Live, Train, Fight like Thai - Book project

By Leon Rose Photographer

NZ $10,000 pledged


31 people pledged


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NZ $10,000 minimum target


100 100% Complete

This campaign was successful and closed on 07/01/2015 at 2:58 PM.

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About

Live, Train, Fight Like Thai - Book Project

Project 2014-10-31 10:58:01 +1300

Please click the Play button to the left of the image above to see a video about the project.

Important note. When pledging you will be asked for your credit card details. The funds you wish to pledge will only be deducted from your card if we reach the goal of $25000,00 by 7th of January 2015. If we do not reach the funding goal the project will not go ahead and your card will not be charged.

Hi, my name is Leon Rose. I have been a professional photographer for twenty years.

I shoot commercial work, but or the last ten years Ihave benn working on a project called "Live, Train, Fight like Thai". "Live, Train, Fight like" Thai is a Photo Essay/Documentary that documents the sport of Muay Thai in NZ.

About ten years ago, in an effort to get fit, I started to train in boxing gyms and then kickboxing gyms – I am inherently lazy and seem to respond well to being yelled at military-style for an hour! The trainers I met in the process were all fighters themselves, and a group of them approached me to ask if I could shoot their fights. The group – Alex Porter, John Galia, Tony Angelov, and the legendary Shane ‘Chopper’ Chapman, suggested they train me one-on-one for one session per week rotating between the four of them in exchange for my services.

Having never been a fighter and having been a firm believer in running away from conflict, I found myself thrust into the world of combat sport. This began a journey for me, and led to ten years of studying all aspects of the fight game through my lens.

Muay Thai is a most skilful art and is as beautiful as it is brutal. I learnt that to win in this sport involves the most incredible amount of dedication and training. It really is the training that has resounded with me. The dedication of these fighters who start their fight careers at very early ages, some as early as eight years old, is truly astonishing and is something I have a huge amount of respect for.

Of course, it's not all about the fighting. As a photographer I have focused on the lead-up  to the fights, the training, the anticipation, the exhilaration of  success and the disappointment of failure, the religious side involving traditional dance and praying before the battle, the medical side, the stitches, the wounds, and of course the ring girl phenomenon. I also turned my lens on to gambling, which is the driving force behind the sport in Thailand. It is also a way of survival for some, who go to the gyms and train and fight for food and accommodation.

So now, after ten years, it is time to formulate the project into a book. This was always my intention, and now thanks to the help and support of PQ Blackwell, I am well on my way to producing the culmination of my work and hopefully to give some well-deserved recognition to a sport that never gets any press and is looked at like the dark underbelly of boxing. I need a reasonably large amount to make this happen but I believe that if all the people who love boxing, kickboxing, and even those of you who love quality sports photography, can buy a print or a copy of the book, we can make this happen.

I am also offering my services as a photographer in exchange for donations. If you are a designer or an agency and you want to prepay a shoot day for a project I am offering packages for you. Every pledge, no matter how big or small, will help me reach my goal. Every person who pledges will have their name printed in the book with thanks. I really would love to see this project through as it has been so long in the making that it has become part of me. I have spent almost 1/5th of my life on this, and have seen two generations of fighters in that time.

If we succeed, there will be an exhibition and a book launch during next year’s Auckland Festival of Photography in June.

Please accept my humble thanks in advance... Let’s do this!

 

 

Comments

Updates 18

I have the first copy

18/05/2015 at 8:42 PM

I have the first copy of my book! It looks awesome,! I will receive the first hundred by end of next week, so those who are waiting will get theirs soon. Remember if you come to the Exhibition and book launch you can pick your copy up there or you can purchase one from my website
http://www.leonrose.co.nz/pages/livetrainfightlikethai
Thanks again to all of you who have helped make this happen.
Here are the details of the opening again
http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/…

Leon and Book

Exhibition and Book Launch

23/04/2015 at 9:53 AM

Here is an invite to all my followers to the official launch and exhibition at Whitespace Gallery on 29th May 2015

http://www.whitespace.co.nz/exhibitions/leon-rose-2015.aspx

Part of the Auckland Festival of Photography "Live, Train, Fight like Thai" is a photo essay/documentary that documents the sport of Muay Thai in NZ over the last 10 years.
whitespace.co.nz|By Olie Mason, Lydia Bae

You need to pledge to see this update.

