[luau] Ladies and Gentlemen

[R. Scott Belford]

On Friday 27 December 2002 11:13 am, Brian Chee wrote:
> May I make a small suggestion....how about you folks consider removing a
> little of the ego, and if stuff is donated, it can be donated to the UH ICS
> department Advanced Network Computing Lab. I'm housing the server as it is,
> and can write a donation letter for tax purposes. This way donations are
> final, and the donors gets something nice at tax time.

Part of the application for 501(c)(3) status is stating what we intend to do 
as HOSEF to perpetuate our non-profit charitable status.  I am pasting what I 
have filed with the IRS below.  Basically, we break down our mission in 
percentages.  The largest mission of HOSEF is to accumulate, refurbish, and 
donate hardware.  The second is to teach and educate about Open Source 
through community outreach.  The last is to support LUAU through donated 
space, hardware, and bandwidth.

HOSEF is established as a non-profit charitable organization designed to 
withstand the torrid heats of ego, testosterone, and flame fests.  Donations 
to it stay with it.  No one individual controls the fate of the group.  I 
have tried to model the organizational structure on the Open Source 
philosophies.  I intend to announce and organizational meeting in the first 
few weeks of January to establish a steering committee.  I have proposed 
people in the past who were not interested.  Maybe you would be, Brian.  
Ho'ala expressed interest earlier today.  He or your would be and excellent 
first leader or captain or chair or whatever we want to call it.

Donating to UH is good.  Donating to Mid-Pac is what we do now.  I really 
feel like we should donate to ourselves, HOSEF.  Then we own it, it is not 
institutional or individual dependant, tax-writeoffs are possible.  I am 
really trying to organize HOSEF as a LONG term solution to the current little 
issues that arise.  I won't be on the island forever, so it is definitely not 
MY organization, so to speak.  It is yours.

scott

This is the attachment sent to the IRS for our 501 app.

Form 1023 Part II Activities and Organizational Information 
1. 
Our primary activity is the collection of donated computer hardware from 
government and private sources. Using volunteer labor, the hardware is 
renovated and donated to schools, religious, and charitable organizations. 
The mission of the group is to promote the benefits of free, Open Source 
Software. This software is installed on the hardware to make it operable with 
no licensing fees. This cycle of contribution is the primary activity 
perpetuating the charitable status. 
 
This activity has been ongoing by an informal group of individuals for over a 
year. It is now being formalized. A local retailer and a local school have 
donated space where donated hardware is being stored and volunteers meet to 
refurbish it. The collecting and donating of computers is 70% of the 
organization's activity. 
 
There are always going to be particular needs when computers are installed 
that cannot be met with donated hardware. Some school projects will need a 
new server with new hardware. HOSEF intends to raise funds through 
solicitations and publicity in order to buy these components for the schools. 
This activity has not yet occurred, but it will be conducted by volunteers 
willing to spend the time doing it. It is expected to be 10% of the 
organization's activities. 
 
Another 15% of the Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation's activities will 
be community education and outreach through free seminars and on-site 
consultations. By inviting educators, other non-profits, and the general 
public to these seminars, we will have the opportunity to demonstrate the 
comprehensive capabilities of Open Source Software, all availabe for free. 
This activity has been ongoing for a few years, again informally, by a few 
volunteer members of HOSEF. It is anticipated that, beginning in 2003, more 
effort will be made to invite the public to informational seminars conducted 
by volunteers in donated spaces. 
 
The remaining 5% of HOSEF's activities will be the support and sustenance of 
the local Linux User's Group called the Mid-Pacific Linux User's Group 
(MPLUG). This is a volunteer group of computer professionals, students, and 
enthusiasts organized around an emailing list entitled LUAU. There are no 
dues and participation is strictly voluntary. This group is the intellectual 
engine of the Open Source community in Hawaii. Enabling it with donated 
hardware and network resources can insure its continued contribution to our 
culture. Heretofore, resources donated to it were not recognized as having 
been given to any particular organization. 
 
These activities will be ongoing and conducted by volunteers. The activities 
will be organized around the organization's website, hosef.org.