Sunday, March 1, 2009
"Boldly Make a Difference" Sunday
On Sunday March 1st we gave you a total of $2500 to "pay forward." Each family and youth was given $20 to go out and "boldly make a difference." This is the place where you can share what you have done with your gift! Look for "Post a Comment" below to add your posting or to read what others have been up to.
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As Sarah mentioned last Sunday, the children of Twana Twitu in Kenya need your help. They are starving as a result of recent crop failure. If you would like to contribute, please go to www.twanatwitu.org
ReplyDeleteHarry
We are matching our found money and donating it to the solar cooking project which has provided solar cookers to women of Darfur and saved lives. You can visit at solarcookerproject.org
ReplyDeleteAl Blake & Tommie Hutto-Blake
I matched the $20 I received by donating 2 flocks of geese @$20 per flock through Heifer International. It feels good to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteJim Hayes
We are matching the money and having a bingo party at a homeless shelter in Paterson. We will buy prizes and snacks had have the bingo party the end of March.
ReplyDeleteThe Percy Family
"Boldly Making a Difference" is a wonderful and inspirational concept.
ReplyDeleteWith so many in need it was difficult to decide where to make a donation. We matched the $20 and finally decided to donate to the Community Food Bank of NJ.
Liz Bleiweiss & Lou Riccardi
Domestic violence is always upsetting, and I’ve been especially troubled by the media coverage of Chris Brown’s attack on Rhianna. I’m disgusted that people blame her for the situation.
ReplyDeleteI came across this statistic, from the National Institute of Justice, a division of the Bureau of Justice (ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/jr000250e.pdf):
"Intimate partner violence is the leading cause of death for African-American women ages 15 to 45 and the seventh leading cause of premature death for U.S. women overall."
So, based on her age, race and country of origin, Rhianna is more likely to die of domestic violence than of anything else.
Out of outrage and the belief that we can do better, I’m donating to INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence (incite-national.org).
I'm really inspired by their mission statement: INCITE! is a national activist organization of radical feminists of color advancing a movement to end violence against women of color and our communities through direct action, critical dialogue, and grassroots organizing.
Because we feel so blessed, together with our children and grandchildren we donated to a charity called "Grandma's Gifts". It was founded by a 16-yr. old girl in memory of her beloved grandmother who was born and raised in Appalachia. The charity is twofold. First, it benefits children and families in Appalachia by donating much needed clothing, food, books, dental hygiene, etc. Secondly, it is fully run by teenage volunteers who donate their time and efforts and teach others the benefits of volunteerism. So far they have raised over $12 million and have been mentioned by Hannity and Oprah. Their website is grandmasgifts.org.
ReplyDeleteKathryn & Russ Ives
We had a lot of trouble coming to a consensus as a family about what to do with our money ($80 with matching since our jr. seminar student also got $20). The teenagers didn't really offer any suggestions but felt our ideas were pretty unworthy. Finally we reached an agreement to give $40 to a charity with personal meaning and $40 to something outside our experience.
ReplyDeleteSo, we gave to the scholarship fund of the Science and Arts Academy, a small private school the girls attended when we lived in Chicago. www.scienceandartsacademy.org
And we gave the other half to Harry's charity for Kenyan AIDS orphans, Tanya Tucker or whatever it's called.
In the interest of peace I gave up on my charity of choice, Children of Bellevue. The next time Sarah gives me $20 at service I will give it to Children of Bellevue. Maybe I'll give to them sooner than that. And since this comment box doesn't seem to have a length limit on it (hmmm, bad idea for Unitarians) I will fill you in on Children of Bellevue. Well, I guess if you're interested you can just go to the website: www.childrenofbellevue.com.
Linda Brown writes:
ReplyDelete"What a wonderful idea - 'Make a Difference Donation.' My husband Robert has been volunteering 2 days a week at the Center for Food Action in Mahwah for 13 years. When I pulled out 'the' envelope from the collection basket, I knew exactly where the donation was going. Thank you so much for a great idea."
[Linda and Jim matched the $20 for a $40 donation, and sent it with a letter to the Director of the Center for Food Action explaining about our Boldly Making a Difference effort].
