela Merkel] and Mr [British Prime Minister David] Cameron are the exception. There are 500 million people in the EU and actually, it wouldn&#8217;t cost each person much to just sort it out ourselves. I&#8217;m confident the people of Europe will get this campaign and some time soon we&#8217;ll all be raising a glass of Ouzo and having a bloody great big celebration.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Feeney tells NPR&#8217;s Jackie Northam that he woke up today to &#8220;1,200 emails and 30 friend requests from Greek women.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And this day&#8217;s gone even crazier from there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the 1.6 billion euros Greece must repay the IMF by 5 p.m. ET today is just a tiny fraction of what the country&#8217;s owes. The Council on Foreign Relations <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.cfr.org\/geographics\/2015\/06\/24\/greekdefault\/\">estimates<\/a> that Greece owes the IMF, one of its many creditors, $26 billion. And this <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/graphics.wsj.com\/greece-debt-timeline\/?mod=e2tw\">interactive<\/a> explains what Greece owes its creditors and when.<\/p>\n<p>Greece faces a possible exit from the eurozone, the bloc of countries that use the euro, if it defaults on its loan to the IMF.<\/p>\n<p><em>This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service &#8211; if this is your content and you&#8217;re reading it on someone else&#8217;s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org\/content-only\/faq.php#publishers.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Source:: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/06\/30\/418837690\/wisdom-of-the-crowds-online-effort-seeks-to-raise-funds-for-greece?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Wisdom Of The Crowds? Online Effort Seeks To Raise Funds For Greece\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/06\/30\/418837690\/wisdom-of-the-crowds-online-effort-seeks-to-raise-funds-for-greece?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/06\/30\/418837690\/wisdom-of-the-crowds-online-effort-seeks-to-raise-funds-for-greece?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=business\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2015\/06\/30\/euro_wide-0ea0be508b075f9a8e8598a1569d3f886d572d73-s1100-c15.jpg\" title=\"A collection of old Greek Drachma and euro notes and coins.\" alt=\"A collection of old Greek Drachma and euro notes and coins.\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>A collection of old Greek Drachma and euro notes and coins. <strong>Geert Vanden Wijngaert\/AP<\/strong> <strong>hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>i<\/strong>toggle caption <span>Geert Vanden Wijngaert\/AP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Updated at 12:14 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Only 1,599,888,909 euros to go. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.indiegogo.com\/projects\/greek-bailout-fund#\/story\">A crowd-funding effort<\/a> to raise the 1.6 billion euros (about $1.8 billion) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/06\/30\/418786642\/greece-hours-away-from-defaulting-on-imf-loan\">Greece needs to make a loan payment<\/a> to the International Monetary Fund has so far raised 111,091 euros ($124,569) from 7,275 donors.<\/p>\n<p>The organizer of the effort on IndieGogo says the European Union&#8217;s 503 million people need to chip in just over 3 euros each ($3.37).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s about the same as half a pint in London. Or everyone in the EU just having a Feta and Olive salad for lunch,&#8221; the organizer writes. &#8220;So come on, order a Feta and Olive salad, maybe wash it down with an Ouzo or glass of Assyrtiko greek wine and let&#8217;s sort this s \u2014- &#8211; out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s more:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Pledge \u20ac3 and get a postcard sent from Greece of Alex Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister. We&#8217;ll get them made and posted in Greece and give a boost to some local printers and post offices.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Pledge \u20ac6 and get a greek Feta and Olive salad<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Pledge \u20ac10 and get a small bottle of Ouzo sent to you<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Pledge \u20ac25 and get a bottle of Greek wine&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The effort also offers a Greek food basket for 160 euros (about $180), a Greek holiday for two for 5,000 euros (about $5,616) and &#8220;gratitude from citizens of Europe and particularly from the Greek people&#8221; for 1 million euros ($1.12 million).<\/p>\n<p>The effort&#8217;s organizer is Thom Feeney, 29, who works in a shoe shop in London. He insists the effort isn&#8217;t a joke. He says:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;I can understand why people might take it as a joke, but Crowdfunding can really help because it&#8217;s just a case of getting on and doing it. I was fed up of the Greek crisis going round in circles, while politicians are dithering, this is affecting real people. While all the posturing is going on, then it&#8217;s easy for the politicians to forget that. I just thought, sod it, I&#8217;ll have a crack.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Those donating money have seven days to make the goal. If they don&#8217;t, they get a refund. Feeney says he believes Europeans are generous enough to save Greece:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Europeans are pretty generous on the whole, maybe Ms [German Chancellor Angela Merkel] and Mr [British Prime Minister David] Cameron are the exception. There are 500 million people in the EU and actually, it wouldn&#8217;t cost each person much to just sort it out ourselves. I&#8217;m confident the people of Europe will get this campaign and some time soon we&#8217;ll all be raising a glass of Ouzo and having a bloody great big celebration.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Feeney tells NPR&#8217;s Jackie Northam that he woke up today to &#8220;1,200 emails and 30 friend requests from Greek women.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And this day&#8217;s gone even crazier from there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the 1.6 billion euros Greece must repay the IMF by 5 p.m. ET today is just a tiny fraction of what the country&#8217;s owes. The Council on Foreign Relations <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.cfr.org\/geographics\/2015\/06\/24\/greekdefault\/\">estimates<\/a> that Greece owes the IMF, one of its many creditors, $26 billion. And this <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/graphics.wsj.com\/greece-debt-timeline\/?mod=e2tw\">interactive<\/a> explains what Greece owes its creditors and when.<\/p>\n<p>Greece faces a possible exit from the eurozone, the bloc of countries that use the euro, if it defaults on its loan to the IMF.<\/p>\n<p><em>This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service &#8211; if this is your content and you&#8217;re reading it on someone else&#8217;s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org\/content-only\/faq.php#publishers.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}