Edit Day done!

24/02/2015 at 11:08 AM

 

I Spent the day editing for my book yesterday with Geoff Blackwell.
Massive job ... 1 section to go. It's looking awesome. Design stage next. We hope to have it printed by the end of March. Will keep everyone posted.

— with Geoff Blackwell.
'Spent the day editing for my book yesterday with Geoff Blackwell.
Massive job ... 1 section to go. It's looking awesome.'

Book Launch on May 28th TBC

18/02/2015 at 3:45 PM

Great News.

I have been invited by Whitespace Gallery www.whitespace.co.nz to hold the book launch and exhibition during this years festival of photography.

The final Edit Day is tomorrow at PQ Blackwell, and I have drafted the foreward and other content.

We are on the way to production. I will let you know other dates as soon as they become available.

In the meantime please stay in tune by following my Tumblir blog

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/livetrainfightlikethai

or liking my Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/leon.rose.58

I hope everyone is having a great start to 2015.

Regards

Leon

Keeping you in the loop.

27/01/2015 at 9:43 PM

I just wanted to keep you up to date with the progress. Due to the availability of Geoff from PQ Blackwell, I have had to push the final edit date forward to the 19th of Feb.

However this gives me time to do a good sub-edit and also write the intro to the book which will be taken from my in depth interview with Eddie "The Heat" Tongalahi, one of our most awarded world champion fighters, and the trainer of many of the fighters in my collection.

I will take some images of my edit day and post them here.

In the meantime please stay in tune by following my Tumblir blog

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/livetrainfightlikethai

or liking my Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/leon.rose.58

Target Reached - The book is going ahead.

07/01/2015 at 4:01 PM

Thanks to Everyone for helping to make this project happen! It is going to be an awesome book as promised.
I am meeting with PQ Blackwell after the 20th of January to do the final edit. I have 900 images to choose from! A big day it will be.
This pledge site remains live and and as per my update earlier today, you can get an image per day by going and following my blogpost on Tumblir.

https://www.tumblr.com/

blog/livetrainfightlikethai

I will be sending through updates as the project comes to life.
Watch this Space!!
Very Happy New Year!
Leon

Hing of the Ring Winner

Last Day today.

07/01/2015 at 11:56 AM

It's the last day of the pledge me site today.

I will keep you all updated through pledge me, but for an image a day, please go to my Tumblir site and follow me https://www.tumblr.com/blog/livetrainfightlikethai or go to my FB page and "Like" me there, it is linked through Tumblir.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leon-Rose-Photographer/246048848761711?ref=hl

A huge thank you to all of you for supporting me and this project.

Leon

Eddy talks to his fighter between rounds at F1 extreme 2014Corner Talk.

The final push!

04/01/2015 at 1:06 PM

 

Jason "Psycho" Suttie enters the ring.

Hi to all my faithful followers,

I have 3 days to pre-sell as many as these books as possible.

My pledge site finishes in 3 days time!! Please if you are near a compter or smartphone in the next couple of days can you push it out there.

We are at $6330.00 and we need to reach $10,000.00 in 3 days.

All of you who have supported this, I thank you whole heartedly. Please push this out because if we dont reach the target I can't complete the project.

Almost there folks.

And Happy New Year - Here is to a great and prosperous 2015!

Regards Leon

Pledge limit has been reduced!

28/12/2014 at 12:27 PM

Hi and Merry Christmas to all my followers.

I just wanted to update you all on the progress we have been making. It has become clear that my previous target of $25,000 was going to be unattainable in the time of the pledge. With this in mind I have relooked at the costs and the way to get to my goal. My publishers (PQ Blackwell) have agreed to reprice the run of books and shorten the amount. We also have the option of printing the pages digitally which is more expensive per copy but less expensive over the whole project because we can choose the amount to run and the do a re run as we choose. The quality of the product will remain the same and all pledges will be honoured as planned. I have decided that the exhibition and launch will be funded seperately at a later date.

So the new Target is $10,000.

We have already raised $6330.00, so we can get there! Please repost, retweet, and pass on the details again. We have 10 day's to make this happen. I have also started a Tumblir page and have been pushing an image a day out on that which is geting posted to Facebook and tweeted. Please push this out also.