I really like this idea of paying it forward!If you give a woman a fish, she eats for a day...but teach her to fish..." Well maybe not fish - but I had heard about this organization called www.kiva.org which makes micro-loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries to alleviate poverty.I wanted to fund a woman's group and found one that was only $50 away from its goal of $250. Two very hard working women that own small businesses in Zanzibar, Tanzania want to expand their business(es). One is has a charcoal and firewood business, the other a clothing business. I used the $20 and added $30 of my own. When this loan is paid back (in 11 months) I will fund another loan or a few loans with that repaid $50.00 and keep trying to add $20-30 each time, so that the original $ keeps circulating!
ReplyDeleteI loved the Boldly Making a Difference and wanted to make my $20 seed grow, if possible. At the SHARE, Inc. board meeting the following Monday, there was a discussion of the Webster Fund. Al and Janet Webster were long time USR members and were very involved with the Committee on Aging in the late 70's and the founding of SHARE, Inc. whose mission was and still is to provide affordable housing for independent seniors in two residences, Cottage Place which opened in 1982 and Prospect Place which opened in 1998. After their death, they left a sum of money to be used to help those who couldn't afford the monthly rent at SHARE, Inc. and so this fund was named The Webster Fund. Two residents are currently being helped by what are called "scholarships."
ReplyDeleteThe fund is conservatively invested, but is not growing because it receives few donations, and interest rates are low. So at the meeting I explained to members about the envelope with $20 in it and that I planned to match and send mine to the Webster Fund and invited any who wished to join me to make the seed grow to do so. They helped it grow to $160.00 which I have sent to the Webster Fund.
Margaret Davies
I matched the $20 and sent my $40 donation to Twana Twitu, and I posted an item about our reverse offering Sunday on the Brian Lehrer show's Uncommon Economic Indicators project (you can find it through the Story Map at http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/economic_indicators/).
ReplyDeleteKatherine Hyde
I appreciated the idea of "paying it forward" but I didn't feel comfortable taking the envelope, so I treated it as a symbolic tap to the rear to donate more money to a scholarship fund for people working toward a library science degree.
ReplyDeleteThe scholarship fund is sponsored by the Bergen County Cooperative Library System (BCCLS) and has awarded close to 50 scholarships in the last five or so years.
There is a librarian who passed away recently, Mary Ann Abrams, not someone I knew, but much beloved by her peers. I had been dithering about making a donation because I had just given a (for me) large donation in memory of my mother, but after the "symbolic tap" I anted up with $50 in memory of Mary Lou Abrams. So a symbolic $20 yielded $50 (and more).
Librarians are well paid -- but not in dollars. Any support aspiring professionals can get is always appreciated. And what they do, in turn, for the community pays off again and again.
Mary Riskind
My family took awhile to figure out what to do with our $20 what but we finally decided that an important issue to us is marriage equality. So, David, Izaac and I added our own individual donations, plus the winnings (thanks Eric, Suzanne and Rose) from a friendly game of poker to the $20 Sarah gave us and donated $75 to Friends of the UUA to support their work for marriage equality.
ReplyDeleteAfter the service, we found $5 on the streets of NY. We added that to the $20 and multipled by 4. A $100 contribution was made to FINCA International that provides microfinancial services in under developed countries all over the world.
ReplyDeleteKerren Henry worked as a secretarial assistant at Ramapo College of New Jersey. She was an inspiring young woman, earning her degree in computer science while working full-time and raising two beautiful little girls as a single mom. We never saw Kerren without a smile on her face, even as she was battling stomach cancer. She lost her valient fight in February 2009, and passed away at the age of 39. I am using $10 of the $20 towards a donation of $50 to the scholarship established in the name of her daughters, Kourtney and Khristina, in memory of their loving mother.
ReplyDeleteI am using the other $10 and multiplying it for a $50 contribution to the memorial fund established with the Heifer Foundation for my beautiful son, Court Demas.
http://www.heiferfoundation.org/waystogive/memorials/CourtDemas3.cfm
Court was a very special young man, joyful, gentle, giving, loving and sweet. This memorial fund allows Court's goodness and generosity of spirit to live on and sustain the hope for a better world.
Bea Cronin
I have been giving to Save the Children Foundation since I was nine years old. At the summer camp I went to, we skipped deserts once a week to raise money for children in India via the SCF. It was my first experience with philanthropy! However, since I had already given to that organization this year, I decided to contribute $100 to FINCA, because they have a similar philosophy of giving aid that helps people to help themselves. This particular donation was for their Afghanistan women's project.
