Evening y'all! Well, as I spoke about in my last email, our general fund is completely depleted!! Almost exactly two years ago, we held an exiting week-long fund drive that raised over $2000 for our general fund. That money has lasted up until this month. As I write this, I have 7 grant requests (including the two that I mentioned in my last email ) that are pending approval and thanks to a recent donation of $250, have enough in the fund to cover 4 of them. This leaves 3 possible matching cousins out on a limb. Just so folks understand how important this fund is, the donations from our drive two years ago, have helped 22 folks get tested...that's 22 more samples that we wouldn't have had otherwise...and of those tested, 12 of them matched or helped to create groups. So, I'd like to do the same thing we did last time. I have already received one commitment to match up to $250, any donations that come in between now and April 8th with the note "Please send out my challenge to other Williams' DNA Project participants." That's a total of $500 that will go towards the fund! And just to throw some perspective on things...consider this: If each of our over 500 participants kicked in just $5 to the fund...less than the cost of a McDonalds value meal, that would translate into over $2,500 for the fund. Anyone ever think $5 could go such a long way?! That would raise more than our last effort when we had but half the people in the project!! So come on cousins!! Let's see that generosity that we Williams' are known for! Let's take that small but not insignificant step of helping our fellow Williams join this project! Whether it's $5, $50 or even $500, every bit helps!! If you are interested in donating, there are a couple of methods you can use. If you use this link: http://www.familytreedna.com/contribution.html and just follow the instructions. Be sure to indicate your donation is for the Williams project and also indicate if you'd like the donation in your name or in honor/memory of another. I will be getting the fund page updated with all our contributors as they come in! Additionally, if there is anyone else that would like to step up to match the incoming funds, please contact me directly! I look forward to hearing from y'all!!! Best regards, Adrian Adrian Williams Williams DNA Project Administrator