More often than not, most of us tend to have causes that we support and try and raise awareness or money for, so I thought I'd abuse my powers here a bit and post a thread that can be used to help do just that. I'll move it into the Permanent Threads forum in a few days. FOCUS: Post your online donation/cause here, and feel free to share your past experiences. Going against the general concept of the TiB, let's try and keep this somewhat serious...
A few months ago, my sister was diagnosed with the early indicators of MS. Her husband (my brother-in-law), is doing an MS bike ride to raise money for the MS Society... same one he's been doing for a few years now. <a class="postlink" href="http://msofs.mssociety.ca/2010bike/Sponsor.aspx?PID=1161203&L=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://msofs.mssociety.ca/2010bike/Spon ... 161203&L=2</a>
While I don't have much money to donate, I do make sure to contribute my time and whatever else I can to the Courage Campaign. For those who don't know, it is the organization that supports gay marriage and gay rights in general worldwide. I really think homosexuals have an extremely tough time and are stigmatized more than any other group worldwide(except maybe atheists). I think they are the most unfairly persecuted minority in the world. For that reason, I try to do what I can for the campaign. Their website is here: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.couragecampaign.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.couragecampaign.org/</a>
I already posted this as an announcement before but I'm a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity and we run an organization called Push America that raises money for people living with disabilities by staging multiple long distance bike rides each year. I will be biking from Seattle, WA to Washington, DC starting in two weeks. http://www.pushamerica.org is the main site and https://secure.pushamerica.org/events/JOH/ is the ride I will be going on
Kylie's Kause Kylie's Kause was started by Steve and Lisa McGrail to help fund Neonatal Instensive Care at Joseph's hospital in London, my hometown. Their daughter, like my own was born more than three months premature. Their daughter Kylie did not survive due to the (at the time) absense of the Giraffe Incubator, a miracle machine that saved my daughter's life. They hold fundraisers and a charity walk in Sarnia every summer which we take part in. http://www.kylieskause.com my daughter in the Giraffe Incubator: Spoiler Because of this machine and this charity, St. Jospephs has one of the best NICU departments in Canada now. I am forever in debt to it, and it's a great cause.
My girlfriend, "Kay",'s mom died back in January of lung cancer. She was diagnosed in Sept/Oct and my girlfriend didn't find out until she got home from school in November. She spent Christmas break working 40-50 hours/ week and spent every other moment with her mom as a caregiver. Her dad couldn't handle the stress and restarted a pill/booze habit that made things even more difficult. Things seemed to be getting better for awhile but deteriorated quickly when she returned to school in January. She passed away a few hours after Kay made it home. My mom was an Oncology nurse for a number of years (among other areas of the hospital) and while Kay and I weren't dating yet over winter break, we spoke often while I was home for break about different approaches, different ways to provide care and helped her in sifting through difficult medical terminology. She and I started dating about a month after her mom passed away and I had the opportunity in March to be there for her during the Collegiate Relay for Life. As a team captain, she raised $900+ dollars in about two weeks from friends and family. The night of the walk, my parents were in town to see me play rugby and I was able to get them and the majority of my rugby team to come walk for a couple hours to show our support. I convinced her roommates to keep her occupied while I got everyone together outside as a complete surprise for her. Around ten of us walked through the doors and she turned and broke down in tears. She later told me the support the team and I showed meant more to her than anything since her mother's death. I donated $25 on my own (as much as I had in my bank account at the time. Poor college student) and my parents made a generous financial contribution (they wouldn't tell me how much, but Kay was in tears again when she looked at the amount on the check). I can't think of a more moving experience in the past few years. Relay for Life takes the wallet in my book.
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.donatenow& Peace Corps Partnership. Basically, a volunteer in the field who has a project in need of funding will try to cobble together the money needed via this site. Tax deductible, 100% of the donation goes to the project, there is typically a community contribution (so it's not a handout), and the typical goal is fairly small (less than $10,000 for things like greenhouses, water supplies, school additions/renovations/construction, or educational materials). One good thing is you can typically get in touch with the volunteer directly to get more details and more feedback on where your money actually went. This funding source is designed with sustainability in mind, so if you pay to build a greenhouse, you can be sure that it will be there and in use for the next 5-10 years and unlike medical research it's a one-shot deal. You donate, project gets done, the world gets smaller. If you're donating to 3rd world development, this is a safe bet that your money will go directly to work.
