Originally Posted: January 29, 2017
Updated: December 18, 2020
Short Term Earnings / Fundraising Goal TODAY: $3,500
Contributions so far this week (as of 12/23 – 6:30 p.m.): $485.00
Scroll to the bottom of the page for a full financial update as it relates to my legal case.
Hello!
Readers and friends often asked if they can “chip in” in support of the childhood Lead poisoning prevention advocacy work of Lead Safe Mama, LLC, – either just to say, “Thank You” – or to help in some small – or big – way (with a specific thing, with the legal defense of my advocacy work, or just to help in general.) The work I do has always been a collaborative effort with my readers (with them helping to direct what I test and write about and also helping to cover the cost of testing and other costs of my advocacy). In this respect, we are truly a team and I always welcome your contributions!
I deeply appreciate your generosity and have created this page to help make it easy to “chip in”. PayPal buttons are below — but there are other ways to chip in listed under the PayPal buttons, as well. Also, to see a specific (updated) list of costs I am working to cover (related to my advocacy) please scroll down below the heart-shaped buttons!
FYI & to be clear, I am not affiliated with any nonprofit, and your contributions here will therefore not be tax-deductible – just very much appreciated! Click the “Pay Now” button below (to contribute any amount) or choose one of the hearts below to contribute that specific amount!
Each and every contribution received (through all channels) is reported as income to Lead Safe Mama, LLC on our taxes.
PayPal Buttons:
More PayPal Buttons!
I added the buttons below for fun! 🙂 In case anyone just won the lottery or is otherwise feeling generous!
Other ways to chip in in support of the work here on LeadSafeMama.com…
- Donate via GoFundMe, this is a link for that too!
- For Venmo: “@TamaraERubin”
- For Zelle: 503-702-2708
- …continue reading below….
Tamara, what do you need to raise money for right now?
Updated December 18, 2020
#1) OngoingOperating Costs
Monthly goal to help with operating costs (in support of the testing we report on and other information we share here on this website) for Lead Safe Mama, LLC: about $2,500.00 a month- Including…
- Website Hosting Fees (ongoing): about $70/ month
- Website Maintenance, Security & Development (ongoing): approximately $325/ month
- Mailing List Fees (e-mail list/ ongoing): about $65 / month
- Bookkeeping / Accounting costs (ongoing): about $600 / month (separate from work on the lawsuit)
- Toxic Product Storage (ongoing – for the book and museum exhibit): about $150/month
- Product Example Purchasing / Acquisition (intermittent – purchasing items for testing & reporting on for the blog): $150 – $250 / month (depends on funds available).
- Postage / Shipping (ongoing): $100 to $300 /month
- Testing Supplies & Equipment (ongoing): varies – $250-$2,000/month
#2) Legal Team & Related Expenses
- My legal battle in defense of my advocacy work (started in 2016) has left me more than $300,000 in debt.
- Related to the legal battle, on August 28, 2019, we filed suit in Federal Court, suing the State of Oregon for 6 counts of Civil Rights violations against me – violations that collectively attempted to undermined my advocacy work and attempted to discredit me. You can read that full lawsuit by clicking here.
- In November of 2020 the attorneys for the State contacted my attorneys and told me they want to settle (they want to mediate how much they can pay me to settle this and keep it out of the courts, avoiding a jury trial!) While this is an exciting development it is still an unknown when this may settle (if we come to a settlement agreement at all).
- Our settlement conference is scheduled for January 14, 2021!
As of November 2020 I have (somehow miraculously) already paid off about $70,000 in debt related to this case (the original total was closer to $400,000 owed) from earned income, but below is a breakdown of the more urgent things I still need to cover (the rest can wait until the lawsuit settles):
My current goal to cover most urgent $ due for my legal team, loans from friends to cover those expenses & related costs (12/18/2020) is $90,000+ (see breakdown below.)
- $14,000 for one attorney (for the concluded case against the State)
- $12,000 remaining due for the legal team who handled the IRS investigative audit on my case
- $12,000 remaining due for the legal team who handled my illegal arrest
- $52,000 to repay loans from 10 friends / readers / fans to cover some of the costs of this ordeal
… and that’s still just a handful of the people and businesses that still need to be paid/repaid for supporting my work during this time (Total remaining outstanding debt at this moment is about $318,000.)
If, instead of a donation or a loan, you want to HIRE me, here’s that link !
If you prefer to send a check you can do that too – address below! [& if you want to send a check directly to any one of my attorneys, let me know and I will get you their contact information! Thank you!]
Thanks again!
Tamara Rubin
#LeadSafeMama
Thank you for the amazing work you do! Before I stumbled on your Facebook page I had no idea lead was still a concern in products in the US. The knowledge you share opened my eyes and has helped me make much better decisions on what items are safe for us in our home. Much love to you and appreciation for all the sacrifices you are making to do this noble work.
