The process of collecting 1000 donations of $5 is done one at a time. One several times, in some cases, when donors/solicitors make innocent mistakes on the forms. On the one I collected last Saturday before the Ducks beat Arizona State at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, I forgot to ensure my young supporter filled in the "Occupation" line. So now I have to meet with him again to have him complete it - I'm not allowed to write in "student", after oral or email verification. And for a donation collected face to face, the form has to be amended in person with both donor and solicitor present, too. A little incongruent, considering that the recipient of a donation of tens of thousands of dollars can add the occupation after talking to the contributor on the phone, both in the statewide reporting system and if the candidate chose not to participate in Portland's Public Campaign Finance Fund system.

But still, the process of dotting the i's and crossing the t's makes me realize even more how very precious and special each donation is - just like every vote. I want to earn both honestly and diligently.

Our team's total at the end of yesterday evening was

537