A History of The Elysium Foundation
In mid-2011, we found ourselves attending the 4th of July BBQ at the Shulgin FARM outside Oakland, CA.
Although Sasha rarely got sick during his long life, he was then in his mid-80’s and had been experiencing the effects of dementia for some time. Macular degeneration had also taken most of his sight and kept him from work in the lab for years. Then, just before the BBQ, Sasha suffered a stroke. Needless to say that he was not in optimum condition when we arrived that day.
Seeing Sasha in such a condition, and hearing of the massive amount of money needed to both pay normal bills in addition to 24hr nursing and medical expenses, we found ourselves reliving the pain and grief of Robert Anton Wilson’s passing a few years earlier.
It is almost impossible to imagine that amazing, insightful men, such as these, who had influenced so many, men that were so often mentioned as souls and teachers that had changed countless lives, could be left scrambling for money at the end of their days. These are not people that live in any amount of luxury. They dedicated their lives to advancing human understanding of who we are, what we are, what we might become. With general hopes of moving away from our robotic-animal nature and becoming more human.
Something needs to be done for people like this. Often marginalized for the taboo nature of their research and ideas, they often fund their work through a combination of appearances & frugal living, The money simply stops coming as they reach their later years and travel become less possible. After discussing this issue with others at the party that day, everyone agreed that something should be done. A few thought we COULD do,… something.
The Elysium Foundation Project was born to fill the gap between the “idea” and functional, zero overhead, no-profit, organization with the goal of providing financial relief to elderly members of the Visionary/Psychedelic community. Who, through their research, writings, or general contribution to this field, have served as model ambassadors and representatives of our community.
We then attempted to reach these goals by maintaining a Facebook page, holding the local FOTS/Elysium dinner salons in Jack London Square, and private networking.
The Facebook page allowed us to have a permanent internet presence as contact point, and a serve as a resource for information to inform people of Sasha’s condition and needs, promote the community and their events in order to build a large base of support, and solicit direct donations to the Shulgin’s tax-deductable relief fund.
The local FOTS/Elysium dinner salons allowed us to meet regularly, stay connected, and exchange ideas and thoughts on fundraising for the Shulgins. This also gave us a space to stay updated on the fate of, and work in the lab, (at the time, stewarded by Dr. Paul Daley).
Separately, in our own lives we worked to identify, find, and contact potential individuals that may be able to commit to larger donations to provide a guaranteed period of support. This often takes the form of identifying well known persons that have expressed interest and respect for either Sasha’s work directly, or the positive effects of visionary/psychedelic substances in general. We then seek avenues of direct contact if possible to insure delivery of the message.
The Elysium Foundation Project was a loosely organized group of variously involved individuals, dedicated to helping both inform others of current projects in need of funding, and securing funding and donations for these projects.
Much of the work was done independently because most of us had already decided that we were going to do what we could to help both Sasha and Ann. To do our part to ensure their lives were as comfortable and stress-free as possible. To give back something no matter how small. To say thank you with our actions.
With the Hellenic idea of the Elysian Fields to represent our ultimate goal of rewarding their bravery & dedication by attempting to ensure that their final years as heavenly as possible.
You are invite you to join us in this vision.
~L’society
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