Whether you are looking for good karma, to help your fellow man, or whatever your motivation may be, here are four ways and lots of good charitable causes to consider:
– One great way to make tax-deductible charitable donations (CharityNavigator.org)
– Three worthy individuals in need of direct help (David, Rhonda, and Peggy)
– 10 good causes you can help for free, for 1-2 min. of your time (GreaterGood.com)
– A fun, free way to learn and feed the hungry at the same time (FreeRice.com)
If you're looking to make a tax-deductible donation before this year officially ends, or in the future, CharityNavigator.org is a great way to vet the many different options and make a more informed decision.
If you want to help worthy individuals with disabilities who I know are legit, I list these three in order of urgency:
David Jayne was diagnosed with ALS about 30 years ago. He is a very smart, very accomplished man who has had quite a journey, and he is raising money on Kickstarter.com to help get his autobiography written. At the time of this writing, he already has pledges for more than $23,000 in a short timeframe – but the kicker is that he needs the project funded completely ($30,000) by late evening, January 7, 2015 or he GETS NOTHING, and will likely end up in some type of facility without the ability to finish what I believe could be a book that could cover many of his future expenses (and would be worth reading). There's a good video and more info here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/625225387/the-unexpected-journey
Rhonda Reese is a personal friend who became a quadriplegic in 1991, and I met shortly after my injury in 1997. For more than 20 years, her mom, Jackie, was her primary caregiver in a small apartment they shared, but two years ago, Rhonda lost both her parents and is now trying to avoid going to a nursing home at the age of 48. We had a successful bowl-a-thon fundraiser for her last year, and we are planning to make it an annual event to help keep her out of a nursing home (we are currently trying to decide on the location and date of the next bowl-a-thon, but it should be in March 2015). If you want to help Rhonda, you could wait for the bowl-a-thon, or you could donate on her YouCaring.com page, which has more info here:
http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/help-for-rhonda/37633
Peggy Overbey is also a personal friend, and she was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (a form of muscular dystrophy) nearly 3 decades ago. She has lost many physical abilities in that timeframe, and would love to regain some of them with a fancy robotic arm. She knows the price tag is high, and she started a loom knitting business to try to raise funds, yet could still use help. Here is her link for more information and/or to donate:
http://www.gofundme.com/ecjw04
And anyone with Internet access can help 10 good causes for just 1-2 minutes of your time. To make a really significant impact you can visit GreaterGood.com daily, and click to make a sponsor paid donation on 10 different subpages. The Greater Good family of websites has tabs/links to:
TheVeteransSite.com – help provide meals for homeless Veterans with your daily click.
TheAutismSite.com – help fund therapy for children with autism with your daily click.
TheHungerSite.com – help fight hunger with your daily click.
TheBreastCancerSite.com – click daily to help fund free mammograms.
TheDiabetesSite.com – click daily to support the fight against diabetes.
TheLiteracySite.com – click daily to help give free books for children in need.
TheAnimalRescueSite.com – click daily to help give bowls of food for rescued animals.
TheRainforestSite.com – help protect and preserve habitat with your click.
TheAlzheimersSite.com – help support the fight against Alzheimer's with your click.
The above nine links will take you to separate tabs on the GreaterGood.com website. The Greater Good tab/link on the page has a special project to fund with your click. That's 10 different causes you can help in less than one minute (if you're fast:) daily.
FreeRice.com – A fantastic way to have some FUN, LEARN, and FEED THE HUNGRY! The default "game" is multiple choice English vocabulary words, but they also have many other grade school subjects, and you can even choose the level of difficulty in certain categories. And for each correct answer, sponsors will donate 10 grains of rice to the World Food Programme.
Thank you for your consideration in helping any of these or other good causes.
May God bless us all! On a related note, if you're interested in reading the Bible or listening to audio versions, BibleGateway.com has free reading plans (some of which start January 1 and are spread out over the year) which make reading it convenient.