Thank you so much for your support of my advocacy!
Tamara, your work is so important. Society and Mommas everywhere (who choose to listen) owe you a great deal for continuing the conversations about the little thought of lead hazards still present today. As a former vintage goods enthusiast, You’ve helped guide me towards better purchasing decisions and have no doubt saved my Daughter from lead exposure hazards that I otherwise would not have known about. Thank you for continuing to educate despite the hell that you receive for it. You are leaving a legacy my friend. Never doubt that.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Tamara! I’m so grateful people like you exist. <3
Thank you!
Blessings.
Is there a recall on all this Tupperware?
Hi Joan,
Usually companies do not issue a recall on 40 year old product, but that would be amazing if they did the right thing and announced something along those lines!
Tamara
I deeply appreciate what you are doing and what you are going through.
A holiday gift! Thanks for the education!
Thank you so much Heather!!!!
– Tamara
How, exactly, do I find lead-free dishes? How do ai dispose of my beautiful Portmeirion dishes? (Thank you!)
Thankful for your work. You have opened my eyes.
I appreciate your transparency of your budget. It gives us a way to budget our contributions & ads.
Bless you, your family, and your work. I love narrated photos of your cross country trip.
Do you have an Amazon Smile account?
Thanks!
Just added to the fundraiser. Thanks so much for all you do! You have no idea how many times I am led to you when searching if a particular company claims to be lead free — I have recently pretended I was ordering from California (using a California address until the last minute) just to see if Prop 65 pops up. And so often I check back with your site. So wish I could contribute more – but it’s a hard time of year, too!
Wishing you and your family a very happy holiday season and a new year filled with Good Health and Happiness.
Diane L NYC
Thank you so very much Diane! I truly appreciate it. Support from my readers during these complicated times helps me to see the other side of all of this – the light at the end of the tunnel… 🙂
Tamara
Could this 1996 paper be the last ever to document research into lead deficiency in animals?
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01610551 Untersuchungen zur Knochenmarksmorphologie und zu verschiedenen Hämolysemarkern bei wachsenden Ratten im alimentären Bleimangel
That paper still uses the term “Bleimangels” (lead deficiency) but seems to contain a statement against the idea that there are benefits from that, for instance the powerful anti-oxidant, glutathione peroxidase, is reported as being more active in the animals that were “deprived” of lead. At the same time it suggests there is damage to blood cells in animals deprived of lead.
Trying to find more recent papers since 1996 does not appear to yield results while finding older papers is possible. Five years earlier in 1991 this paper includes statements about pigs’ growth being stunted if they are deprived of lead.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1439-0396.1991.tb00283.x Untersuchungen zur Essentialität von Blei an post partum abgesetzten Ferkeln “Bereits ab dem 5. Versuchstag zeigten die an Blei depletierten Ferkel im Vergleich zu Kontrolltieren ein vermindertes Wachstum. Am Versuchsende betrug die Wachstumsdifferenz 15%.” (As early as the 5th day of the experiment, the lead-depleted piglets showed reduced growth compared to control animals. At the end of the experiment, the growth difference was 15%.)
Further back in time in the 1980s there were many more papers about “lead deficiency” in animals. American nutritionist Lucille Shapson Hurley (a Guggenheim Fellow) was the author of the 1988 book Trace Elements in Man and Animals. That book contains this statement: “Lead deficiency induces disturbances in lipid metabolism…”
Oh Wow! That’s odd. And interesting. Dr. Mark Pokras (veterinary medicine, Tufts) might have some info on that for you – I will connect you via e-mail. I have a story about that too… (Lead “deficiency”) I will follow up here with that when I have a not-exhausted moment!
As always, thanks for your contribution to this website and the movement!
Tamara
Thanks, Tamara. If you reach out to anyone the thing I want to know the most is if the LIA and/or ILZRO funded research that falsely demonstrated lead was an essential nutrient.
A 1973 memo from Philip E. Robinson, Executive Vice President of the ILZRO, “Minutes – ILZRO/MDA Joint World Committee” states that “Dr. [Jerome] Cole [president of ILZRO] hoped that Dr. Schwarz’s report to the EPA showing that lead was an essential trace element for the growth of laboratory animals might help the metal’s image…”.
https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/2Nbaw3yEjK931XbVBjj2qQ3JR?lightbox=1
That statement demonstrates that the LIA and the ILZRO clearly knew there was research and approved of it. I’m still looking for any indication that M. Kirchgessner (“M KirchgeĂźner”) and A.M. Reichlmayr-Lais were being funded by those organizations to publish more papers like it.