Joseph Kony 2012 – EDITED
One think I can thank the KONY 2012 campaign for, is igniting the internet.Hiffington Post Article
This video is igniting awareness, which I still firmly believe is incredibly important. However, there are issues with Invisible Children and how effectively it uses the money. Take a moment to read THE DAILY WHAT and http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/ which critizies how the money is being used, and the way the information is being presented.
Exerpt:
"Is Kony fundamentally bad, and is IC fundamentally good? Yes, absolutely. Should you support IC? If you want to, sure. Personally, I feel that other organizations focused on active aid are more productive at this stage in the conflict, but that’s your decision. I just want you to talk about it. I urge you to meet with other concerned people in your community to discuss some of the articles I link to in my article and the KONY 2012 video and decide what you want to do. Thank you."
Here is a list of charities recommended by the Daily What that have an excellent rating for efficient use of funds:
Children Of The Nations
Africare
AMREF USA
Water.org
And now from BoingBoing:
I will keep reading, listening. I will try and spread my awareness. There is so much in this world, and I am grateful for the voices being shared.
Peace Through Photography, Poster I Designed
Grrrreetings this fine Tuesday! "Peace Through Photography" is the amazing project of Rachel Scotto, and I had the honor of designing the poster! It started out as a personal photo collage, then it became a private Facebook album among friends. But something like this is infectious, people wanted to be a part of it and Rachel heard their calls. It is becoming an art show in Venice Beach, CA as well as a growing, viral "peace sign" photo hunt. When these posters become available for purchase, their profits will be split amongst these charities:Peace Corps Bridging the Technology Gap in Bulgaria
Surfing 4 Peace Teaching Israeli and Palestinian kids to surf together and break down the tension
Guitars in the Classroom Bringing music to classrooms in certain LA schools
SK8 for Life Promoting physical and mental fitness to Boys and Girls clubs through skateboarding
Click, explore, and share the message: To inspire everyone to do his or her part in achieving universal peace! When the poster becomes available, I encourage you to purchase one!
and this is where i have been
This is what i have been up to....backpacking at Sequoia National Park was glorious, simply inspiring. I got back in time for an aggressive work load. If all goes to plan, I will be posting a sketch tomorrow!
Cullis-Suzuki, The Girl Who Silenced The World for 5 minutes
If you can't see the video above, click here. What an amazing girl...this is an excerpt from wikipedia: Cullis-Suzuki was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. Her father is a second-generation Japanese Canadian. While attending Lord Tennyson Elementary School in French Immersion, at the age of nine, she founded the Environmental Children's Organization (ECO), a group of children dedicated to learning and teaching other youngsters about environmental issues. In 1992, at the age of 12, Cullis-Suzuki raised money with members of ECO, to attend the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Along with group members Michelle Quigg, Vanessa Suttie, and Morgan Geisler, Cullis-Suzuki presented environmental issues from a youth perspective at the summit, where she was applauded for a speech to the delegates. The video has since become a viral hit, popularly known as "The Girl Who Silenced the World for 5 Minutes". In 1993, she was honored in the United Nations Environment Program's Global 500 Roll of Honor. In 1993, Doubleday published her book Tell the World (ISBN 0-385-25422-9), a 32-page book of environmental steps for families. To read the full wiki-article, click here.We Can Help Haiti
Whatever, and wherever you can give - I am posting links to the relief efforts and projects that I trust and have donated to myself. Pick one, or all, and pass it on. We CAN help, and we do, even if we aren't there. While Facebook and cell phone donating is a great way to collect funds from people who would not otherwise donate, I encourage you to make your contributions directly to the organizations of your choice. Cutting out the middleman removes unnecessary fees that reduce the impact of your gift. http://www.clintonfoundation.org/haitiearthquake/ http://www.redcross.org/ I am a member of Child Fund. Its a fantastic organization that focuses on the healthy growth of children while combating starvation and poverty. They don't have any stations set up in Haiti yet, but they have a few contacts and would like donations to be able to get started in Haiti. I have donated, because I believe in their mission and their methods for dealing with the aftermath of such a terrible disaster. Check them out when you have a moment. http://www.childfund.org/help-haiti/ And also, Soles4Souls is mounting a massive response of emergency relief to the victims of Haiti's 7.0-magnitude earthquake near the capital city of Port-au-Prince. 3 million people are directly affected by the damage, and are in immediate need of the most basic necessities, like food, water, AND SHOES. Soles4Souls is partnering with local shoe and sporting goods retailers to collect used shoes for men, women and children to be immediately shipped to Haiti, to help survivors locate others trapped in the rubble and begin the rebuilding process. As you can imagine, the amount of broken glass, twisted metal and raw sewage is staggering. S4S is also partnering with others to supply new boots and shoes, tents, blankets, duffle bags, food and water. You may donate gently worn shoes at one of their many local donation sites, http://www.soles4souls.org/ An excellent source for finding out how charities are doing with the efficiency of their funds. http://www.charitynavigator.org/Help a child in need, for realz
The older I get the more skeptical I have become with donating to charities. The sad truth of it is many of us have been at the brunt of some person or scam artist appealing to our better nature. From that experience somewhere we decided "not ever again will I be fooled".
I still give to charities, but now I research where my money is going. A site I love is Charity Navigator to find out how efficiently a charity is using the donated funds. However, Child Fund International is a charity I have been supporting for about 5 years now regularly. The way they work is you sponsor a child. This means, you give $24 a month through Child Fund to that child and his or her family. This covers food, medical supplies, water, clothes, books, school, as well as programs that help the community become self sufficient. You also write letters with your sponsored child, or if they are too young, then with their family. Child Fund has people to translate the letter, and you are sent both the original handwritten note as well as the translation. In this way you can stay in communication with the child and really see the effects your donations are doing. Also, they have a great score on Charity navigator. In the 5 years I have been with them I feel like I really am helping someone, someone I am building a relationship with through letters.
So, after all of that - I recommend you check them out at https://www.childfund.org/
Who knows, it might be good fit. And, even in you cannot afford to regularly sponsor a child, you can make one-time donations here and they will use that money where it is the most needed. Revlon Run/Walk CURE FOR CANCER May 9, 2009
Support however you can! If you ain't walking, maybe you can encourage someone else to! Click on the image below to be taken to the most recent newsletter.
myMeditation : all proceeds benefiting charity
myMeditation iPhone Application
