Best Actor (and Person) + Generous Fandom + Super Cause = RA Birthday Cybersmile Fundraising Triumph!

He’s so modest, he’ll never admit he was the absent, but ever-present inspiration, but we all know he was!
On the heels of a massive, collaborative social media fundraising campaign – to honor RA’s birthday – The Man Himself took to Twitter with personal thanks. RA, I think may I say, the pleasure was ours!
<HUGE, THRILLED GRIN> And drumroooollllllllllll, please!
The Cybersmile Foundation fundraising total at just after 8 PM US Eastern time: a GARGANTUAN… waaaait for it:
* £10,142
* (which is $15,908 US)
* raised by 448 donations!
So we not only exceeded the £10,000 Dream Goal, but also the 444 donations (to mark RA’s 44th birthday)! And, still, people are giving.
With all my heart, I believe RA’s ‘troops’ are the best fandom/Army any actor could imagine, and the most fabulous community of people to have as pals! At your core, you have kind and generous hearts, and when RA asks for your help – and he rarely does – you step forward and volunteer like the loyal, devoted, compassionate, unselfish people who are this fandom. Even fans like Jade – who wrote that she’s on the brink of homelessness – and others on fixed incomes and tight, tight budgets, contributed. All of you are sensational!
Cut to the chase… RA!
With apologies to Joshua Horowitz, who did a “Happy, Sad, Confused” photo with the Hannibal gang at Comic Con, I hope THIS was RA’s face HAPPY face today when he heard the news:

RA’s HAPPY face for MTV’s Joshua Horowitz’s “Happy, Sad, Confused” Photo Collection.
~ Taken at ComicCon15
(And maybe he’ll give us a Thrilled-Beyond-Words selfie later!)
This, I think, is a great moment for the RArmy… and you insubordinate fans who gave generously, but won’t call yourselves part of the Army <heh> (And yes, I’m talking about you, Yvonne Lustenberger, m’dear Twitter pal!)
So we did it, troops! Raise a glass of pinot noir, vodka, a Red Dragon Tini, your favorite tipple, or just grab a bowl of chocolate ice-cream. You all deserve it.
I file this post with great affection for you all, and am proud to be a part of this community more than I can express.
Cheers, Marcia
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Operation #RAXmas Is Friday, November 28 … Shhh, It’s a Surprise for RA!

RAXmas Gets Under Way at 9 PM UK Time on Friday, November 28! Support RA’s Charities though Just Giving…
This message is from a few members of the Facebook page ‘Richard’s Rascals – The Armitage Effect,’ who have have come up with an idea for a special surprise Christmas present for Richard Armitage. We agree that it’s a super idea, and hope they make it an annual tradition.
Here’s the scoop from Mel Brown and Linden Tree, who you can reach here:
Richard has said in interviews that he’d rather his well-wishers give to charity rather than buy him gifts. So, for those fans who would like to participate, we’d love them to join us from Friday November 28th (9pm UK time) and send a flurry of donations to Richard’s chosen charities through Just Giving. We would then love for people to post a message on Twitter (for those who have an account).
As well as supporting some wonderful organisations, it will also be a way to spread goodwill around the internet, and show our respect and admiration of Richard en masse in a way that we think will be very meaningful.
As fans we love to celebrate him, and what better way than by giving him what he wants – to help those less fortunate.
Here is an outline of our suggestion:
1. From 9pm UK time on Friday 28th (not before), head to JustGiving and select one (or more!) of Richard’s chosen charities.
2. Make a donation and leave a message that includes #RAXmas, your location and your Twitter handle (if you have one). You can choose to donate anonymously and still leave a message. Please choose the option to hide the amount of your donation, as we want to avoid any sense of competition or anxiety over donation amounts.
3. We would then love for people to post a message on Twitter (for those who have an account). Write a message with #RAXmas, #JustGiving and your location, plus any message and/or image you wish. You may choose to include the charity’s number. Feel free to use our Christmas tree image.
Eg: For #RAXmas I’ve just donated to #charityname via #JustGiving. London.
4. Feel free to favourite and retweet others’ messages if you can, to have the best chance of him seeing them.
5. Everyone is of course absolutely welcome to make multiple donations and send additional messages. The more activity #RAXmas gets, the more potential interest we generate.
** Note for non-UK residents. If for some reason you are unable to donate through Just Giving, we encourage you to try the individual charities’ websites. If this still does not work, we ask that you consider selecting a charity in your home country that supports the same cause as one of Richard’s, and still write a Twitter message using #RAXmas to let us know who you’ve given to. We are confident that this gesture will still be very much appreciated by him. <NOTE FROM RA US: I’m in the US and have given through Just Giving a number of times and have never had a problem.>
Thank you all for reading, and we really hope you’ll be able to take part in #RAXmas. For any further information please contact me or Linden Tree directly via the @RAXmas FB group (although it’s classified as “closed,” it’s inclusive!).
The RA Rascals.
Remember, 9pm UK time, Fri 28th, and keep it a Twitter secret til then.
An Online Celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Premiere of North & South… Interested? Read More Below…
SPEAKING ONLY ON BEHALF OF MEMBERS OF THE RICHARD ARMITAGE US FACEBOOK PAGE (carefully trying not to step on any toes, but truly hoping to lure others who might want to come out and and play…)
On the aforementioned Richard Armitage US Facebook page, our members (aka people who have “LIKE”d the page) have been playing around with ways to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the premiere of North & South this November.
Like most RA well-wisher groups, RA US has a diversity of members. Ours, for example, represent over 43 countries and 47 languages – including Pirate English, which will come in handy if ever RA should star in a remake of Pirates of Penzance or Captain Blood.
SO, N&S premiered on November 14, 2004. Here in the States, November 14, 2014 is a Friday. I’m not good at any kind of math – especially global time/day conversion – so I talked with an Aussie member and she says it is also a Friday on her side of the world. (Our folks liked the idea of this event/celebration/par-tay happening on a weekend.)
Suddenly, RA US peeps are kinda getting jazzed about doing this online “North & South 10th Anniversary Worldwide Celebration” (aka Par-tay) with other RA well-wishers from other groups and individuals, and so are extending the invitation to everyone in the RA Universe to come out and play.
We’ve kept The <Proposed> Plan simple:
- Everyone (who can and wants to pparticipate) watches N&S wherever you live in the world on November 14, 2014 – the 10th anniversary of its premiere. THEN…
- On Saturday, November 15, we gather electronically — all go to one place on the web — and talk about the film, RA, the impact it’s had and continues to have on us, RA, DANIELA, BRENDAN(!), RA, Sinéad, Tim, Anna, Jo, Pauline … Well, basically, all things North & South!
BUT, here’s the question for everyone who thinks this might be fun:
Where should that one place BE????
The more the merrier, but what web venue would be most convenient to the most people?
Feel free to comment here!
Right now, we’re thinkin’ it might be fun to do it on Twitter. We wonder if we could crash Twitter on November 15 with the #RANS hashtag…? Wouldn’t that be a HOOT!?!?!?!
Cheers, ever’body! Hope you’ll join us!
And 1,000 thanks to RA US Special Correspondent Chrissy Lampard, for reminding us that THIS is the YEAR!
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