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Rep Your Local Charities
It's holiday donation time, this year I'll be giving some money to the Guide Dog Foundation since my parents adopted a rejected dog from there a few years ago.They train dogs to be used as guide dogs for blind people. They're one of the most efficient charities in the country, meaning of every dollar donated a higher percentage gets put to good use instead of wasted on office stuff.Anyone on here donate, volunteer, or know of any other good local causes that are important to you?
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I can't say enough about these fine folks:
They're a Boston institution whose mission is to fund childhood cancer research. They deserve everything I give and much more.
Also, I give to the Sick Kids Hospital cause they helped my little brother out a few times and seeing all those tiny bodies in casts and on machines made a lasting impression.
http://www.friendsassn.org/default.asp
I think in lieu of gifts I will make small contributions to charities pertaining to peoples interests. ( Humane Society, Cancer Research, Or. Food Bank, Pear, After School Reading Programs and Book donations )
Maybe I'll get some small trinkets or Gift Certificates (coffee, car wash, lottery, gas ) and attach the charity gift card with it. This will save me time and energy running around like a crazy person and save me the worry of trying to figure out what people will like.
Giving always feels good, but this would be extra good. And Even though I don't have a lot of money to spend this year, there are plenty of folks with nothing.
Also buying for folks who seem to have everything they need and are well set is always tough. I'm really stoked on this Sween!
From back in Seattle: Ashesi University is the first non-religious private university in Ghana. It was created by a Ghanaian Microsoft executive, Patrick Awuah. He still comes back to Seattle several times a year for fundraising and faculty recruitment. I've heard him speak a couple of times and have always been impressed.
Out here in Kauai I am a big fan of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. So far as I can tell, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources is too underfunded to do a lot in terms of botany. On Kauai the private NTBG is picking up a lot of the slack. They have rediscovered and rescued several native species and are clearing invasives out of one of the most beautiful valleys on the North Shore. I live right by the Limahuli Preserve.
Uh, and my mom gave me a llama from Heifer International for Christmas last year.
A couple of years ago I gave a donation to UNICEF instead of gifts for everyone in my family.
It was interesting to see the reactions - my mom and grandmother were thrilled, my sister was sort of peeved, my dad seemed indifferent, and my brother said, "What the hell is UNICEF?".
Narcisse-Banks Community Resource Center: http://www.myspace.com/narcissebanks
I've heard of them before, maybe during a Red Sox game or something? Does Denis Leary raise money for them sometimes? Great cause.
Yeah, the Sox have had a long-standing relationship with the Jimmy Fund, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if Dennis Leary were involved too. They're huge up here???collecting at Sox games, movie theaters, collection jars at convenience stores. Great stuff.
Katrina really opened up a lot of people to give a little more of themselves, I was blown away when you went on that mission down there.
http://www.na.org/h-i/hi-guidetoc99.htm
WOW!!! I'm really interested in the Narcisse-Banks one, that's a great idea. 501c too, I need that. Do they take monetary donations or just books and records?
I would think this whole board would be interested in their program, but I'm a pie-in-the-sky type of fellow. Thanks for posting those links.
JoeMojo, next time I'm in Hawaii I'll meet you at that garden.
JustAlice, check out the second link Harvey posted. You might like it.
CousinLarry, big ups to your wife. It's one thing to write a check, a whole other ballgame to donate time.
Jspr, keep trying!!
Currently, monetary donations are being accepted to meet the following short-term goals:
1. To build a promotional budget so that we may better market our services to artists, students, and teachers within the Austin area.
2. To pay our curriculum specialist, who holds a doctorate in education and is willing to work at a dramatically discounted rate, to derive a series of lesson plans that teachers would be able to implement without much or any direct instruction.
I'll PM you payment instructions...
You run that????? Very impressive.
Could you shoot me some payment instructions as well? I'd like to at least kick in a little something.
I love this thread. Giving to charity is, among other things, a great way to counterbalance my general dislike of Christmas, and I'd really like to expand my horizons beyond the usual suspects.
These attorneys do critical work in the trenches on behalf of the disenfranchised and disposessed. They deserve everyone's support.
DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.
DONATE: $10 minimum