Hey, all!
Today's an exception for this here project, because instead of making a $5 donation today, I made a larger one. But whatevz, I'm still counting it toward this.
The org is called the Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP), and it works to change the New York Police Department's "harsh and unjust" practices (I put that in quotes because I have some rather stronger words to use, but those are PROP's words, so there we are). The Project is just one branch of the Urban Justice Center, which has a whole bunch of projects that work toward creating a fair justice system in the city.
I volunteer with this project, and they're just getting started so they need a bunch of help...hence the larger donation. Here's some more info about PROP, and if you need any further proof of the NYPD's "harsh and unjust" practices, I encourage you to check out this episode of This American Life, or the Village Voice article that it's based on, or you could just open up the New York Times. I feel kind of passionately about this issue.
Click this to donate! It's easy!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
12/19/2011: Donors Choose
Okay, I spent a week spending lots of money on Christmas presents and such, so I felt guilty about my spending and thought I should give a bit more consideration to this whole giving-five-dollars-a-day-away thing. Plus I'm wondering who will ever read this. How do blogging people get readers? And why am I blogging about this anyway? Is it just to brag?
But then I remembered that I've been spending that money on coffee anyway, and that even if people don't read this, I still like the idea of it, and even if it is bragging, my original intent with the blog was to show people that they can be doing neat things for just five dollars, and hey, what's that thing Cassius Clay said?
Anyhow, I donated $5 today to Donors Choose, which if you're not familiar is a website where teachers can post projects and get them funded. I started thinking about this website awhile ago because I have a friend who Teaches For America in North Carolina, and the process of getting books that weren't in the standard curriculum required her getting hold of the books herself. That stuff is pricey! I believe she ended up getting help from her church, but some teachers don't have that option, and this is where a website like Donors Choose can be amazing.
I ended up going onto the website and seeing that The Hunger Games is a trending topic on there (or whatever the Donors Choose version of "trending topic" is--I'm too lazy to look it up right now). I've read The Hunger Games and boy howdy did I get addicted. It was like my Harry Potter addiction all over again. And then I remembered how when the Harry Potter books came out, it made the news that children all over were telling their parents "but I don't WANT to go to the movies; I want to read!" And golly, does that just make my heart soar. So I donated to a project requesting money to buy the Hunger Games books for "reluctant readers" in the teacher's classroom.
Here's the exact link to the project.
Donating was completely easy, although the lowest suggested donation is $10. They don't even ask for a billing address. Totally simple.
Here's hoping I keep this up for the rest of the week...
But then I remembered that I've been spending that money on coffee anyway, and that even if people don't read this, I still like the idea of it, and even if it is bragging, my original intent with the blog was to show people that they can be doing neat things for just five dollars, and hey, what's that thing Cassius Clay said?
Anyhow, I donated $5 today to Donors Choose, which if you're not familiar is a website where teachers can post projects and get them funded. I started thinking about this website awhile ago because I have a friend who Teaches For America in North Carolina, and the process of getting books that weren't in the standard curriculum required her getting hold of the books herself. That stuff is pricey! I believe she ended up getting help from her church, but some teachers don't have that option, and this is where a website like Donors Choose can be amazing.
I ended up going onto the website and seeing that The Hunger Games is a trending topic on there (or whatever the Donors Choose version of "trending topic" is--I'm too lazy to look it up right now). I've read The Hunger Games and boy howdy did I get addicted. It was like my Harry Potter addiction all over again. And then I remembered how when the Harry Potter books came out, it made the news that children all over were telling their parents "but I don't WANT to go to the movies; I want to read!" And golly, does that just make my heart soar. So I donated to a project requesting money to buy the Hunger Games books for "reluctant readers" in the teacher's classroom.
Here's the exact link to the project.
Donating was completely easy, although the lowest suggested donation is $10. They don't even ask for a billing address. Totally simple.
Here's hoping I keep this up for the rest of the week...
Friday, December 9, 2011
12/9/2011: The Backyard Philly Project
For today's donation, I decided to donate to a project that a couple of friends from highschool are working on. Their org (they're working on 501(c)3 status), Ferasha Films, is a documentary film company. Their team members are all volunteers, and they have started a new documentary called the Backyard Philly Project, which will follow four teenagers from Philadelphia. Each of the teens will be filming their own stories in their neighborhood, Penn Town, using FlipCams. The teens will also be attending classes on cinematography and will get monthly topic assignments for them to film for their "video journals."
You can learn more about them here.
AND you can donate to their project here! Donations go through IndieGoGo, which bills itself as "the world's leading international funding platform." Who knew?! It looks very similar to Kickstarter, but without the exclusivity of only funding arts-related projects.
Admittedly, part of what drew me toward making this donation is that my friend Brendan has committed himself to learning and performing, on youtube, a song of your choice, in exchange for a five dollar donation. I'll be making him learn Start Wearing Purple by Gogol Bordello. He's already completed a video of himself playing It's Tricky by Run DMC for someone else who donated. Here's the link to that.
