Mesa GoFundMe asks cover wide range

Jan. 8—Christmas isn't the only season for giving and spreading kindness.

For crowdfunding platforms, it's a year-long activity in Mesa as well as around the world — for the largest and best-known, GoFundMe.com.

Since its launch in 2010, the California-based site has become the go-to online fundraising tool for charities and just about anybody who wants the public to help bankroll their expenses.

Within minutes someone can set up a money request on the global site, which to date has helped individuals and charities raise over $25 billion, according to GoFundMe, which did not respond to questions for the story.

The requests this year for donations run the gamut from classroom supplies and Girl Scout projects to relief efforts for crisis events such as Hurricane Ian in Florida and the war in Ukraine.

The "Stand with Ukraine" fundraiser launched by actors Mila and Ashton Kutcher in partnership with GoFundMe is the platform's second-largest campaign of all time, raising $37 million from over 75,000 donors.

For 2022, there's been a 110% increase in money raised for baby formula, a 60% increase for gasoline and a 10% increase for groceries, GoFundMe reported.

With a donation made every second, 28 million people so far this year have sent or received funding, the public nonprofit said.

In Mesa, over 500 people and groups have set up an account on the platform.

Most requests are for help with funeral expenses, memorials or medical bills, such as a campaign for a Mesa dad who went into cardiac arrest in October.

The man's sister set up an account to help support his two children while he recovered in the hospital. She raised $2,958 out of a $6,000 goal.

A Mesa woman created a GoFundMe for a 27-year-old woman who suffered a stroke one day after receiving a master's degree from Arizona State University in December.

The campaign raised $23,285 in just four days to help pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance.

And then there's the man who is raising money to help his friend make an annual rent payment at a Mesa mobile home park after she became ill and had to stop working. He's received $2,390 of his $2,500 request.

According to GoFundMe, one in three fundraisers is started for someone else.

Another popular ask in Mesa is for animals — to help with things such as rescues and paying vet bills for animals like Draco, a rescued French bulldog recovering from pneumonia and experiencing neurological problems. A Mesa woman raised $2,765 out of a $6,000 goal to pay for Draco's care.

One animal success story involves a Mesa woman who has collected $2,030 out of a $2,000 goal to pay for spaying and neutering homeless cats in Mesa.

The fundraiser has paid for procedures for 72 cats since 2020. She's placed 27 of those cats in permanent homes.

GoFundMe said help for animals is one of its fastest growing categories and there are more repeat donations made to these fundraisers than any other fundraising category.

To date, over $50 million have been raised for dogs and cats with $1.8 million donated this year.

Education and school-related activities are another popular money-giving category.

A social studies teacher at Fremont Junior High wants to raise $3,000 to build a race track for the school's RC Racing Team, which builds, repairs and races 1/10-scale electric cars. He's received $141.

A Mesa mother started a campaign to help cover tuition and related costs for her gifted 12-year-old son to begin his studies at Arizona State University this year.

So far, she's raised $3,953 out of a $100,000 goal to help her son, a graduate of Skyline High School, achieve his goal of becoming a neurosurgeon.

There are campaigns for local athletes seeking help to travel to distant tournaments. In some cases, the campaigns seek money for travel to Mesa for competitions at Bell Bank Park, which opened early last year.

A deputy sheriff in Florida wants to raise $2,300 for his 15-year-old son to travel to Mesa for a three-day soccer tournament in late January.

Additionally, GoFundMe's received over $400,000 in donations to LGBTQ+ causes.

There's a $3,000 request to fund student walkouts planned locally in Gilbert, Mesa and Chandler for items such as megaphones, water and banners. No date is given for the walkouts and so far, $1,650 was raised.

The organizer said the walkouts are to protest two new state laws that "marginalize LGBTQ students in favor of parents rights."

Fundraising requests seem to represent the diversity of the community.

A Mesa woman who immigrated from Mexico wrote a request in Spanish seeking help to purchase a $7,000 prosthetic leg so she can work again.

A foot infection complicated by diabetes spread to her bone, and doctors amputated her leg below the knee. She does not have health insurance and has been unable to get help from nonprofits.

"I feel able to continue working but I need help for the leg," the fundraiser states in Spanish.

Some GoFundMe campaigns involve hobbies. A Mesa man connected with RailFanAZ.com has raised $360 out of a $500 goal for an online feed of radio traffic along the BNSF Seligman Subdivision railway in Northern Arizona.

Another Mesa man is trying to raise $100,000 to buy property in the abandoned asbestos mining settlement of Chrysotile north of Globe.

He says he wants to preserve the site and also "build my castles in the most beautiful place on Earth."

So far he's raised $100.

The online requests in town go from needs to wants in some cases.

A Mesa GoFundMe campaign seeks $1,000 for a "gaming laptop." There is little explanation in the description except to say the laptop is needed "to bully some kid named Kevin in Roblox."

It's raised $20.

Another person in Mesa is asking for $3,000 to buy a faster computer because "I can't play Roblox with my friends."

So far the campaign has raised zilch.

One of the largest and most successful requests from the past year comes from Jonathan Przybyl, owner of Proof Bread in Mesa. He is raising money for a bakery in Kyiv to keep the workers employed and Ukrainians fed.

The fundraiser has garnered 1,800 donations and raised $214,255 toward a $500,000 goal.

The global crowdfunding market is projected to almost triple by 2025, according to Fundly, another crowdfunding site. Other crowdfunding sites include Donorbox, Kickstarter, Crowdfunder, Indiegogo and a host of others.

Globally, $34 billion has been raised through these platforms, according to Fundly.