Daily Archives: 11/15/2010

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Turn Your Family Holiday Into a Charitable One Great Charities for Families at the Holidays


By Joanne Fritz, About.com Guide

Oxfam America Unwrapped

Photo Courtesy of Oxfam

“Sheepish” about giving another useless gift? Oxfam America offers unexpected ways to surprise your loved ones and make a difference in the fight against poverty. Pick from more than 50 gifts: a sheep, a can of worms, planting 100 trees, a bicycle, or a goat. Here’s how it works: You choose the gift. Your loved one receives a card. Your gift helps someone in need.

Heifer International

Photo Courtesy of Heifer International
Self suffiency is this charity’s mantra. Honor loved ones on your gift list with a flock of chickens from Heifer International for $20 – a gift that creates sustainable benefits for a poor family in Guatemala or Haiti. A hive of honey bees for $30 would start a small business in Honduras. Or your whole family could go in on a dairy cow for $500 and that would mean a miracle for a woman in Africa left to care for an extended family of AIDS orphans.

Nothing But Nets

Photo Courtesy of Nothing But Nets
Malaria kills nearly one million children each year in Africa alone. But there is a simple solution…a bed net that has been coated with insecticide. People who use the nets decrease the rate of malaria dramatically. A bed net costs only about $10. Donate $10 or any multiple of $10 and provide a simple, effective tool to help save people from a terrible disease.

Soles4Souls

Photo Courtesy of Soles4Souls
We all take our shoes for granted. We have many pairs in our closets gathering dust. Soles4Shoes has a mission of helping people by providing them shoes in those areas of the world where there is no shoe store, much less the money to buy shoes. You can donate money to this charity, organize a shoe drive, or send your own shoes to it. Feed your soul with some soles!

World Wildlife Fund

World Wildlife FundPhoto Courtesy of WWF
For Global Warming and environmental issues we like the World Wildlife Fund. The website has a feature that is fun for kids and parents called “WildFinder” which maps the world’s animals. It is a searchable database of 26,000 species worldwide. You can search by place or species and learn about birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Donating is fun too with symbolic animal adoptions, a WWF Endangered Species-of-the-Month Club, and handcrafted items that support sustainable livelihoods.

Champs Kids

Photo Courtesy of Champs Kids
CHAMPS kids is an educational program to raise awareness of the global landmine crisis. Groups of kids raise funds and sponsor mine-detection dogs. They name their dog and actually make a difference in the lives of people all around the world. This project may require you to work with your child’s teacher, or scout troop, but it is a perfect way for kids to work together on something very specific.

NURU

Photo Courtesy of NURU

NURU means light in Kiswahili. Your family can help a poor family in Nuria, Kenya climb out of extreme poverty for $29 a month. Join the I Am Nuru Campaign and provide healthcare, clean water, and economic assistance to a family.

More About Giving
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Pop Quiz


Pop quiz: Which of the following will make up a majority of the deficit in the next decade?

A) Social Security
B) Medicare
C) The National Park Service
D) PBS
E) George Bush’s tax cuts

Give up? The answer is E — George Bush’s tax cuts.

But this week the co-chairs of the so-called “Deficit Commission” came out with their recommendations on how to fix the deficit. Do you know what their answer was? They said they wanted to cut A, B, C and D.

That’s right — the co-chairs of the Deficit Commission said that they wanted to cut Social Security, Medicare, the National Park Service, PBS and a whole lot more. But they’re OK with leaving George Bush’s tax cuts in place even though those tax cuts are projected to make up over half of the deficit over the next 10 years.

These guys are dead wrong and it’s time Congress knew just how wrong they are — sign the pledge calling on Congress to reject the Deficit Commission’s right-wing attack on Social Security.

Add your name now

Not only are they dead wrong on how to fix the deficit, but they’re probably the only two people in the country who think it’s a good idea to cut Social Security.

On Election Day, Democracy for America polled voters nationwide on some key issues, and when asked about Social Security only four percent said they supported making cuts to Social Security.

The vast majority of Americans — 85 percent — said they don’t want any cuts to Social Security. But they don’t get a vote in the Deficit Commission, so let’s make sure Congress hears what they have to say — sign our pledge today.

Tell Congress to reject the Deficit Commission’s right-wing attack on Social Security.

DFA members told us to stand strong for Social Security. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

Thank you for working to move America forward.

-Charles

Charles Chamberlain, Political Director
Democracy for America

Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power of more than one million members to fund the grassroots organizing and training that delivers progressive change on the issues that matter. Please Contribute Today and support our mission.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A Holiday “Thank You” from UCS

1 Comment

Union of Concerned Scientists
This holiday season, we want to thank you for your support of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

As we head into the New Year please know how much we appreciate that support. You are an integral part of the work that we do. leaves It is because of your partnership that UCS is ready to aggressively advocate and promote science-based solutions to our world’s most pressing problems.

Thank you for your support,
—the board and staff of the Union of Concerned Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit
working for a healthy environment and a safer world. 

2 Brattle Square Cambridge, MA 02138-3780
phone: 800-666-8276 | Fax: 617-864-9405 | ucsaction@ucsusa.org | www.ucsusa.org
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What we did together


Organizing for America
As the President said last week, “some election nights are more fun than others. Some are exhilarating; some are humbling.” 

Last Tuesday took place in a very difficult electoral environment. But I’m incredibly proud of the work we did this year. The plan we built and implemented together was unprecedented in an election like this — it helped make the difference for dozens of good candidates, and it laid the groundwork for the fights ahead.

We put together a page to illustrate the impact we had.

Take a look at the work we did together.

In six months, Democrats, on front porches and on the phones, reached out to more than 80 million voters across the country. Volunteers organized 36,994 events in their neighborhoods, building on an infrastructure that was already the most ambitious grassroots operation in politics.

For get-out-the-vote weekend, you filled more than 200,000 volunteer shifts at 2,839 GOTV staging locations.

As Linda in Henderson, Nevada, said, “The most gratifying experience was talking to people one-on-one and telling them what the President and Senator Reid are doing. [We] really engaged people — all different generations wanted to know how we were going to make our country better.”

On Election Day, some folks on the West Coast got up at 4:00 a.m. to make calls to voters on the East Coast, and some East Coasters stayed on the phones until midnight, when the last polls closed in Hawaii and Alaska.

On a tough night, there were a few key races where this work put us over the top — despite being outspent by corporate interests.

Take a look at the recap we put together — and share it with friends:

http://my.barackobama.com/WhatWeDidTogether

The work we did together was not just about winning a single election, but about building this movement. It’s about organizing our communities, talking to voters, and getting our message out.

It wouldn’t have been possible without you.

As we move forward, I’m optimistic about the fights ahead because of the energy and effort you gave this one. And, as we lay out the path forward, we’ll be relying heavily on your thoughts and your feedback.

I’m proud to fight alongside you.

— Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America