July 10th was when Rolling Stone came out with Clay as the cover story. We saw the cover before the magazine was on the newsstands. Was that really Clay on the cover with his shirt partly open, low rider dress slacks and his stomach on display? Yes……life is good. I found a lot of issues at the airport gift shop and bought about 7 copies, most for myself, but some to hand out. The article was excellent in that we got to learn things about Clay that we didn’t know before and realized that he had a depth to him that never came out on American Idol. He revealed things that we didn’t know, he talked about sex and masturbation oye He talked his biological father. That interview was message board fodder for weeks and weeks.
In the meantime, the message boards were humming along all full of excitement and energy and good times. People were starting to gravitate to their own kind, the type of boards that best fit their personalities. You had the boards that catered to a younger demographic, you had boards that catered to adults, you had boards that celebrated the vox, you had boards that celebrated the physical. I settled into Clayton’s Place, The Clackhouse, which was formed from The People’s Republic of Clay, and RedHotTopic. I was in a happy place on those boards, I made friends.
During the summer of 2003, a group of fans decided to try to raise money for Clay’s newly-formed Foundation, The Bubel-Aiken Foundation, dedicated to including children with disabilities into the life environment of their typically-abled peers. You see, Clay used to work at the Finley Y in Raleigh, where he first encountered children who were not included in activities because there weren’t enough trained personnel to know how to work with them, or there was no room in the budget to accommodate children with disabilities.
It so resonated with Clay that he attended The University of North Carolina, Charlotte, to major in Special Education. He wanted to be a teacher and make a difference in their lives.
That’s where he met Diane Bubel. Clay was a teacher for their son, Mike, who was autistic. Clay worked with Mike for about two years, when Diane Bubel nagged him to try out for American Idol. Evidently, Clay used to sing around her house so she knew that he had a great voice. God bless you, Diane Bubel, for you were the catalyst of Clay Nation, as well as a wonderful spokesperson for The Foundation.
Anyway, this group of eight ladies decided to try to raise money for Clay’s charities. At the time, Clay had not yet started The Bubel-Aiken Foundation, but we heard rumblings that he was going to do something. These ladies organized into a group and called themselves the Look What Love Has Done organization, after one of Clay’s demo songs. Their goal? To raise $5,000 over the internet for a donation.
Well, I just loved that idea and I was glad that I got in on it at the beginning because the 30 days that they spent raising the money were some of the best 30 days I had ever spent. They started a thread on ‘That’s The Clay’ and a lot of fans jumped on board. I guess we all wondered how we were going to raise money from strangers over the internet, but you know what? Clay Aiken fans are not strangers. That’s one thing that really jumped out at me from the very beginning; the fact that we were a caring, giving group of fans who had each other’s best interests at heart. Really. It still freaking amazes me to this day.
So the fundraising began. Posters were jumping in and donating $5.00 here and $10.00 there. We discovered the joys of PayPal. The donations grew and grew. I remember when we got to $800.00 and a poster said if we could get the donations up to $900.00, she’d kick in the difference to make it $1,000. Then we hit $1,500, then $2,100, then $2,500. That was a milestone, but we still were only half way to our goal. A company jumped on board and said they would donate a portion of their internet sales of glowsticks (a Clay concert staple) to us, and the LWLHD ladies held an auction on e-bay that included 12 Clay-signed Rolling Stone magazines (I won a bid and have mine custom-framed, hanging over my piano). Then I remember reaching $5,000. What a celebration we had! Imagine a bunch of strangers trusting each other enough to donate money, sight unseen, to total strangers over the internet!
But the donations didn’t stop there. Clay’s generous fans kept on giving and giving. We hit $8,000, then $10,000, then $15,000, then $20,000. The excitement and camaraderie in that thread, the friends we made, the joy of doing something positive for Clay was overwhelming. Most of those who participated will never forget the fun we had. It was magical.
Think about that. $20,000.00 raised on the strength of Clay’s good name and the reputation of these eight ladies to facilitate the fundraising. $20,000 turned into $30,000 and in the end, The LWLHD organization raised $42,200.00 for a donation to The Bubel-Aiken Foundation.
Their plan was to get one of the local anchors in Raleigh to give the check to Clay, but Clay heard that they raised money, he didn’t know how much, but he said, “You raised the money, you present the check” so the LWLHD ladies flew into Raleigh from all four corners of the USA, dealing with lost luggage, wild runs through the local Mall to find something to wear, and an oversized check for the presentation.
On August 06, 2003, when the American Idol Tour rolled through Raleigh, Charles Meeker, the Mayor of Raleigh, held a press conference for Clay and the check presentation was part of that. Diane Bubel spoke. She told me that it was her first time as a public speaker. I remember watching the video and starting to cry in the middle of her speech because she spoke from her heart. Her simple words were so powerful and emotional for a first-time speaker that it moved me to tears. Then Clay gave a short speech and for one so young, he has a poise that most men his age lacked. Then the check was presented. Clay did not know the amount and when he was presented the check, he looked at Diane and mouthed ‘wow!’ with a look of wonderment on his face. The whole fundraising experience culminating in the check presentation is a precious memory to me, for the friends I made during that time are still friends to this day.
The 'Look What Love Has Done' organization. Eight ladies that I’ve admired for the past three years, who worked tirelessly to raise money not to meet Clay, not to draw attention to themselves, but to help children with special needs. In alphabetical order:
Aggiepants
Browneyes50
Connster97
HatOnDog
Liska02
MzDemeanor9
Scclayfan
UKgirl2000
Ladies, stand up and take a bow!
I can’t say this enough, but I love you guys! The ones that I don’t keep in touch with anymore, I miss you, the ones who I only keep in touch with through Browneyes or Liska, hello, Browneyes and Liska…..hugs to you both! What you guys did was amazing!
During that memorable summer of 2003, most of the fandom discovered Clay’s demo CD’s. He made two, one called Look What Love Has Done, which the fundraising organization took their name from, and Redefined. He actually put a third demo CD together combining his favorite songs from the first two, called Look What Love Has Done, Volume II. If you’re lucky, you may still find a copy or two for sale on e-bay for hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
During this time, The American Idol Tour as rolling across America………
I've put the video of the check presentation on my blog:
www.ClaySpots.blogspot.com. Go to the archives and look for the titile of this blog
Please watch all three segments of this video. It's the press conference and check presentation. Part 1 is Clay speaking on how important the Foundation is to him and what he wants it to achieve.
The second part is Diane Bubel's very first public speaking speech. When I first listened to this, I started crying. A simple speech that touched my heart in many ways.
This last part is the check presentation to the Foundation and Clay taking questions from the press. Watch until the end because Clay is just so freaking cute when he talks about his accent!
NeelieB2
PinkArmchair
nanjeanne
butterflyshine
sally56
shyeyewitness
pax
CarrieAACN
waltesl
jmh123
LLearn
msmarm
Pekoe