Last week, the Jamaican bobsled team qualified for the Winter Olympics for the first time in 12 years. The team is, unfortunately, woefully underfunded. 48-year-old sled driver Winston Watts had been paying out of pocket for the members to travel to qualifiing events in the United States, and his funds are strapped. He needs to raise $80,000 for equipment and travel expenses before the Sochi games next month. There are no private donors or governmental support. Watts' quote is a real buzzkill: “I just about get by financially. Beg, scrape, it’s hard. I’ve got headaches a lot of times man, believe you me.”
There is hope. A Crowdtilt campaign sprung up over the weekend to send the team to Sochi. As of 10:00 a.m. today, it had raised over $18,000; it's also verified by the Jamaica Bobsled Federation and Crowdtilt and anyone who gives over $50 gets a special limited-edition T-shirt. Here's the last update:
**UPDATE: Wow, you guys are AMAZING! I can't believe we've already raised $16,237/$80,000! In under 24 hours you've tilted this and gotten the Jamaican Bobsled team so much closer to Sochi. 🙂 I've been in touch with the Crowdtilt team and they've confirmed that they are in touch with Chris Stokes and Winston Watts, and will handle the disbursements of the funds directly to the Jamaican Bobsled team. Keep up the good work — let's get these guys to the Olympic games!!!
Fuck yeah. Let's do it.
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