They say that beauty is in the eye of the culturally-conditioned beholder, or that it comes from within as the individual undertakes acts of kindness and reciprocity. Well, abstract definitions aside, having a beautiful heart is certainly something worth sharing with others. And what is one way of sharing said beauty? Of course, through the art of music!

We are therefore pleased to announce the third installment of our Seeds of Kindness charity album campaign: A Beautiful Heart!

If you are a musician and you’d like to find out how to be a part of the album, then please check out the guidelines for submission on our Seeds of Kindness 3 pages. You can also hit up this My Little Remix thread for more discussion on the album guidelines.

In the past, Seeds of Kindness has raised over $90,000 for charity projects in Uganda, Burundi, and Tanzania from people like you! Continuing on with this wonderful legacy, we are proud to announce that the proceeds from Seeds of Kindness 3 will go to our wonderful partner in charity, Your Siblings! If you have yet to learn of who this amazingly altruistic group is, then please do yourself a favor and go check out their beautifully-written FAQ.

Seeds of Kindness 3 Prize Contest – Call for Donations

The gift of music is not the only way of sharing beauty. The abilities to craft ornate equine-inspired objects or to sew heartfelt narratives and musings are equally beautiful, especially when gifted to others!

Whether pony crafts, customs, official toys, or commissions, anything that may serve as a prize is accepted and appreciated, and will help in our customary prize contest. It’s the generosity of our fellow fans that makes our work possible!

If anyone is interested in making any sort of donation or has any comments or questions, please feel free to email us at [email protected].

Convention Appearances

On a bit of an unrelated yet equally important note, we like to formally announce our attendance to this lovely set of conventions this spring and summer. If you’ll have time while you’re getting your fill of pony, then please be sure to drop by our table and say hi, chat, or to make a donation to one of our ongoing fundraising campaigns.

• Equestria LA, May 10–12
• Pon3 Con, May 10–12
• Fiesta Equestria, June 28–30
• Everfree NW, July 5–7
• Sweet Apple Acres Con, July 12–14
• BronyCon, August 2–4
• GalaCon, August 3–4
• SacBrony, September 14
• Trotcon, June 14–16

Today we concluded Kallisti 2 – the 24 hour livestream consisting of back-to-back awesome guests from both the show and the fandom alike. We had interviews, as well as numerous talented fan artists drawing live for all to see. All in all, it was a massive success.

Coming in at $7017 raised for both GalaCon, and Seeds of Kindness 2 , the second Kallisti livestream telethon beat the original Kallisti event by over $5,000! We’d like to extend our most heartfelt thanks to all of our wonderful guests, contributing artists, moderators, and the dedicated livestream crew that kept the stream running smoothly for the duration of the 24 hour event! We also owe very special thanks to every last donor and participant who helped make Kallisti 2 a smashing success! Regardless of whether you gave $1 or $1000 you really exemplified the Element of Generosity and did our fandom proud!

Although Kallisti 2 has come to a close, we look forward to seeing everyone again when Kallisti 3 rolls around and hope to see some new faces as well. We believe we can break our record again. With the help of the fan community, the show’s staff, and the all around amazing individuals who donated their valuable time and money, Kallisti 2 was a phenomenal success, and we are confident that we can do it again. More importantly, that you can do it again!
Side notes:
If you missed any of the interviews that took place during tKallisti 2, fear not! Celestia Radio has you covered with high-quality recordings of the interviews on their YouTube page.

The Canni plush that was also being auctioned as part of Kallisti 2 is still available for bidding, so feel free place a bid here if you’d like your chance at this event-exclusive, high quality plush.

And lastly, our fundraising page is still open for the Kallisti II event if you’d like to support the efforts of everyone involved.

With everything being said, please enjoy the artwork that was produced during the livestream:

Continue reading →

The event is now over,
but you can still donate to the Kallisti II fundraiser.

Do you want to mingle with the crème de la crème of pony art? Do you want to pose your questions to your favorite voice actor or writer and hang on every word that they speak?

Then imagine a Saturday that starts with Just For Sidekicks and then blossoms again only a few hours later when we launch

Kallisti II: A 24-hour multiartist charity livestream with prominent guests

on January 26, 3 p.m. EST (8 p.m. UTC)

with over a dozen artists, friends, and prominent guests, among them Tara Strong, Andrea Libman, Anneli Heed, and M.A. Larson!

Bookmark the unified viewer page here!

In parallel to the livestream, we’ll launch an eBay auction for a Canni plushie by Siora. Read below for more information.

