We’ve endured Black Friday, snapped up deals on Cyber Monday, but today is Giving Tuesday, a day to give rather than get. In the year this site’s been online, the generosity of its readers has been an inspiration, so now it’s time to pay it forward. This year, Cutetropolis donates $100 among the following organizations:
- PetSmart Charities ($20) — Improving the quality of life for all companion animals;
- Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International ($20) — Dedicated to the conservation of gorillas and their habitats in Africa;
- American Civil Liberties Union ($20) — Maintaining civil liberties, the freedoms of association, press, religion, and speech;
- Southern Poverty Law Center ($20) — Dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and seeking justice for society’s most vulnerable;
- Creative Commons ($15) — Maintaining a legal framework for sharing knowledge and creativity to build a more equitable, accessible, and innovative world;
- WordPress Foundation ($5) — Providing education and outreach for the WordPress platform and open source development.
Begging dog, by Ron Henry Photography, licensed under CC BY 2.0
I would like to mention a charity I give to if I may,that has a valid need,(and without fat-cats lining their pockets with the funds).
Hopital Albert Schweitzer Haiti.
Today only the board will match any donation 1 for 1!
https://hashaiti.org/
Today is “Giving Tuesday”,and a number of charities are matching donations made $1 for $1!
Barnes & Noble does a book drive every year in its stores; each store chooses a local place (or sometimes two) to donate their books to and customers can purchase books to donate. I’ve always donated a few books every year since I worked for the company, but the last few years my family decided to cut back to one gift each and donate the rest of what we would have spent to charity, so I’ve upped my book budget and turned it into a bit of a game for myself. I pick a theme, and try to get as close to $100 as I can, without going over (after my employee discount and with tax). This year my theme is art, and if they have everything on my list (I checked stock last week so as long as some of them haven’t sold out I’m good) and if I did my math right, I’ll be at 99.40. 🙂 ($99.96 is the closest I’ve gotten, and I doubt I’ll beat that. Last year I went over by a dollar and change.)
This year my local store is giving their books to The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. I’m going to check stock again today and stop in the store tonight (I was there last night, too, to order some things, but I set aside the cash for my donation books and I didn’t have it with me).
I also have some toys I got cheap and have been hanging onto for a couple years. I was going to give them to my friend’s kids (now that her son is old enough for them) but they’re a bit displaced for the next several months and I don’t want to give them anything that takes up too much space, so I’m going to look for a Toys for Tots bin to drop them in. (The B&N near me used to have one in their vestibule but they stopped doing that a few years ago for some reason.)
Glad to see the ACLU and SPLC on your list, Mike. I have a feeling they’re gonna be busy the next few years.
Hi Allein, I think the ‘Toys for Tots’ website has a locator (at least they used to) where you enter your location and they list the drop boxes in your area.
I love shopping for them & do it every year – I get Hot Wheels & Matchbox toys all year long (they come out with new models every month or so) plus this year our local Kmart is closing, so I got some nifty toys and art supplies on clearance.
I’ll have to look. They had one at the body shop where I got my car fixed last year, but they aren’t open late enough that I could go after work, and I forgot to bring the toys when I went to pick up my car (which was right at the end of the day).
Hi Mike –
Chico and Poncho here.
We really like your choices! We gave money today to foster a David Sheldrick elephant. His name is Boromoko and he is an older boy orphan, which we like because we are also older boy orphans. It’s sort of a Christmas gift for our human butler, because she has been going on and on about wanting to foster an elephant. Sometimes we do things for her just to get her to stop the incessant talking. We are magnanimous like that.
🙂
We think the above photo blurred our faces to protect our identities because we are minors.
LOL!
You guys are too cute. Even if you are posting under an assumed name.
MUCH cuter! 😀
They’re in the Cuteness Protection Program.
Ha ha ha!!!
Hey, Chico and Poncho! I like your style, blurred or not. You are, indeed, very cute, and you have excellent taste in donations. I love the David Sheldrick folks and their work. Elephants are such amazing creatures. Lucky for you they’re so big, or I bet your human slaves would ring one home to pamper!
Yay! Thank you Mike, I think this allocation of donations is the perfect representation of Cutetropolis’ values.
I feel inspired!
You’re a good guy, NOMTOM–even if you’re not THAT Mike. 😉
Hey, how do we know THAT Mike is a good guy?
True story: When I first started commenting at Cute Overload, I just went by “Mike.” But there was another user named “Mike” who was being kind of a jerk to other users, so I started calling myself “Not That Mike The Other Mike” to disassociate myself. So to answer your question, “THAT Mike” wasn’t a good guy, but that was a decade ago, so perhaps he’s mellowed.
Ha!
What a great piece of CO/CT trivia!
I’m glad you told us that story. I did not read comments very regularly at CO, as opposed to here.
So wonderful to see how generous you are to such deserving organizations! Bravo!
Thank you, Mike! I appreciate everything you do for others (including the Cutetropolitans).
What a wonderful thing to do, Mike.
I was home not feeling well yesterday and made it Giving Monday at my house. ?
Thanks for doing this, Mike!!
Thank you, NTMTOM. As several others noted above, many groups are offering matching donations. EarthTrust has a matching grant program through dec for one-time donations, and a matching grant program for monthly donations up to 6 months. Like the ACLU and SPLC, conservation groups are likely to be very busy the next few years as well.
Thanks Mike! This is really wonderful – thank you for all of the information.
I don’t know if the rest of y’all listen to TED Talks, but this was the one that made the biggest impression on me this past weekend. http://www.npr.org/2013/07/05/181693499/do-we-have-the-wrong-idea-about-charity
And Mike? Thanks especially for the Cutropolis Guide to Goofy Gifts! It’s perfect! 🙂
Thank you, Mike. Some of these are favorites of mine too, and much-needed this year.