Bill Miller :-)
C1-2 Quadriplegic with a 255 High Bowling Game
Co-founder of Manufacturing Genuine Thrills Inc. d/b/a MGT
Business website: http://www.ikanbowler.com
Personal website: http://www.lookmomnohands.net
– One great way to make tax-deductible charitable donations (CharityNavigator.org)
– Three worthy individuals in need of direct help (David, Rhonda, and Peggy)
– 10 good causes you can help for free, for 1-2 min. of your time (GreaterGood.com)
– A fun, free way to learn and feed the hungry at the same time (FreeRice.com)
If you're looking to make a tax-deductible donation before this year officially ends, or in the future, CharityNavigator.org is a great way to vet the many different options and make a more informed decision.
If you want to help worthy individuals with disabilities who I know are legit, I list these three in order of urgency:
David Jayne was diagnosed with ALS about 30 years ago. He is a very smart, very accomplished man who has had quite a journey, and he is raising money on Kickstarter.com to help get his autobiography written. At the time of this writing, he already has pledges for more than $23,000 in a short timeframe – but the kicker is that he needs the project funded completely ($30,000) by late evening, January 7, 2015 or he GETS NOTHING, and will likely end up in some type of facility without the ability to finish what I believe could be a book that could cover many of his future expenses (and would be worth reading). There's a good video and more info here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/625225387/the-unexpected-journey
Rhonda Reese is a personal friend who became a quadriplegic in 1991, and I met shortly after my injury in 1997. For more than 20 years, her mom, Jackie, was her primary caregiver in a small apartment they shared, but two years ago, Rhonda lost both her parents and is now trying to avoid going to a nursing home at the age of 48. We had a successful bowl-a-thon fundraiser for her last year, and we are planning to make it an annual event to help keep her out of a nursing home (we are currently trying to decide on the location and date of the next bowl-a-thon, but it should be in March 2015). If you want to help Rhonda, you could wait for the bowl-a-thon, or you could donate on her YouCaring.com page, which has more info here:
http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/help-for-rhonda/37633
Peggy Overbey is also a personal friend, and she was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (a form of muscular dystrophy) nearly 3 decades ago. She has lost many physical abilities in that timeframe, and would love to regain some of them with a fancy robotic arm. She knows the price tag is high, and she started a loom knitting business to try to raise funds, yet could still use help. Here is her link for more information and/or to donate:
http://www.gofundme.com/ecjw04
And anyone with Internet access can help 10 good causes for just 1-2 minutes of your time. To make a really significant impact you can visit GreaterGood.com daily, and click to make a sponsor paid donation on 10 different subpages. The Greater Good family of websites has tabs/links to:
TheVeteransSite.com – help provide meals for homeless Veterans with your daily click.
TheAutismSite.com – help fund therapy for children with autism with your daily click.
TheHungerSite.com – help fight hunger with your daily click.
TheBreastCancerSite.com – click daily to help fund free mammograms.
TheDiabetesSite.com – click daily to support the fight against diabetes.
TheLiteracySite.com – click daily to help give free books for children in need.
TheAnimalRescueSite.com – click daily to help give bowls of food for rescued animals.
TheRainforestSite.com – help protect and preserve habitat with your click.
TheAlzheimersSite.com – help support the fight against Alzheimer's with your click.
The above nine links will take you to separate tabs on the GreaterGood.com website. The Greater Good tab/link on the page has a special project to fund with your click. That's 10 different causes you can help in less than one minute (if you're fast:) daily.
FreeRice.com – A fantastic way to have some FUN, LEARN, and FEED THE HUNGRY! The default "game" is multiple choice English vocabulary words, but they also have many other grade school subjects, and you can even choose the level of difficulty in certain categories. And for each correct answer, sponsors will donate 10 grains of rice to the World Food Programme.
Thank you for your consideration in helping any of these or other good causes.
May God bless us all! On a related note, if you're interested in reading the Bible or listening to audio versions, BibleGateway.com has free reading plans (some of which start January 1 and are spread out over the year) which make reading it convenient.
Bill Miller :-)
C1-2 Quadriplegic with a 255 High Bowling Game
Co-founder of Manufacturing Genuine Thrills Inc. d/b/a MGT
Business website: http://www.ikanbowler.com
Personal website: http://www.lookmomnohands.net
