Caritas #1 – Successful Charity Project

Unattainable needs

Everyone reaches a point in life where they have needs they cannot fulfill. The reasons could hardly be more different: sudden unemployment, serious illness, inability to work, and so on. Often it is also poor starting conditions in (adult) life that cause many things to remain out of reach.
I could truly sing a song about that. I’ve always been short on money, and many things have remained unattainable. This was also the case when I started entering the fetish world. Fetish can be incredibly expensive for many people. Many simply don’t have the means to buy, for example, a pup mask for 140 dollars.

That was—and still is—the case for me as well. For a long time, the difference was that I had friends who loved how I gradually discovered myself and enabled a lot for me. Around 80% of my fetish gear I would not have without my friends. For that I am, and always will be, deeply grateful. To every single one of them.
But that is not something everyone has. And that brought me to an idea some time ago—one I initially had to postpone and later brought up in our association:

A charity fetish flea market.

The idea behind it

I made the proposal out of the motivation to give people who cannot simply buy leather pants or a mask for 200 euros the chance to still get such items at an affordable price. The rules were clear:

Each item is offered at two prices: the charity price for people in need and the “regular” price for everyone else

All proceeds go to a good cause or are used for support within the association (for members)

At first, only people in need are allowed to buy items from the charity section

Implementation and response

We began collecting donations in kind and even asked some partner companies for donations. And what can I say: the response was overwhelming. We were able to motivate so many people to finally clear out their fetish shelves and provide the items to us.
Some of the companies also sent us items that became absolute highlights. Originally, one or two tables were planned. In the end, we filled a small room with several clothing racks and tables. We had so much material that preparation and pricing alone became a small feat of strength.

The day of the flea market

In October, the time had come and we were able to set up the stand. It was wild how much was going on in that room. I barely had time to breathe.
At some point, we had to decide that the period during which only people in need could buy was simply too long. We dropped the rule after just two hours, since the majority of the proceeds ultimately also went to Aidshilfe Frankfurt.
In retrospect, there were not as many people in need as I had hoped for—but more than I had realistically expected. Often, the threshold to make use of such an offer is simply very high, especially when you have to prove your need.

Result and outlook

What surprised me most, however, was the end result. The “regular” prices were also set low, and people bought and bought and bought. In the end, the total amounted to an incredible