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/livetrainfightlikethai

Thank you all so much again for supporting this project. I am very excited to start work on it as soon as the pledge is fullfilled.

Happy New Year to all of you and your families.

 

Shane Chopper Chaman performs the Wai Kru.

22/12/2014 at 6:04 PM

Shane Chopper Chaman performs the Wai Kru.

The Wai kru is a way to pay respect to your coaches, gym, training partners and family. The wai kru is the portion of the muay thai dance where the fighter circles the ring 3 times before kneeling and bowing 3 times to show respect to God and man.Shane Chopper Chaman performs the Wai Kru.

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/livetrainfightlikethai

Interview with Eddy Lee Senior - Eddy talks about Thai gyms and Numnoi Simpatong in Phuket.

16/12/2014 at 2:39 PM

I am now beginning the production phase of the book. I spent an hour with Eddy Lee Senior (Eddy the heat Tongalahi) and talked about many aspects and his history in the fight scene. I will be releasing bits of the interview over the next few weeks. Keep pushing this people.

 

 

Pro Photographer also picked up my story!

09/12/2014 at 12:46 PM

Pro Photographer also picked up my story & gave me a full page. Here is the online version. Check out the printed one in their latest issue.

http://www.prophotographer.co.nz/news/nz-news/in-the-ring

 

Photoforum interview published today.

04/12/2014 at 1:23 PM

D Photo Have done an on line article on the book! Read the Link.

03/12/2014 at 5:52 PM

Here is a great article about the project.

http://www.dphoto.co.nz/blogs/fighting-fit-leon-rose/

Wow - we just about reached $5000.00 tonight

26/11/2014 at 10:37 PM

This is awesome, I pushed hard online again today and its paid off. I am getting closer to my target all the time. Keep pushing the url around guys and girls and we will have a book.

Thanks again to all my current pledgers.

Preparation and prayer

Now over the $2000 mark ... this is awesome, thanks so much to all the pledgers.

18/11/2014 at 10:11 AM

Thanks Pledgers, I am working hard on getting the project out to all the fight gyms over the next few weeks. This is awesome.

Dado Mata

You need to pledge to see this update.

    Pledgers 31

    Anonymous pledger
    07/01/2015 at 2:58pm
    Charly
    06/01/2015 at 9:56pm
    Anonymous pledger
    06/01/2015 at 9:31pm
    Briar Pacey
    05/01/2015 at 11:50am
    Lindsay Meredith
    05/01/2015 at 9:52am
    Jody Murray
    05/01/2015 at 9:04am
    Geoff Ansley
    04/01/2015 at 4:52pm
    Tui Vaiangina
    11/12/2014 at 10:52pm
    ian
    11/12/2014 at 11:54am
    Dado Mata
    11/12/2014 at 1:30am
    Nadine Ashworth
    04/12/2014 at 8:22am
    Vincent Villemer
    02/12/2014 at 9:50pm
    Peter Akeroyd
    27/11/2014 at 6:10pm
    Anonymous pledger
    27/11/2014 at 9:18am
    Caroline
    26/11/2014 at 10:19pm
    Jim Tannock
    26/11/2014 at 4:28pm
    Mark Coote
    26/11/2014 at 4:23pm
    Stefan Sepanaho
    19/11/2014 at 3:57pm
    Anonymous pledger
    19/11/2014 at 6:44am
    Anonymous pledger
    18/11/2014 at 2:17pm
    John B Turner
    18/11/2014 at 2:11pm
    Chris Dobson
    17/11/2014 at 6:32pm
    jeneal rohrback
    14/11/2014 at 6:16pm
    Tina Rose
    14/11/2014 at 5:33pm
    Cindy Kavanagh
    12/11/2014 at 1:01pm
    Anonymous pledger
    11/11/2014 at 8:55pm
    Shona Grundy
    11/11/2014 at 12:53pm
    Matt Wilson
    11/11/2014 at 12:26pm
    richard leonard
    08/11/2014 at 4:21pm
    Jeff Szusterman
    08/11/2014 at 11:52am

    Followers 16

    Live, Train, Fight Like Thai - Book Project

    Project 2014-10-31 10:58:01 +1300

    Please click the Play button to the left of the image above to see a video about the project.