Not to start a sob story, but here's why I donate to ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) every paycheck... When I was about 8 years old, I had a German Shepard dog. He was the most loving pet I've ever had to this day. I had him for about a year. I was living with my dad at the time, and the dog never liked my dad. One night, Pooch (the dog) was chewing on a shoe of my dad's, or something of that sort. That night, I watched my dad kick and hit my dog, which seemed endless, then threw him outside as I stood there crying, watching him just lay there. After a while, he got the strength to get up, and start walking down the driveway. I never saw the dog again, and that was one of the most horrid things I've ever seen in my life. This is the link that I donate to: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.aspca.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.aspca.org/</a> It's definitely worth it. No animal deserves to get beaten or abandoned, no matter how mean it can be...
Every year at work during the hunting season we have a beard contest. After the first year we decided to raise money for some charaties. Every year we've raised around $1,500 that is split between 3 charaties. It's not much but it's something. I took charge of the beard contest 3 years ago and there are two charaties that are allways on the list. Hospice: When my mom had cancer hospice came and helped out so they hold a special place in my heart. Caring Bridge: I've had numerous friends and family going through some serious shit and they've used this site to keep loved ones informed.
One cause I love to support is Skate4Cancer. It was started by Rob Dyer, who is possibly the sweetest man I have ever had the privilege of meeting. Dyer lost both paternal and maternal grandmothers, his mom, and a close friend to cancer within a matter of months. He was inspired to skateboard 8000 km from LA to his hometown of Newmarket to raise cancer awareness. After completing that skate, he has done a cross Canada skate and a tour of New Zealand/Australia. If they accepted donations all of my money would go to this cause, but Dyer only asks that people help pass along "The Cure is Knowledge" message he is trying to spread. If you are interested in helping spread awareness, one of the best ways to do so is through buying merch. All profits go directly towards cancer research.
Susan G. Komen Many years ago, when I was just starting out, one of my co-workers passed away from breast cancer. She worked quite literally up until the day she died, and it was one of the saddest, most inspirational things I have ever witnessed. I was young, then, and the sheer unfairness of it all really left an impression. But she was a remarkable lady, and to this day it's still a common occurrence for people at work to discuss her. After she passed, about 40-50 of us all walked/ran in that year's Race for the Cure, wearing a t-shirt with her picture and carrying a sign that read "[Name]'s Angels." I still sign up and pay for the races, though for health reasons I don't always make it to the starting line. It's not a lot of money, but for me, it's what I can do. Because of where I work and what I do, I'm also able to offer some personal experiences and advice to people suffering from/dealing with the ramifications of family members with cancer. I'm all for the Lance Armstrong jokes, but that's just something you don't mess with. Why we haven't yet found a cure I don't understand. Children's Brain Tumor Foundation There is nothing like walking into an eye doctor's appointment, 19 years old by a few days and perfectly fine, and two hours later being on a hospital, listening to a neurosurgeon explain to you what appears to be a death sentence. From the website: (If you've read any of my other posts, you'll understand why the last one was so important to me, and why my marriage in a few days means so much more.) Unfortunately, for a lack of funds I haven't yet been able to donate actual money, but, I've spent a few years and hundreds of hours trying to do something much better for the cause: the goal is to publish a book, in order to raise awareness and funds for the issues -- medical and emotional -- surrounding adolescent brain tumors, the kids they kill, the lives of family members they destroy, and the survivors they continue to haunt (I was 19, but despite the legalities I still considered myself a kid). I originally wrote one manuscript, got a contract offer and a "real life" agent, before ultimately deciding to go back to the drawing board with another take on it. We'll see how that plays out. I also have another general cause that I do actively give to, though through no specific organization. It involves early childhood education, and it's not really something I want to discuss any more than that on this forum or at least in public, for a variety of reasons.
I also donate to the ASPCA and have been for the past 2 years. The Air Force automatically pulls out $15 from my paychecks.
Wounded Warrior Project. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org</a> Also, ASPCA (mentioned in several posts above).