The first charity from this year, you may recall, went towards ending malaria. This charity does the same thing, in a specific way. Malaria, we now know, is spread by mosquitoes. Countries where mosquitoes are prevalent need nets over their beds to keep the little vampire bugs away, so this charity--Nothing but Nets--sends nets to places that need them. A ten dollar donation buys one net, so I gave $25 to Nothing but Nets . . . thereby buying . . . two and a half nets? Yeah, okay.
-Matt
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Lent Day 17: Bikes
Today I donated $25 to Pedals for Progress, an organization that provides bikes to people. For some, bicycles are a primary mode of transportation. It would be impractical--to say nothing of bad for the environment--to provide cars as primary transportation, which is one of the reasons I like this organization. Bikes will get you around well enough without being bad for the environment. So to those areas who depend on fast, clean transportation, this organization provides it.
-Matt
-Matt
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Lent Day 15: Books
One of my favorite charities is Firstbook. It's one I've talked about a number of times. It gives books to children in need. It provides reading to those who might not have had it available before.
Bookaid does much the same thing. It sends books to Africa for children in need. Every two pounds donated (a little over 3 dollars, US) sends one book . . . which, considering how much we pay for books is a pretty good deal. Books should be accessible. Being literate should not depend on one's economic or ethnic status, and yet sadly, it does. Books go to those who can afford them. Charities like Firstbook and Bookaid bring education, information, and imagination to those who aren't part of that typically well-read minority.
If you're anything like me (ie a Nerdfighter) then you believe in the importance of books and reading. This is why charities such as these are important to me. Today, I donated 24 pounds (roughly $32, US) to Bookaid, which is enough to send 12 books out to children who can't afford them.
-Matt
Bookaid does much the same thing. It sends books to Africa for children in need. Every two pounds donated (a little over 3 dollars, US) sends one book . . . which, considering how much we pay for books is a pretty good deal. Books should be accessible. Being literate should not depend on one's economic or ethnic status, and yet sadly, it does. Books go to those who can afford them. Charities like Firstbook and Bookaid bring education, information, and imagination to those who aren't part of that typically well-read minority.
If you're anything like me (ie a Nerdfighter) then you believe in the importance of books and reading. This is why charities such as these are important to me. Today, I donated 24 pounds (roughly $32, US) to Bookaid, which is enough to send 12 books out to children who can't afford them.
-Matt
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Lent Day 14: Toys
Having to be in the hospital is no usually no fun for a kid. (Well, I guess it's no fun for an adult either . . . but we're talking about kids here.) Especially when the child is there for an extended stay. Being sick is no fun. Being sick enough to go to the hospital is even less fun. And being sick enough for an extended stay at the hospital is just downright scary.
Child's Play (today's charity) attempts to make that just a little bit easier. Children's hospitals around the US, as well as a few in other parts of the world, have put together wish lists for kids on Amazon . . . toys, games, books, anything to make the child's stay in the hospital a little more bearable. Then people can go to amazon, purchase said items, and have them shipped to the hospital of their choice. It really makes a difference in the lives of kids who feel hopeless and afraid.
I bought a set of markers and play-doh, and paid for the fastest shipping to get to Akron Children's Hospital by tomorrow, a total of some $32. Akron Children's Hospital is closest to my area, and it's also the place that looks after Megan, the student with muscular dystrophy that I tutored last year, whenever she gets sick. Hope whoever is there now enjoys the toys.
-Matt
Child's Play (today's charity) attempts to make that just a little bit easier. Children's hospitals around the US, as well as a few in other parts of the world, have put together wish lists for kids on Amazon . . . toys, games, books, anything to make the child's stay in the hospital a little more bearable. Then people can go to amazon, purchase said items, and have them shipped to the hospital of their choice. It really makes a difference in the lives of kids who feel hopeless and afraid.
I bought a set of markers and play-doh, and paid for the fastest shipping to get to Akron Children's Hospital by tomorrow, a total of some $32. Akron Children's Hospital is closest to my area, and it's also the place that looks after Megan, the student with muscular dystrophy that I tutored last year, whenever she gets sick. Hope whoever is there now enjoys the toys.
