Folding Forum

Lions Clubs International (LCI) is a secular service organization founded by Melvin Jones in 1917. As of May 2013, it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.35 million members in over 200 countries around the world. Lions focus on work for the blind and visually impaired began when Helen Keller addressed the international convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, on 30 June 1925 and charged Lions to be Knights of the Blind. The Lions motto is “We Serve.” - Wikipedia

Most of the work of Folding@Home would be viewed favorably, not not central to the Lions mission until Project 10180
"These projects aim to understand the dynamics of rhodopsin. Rhodopsin is the protein responsible for detecting light in the eye and triggering a signaling cascade that ultimately results in an electrical stimulus that we perceive as an image. Rhodopsin functions by undergoing a conformational change in response to light. Importantly, mutations to rhodopsin can prevent it from having the desired dynamics, resulting in blindness. This project will allow us to study the dynamics of rhodopsin, set a baseline for understanding the negative effects of such mutations, and potentially yield insight into therapeutic strategies for restoring or preventing vision loss."

In an ideal world, Project 10180 would have a Disease Type: Vision Impairment and F@H would allow folding by disease type, but in the real world Lions would help cure and treat diseases not central to their mission to help treat blindness. I am on a state Hearing committee, (Helen Keller was also Deaf) as an example, we also have a Diabetes committee, and so on. Showing Lions that they can help mean they would help.

I encourage you to educate LCI, perhaps set up a Lions Club Team and have a flyer showing how to install F@H as a Lions Club Team member. I would predict a doubling of participants, but not a doubling of computer power. (many older men who computer needs revolve around email)

http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/about-lions/contact-us.php

The primary demographic of F@h is the same group of people who are both fluent and involved in technology. Of course, not everyone who installs F@h is as watchful with it as many of us here are, and many people just set it up as a set-and-forget. However, you do have to consider that the likelihood of them being interested is primarily based on whether they understand and connect with the project.

I can't speak for other local Lion's Clubs, but at least the one closest to my place is primarily inhabited by people close to retirement age. (I usually associate them with distributing flu shots, but I'm sure they do many other things.) I doubt they would be interested in installing F@h, but perhaps they could donate financially and help the PG that way.

I have been thinking about the tax benefits of using section 501(c)(3) charitable organizations as vehicles for folding.

In theory a folder could donate their computer hardware used for folding in kind and cash to cover the associated power costs to the charitable organisation [with a well set out 'agreement'/contract]. The tax deduction/(portion of depending on the relative interests of the two organisations) could then be put towards an additional donation to the organization, perhaps to pay for their regular computer costs (most charitable organizations I know of need an office computer).

A tax deductable donation directly to Stanford would effectively provide the same tax benefits, but doesn't allow for folders to put the bought hardware toward 'their points'... Of course, in writing that I almost wonder what people think of donations receiving F@H points?

Jesse_V wrote:I can't speak for other local Lion's Clubs, but at least the one closest to my place is primarily inhabited by people close to retirement age. (I usually associate them with distributing flu shots, but I'm sure they do many other things.) I doubt they would be interested in installing F@h, but perhaps they could donate financially and help the PG that way.

I'm not in a Lions Club, nor do I distribute flu shots, but I AM "close to retirement age". Maybe you're just too young to understand that us ancient folk were young (maybe your age?) when writing DOS batch files was the norm...