Leslie and Bettye have chosen a tough topic for this month’s “Where Bloggers Live” post.
“If I could donate $100,000 to any charity, which one and why?”
It wouldn’t be hard to find a charity that was deserving. The tough part would be to select just one….AND then deal with feelings of guilt for the ones I didn’t choose. I’ve been ruminating over this for a month or so… It’s actually a very tricky question.
There are SO many worthy causes, research that needs funding, families in the daily news that have lost their home due to fire or natural disaster, so many individuals that need help, people devastated by illness. Children in foster care… Not to mention those ASPCA commercials with the puppies chained in filth. There are also crisis centers, drug rehabilitation initiatives, mental health charities…
Where to start? Who to help?
People often donate to the charitable foundations that hit close to home. Our at-large family has too frequently benefitted from the efforts of Hospice. We’ve also had members ravaged by Alzheimer’s disease and, devastatingly, Lewy-body Dementia.
I have friends and family who’ve ridden bikes across their states to raise money and awareness for regional cancer centers in memory of beloved family members.
One Hundred Thousand dollars?
My first thought would be to send it all to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Their mission, if you are unfamiliar:
..to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay.
I think childhood cancers are one of life’s cruelest realities. Occasionally, I follow families on Instagram that are sharing their journey as they face this reality every day… it seems like a responsibility to get out of my bubble and spend just a moment in their stories of immense bravery, resilience, victory, faith… and heartbreak.
Sometimes, I’ve seen charitable appeals that are very specific about what particular donations could fund: a neonatal incubator, portable x-ray machine, a new research study, five intensive care nurses. I think that’s helpful information to understand the enormity and/or the attainablity of an organization’s mission.
This is a particularly appealing approach employed by Heifer International. When our kids were little they participated in classroom collections to purchase animals and agricultural training to help families and communities become self sufficient. The kiddos would come home from school very excited when their class collected enough money to purchase an animal.
with “A Gift of Transformation”: herds of grazing animals, flocks of fowl, fish, and farmer training.
One hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money…and it’s not.
Parceling out bits of $100,000 would seem to me like it wouldn’t do enough…but in the grand scheme, neither would an entire $100,000 likely be enough to cure anything. A drop in a bucket…
But collect enough drops and eventually you have a puddle; combine a few puddles and maybe you’ll have a small stream. Streams can meet and become a lake. So, follow the water and maybe you’ll end up with an ocean of change.
If you’re a football fan, you might know that Buffalo Bills fans regularly pool their resources and have become big agents of change with their donations… and have inspired other fans to do the same.
In 2017, Quarterback Andy Dalton led the Cincinnati Bengals to victory against the Baltimore Ravens, which opened a playoff spot for the Bills for the first time in 17 years. The “Bills Mafia” said thank you with donations to Dalton’s charitable foundation via amounts of $14 (14 is Dalton’s jersey number)…quickly raising more than $400,000.
Similarly, when Bills’ QB Josh Allen lost his grandmother in 2020, fans responded by making $17 (Allen’s number) donations to Buffalo’s Golisano Children’s Hospital in Patricia Allen’s memory.
A couple of months later, the Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins, eliminating them from that year’s playoffs; and Indianapolis Colts fans said thank you via thousands of dollars in small contibutions that helped the foundation top the million dollar mark in its infancy.
Five years later, the Patrica Allen Fund is at nearly $16 million life-saving dollars.
Fans have ralllied to support all kinds of causes:
- disappointed kicker missed an important field goal, donations roll in to a cat shelter and a diabetes charity;
- Lamar Jackson injured in a game against the Bills, over half a million dollars donated to “Blessings in a Backpack” (many in $8 increments);
- referee makes a terrible call in a 2021, fans donate $65,000 in $17 increments to “Visually Impaired Advancement” (to combat referee blindness đ€Ł); and among other giving initiatives
- after Damar Hamlin’s horrific on-field accident, Bills fans led the way and were joined by donors worldwide raising more than $9 MILLION to Hamlin’s “Chasing M’s” foundation.
What a great way to turn negatives into positives… millions of drops in very beautiful buckets.
Thanks to Leslie and Bettye for the inspiring topic, and kindly visit the other participating bloggers for more charitable inspiration.
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Jodie at Jodieâs Touch of Style
Sally at Within a World of My Own
Who doesnât like to peek behind the scenes and see inside peopleâs homes?
The second Friday of each month is when this group of bloggers link up to share their workspaces,
homes, towns⊠or whatever our fearless leader, the fabulous Bettye, proposes.
Make sure you visit everyone to see where the magic happens!
“A drop in a bucketâŠ..collect enough drops and eventually you have a puddle; combine a few puddles and maybe youâll have a small stream. Streams can meet and become a lake. So, follow the water and maybe youâll end up with an ocean of change.” WHOAA. GURL. An OCEAN of “CHANGE.” Damn. You get all the thumbs up for that one!
That was a great story about the football teams also. I never knew. I live under a rock sometimes.
But I was inspired by you and subsidized a half a flock of chickens, ha ha, to someone in need…somewhere.
Thanks for this post.
xoxo Bettye
https://fashionschlub.com
I loved your comment about drops turning into puddles which turn into streams which could turn into a lake. It is difficult, at times, to figure out which place needs your help the most. I donate to quite a few different places, and I now hope my little drops are turning into puddles of some kind. I loved this post, and I didn’t know a thing about the football connection. Thanks for that information, Em!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
Girl, you blew this out of the water. I remember Hamlin’s injury and that much good came from that horrible accident. But I had no idea about all of these other football-related acts of generosity. Thank you so much for shining a light on them. Love the idea of charitable donations offering lower donation increments. We don’t all have $100,000 to give but as you have illustrated so well, every drop adds up.
Big fan of Heifer International. I think this year my adult loved ones are going to get a goat or a sheep instead of a gift card to their favorite restaurant. Thank you for the reminder.
I loved the concept of Heifer International…the kids loved trying to earn extra money they could donate to something accessible, and their teachers often got them to sacrifice their snack money. Lots of great lessons all around!
That’s a great idea to use it as a gift! I may try that myself this year. Thanks for the thought-proviking topic!
Gosh…it’s true, but I never thought of it that way…a drop in the bucket. To us, it’s a lot of money, but in the whole scheme of things, it’s not.
You must be Catholic…that guilt you spoke about at first, LOL
XOOX
Jodie
Catholic, indeed! Guilt overload!
100K is absolutely a lot of money!! But when you read the lists of how expenisive surgical equipment can be, it changes your perspective pretty quickly!
I really liked the drops->puddle->stream->lake->ocean metaphor for how even small amounts can make a difference. Even though few of us are in the position to donate $100,000, we can donate a little something. The football guys are onto something with those $10-$20 donations that add up to millions when many people participate!
Pooled donations have become a huge thing here. There’s a lovely woman who runs “Sweet Buffalo” on social media. She’s always shining a light on people and/or animals in need. It’s a great way to help a cause or someone in need,