Dave McBain's PledgePage
History of ACCelerate
ACCelerate (ACC) is the name that myself and Greg Hennig came up with in the fall of 2000. While working in Kazakhstan, the idea was conceived after a certain incident that Greg witnessed in the Chagala hotel bar. Greg had just finished checking in at the hotel from time off when I met Athol the manager of the Shagala at the time coming out of the bar. He was visually upset so I asked him what was wrong. He explained that he had just finished going through the bar asking for contributions as there were 2 children at one of the local orphanages that needed operations and with out the funds they would not receive the medical attention they required. So he was trying to raise enough funds to help these 2 children. His explanation to me was that every one of these people drinking their $5 beers would not put anything forward to help these 2 children, this sickened me. Greg gave Athol all the money he had in my pocket and swore he would not be like these people in the bar but a person such as Athol, one that will do something positive.
Due to a previous bike accident, Greg had been left with the feeling that I was not spared to endeavor in the search for oil and gas but something with more meaning and I was sure there was something I could do to help. Later Greg was talking to me about this and we had the idea of doing a bike trip from Scotland to Atyrau as a way to raise money to help the children in Atyrau. One thing lead to another and we came up with the name of ACCelerate as a means for an individual(s) to help a vital part of a community we were working in and becoming part of. The first three letters, ACC stands for ‘All Children Count’ and accelerate was also the way both Greg and I ride our motorcycles.
In 2001, Greg and I rode our motorcycles from Aberdeen Scotland to Atyrau Kazakhstan to raise money for underprivileged children in Atyrau Kazakhstan. As neither of us had ever done something like this it was a learning curve for both of us. When we had finished the motorcycle trip we were able to provide assistance in a number of different areas but it became obvious that we should have had our objectives better defined. The reason I say this, is that we did not define our objectives in such a way that defined the ongoing goal of the charity which would have provided a way to continue and grow the charity beyond this first motorcycle trip.
In 2005, I decided to resurrect ACCelerate by doing another motorcycle trip, with defined goals and long lasting objectives for ACCelerate to be attained. Looking back at the first trip, the lessons were very obvious what must be included to give a charity any chance of survival and growth.
In Sept of 2006 Greg started another motorcycle trip by flying my motorcycle into Frankfurt Germany then headed south to Italy then north through Prague, Krakow Poland, Riga Latvia and east through Moscow, Samara, Orenburg and finally Aktobe Kazakhstan.
After focusing on these items that are a must have, Greg started to discuss with friends and business associates to get their input and ideas on how we could accomplish what was a must for a charity. It was a general consensus that there had to be; Involvement and input from the community itself, Auditable records, Media input and a future vision for the charity that does not depend on just motorcycle trips and provides the vision of future explanation for the continued growth of the charity.
In Feb 2006, with a general idea of what I wanted to do, I contacted the city Akimat office and was granted a meeting with the Deputy Akim (Mr. Akimgeri Kusherbaev) who was extremely receptive to giving me the time to present my idea. During this first meeting I provided Akimgeri with my desire to start up the charity in Aktobe to help the underprivileged children in the region. I needed his help to better understand what the needs of underprivileged children are in the Aktobe area. He was very open with telling me the various areas that needed help. It was during this discussion that Akimgeri was instrumental in providing me with the main focal point and objective of ACCelerate. He mentioned with great sadness that the last few children that needed to be medically evacuated to save their lives were not able to receive the funding before the children had actually passed away. This was extremely hard to hear but at the same time gave me clarity on the main focus of defining ACC. This was something I believed I could assist with the help of friends, family, business associates and the Akimat.
The whole process to date has been one that proves without trust and communication nothing can happen. I have had the good fortune of Akimgeri to offer me his hand in trust. This willingness to offer trust is the main reason we have progressed the charity to the current point.
We have had 2 areas that require steady attention;
1) Establishing the charity: Akimgeri arranged 2 trustees from the Akimat to assist with getting ACCelerate up and running, keeping minutes of each meeting a temporary bank account set up to receive funds and assist in getting the charity fully registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
2) Raising Funds: This has been done in a variety of ways; from fund raising events such as one set up by Ken Kingsmith in Calgary. The Bar BQ events put on in Aktobe by employees of Schlumberger, Weatherford and Smith International, to raise money for the fund. At the same time there were funds coming in from networking with friends, colleges and others to help support what we are working to achieve.
Register Process: The Akimat legal department assisted with the legal charter of the ACC Fund so that the charity could become a fully registered Fund in the Republic of Kazakhstan. This process of being fully registered is something that would never happen without the help and assistance from Akimgeri. Each step was carried out with my involvement as I was provided a copy for everything to be submitted for my final review, additions and or changes. All paper work and documentation was submitted for final approval from the Republic of Kazakhstan. The fund was fully registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan on the 24th of April 2007.
The media have been extremely helpful in bringing to the public and raising the level of awareness of our cause and the needs of the children.
The main focus of ACCelerate is to assist in “Life Saving Medical Evacuation” of underprivileged children. At the same time bring enlightenment of the needs of children in this region and provide an example of far reaching charity, beyond the immediate family unit.