The Guests

• Andrea Libman (voice of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie) at about 3 p.m. EST on Saturday
• Anneli Heed (voice of the Swedish Spitfire, among others) on Saturday at 5 p.m. EST
• M.A. Larson (writer of Sonic Rainboom, The Cutie Mark Chronicles, The Return of Harmony, Luna Eclipsed, The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, It’s About Time, Magic Duel, Magical Mystery Cure, and more) on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. EST
• Peter New (voice of Big Macintosh) on Saturday at 10:00 p.m. EST
• Tara Strong (voice of Twilight Sparkle) at roughly 4 p.m. EST on Saturday
• And more just waiting to be announced—stay tuned to @BroniesForGood, @gala_con, and @YourSiblings on Twitter!

The Artists

• Centch
• DeathPwny
• Jan (Ask the Crusaders)
• John Joseco
• Kevinsano
• Lanmana
• Lyssa Hess (benbubs)
• Perrydotto (Ask Human Discord)
• Putuk (Ask Scoootabot)
• Pwny³
• Salahir
• SerenaMidori
• St-Timid
• Suikuzu
• Wreky
• Zedrin

All of these wonderfully gifted artists will take requests they would like to draw from the viewer chat, so feel free to contribute a few creative ideas yourself.

Please bear in mind that all requests must conform to the following rules.

• Safe for work
• Canon characters only (for simplicity)
• No spoilers

The Auction

Siora has created this wonderful plushie of the GalaCon ponysona Canni for our charity auction! She is 30 cm (almost 12 inches) tall and made of minky—the epitome of fluffiness.

The auction will be linked on the viewer page and then launch with the stream itself.

The Goal

Similar to the previous Kallisti event, donations to the Kallisti II fundraiser will be split evenly between GalaCon and the Bronies for Good Seeds of Kindness 2 fundraiser for rainwater harvesting tanks in the Karagwe District in Tanzania. Unlike last time, however, Galacon will be opening the floodgates for ticket sales during the stream, so you will be able to secure your attendance to the premier European ponycon!

For news and updates, stay tuned to our post of this announcement—we’ll keep it updated with the latest schedule and guest roster. (Also make sure to follow @BroniesForGood, @gala_con, and @YourSiblings on Twitter.)

This event is an initiative of the European convention GalaCon and Bronies for Good and would not have been possible without the support and dedication of Bronystate and Celestia Radio.

Most importantly, bookmark the unified viewer page!

If you have ever donated to Seeds of Kindness or Seeds of Kindness 2 or supported the fundraisers in any other way, this press release addresses you personally. (If not, here is your chance to do so now.)

But before we jump in, are you following @BroniesForGood and @YourSiblings on Twitter yet? If not, please kindly fix that—and then there are also those ShortyAwards going on…

Engineers Without Borders: Water and Sanitation Project Funded

We have reached another milestone! The Engineers Without Borders project that seeks to establish proper fresh water supply for an orphanage and school in Manya, Uganda, and also to improve their sanitary situation has been fully financed thanks to your donations.

As announced previously, the next project aims to raise money for a large number of rainwater harvesting tanks in the Karagwe District in Tanzania.

So please continue your support!

Safe Project: Thank You from the Children in Uganda

So what is that awesome header picture up there? It’s a thank-you gift from the children who will soon be able to move into their new orphanage building, the building you funded! As our donors and supporters of the project, you are the metaphorical siblings in this global family.

You can also find it in the Your Siblings project gallery.

Your Siblings is now fundraising for a guest house on the site. Tourists will pay for their stay and will thereby ensure the financial security of the children in the long term. An additional perk is that the guest house—with capacity for ten people—will also provide free accommodations for volunteers helping in the orphanage.

Charity Album: Wintertime in Canterlot

Again seven musicians—Orchestral_Design, CaptainFluffatun, Kingsley Evergreen, Ian M., Airdrop, BassClef, and SevenUpPony—have combined forces to produce a new charity album in support of the Your Siblings projects: “Holiday Cheer: Wintertime in Canterlot is a compilation of songs about an Equestrian winter, and our respective views on the subject.”

Buying the album is also a great way to support Your Siblings, and enjoy the music of tintinnabulation and “ominous atmospheres” at the same time.

Your Siblings: 1 Euro Campaign

Only a few days ago, Your Siblings also rebooted a campaign they launched in 2011. They ask everyone to donate a single euro (about $1.30) every month and to spread the word about the campaign.

One euro is not much, but if each of you can inspire just a few friends and bronies to join in, the total of your donations will make an impact.

Please head over to their blog to join in!