You can learn more about them here.
AND you can donate to their project here! Donations go through IndieGoGo, which bills itself as "the world's leading international funding platform." Who knew?! It looks very similar to Kickstarter, but without the exclusivity of only funding arts-related projects.
Admittedly, part of what drew me toward making this donation is that my friend Brendan has committed himself to learning and performing, on youtube, a song of your choice, in exchange for a five dollar donation. I'll be making him learn Start Wearing Purple by Gogol Bordello. He's already completed a video of himself playing It's Tricky by Run DMC for someone else who donated. Here's the link to that.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
12/8/2011: Food Bank for New York City
As the Food Bank's advertising was effective enough to get me to think about creating this blog, I decided to make my first donation to them. Here's what I learned about them in just a few minutes of visiting their website and in looking them up via the Better Business Bureau:
The Food Bank not only distributes food directly to New Yorkers, but also provides income support and nutrition education.
"In New York City, 1 in 5 people rely on the Food Bank For New York City’s programs and services to keep food on the table."
"More than three quarters (76 percent) NYC households with children had difficulty affording needed food in 2010 — a 38 percent increase from 2003."
The Food Bank is a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity. It meets the BBB's 20 standards for charity accountability, and 94% of its funds go to its programs, with 3% going to fundraising and another 3% going to administrative costs.
Donating to the Food Bank was not time-consuming, nor annoying. It did suggest a $35 donation (that was the lowest clickable donation level), which surprised me as the subway advert mentioned $5 donations, but it was easy to type in $5 as a donation level in the "other" category. It was easy to check off that I was not interested in their email list. They didn't make me create an account, sign into paypal or amazon, or anything else that slows down the process. Overall, my experience in donating to them was completely positive.
That's all for now!
The Food Bank not only distributes food directly to New Yorkers, but also provides income support and nutrition education.
"In New York City, 1 in 5 people rely on the Food Bank For New York City’s programs and services to keep food on the table."
"More than three quarters (76 percent) NYC households with children had difficulty affording needed food in 2010 — a 38 percent increase from 2003."
The Food Bank is a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity. It meets the BBB's 20 standards for charity accountability, and 94% of its funds go to its programs, with 3% going to fundraising and another 3% going to administrative costs.
Donating to the Food Bank was not time-consuming, nor annoying. It did suggest a $35 donation (that was the lowest clickable donation level), which surprised me as the subway advert mentioned $5 donations, but it was easy to type in $5 as a donation level in the "other" category. It was easy to check off that I was not interested in their email list. They didn't make me create an account, sign into paypal or amazon, or anything else that slows down the process. Overall, my experience in donating to them was completely positive.
That's all for now!
Five dollars, huh?
So, I saw an advertisement on the subway yesterday. It was for the Food Bank of New York City, and it said "Five dollars can get you a latte. Or it can fill 25 lunchboxes for children in need." (You can see more of their ads here.)
The ad made me think about two things. Number one: what on earth are they feeding kids that only costs $0.20 per lunch? And more importantly, number two: I am really, literally, ACTUALLY spending $5.17 a day on fancy lattes full of syrup made from who-knows-what when there is FREE coffee and tea at my office. And that money could be spent SO much better than it is now.
Therefore, I am issuing myself a challenge: for every work day that I hold off on giving my cash to Starbucks, I will allow myself to give $5.00 to an organization or project that really needs my money. I'll try to be diligent about researching organizations throught the Better Business Bureau, because I don't like the idea of giving to organizations that spend a large percent on administrative expenses, but I'll also give to Kickstarter projects and other causes that look promising. And, by spending $5.00, I'll still be saving myself $0.17 a day!
To make things more interesting, I'm starting this blog so that I can report on the various organizations and projects out there that can really benefit from a $5.00 donation. If you have any suggestions about what to donate to, please leave me a comment and I'll do my best to research them and to potentially donate and write about them here.
The ad made me think about two things. Number one: what on earth are they feeding kids that only costs $0.20 per lunch? And more importantly, number two: I am really, literally, ACTUALLY spending $5.17 a day on fancy lattes full of syrup made from who-knows-what when there is FREE coffee and tea at my office. And that money could be spent SO much better than it is now.
Therefore, I am issuing myself a challenge: for every work day that I hold off on giving my cash to Starbucks, I will allow myself to give $5.00 to an organization or project that really needs my money. I'll try to be diligent about researching organizations throught the Better Business Bureau, because I don't like the idea of giving to organizations that spend a large percent on administrative expenses, but I'll also give to Kickstarter projects and other causes that look promising. And, by spending $5.00, I'll still be saving myself $0.17 a day!
To make things more interesting, I'm starting this blog so that I can report on the various organizations and projects out there that can really benefit from a $5.00 donation. If you have any suggestions about what to donate to, please leave me a comment and I'll do my best to research them and to potentially donate and write about them here.
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