i'm sorry but the answer is, and must remain, a definite "no". we cannot do this.
it's a very well-intended idea. :thumbup: to everyone who wants to help their fellow quilters. but here are the problems:
(1) we are a huge and highly visible group on the internet. because we bond as friends, we tend to forget that everything we say and do is visible to thousands of people we will never "know" or "meet" within posts to the board itself.
(2) if we start soliciting and collecting requests for freebies, we'd be leaving ourselves wide open to con artists and others with very unsavory motives and goals. there is no doubt in my mind that we would very quickly find ourselves in "communication" with data miners, spammers, crooks, and - quite likely - perverts. so far, we've been able to protect you from all but a little bit of that. we've also been able to move swiftly to fix the few problems we've had of that nature. an activity like the one proposed would make it nearly impossible to maintain our success and good record in that regard.
(3) as much as i love all of you, the truth is that none of us can truely know everybody who's registered as a member. so, there is also a very real danger that we'd give away personal information to creeps posing as donors. if a quilter is in need, the last thing we'd want to add to their troubles is to make them vulnerable to identity theft or worse.
again, my sincere thanks to all who want to help. but we must make do with the options already at hand.