By the way, keep an eye out for a certain forthcoming announcement from us and our esteemed partner Las Pegasus Unicon. It’s an offer that you simply won’t be able to refuse.

Are you one of the 500-odd bronies who read our last announcement, tuned in to our livestream, and thus got to enjoy half an hour with our suprise guest Lauren Faust? Congratulations!

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and hail Eris!

Pick whichever greeting is most meaningful to you, because a heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who has donated to the Seeds of Kindness 2 fundraiser or supported it in any other way: You have managed to fund the building that will soon be home to fifty or more orphans!

Some of you were especially generous, and while these donors may choose to remain anonymous, we can reveal that their contributions went as high as €3000. These donors have been contacted by email and can now choose from our list of Christmas presents. There were fewer top donors than prizes, so we will, with the permission of the prize donors, save the extra prizes for our next fundraiser.

Although the prizes are now gone, the Seeds of Kindness 2 fundraiser will remain open!

Your Siblings and Engineers Without Borders

Largely thanks to our December 22 livestream—where we were joined by Amy Keating Rogers, Cindy Morrow, Sabrina Alberghetti, and Lauren Faust—we have not only fully funded the orphanage in Uganda but have already raised several thousand euros towards the Engineers Without Borders project that aims to establish better water supply and sanitation for an orphanage and school in Manya, Uganda.

In the first phase of the project, the German branch of Engineers Without Borders wants to raise money for a thorough evaluation of possible solutions to the problems that plague that project. For years, a well at the site provided fresh water for the 25 orphans and the countless students from surrounding villages, but in 2009 the well collapsed, forcing the children to walk several miles every day to a spring to obtain barely drinkable water that has to be boiled to make it potable. The sanitary situation is also precarious, as liquid wastes from their dry well might contaminate the groundwater. Solutions that Engineers Without Borders considers include the restoration of the well and the building of a cistern. They also consider setting up composting toilets to thwart the contamination problem.

When we have fully funded that project, all further Seeds of Kindness 2 donations will go toward the building of rainwater harvesting tanks in the Karagwe District in Tanzania. Below an excerpt from the official project description.

The inhabitants of Karagwe usually live in communities of four families widely scattered between their fields without any access to clean water.

Traditionally the children are responsible for fetching water and this has to happen at least three times a day. That’s why due to time shortage many of them have no chance to go to school.

The goal of this project is to support the water supply in the region by building water tanks with a cap that will collect the rainwater of the rainy season and store it for the dry season.

Please keep the donations coming!

Safe Project – Proposed Change in Strategy

Your Siblings has recently published a press release asking for your feedback on a proposed change to the general strategy of the latest project we supported. The orphanage originally planned to ensure its self-sufficiency through a chicken farming business, but changes in the economic situation in the country have made it necessary to rethink these plans.

New budget projections show that due to corporate competitors’ driving down egg prices and increasing prices for vitamins and vaccines, the chicken farm would barely be profitable anymore. However, the organizers of the project have recognized the situation and developed new plans for their self-sufficiency: A guest house, they found, would be at least three times as profitable, with additional chances to promising partnerships in the region.

The orphanage building itself—which we funded—is of course unaffected by these proposed changes.

PMV: Warbalist – Faithful and Strong (That’s What I Want to Be)

Finally, to celebrate the funding of the orphanage, here a PMV by OmaliAI for Warbalist’s song Faithful and Strong from our eponymous charity album. Enjoy!

During our Bronies for Good charity livestream on Everfree Network this Saturday, we interviewed Amy Keating Rogers, Cindy Morrow, Sabrina “Sibsy” Alberghetti, and finally even Lauren Faust!

The livestream was a final push for the Seeds of Kindness 2 fundraiser, because in a few hours—midnight UTC—the top donor competition will close. By the way, three of the top donor prizes are still unclaimed, so donate within the next several hours to win them.

Lauren Faust was a complete surprise guest even to us. I saw her tweeting and thought she might retweet us to promote the stream if I sent her a tweet. To my surprise and utter amazement, she asked whether she could join the stream. Our poor Dave Polsky, who I had been very much looking forward to as well, kindly yielded his timeslot to her. Go follow him to thank him for his generosity!

After the break you can find the recordings of Lauren Faust’s segment as well as the whole almost seven hours of the stream.

Continue reading →

Charity Livestream – Every Bit Counts Twice

Did you enjoy A Friend in Deed as much a we did? Hurricane Fluttershy was a season highlight, right? Wasn’t Too Many Pinkie Pies a sheer explosion of surprises even when you watched it twice? And how about beautiful singing, funny accents, and maybe even apples?