ReplyDeleteDeb & Doug Goodell
Our family added $30 to the $20 given to us and used Heifer International's matching gift opportunity to help families who were devastated by last year's catastrophic 8.0 earthquake in China. $100 was donated in UURidgewood's name.
ReplyDeleteThe Lo Cascio Family
As soon as we sat down to discuss what to do with our $40, Billy suggested cancer and the girls emphatically agreed. Cancer has affected both sides of our family; the kids have a grandmother and an aunt who are survivors and also lost an aunt to the disease.
ReplyDeleteJoci is participating in the GR Relay for Life in May so we are matching our $40 and giving $80 to the American Cancer Society.
The Kaselow Family
We checked the American Institute of Philanthropy and confirmed that doctors without Borders spends over 90% of the money they receive on the medical needy. We then added to the offering and sent a check in the name of some people who have had an extraordinary affect on our lives. We heard from several of those people who want to further supplement the donation, thus amplifying the "Boldly Make a Difference" offering. Alice and Bob
ReplyDeleteWe gave the $20 we received from USR to Twana Twitu and added another $20. Way to go Harry, using your new found retirement time to support so many wonderful causes!
ReplyDeleteWe have decided to use our $40 ($20 from the Junior Seminar class and $20 from the service) to throw a chili supper to raise funds for and awareness of Epilepsy. As some of you know, my niece has a particulary challenging disease in the Epilepsy umbrella, and our family is committed to improving research and resources for both children and adults who have uncontrolled seizures -- over a million people in the U.S. alone. For more information, go to www.epilepsy.com.
ReplyDeleteThe Lammert Crum Family
With so many in need and so many good organizations, it was difficult to decide which important cause to donate to. we considered aids support groups, battered women (shelter our sisters)& others...but ultimately chose the Community Food Bank of N.J. we matched the $20 from the uu and obtained additional contributions from some friends and family and contributed $100 to the food bank...keeping it local. thanks for giving us the opportunity to pay it forward.
ReplyDeletecarol & rosemary
Bergen County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is close to our hearts, and with the downturn in the economy, they have had serious funding cuts. Last night was their fundraiser, and that gave us a perfect opportunity to grow our $20. We matched it with another 20, and created a basket full of games and toys with a "family fun" theme. Then we found an unopened movie dvd and regifted that to the basket. It seemed like we needed a bit more pizzaz, so we added popcorn, hot chocolate and some candy. and last night it was a hit at the tricky tray table!
ReplyDeleteThanks to volunteers Carolyn Musser, Maggie Shoemaker and Anita Degiulio for their work with CASA, where volunteers advocate for foster kids, with the goal of having them in safe, loving and permanent homes.
Boldly Paying it Forward was a topic of much attention at our Women’s Group meeting following the distribution of the envelopes. Out of the discussion was a strong suggestion from Sue Handley to direct our matching monies to the Harlem Children’s Zone and some of our group joined in sending the money there.
ReplyDeleteWe’ve been familiar with the HCZ since Kate Shoemaker brought Geoffrey Canada to a meeting at USR several years ago and many of us had read his book, “ Stick, Rock, Knife, and Gun” and were impressed by the work done in a small area of Harlem to strengthen families and build communities through a wide variety of programs. Now, Kate continues her work at HCZ as a policy director and the results multiply.
From the small beginning of those of us who signed on for this recipient of our matching funds, we grew from Sue Handley, Judy Scanlan, Karen Wilcock, Doris Griffin, Helen Lindsay, and Barbara and Sol Goldberg , we gained Tony Handley, Cecily Buck, Brenda Levin, and two bridge player friends of Sue’s. From $140 we sent $300 to the Harlem Children's Zone. It’s amazing what a ripple in a pond can produce. Barbara Goldberg
I recieved $40 from my Uncle George Mamunes as part of your pay it forward program and made a donation of $80 to the American Diabetes Association in honor of your program and wonderful idea.
ReplyDeleteDiane Haupt
Virginia Beach, VA
I have been wanting to contribute to the NJ fund for access to safe abortions, I added $80 to the $20 and was so pleased to be able to donate $100.
ReplyDeleteI was able to take the $20 and add $20 myself and donate the money to UNICEF specifically to help the children in DARFUR. The more exciting thing is that I emailed my friends and family abou this and I was able to inspire 2 others to make donations - 1 to UNICEF and another to a local children's charity in NYC. One other inspiration, is that my aunt (a non-unitarian) was so inspired she is planning to bring the idea back to her congregation!
ReplyDelete