Buffy The Vampire Slayer

It’s been a year since the Whedonverse fandom was introduced to Whedonverse.org, a site for fans to celebrate their shared love for Joss Whedon productions and support some worthy causes in the process.

It all started with the Whedonverse Multimedia Project, a campaign to provide Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly DVDs and books to public libraries and other charitable organizations. The idea for the Project came about in April 2004 and later became part of a site called Mutant Boosters. When that site was dissolved to form Booster Events, an organization focusing on providing the fandom with unique convention experiences, the charitable project needed a new home. Thus, Whedonverse.org was born.

In all that time, the Project raised $5,147 and supplied DVDs to 11 public libraries and 3 military bases. Fans themselves decided to make individual donations directly to organizations in need including: 15 libraries, 2 charitable organizations, and 1 military base. Fans making a contribution directly to an organization of their choice can post their donation to the Project’s online tally. Donations to the Project will go toward supporting the organizations on its waiting list.

"The thank-you’s I’ve received from those who are helped by the Project make it all worth the effort," says Jennifer, who manages the site. "I’ve gotten letters from librarians telling me how grateful they are because they wouldn’t have been able to acquire the DVDs without the fans help and just the other day I got a email from a soldier stationed overseas who is enjoying watching the Firefly series during his down time."

All of this was possible because of the generosity of the fandom.

To mark the anniversary, Whedonverse.org would like to be able to cross off another library from its waiting list by next week: the Robbins Library in Arlington Massachusetts. To do this, fans will need to raise $350. If successful, the Project will be able to deliver an gift to the city of Arlington just in time for the holidays.

It’s not all about charity. The site provides a resource for fans to promote the ’verse as well. Fans may remember that the Bring Back the Whedonverse Campaign originated from this site where fans were encouraged to vote for a return of the ’verse a year after Angel won E! Online’s "Save Our Show" poll. This resulted in fans getting their own Whedonverse poll and helped keep the ’verse on the media’s radar. The site has also featured articles on fan campaigns and has tried to spotlight other fan supported charitable efforts. As a community, this fandom has accomplished some amazing things together.

Whedonverse.org is a small site with modest goals, but there’s hope that the next year will bring an equally impressive list of accomplishments. Besides providing DVDs for the remaining libraries on Multimedia Projects waiting list, there’s been some thought put into organizing a book-drive and providing comic books to after school youth programs.

It won’t be all work and no play. There will be give-aways, auctions and contests for fans to participate in. In fact, soon the site will be having another comic book give-away featuring the Peter David penned comic "Spike: Old Times" and will be auctioning off some Sideshow action figures.

Fans can also enjoy talking about their favorite subjects on the message forum, voting in online polls, and other interactive features the site hopes to launch in the coming months.

To all Whedonverse fans out there: THANK-YOU.

Be Mighty: Help the Helpless.