Then tune in this Saturday, December 22, 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. EST (11 p.m. to 5 a.m. UTC) to a grand Bronies for Good and EverFree Radio charity livestream with none other than

1. Amy Keating Rogers (6:30 p.m. EST)
2. Cindy Morrow (roughly 8:00 p.m. EST)
3. Dave Polsky (roughly 9:00 p.m. EST)
4. Michelle Creber (10:00 p.m. EST)
5. Forest Rain
6. Icky
7. MandoPony
8. Sprocket Doggingsworth
9. The Living Tombstone
10. and likely more surprise guests!

Among the hosts are Foalpapers, Rommel of Bronies for Good, and Emily of Pegasisters Live.

On top of it all, an anonymous benefactor will match all your donations during the stream up to $2000!

Bookmark the viewer page now and keep tuned to this post for updates!

Cooperation with Engineers Without Borders

The Seeds of Kindness 2 fundraiser aims to fund an orphanage building in Kampala, Uganda, for an existing orphanage that wants to expand and at the same time save the rent for their current accommodations, so it can provide food, education, and a new family to more than fifty orphans.

We are extremely close to this goal, which means that you—our generous donors and supporters—are making a great impact on the lives of a great number of children! The orphanage will be completely self-sustainable, so as children grow up and become independant, more will be able to take their places—and not only survive but gain a new future, thanks to your kindness and compassion.

Reaching this milestone also means that now a new project can experience one of the greatest achievements of this fandom: its unified force of kindness.

Once the Safe Project orphanage building is fully funded, the Seeds of Kindness 2 fundraiser will support projects from Engineers Without Borders, the first one of which aims to provide ready access to clean water and better sanitation for an orphanage and school in Manya, Uganda. In this first phase of the project, the money is needed to assess what solutions would prove to be the most effective and durable.

If despite iTunes, you set your alarm to catch the premiere of Too Many Pinkie Pies, then better take a nap during the day because you can’t miss this!

Close to a dozen artists (see below) will be livestreaming their work during a 24-hour art and charity marathon! Moreover, Anneli Heed, the famous Swedish Spitfire, will join us!

The stream will start at 6 p.m. EST on November 17 (or 11 p.m. UTC) and run through most of Sunday. Head to our unified viewer page to watch and listen!

• DeathPwny,
• Garrett Gilchrist,
• Jan (Ask The Crusaders),
• John Joseco,
• Perrydotto (Ask Human Discord),
• Pixelkitties (can’t make it to the stream but will contribute anyway),
• Putuk (Ask Scootabot) (can’t stream but will take requests),
• Rautakoura,
• St-Timid
• Salahir a.k.a. Custody,
• Suikuzu,
• Tsitra360, and
• Wreky!

This event is an initiative of the European convention GalaCon and Bronies for Good, and would not have been possible without the support and dedication of BronyState and Everypony Radio, who recognized the importance of its centerpiece, the Kallisti fundraiser. GalaCon needs extra funding for their August 2013 convention with its own charity events, but they wouldn’t launch a grand-scale livestream without donating no less than half of its returns to the Seeds of Kindness 2 fundraiser for the Safe Project orphanage in Uganda.

Click here for more information, and here for the unified viewer page.

The Hub has been teasing us with little insights into season 3 from months now, and we are going to follow their example. But more about that later.

The milestone. As you will know, our Seeds of Kindness 2 fundraiser supports the Safe Project, an orphanage in Uganda. This orphanage is building a chicken farm to ensure their long-term self-sufficiency when they expand to save more—more than fifty!—orphaned children from the harsh realities of the street. These children have lost their parents to war or disease, but the Safe Project will provide them with food, education, and the family they so direly need.

Now you, our donors, have manged to fund another batch of needs: The doors and windows of the building. A whole-hearted thank you from the organizer of the project, Ruth Nambowa, to all of you!

Have a look at the image below, and check out our gallery to see the progress they’ve already made.

This was the fourth of the seven phases of the project. Another €9000 will fund it completely! Can we count on you?

The prizes. We’ve updated our prize list. Those who make the largest donations by December 25, will be awarded wonderful Christmas presents such as plushie and art commissions, a special trading card signed by many of the show staff, paintings by the likes of John Joseco and signed by the Swedish Spitfire Anneli Heed, and a voice commission from Rina-Chan.

What’s next? Which community artists do you want to watch doing their magic in a totally hypothetical charity extravaganza? We’ve got more in store for you!

Finally, please head over to our Seeds of Kindness 2 fundraiser and prove to fifty children that this community cares for them!