-Matt
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Lent Day 13: Socks
Today's charity is special for a few reasons. First, it essentially began at the Toledo Cherry Street Mission, which is just about a half an hour north of where I live. Second, it's another organization that looks at one of those needs that most of us just kind of take for granted. Third, it was started by a child.
Hannah was four, and helping her mother give out food at the Cherry Street Mission in Toledo, when she realized that one of the men waiting wasn't wearing any socks. Despite her mother's assurances, Hannah knew this man needed socks, and offered him hers. The next day, Hannah and her mother purchased 100 pairs of socks and distributed them to homeless shelters in the area. Thus began Hannah's Socks. Socks are just one of things that we have, and we don't really think about the fact that some people don't. 4-year-old Hannah did, so I gave her charity $30 today.
-Matt
Hannah was four, and helping her mother give out food at the Cherry Street Mission in Toledo, when she realized that one of the men waiting wasn't wearing any socks. Despite her mother's assurances, Hannah knew this man needed socks, and offered him hers. The next day, Hannah and her mother purchased 100 pairs of socks and distributed them to homeless shelters in the area. Thus began Hannah's Socks. Socks are just one of things that we have, and we don't really think about the fact that some people don't. 4-year-old Hannah did, so I gave her charity $30 today.
-Matt
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Lent Day 12: Beds
Today's donation went to Sleeping Children Around the World. This organization provides beds . . . or more correctly Bedkits . . . to needy children. $35 buys a mattress or mat, pillow, sheet, blanket, and mosquito net (if needed), as well as clothes to sleep in, a towel, and school supplies. 100% of the donation goes to buying the Bedkit. So I bought 1 Bedkit for $35.
-Matt
-Matt
Lent Day 11: Late Again
Monday's charity was Vitamin Angels. The organization recognizes that part of the malnourishment problem is simply because some people do not have access to vitamins, and so seeks to provide vitamins to those in the world suffering from those deficiencies. It reminds us that while feeding the hungry is important, we also need to make sure that they are healthy. So $20 went to this organization.
Stay tuned for today's charity.
-Matt
Stay tuned for today's charity.
-Matt
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Lent Day 9 and 10: Oxfam and Heifer
I spent a good chunk of Friday afternoon driving to Cleveland in a snowstorm, and the remainder of the evening trapped in Cleveland because of said snowstorm, so I was stuck without my list of charities. So here are yesterday's and today's charities.
Oxfam International is kind of a blanket organization with a number of different projects geared toward solving the world's problems. It's yet another organization looking for innovated solutions, particularly looking at ways to help communities support themselves. I donated $20 to them. Today's organization has become fairly well-known, and is one of my favorites: Heifer International. Here, you can buy animals or shares of animals that will be given to needy families. Chickens, pigs, cows, llamas, and many more. I bought a $20 share of a llama.
And that brings us to Sunday #2. See you all on Monday!
-Matt
Oxfam International is kind of a blanket organization with a number of different projects geared toward solving the world's problems. It's yet another organization looking for innovated solutions, particularly looking at ways to help communities support themselves. I donated $20 to them. Today's organization has become fairly well-known, and is one of my favorites: Heifer International. Here, you can buy animals or shares of animals that will be given to needy families. Chickens, pigs, cows, llamas, and many more. I bought a $20 share of a llama.
And that brings us to Sunday #2. See you all on Monday!
-Matt
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Lent Day 8: Action Against Hunger
Today's charity is Action Against Hunger, which is . . . well, exactly what it sounds like. In yesterday's post, I said that I appreciate organizations that try to solve the problem of world hunger, and Action Against Hunger works to do just that, coming up with new ideas on how to solve the problem, not just cure the symptom. So, I've given $25 to their organization.
That's about all I have today. How are my seven followers doing? =)
-Matt
That's about all I have today. How are my seven followers doing? =)
-Matt
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Lent Day 7: Give a man a seed . . .