ACCelerate (ACC) is the name that myself and Greg Hennig came up with in the fall of 2000. While working in Kazakhstan, the idea was conceived after a certain incident that Greg witnessed in the Chagala hotel bar. Greg had just finished checking in at the hotel from time off when I met Athol the manager of the Shagala at the time coming out of the bar. He was visually upset so I asked him what was wrong. He explained that he had just finished going through the bar asking for contributions as there were 2 children at one of the local orphanages that needed operations and with out the funds they would not receive the medical attention they required. So he was trying to raise enough funds to help these 2 children. His explanation to me was that every one of these people drinking their $5 beers would not put anything forward to help these 2 children, this sickened me. Greg gave Athol all the money he had in my pocket and swore he would not be like these people in the bar but a person such as Athol, one that will do something positive.
Due to a previous bike accident, Greg had been left with the feeling that I was not spared to endeavor in the search for oil and gas but something with more meaning and I was sure there was something I could do to help. Later Greg was talking to me about this and we had the idea of doing a bike trip from Scotland to Atyrau as a way to raise money to help the children in Atyrau. One thing lead to another and we came up with the name of ACCelerate as a means for an individual(s) to help a vital part of a community we were working in and becoming part of. The first three letters, ACC stands for ‘All Children Count’ and accelerate was also the way both Greg and I ride our motorcycles.
In 2001, Greg and I rode our motorcycles from Aberdeen Scotland to Atyrau Kazakhstan to raise money for underprivileged children in Atyrau Kazakhstan. As neither of us had ever done something like this it was a learning curve for both of us. When we had finished the motorcycle trip we were able to provide assistance in a number of different areas but it became obvious that we should have had our objectives better defined. The reason I say this, is that we did not define our objectives in such a way that defined the ongoing goal of the charity which would have provided a way to continue and grow the charity beyond this first motorcycle trip.
In 2005, I decided to resurrect ACCelerate by doing another motorcycle trip, with defined goals and long lasting objectives for ACCelerate to be attained. Looking back at the first trip, the lessons were very obvious what must be included to give a charity any chance of survival and growth.
In Sept of 2006 Greg started another motorcycle trip by flying my motorcycle into Frankfurt Germany then headed south to Italy then north through Prague, Krakow Poland, Riga Latvia and east through Moscow, Samara, Orenburg and finally Aktobe Kazakhstan.
After focusing on these items that are a must have, Greg started to discuss with friends and business associates to get their input and ideas on how we could accomplish what was a must for a charity. It was a general consensus that there had to be; Involvement and input from the community itself, Auditable records, Media input and a future vision for the charity that does not depend on just motorcycle trips and provides the vision of future explanation for the continued growth of the charity.
In Feb 2006, with a general idea of what I wanted to do, I contacted the city Akimat office and was granted a meeting with the Deputy Akim (Mr. Akimgeri Kusherbaev) who was extremely receptive to giving me the time to present my idea. During this first meeting I provided Akimgeri with my desire to start up the charity in Aktobe to help the underprivileged children in the region. I needed his help to better understand what the needs of underprivileged children are in the Aktobe area. He was very open with telling me the various areas that needed help. It was during this discussion that Akimgeri was instrumental in providing me with the main focal point and objective of ACCelerate. He mentioned with great sadness that the last few children that needed to be medically evacuated to save their lives were not able to receive the funding before the children had actually passed away. This was extremely hard to hear but at the same time gave me clarity on the main focus of defining ACC. This was something I believed I could assist with the help of friends, family, business associates and the Akimat.
The whole process to date has been one that proves without trust and communication nothing can happen. I have had the good fortune of Akimgeri to offer me his hand in trust. This willingness to offer trust is the main reason we have progressed the charity to the current point.
We have had 2 areas that require steady attention;
1) Establishing the charity: Akimgeri arranged 2 trustees from the Akimat to assist with getting ACCelerate up and running, keeping minutes of each meeting a temporary bank account set up to receive funds and assist in getting the charity fully registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
2) Raising Funds: This has been done in a variety of ways; from fund raising events such as one set up by Ken Kingsmith in Calgary. The Bar BQ events put on in Aktobe by employees of Schlumberger, Weatherford and Smith International, to raise money for the fund. At the same time there were funds coming in from networking with friends, colleges and others to help support what we are working to achieve.
Register Process: The Akimat legal department assisted with the legal charter of the ACC Fund so that the charity could become a fully registered Fund in the Republic of Kazakhstan. This process of being fully registered is something that would never happen without the help and assistance from Akimgeri. Each step was carried out with my involvement as I was provided a copy for everything to be submitted for my final review, additions and or changes. All paper work and documentation was submitted for final approval from the Republic of Kazakhstan. The fund was fully registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan on the 24th of April 2007.
The media have been extremely helpful in bringing to the public and raising the level of awareness of our cause and the needs of the children.
The main focus of ACCelerate is to assist in “Life Saving Medical Evacuation” of underprivileged children. At the same time bring enlightenment of the needs of children in this region and provide an example of far reaching charity, beyond the immediate family unit.