    Important note. When pledging you will be asked for your credit card details. The funds you wish to pledge will only be deducted from your card if we reach the goal of $25000,00 by 7th of January 2015. If we do not reach the funding goal the project will not go ahead and your card will not be charged.

    Hi, my name is Leon Rose. I have been a professional photographer for twenty years.

    I shoot commercial work, but or the last ten years Ihave benn working on a project called "Live, Train, Fight like Thai". "Live, Train, Fight like" Thai is a Photo Essay/Documentary that documents the sport of Muay Thai in NZ.

    About ten years ago, in an effort to get fit, I started to train in boxing gyms and then kickboxing gyms – I am inherently lazy and seem to respond well to being yelled at military-style for an hour! The trainers I met in the process were all fighters themselves, and a group of them approached me to ask if I could shoot their fights. The group – Alex Porter, John Galia, Tony Angelov, and the legendary Shane ‘Chopper’ Chapman, suggested they train me one-on-one for one session per week rotating between the four of them in exchange for my services.

    Having never been a fighter and having been a firm believer in running away from conflict, I found myself thrust into the world of combat sport. This began a journey for me, and led to ten years of studying all aspects of the fight game through my lens.

    Muay Thai is a most skilful art and is as beautiful as it is brutal. I learnt that to win in this sport involves the most incredible amount of dedication and training. It really is the training that has resounded with me. The dedication of these fighters who start their fight careers at very early ages, some as early as eight years old, is truly astonishing and is something I have a huge amount of respect for.

    Of course, it's not all about the fighting. As a photographer I have focused on the lead-up  to the fights, the training, the anticipation, the exhilaration of  success and the disappointment of failure, the religious side involving traditional dance and praying before the battle, the medical side, the stitches, the wounds, and of course the ring girl phenomenon. I also turned my lens on to gambling, which is the driving force behind the sport in Thailand. It is also a way of survival for some, who go to the gyms and train and fight for food and accommodation.

    So now, after ten years, it is time to formulate the project into a book. This was always my intention, and now thanks to the help and support of PQ Blackwell, I am well on my way to producing the culmination of my work and hopefully to give some well-deserved recognition to a sport that never gets any press and is looked at like the dark underbelly of boxing. I need a reasonably large amount to make this happen but I believe that if all the people who love boxing, kickboxing, and even those of you who love quality sports photography, can buy a print or a copy of the book, we can make this happen.

    I am also offering my services as a photographer in exchange for donations. If you are a designer or an agency and you want to prepay a shoot day for a project I am offering packages for you. Every pledge, no matter how big or small, will help me reach my goal. Every person who pledges will have their name printed in the book with thanks. I really would love to see this project through as it has been so long in the making that it has become part of me. I have spent almost 1/5th of my life on this, and have seen two generations of fighters in that time.

    If we succeed, there will be an exhibition and a book launch during next year’s Auckland Festival of Photography in June.

    Please accept my humble thanks in advance... Let’s do this!

     

     

    Comments

    I have the first copy

    18/05/2015 at 8:42 PM

    I have the first copy of my book! It looks awesome,! I will receive the first hundred by end of next week, so those who are waiting will get theirs soon. Remember if you come to the Exhibition and book launch you can pick your copy up there or you can purchase one from my website
    http://www.leonrose.co.nz/pages/livetrainfightlikethai
    Thanks again to all of you who have helped make this happen.
    Here are the details of the opening again
    http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/…

    Leon and Book

    Exhibition and Book Launch

    23/04/2015 at 9:53 AM

    Here is an invite to all my followers to the official launch and exhibition at Whitespace Gallery on 29th May 2015

    http://www.whitespace.co.nz/exhibitions/leon-rose-2015.aspx

    Part of the Auckland Festival of Photography "Live, Train, Fight like Thai" is a photo essay/documentary that documents the sport of Muay Thai in NZ over the last 10 years.
    whitespace.co.nz|By Olie Mason, Lydia Bae

    You need to pledge to see this update.

    Edit Day done!

    24/02/2015 at 11:08 AM

     

    I Spent the day editing for my book yesterday with Geoff Blackwell.
    Massive job ... 1 section to go. It's looking awesome. Design stage next. We hope to have it printed by the end of March. Will keep everyone posted.