In general, I tend to be partial to charitable organizations that actively work to solve problems. Take world hunger, for instance. You can either give hungry people food, which will satisfy them for maybe a day, or you can help provide the means for them to feed themselves. So I was excited about today's charity, the Dinner Garden. This charity gives free seeds of many varieties, so that people can plant their own gardens and feed themselves. It's an idea that attempts to solve the problem of world hunger, not merely the symptom. While I see nothing wrong with giving food to the hungry, I also recognize that it isn't going to make Hunger (capital "H," notice) go away.
So, today I gave $20 to the Dinner Garden, which will go towards getting seeds to hungry people, who can use them to grow their gardens.
One week of Lent down . . .
-Matt
So, today I gave $20 to the Dinner Garden, which will go towards getting seeds to hungry people, who can use them to grow their gardens.
One week of Lent down . . .
-Matt
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Lent Day 5 . . . and 6: Go, Feed America
I think we see now why I'm so bad at this blogging thing.
So, yesterday's charity--which I forgot to give to yesterday, but gave to early this morning--is the Go Campaign, which, interestingly enough, is powered by youth, committed to helping other youth who are poverty. One of my biggest pet peeves in life is people who think that kids can't accomplish anything, simply because they're kids. Charities like this prove what a load of hogwash that is, and I'm so glad they exist.
Today's charity is Feeding America, which is exactly what it sounds like . . . a charity committed to providing food to those in our own country who have difficult putting food on the table. Despite being possibly the richest nation in the world, we have serious poverty problem here in our own backyard, and only when we recognize that it exists can we do something about it.
I gave $35 to yesterday's charity, and $25 to today's. Follow the links above to find out more.
See you tomorrow (assuming I remember . . .)
-Matt
So, yesterday's charity--which I forgot to give to yesterday, but gave to early this morning--is the Go Campaign, which, interestingly enough, is powered by youth, committed to helping other youth who are poverty. One of my biggest pet peeves in life is people who think that kids can't accomplish anything, simply because they're kids. Charities like this prove what a load of hogwash that is, and I'm so glad they exist.
Today's charity is Feeding America, which is exactly what it sounds like . . . a charity committed to providing food to those in our own country who have difficult putting food on the table. Despite being possibly the richest nation in the world, we have serious poverty problem here in our own backyard, and only when we recognize that it exists can we do something about it.
I gave $35 to yesterday's charity, and $25 to today's. Follow the links above to find out more.
See you tomorrow (assuming I remember . . .)
-Matt
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Lent, Day 4: Gleaning
Learned something new today.
There's a charity organization called the Society of St. Andrew's. What they do is they take all the potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, strawberries, and many other grown products, that aren't "pretty" enough for the market, and would therefore get thrown away, and gives it to those who are hungry. This country throws away an alarming amount of food based simply on cosmetics. The food is perfectly good to eat, it just doesn't look good enough for the market.
This organization has a number of gleaning projects where they go to the fields and pick this excess food to give to the poor and hungry. More info on this organization can be found here. I'm telling you all this because I decided to donate twenty dollars to this organization, seeing as how I already donated a fair amount to WorldVision.
Incidentally, WorldVision sponsors a lot of projects. When you go to their website, it's almost overwhelming looking at all the things that need to be done. But yesterday I decided to donate twenty dollars toward art and music classes--because what kind of a music education major would I be if I didn't--and an additional twenty-five dollars to buy two chickens for a family. Just so you know.
That's all for now. See you Monday!
-Matt
There's a charity organization called the Society of St. Andrew's. What they do is they take all the potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, strawberries, and many other grown products, that aren't "pretty" enough for the market, and would therefore get thrown away, and gives it to those who are hungry. This country throws away an alarming amount of food based simply on cosmetics. The food is perfectly good to eat, it just doesn't look good enough for the market.
This organization has a number of gleaning projects where they go to the fields and pick this excess food to give to the poor and hungry. More info on this organization can be found here. I'm telling you all this because I decided to donate twenty dollars to this organization, seeing as how I already donated a fair amount to WorldVision.
Incidentally, WorldVision sponsors a lot of projects. When you go to their website, it's almost overwhelming looking at all the things that need to be done. But yesterday I decided to donate twenty dollars toward art and music classes--because what kind of a music education major would I be if I didn't--and an additional twenty-five dollars to buy two chickens for a family. Just so you know.
