February 04, 2010

late-breaking new year's resolution!

yeah, i know it's already february, but i'm pretending that's a perfectly normal time to make new year's resolutions, so hush. also i've technically already followed through with this in january, which helps make this seem more legit and like i planned this on purpose.

i really wish i could remember whose idea this was originally - someone mentioned this in the comments section of a blog i read normally, but now i can't even remember what the post was about, much less whose blog it was or the name of the commenter, so.. whoops! sorry, dear unnamed commenter who i cannot remember, but thank you for this fantastic idea, which is simply:

i'm going to donate to a new charity every month throughout 2010.

simple! easy! makes me feel better about being the generally fairly useless member of society that i usually am!

like most of us, i donated to the red cross in january to help with the haiti disaster relief. and recently, suburban sweetheart tweeted about volunteer opportunities with local abortion clinics, which will be targeted for 40 days starting in mid-february by an anti-abortion group. i'm hoping to volunteer to be an escort for at least a few of those days, but it inspired me to donate to planned parenthood in conjunction.

ideally, it would be neat if i could continue having opportunities pop up like this to make each month's donation relevant to what i'm doing or what's going on in the world at any given time, but obviously there is no shortage of worthy causes that can use my wee chunk o' change.

interested in joining me? you can donate to planned parenthood here, or to the red cross here. (more info on becoming an escort here.)

as of monday i'll be eligible to donate blood as well, and then HOT DAMN. i'll be available to receive my civic duty medal any time that's convenient.

(ETA: looks like this particular cause is even MORE relevant than i knew! check out marie's post today about the tim tebow superbowl ad.)

19 comments:

  1. This is awesome. I won't be joining you, as our spending freeze means that all charitable contributions have come to a (temporary) halt, but hopefully I can catch up once we have two incomes again!

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  2. Good for you, Alice!
    You know, Chinese New Year is next weekend, so technically you are still good on the New Year resolutions. ;)

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  3. What a good way to get warm fuzzies every month :)

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  4. What a great resolution - and I'm so happy I could inspire you to give to PP! I gave to them when the Stupak-Pitts amendment was up for House consideration, & I know I will again.

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  5. A truly great idea. Also, if you play your cards right when you give blood, you ALSO get a free tshirt.

    Keep us posted about how this fabulous resolution plays out in the upcoming months.

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  6. Not only is it great that you plan to contribute to charities every month this year but I love what you selected as your first set of good deeds. Awesome.

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  7. I love the idea! Also, Tim Tebow makes me a little stabby, and this ad is just the latest...

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  8. What an awesome idea. Maybe you learned about it through Pseudostoops during her end-of-year donation spree?

    Do you read the blog, Shiny's Takeout (http://www.shinystakeout.com)? I was just introduced to his blog this week, but he wrote a fascinating post about what it's like to be an escort at a Planned Parenthood clinic. He also lives in the DC area, so it might be of particular interest to you.

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  9. I'd love to do this, but I'm about to be unemployed with no idea where my next paycheck will be coming from. Hey, why don't you contribute to MY charity? ;)

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  10. You are awesome. That is all.

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  11. Hi! I saw that you stopped by my blog (the aforementioned http://www.shinystakeout.com); thanks for that. I think what you're doing is a great idea, a model for what many of us can strive for.

    I'm glad you're looking into clinic escorting as well; let me know if you have any questions.

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  12. You are truly beautiful inside and out!

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  13. I havent been here in a while.
    Yur blog still is pretty boring.

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  14. I love you. That is all.

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  15. Fantastic idea, Alice. And great causes. Escorts at abortion clinics provide a tremendously valuable service.

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  16. what an awesome idea!!

    i'm doing a charity post feb 16th, you can donate $16 to help the babies if you want :)

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  17. This is a great idea. I can't wait to see what other awesome charities you donate to! What an inspiration you are ;-)

    How did you make out in the snow? Was it insane or what? When I was in DC over the weekend we got 31" of snow, and back home now in PA we got a total of 51.5". I am ready for summer.

    When you have a chance I left you a little something on my blog. Hope you are well!! xoxo

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  18. that is weird. I like your tattoo. You didn't post much more than I did in February, so you were easy, peasy to catch up with.

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