    — with Geoff Blackwell.
    'Spent the day editing for my book yesterday with Geoff Blackwell.
Massive job ... 1 section to go. It's looking awesome.'

    Book Launch on May 28th TBC

    18/02/2015 at 3:45 PM

    Great News.

    I have been invited by Whitespace Gallery www.whitespace.co.nz to hold the book launch and exhibition during this years festival of photography.

    The final Edit Day is tomorrow at PQ Blackwell, and I have drafted the foreward and other content.

    We are on the way to production. I will let you know other dates as soon as they become available.

    In the meantime please stay in tune by following my Tumblir blog

    https://www.tumblr.com/blog/livetrainfightlikethai

    or liking my Facebook page

    https://www.facebook.com/leon.rose.58

    I hope everyone is having a great start to 2015.

    Regards

    Leon

    Keeping you in the loop.

    27/01/2015 at 9:43 PM

    I just wanted to keep you up to date with the progress. Due to the availability of Geoff from PQ Blackwell, I have had to push the final edit date forward to the 19th of Feb.

    However this gives me time to do a good sub-edit and also write the intro to the book which will be taken from my in depth interview with Eddie "The Heat" Tongalahi, one of our most awarded world champion fighters, and the trainer of many of the fighters in my collection.

    I will take some images of my edit day and post them here.

    In the meantime please stay in tune by following my Tumblir blog

    https://www.tumblr.com/blog/livetrainfightlikethai

    or liking my Facebook page

    https://www.facebook.com/leon.rose.58

    Target Reached - The book is going ahead.

    07/01/2015 at 4:01 PM

    Thanks to Everyone for helping to make this project happen! It is going to be an awesome book as promised.
    I am meeting with PQ Blackwell after the 20th of January to do the final edit. I have 900 images to choose from! A big day it will be.
    This pledge site remains live and and as per my update earlier today, you can get an image per day by going and following my blogpost on Tumblir.

    https://www.tumblr.com/

    blog/livetrainfightlikethai

    I will be sending through updates as the project comes to life.
    Watch this Space!!
    Very Happy New Year!
    Leon

    Hing of the Ring Winner

    Last Day today.

    07/01/2015 at 11:56 AM

    It's the last day of the pledge me site today.

    I will keep you all updated through pledge me, but for an image a day, please go to my Tumblir site and follow me https://www.tumblr.com/blog/livetrainfightlikethai or go to my FB page and "Like" me there, it is linked through Tumblir.

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leon-Rose-Photographer/246048848761711?ref=hl

    A huge thank you to all of you for supporting me and this project.

    Leon

    Eddy talks to his fighter between rounds at F1 extreme 2014Corner Talk.

    The final push!

    04/01/2015 at 1:06 PM

     

    Jason "Psycho" Suttie enters the ring.

    Hi to all my faithful followers,

    I have 3 days to pre-sell as many as these books as possible.

    My pledge site finishes in 3 days time!! Please if you are near a compter or smartphone in the next couple of days can you push it out there.

    We are at $6330.00 and we need to reach $10,000.00 in 3 days.

    All of you who have supported this, I thank you whole heartedly. Please push this out because if we dont reach the target I can't complete the project.

    Almost there folks.

    And Happy New Year - Here is to a great and prosperous 2015!

    Regards Leon

    Pledge limit has been reduced!

    28/12/2014 at 12:27 PM

    Hi and Merry Christmas to all my followers.

    I just wanted to update you all on the progress we have been making. It has become clear that my previous target of $25,000 was going to be unattainable in the time of the pledge. With this in mind I have relooked at the costs and the way to get to my goal. My publishers (PQ Blackwell) have agreed to reprice the run of books and shorten the amount. We also have the option of printing the pages digitally which is more expensive per copy but less expensive over the whole project because we can choose the amount to run and the do a re run as we choose. The quality of the product will remain the same and all pledges will be honoured as planned. I have decided that the exhibition and launch will be funded seperately at a later date.

    So the new Target is $10,000.

    We have already raised $6330.00, so we can get there! Please repost, retweet, and pass on the details again. We have 10 day's to make this happen. I have also started a Tumblir page and have been pushing an image a day out on that which is geting posted to Facebook and tweeted. Please push this out also.

    https://www.tumblr.com/blog/livetrainfightlikethai

    Thank you all so much again for supporting this project. I am very excited to start work on it as soon as the pledge is fullfilled.