That's all for now. See you Monday!
-Matt
Friday, February 19, 2010
Lent, Day 2 . . . and 3
Two days in, and I'm already failing at the blogging portion of this. Oh, well.
I did give to a charity yesterday, however. Yesterday's organization was Charity: Water, and organization I first heard about from my friend Nathan (Monday on my collab channel) and has been further plugged by my friend Karen Kavett. Charity: Water works to get clean drinking water to the alarming number of people in this world who don't have it. Clean water is one of those things that we tend to take for granted, but it's a luxury for a lot of people.
I haven't given money to today's charity yet, but I will as soon as I finish typing this blog. Today's charity is WorldVision, an organization focused on helping impoverished people throughout the world. One of their annual projects is called the 30-hour famine, which I am participating in this weekend, and which will be my specific donation for tomorrow. As I type this, I am eating lunch, and that's going to be my last meal until about 6:00 tomorrow evening. Millions of people often go thirty hours, or longer, without food. The 30-hour famine brings people together to raise money and awareness for world hunger. For thirty hours, we don't eat anything or drink anything other than water and the occasional juice. We don't think about just how often we eat during the day, until we're not allowed to.
Come to think of it, I just kind of plugged tomorrow's charity too, didn't I? Well, that should make up for missing yesterday.
Bye now!
-Matt
I did give to a charity yesterday, however. Yesterday's organization was Charity: Water, and organization I first heard about from my friend Nathan (Monday on my collab channel) and has been further plugged by my friend Karen Kavett. Charity: Water works to get clean drinking water to the alarming number of people in this world who don't have it. Clean water is one of those things that we tend to take for granted, but it's a luxury for a lot of people.
I haven't given money to today's charity yet, but I will as soon as I finish typing this blog. Today's charity is WorldVision, an organization focused on helping impoverished people throughout the world. One of their annual projects is called the 30-hour famine, which I am participating in this weekend, and which will be my specific donation for tomorrow. As I type this, I am eating lunch, and that's going to be my last meal until about 6:00 tomorrow evening. Millions of people often go thirty hours, or longer, without food. The 30-hour famine brings people together to raise money and awareness for world hunger. For thirty hours, we don't eat anything or drink anything other than water and the occasional juice. We don't think about just how often we eat during the day, until we're not allowed to.
Come to think of it, I just kind of plugged tomorrow's charity too, didn't I? Well, that should make up for missing yesterday.
Bye now!
-Matt
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
178 days after: Ash Wednesday, and The Beginning
Hello readers.
It's been quite a long time since I've written anything here, but I'm going to be renewing my devotion to this blog for the next six and a half weeks at least.
It's Ash Wednesday . . . or at least it will be for the next six minutes . . . the first day of Lent. Last year, I gave a minimum of ten dollars to a different P4A charity each of the forty days of Lent, and made a YouTube video about it. I'm doing the same thing this year, except instead of a YouTube video, I'm writing a blog.
So, the first charity on this list is John Green's charity . . . or maybe I should say, Henry Green's charity.
See, John's son, Henry, hates malaria. He has since before he was born. Therefore, as a gift to Henry, John set up a place where he could raise money to fight malaria.
You can just tell Henry's pleased about it.
So earlier today, I gave $20 to this cause.
So, what are you doing for Lent?
-Matt
(One minute to spare!)
It's been quite a long time since I've written anything here, but I'm going to be renewing my devotion to this blog for the next six and a half weeks at least.
It's Ash Wednesday . . . or at least it will be for the next six minutes . . . the first day of Lent. Last year, I gave a minimum of ten dollars to a different P4A charity each of the forty days of Lent, and made a YouTube video about it. I'm doing the same thing this year, except instead of a YouTube video, I'm writing a blog.
So, the first charity on this list is John Green's charity . . . or maybe I should say, Henry Green's charity.
See, John's son, Henry, hates malaria. He has since before he was born. Therefore, as a gift to Henry, John set up a place where he could raise money to fight malaria.
You can just tell Henry's pleased about it.
So earlier today, I gave $20 to this cause.
So, what are you doing for Lent?
-Matt
(One minute to spare!)
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