    Happy New Year to all of you and your families.

     

    Shane Chopper Chaman performs the Wai Kru.

    22/12/2014 at 6:04 PM

    Shane Chopper Chaman performs the Wai Kru.

    The Wai kru is a way to pay respect to your coaches, gym, training partners and family. The wai kru is the portion of the muay thai dance where the fighter circles the ring 3 times before kneeling and bowing 3 times to show respect to God and man.Shane Chopper Chaman performs the Wai Kru.

    https://www.tumblr.com/blog/livetrainfightlikethai

    Interview with Eddy Lee Senior - Eddy talks about Thai gyms and Numnoi Simpatong in Phuket.

    16/12/2014 at 2:39 PM

    I am now beginning the production phase of the book. I spent an hour with Eddy Lee Senior (Eddy the heat Tongalahi) and talked about many aspects and his history in the fight scene. I will be releasing bits of the interview over the next few weeks. Keep pushing this people.

     

     

    Pro Photographer also picked up my story!

    09/12/2014 at 12:46 PM

    Pro Photographer also picked up my story & gave me a full page. Here is the online version. Check out the printed one in their latest issue.

    http://www.prophotographer.co.nz/news/nz-news/in-the-ring

     

    Photoforum interview published today.

    04/12/2014 at 1:23 PM

    D Photo Have done an on line article on the book! Read the Link.

    03/12/2014 at 5:52 PM

    Here is a great article about the project.

    http://www.dphoto.co.nz/blogs/fighting-fit-leon-rose/

    Wow - we just about reached $5000.00 tonight

    26/11/2014 at 10:37 PM

    This is awesome, I pushed hard online again today and its paid off. I am getting closer to my target all the time. Keep pushing the url around guys and girls and we will have a book.

    Thanks again to all my current pledgers.

    Preparation and prayer

    Now over the $2000 mark ... this is awesome, thanks so much to all the pledgers.

    18/11/2014 at 10:11 AM

    Thanks Pledgers, I am working hard on getting the project out to all the fight gyms over the next few weeks. This is awesome.

    Dado Mata

    You need to pledge to see this update.

      Anonymous pledger
      07/01/2015 at 2:58pm
      Charly
      06/01/2015 at 9:56pm
      Anonymous pledger
      06/01/2015 at 9:31pm
      Briar Pacey
      05/01/2015 at 11:50am
      Lindsay Meredith
      05/01/2015 at 9:52am
      Jody Murray
      05/01/2015 at 9:04am
      Geoff Ansley
      04/01/2015 at 4:52pm
      Tui Vaiangina
      11/12/2014 at 10:52pm
      ian
      11/12/2014 at 11:54am
      Dado Mata
      11/12/2014 at 1:30am
      Nadine Ashworth
      04/12/2014 at 8:22am
      Vincent Villemer
      02/12/2014 at 9:50pm
      Peter Akeroyd
      27/11/2014 at 6:10pm
      Anonymous pledger
      27/11/2014 at 9:18am
      Caroline
      26/11/2014 at 10:19pm
      Jim Tannock
      26/11/2014 at 4:28pm
      Mark Coote
      26/11/2014 at 4:23pm
      Stefan Sepanaho
      19/11/2014 at 3:57pm
      Anonymous pledger
      19/11/2014 at 6:44am
      Anonymous pledger
      18/11/2014 at 2:17pm
      John B Turner
      18/11/2014 at 2:11pm
      Chris Dobson
      17/11/2014 at 6:32pm
      jeneal rohrback
      14/11/2014 at 6:16pm
      Tina Rose
      14/11/2014 at 5:33pm
      Cindy Kavanagh
      12/11/2014 at 1:01pm
      Anonymous pledger
      11/11/2014 at 8:55pm
      Shona Grundy
      11/11/2014 at 12:53pm
      Matt Wilson
      11/11/2014 at 12:26pm
      richard leonard
      08/11/2014 at 4:21pm
      Jeff Szusterman
      08/11/2014 at 11:52am
      This campaign was successful and got its funding on 07/01/2015 at 2:58 PM.