I Speak of Dreams

GiveList

Go here to learn about the GiveList

The GiveList is a resource of ways to support communities and causes this holiday season* that don’t necessarily require writing a check.  We all know it’s rough out there this year, but that also means that the needs of people and communities are also greater than every.  There are a lot of ways that a creative do-gooder can continue to help heal the world.

Follow the discussion on Twitter.

Bid on this Quilt!

Isn't this the most fabulous quilt?

I saw it chez Dr. Rob.  The quilt was created by Ramona Bates, who blogs at Suture for a Living.  It is offered in an online silent auction to benefit the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation.

The lobster featured on the center of the quilt is Zippy,  who travels around publicizing the foundation and raising money.

Bidding closes on  Monday December 15th at noon (CST)

How to bid.  Follow the bidding on Twitter

For you crafty types: How the quilt was created.  Progress notes.  Done!

Hey, San Mateo County Folks, Volunteer with Los Ayudantes

Los Ayudantes is a tutoring/mentoring program for newly arrived immigrant middle-school students who are learning English as a second language.

The program started as a partnership between St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Menlo Park, community volunteers, and the McKinley Institute of Technology (MIT)  a Redwood City middle school. Our mission is to provide these recent immigrant adolescents—one of the at-risk groups in our community—with the academic tools and support for long-term academic success and with the life skills for productive, satisfying futures. It is a well recognized fact that a solid command of the English language is essential to a rewarding life in this country.

We offer in-school tutoring and mentoring services and programs provided by a diverse network of community leaders, concerned citizens, and professionals some of whom are immigrants themselves as well as bilingual and bicultural.

I've been volunteering for two class periods on Tuesdays.  The first period we're in a social-studies classroom, and help kids with writing under the direction of the teacher. Second period we each meet with a small, stable group of kids and work on reading fluency, reading comprehension, and writing.  There's another program on Mondays at a different school, working on reading fluency.

I'm enjoying it tremendously.  Won't you join us?

Boosting Service Learning at Your School: The LEAGUE

This is an interesting concept:  you have a service-learning or philanthropy project at your school.  How can you boost student engagement and meet like-minded students elsewhere?

The folks behind the LEAGUE (yes, it is always capitalized) had the same question, and devised a platform to do just that:

Our mission.

The LEAGUE is a school and web-based system for service learning that builds character and empowers young people to "do good" in their community, the nation and the world.

Our vision.

Change the world by empowering young people everywhere to get in the game of giving thoughtfully of their time, treasure and talent to make themselves, their community and world a better place.

The LEAGUE provides lesson plans and a way of tracking student and class participation in service learning projects.  The fundamental unit is the classroom teacher, who becomes a LEAGUE coach for a particular project.  (I suppose another adult, such as a Scout leader, 4-H leader or the like could also be a LEAGUE coach.)

The LEAGUE'S board  and advisory commission look impressive. The LEAGUE is also on Facebook and Youtube.  It looks promising -- go check it out and get involved.

Lessons from Forge's Financial Shortfall

Forge is a program founded by Kjerstin Erickson to provide economic and social support for refugees in Africa.  The motto is "Refugees Revitalizing African Communities".

On October 17, 2008, Erickson announced: Forge Is In Trouble. They have failed to raise almost 25% of the budgeted amount.

On October 21, Erickson published the reasons why fundraising has been so dismal:

1. Forge changed its impact model, and with it lost an income stream.
2. Forge's activities don't quite fit many funders' guidelines
3. Forge predicted that the new website would be an excellent fundraising tool, but traffic to the website has been unsatisfactory
4. The economic downturn

The first three are errors are interlocking.  Essentially, Forge committed to a new model that also decreased fundraising capacity by 50%, and assumed the shortfall would be made up by grants and direct donation through the website.   It is possible that the Board of Directors didn't have the depth of experience to guide this decision properly.

Erickson's latest post details how Forge will address the crisis.

I wish them the best.

Kiva.org - What We Do

Link: Kiva.org - What We Do.

We let you loan to the working poor

Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can &quotsponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

Giving Suggestion #6: Combat Teen Alcohol Risks

You know I publish a regular feature on teens killed by alcohol poisoning, and regularly list the foundations established by parents of kids who have died of alcohol poisoning.  They are all doing good work -- you could support one of them this holiday season.

• Gordie Foundation  here's the link to the giving page.
• The Sam Spady Foundation  here's the link to the giving page
• B.R.A.D. (Be Responsible About Drinking) Foundation here's the link to the giving page

Article, "Death by Alcohol" on the change in youth culture contributing to these deaths.

Giving Suggestion #5: A Local Women's Shelter or Domestic Violence Prevention Programs

At BlogHer, Laurie Wright recalls the Thanksgiving day murder of Gail Pumphrey and her three children, David, 12, Meagan, 10, and Brandon 6, by their father.

If you memorialize Gail and her children, you could support a domestic violence prevention agency, either nationally or locally.

You could donate to Stop Family Violence, a national organization (donation page here)

You could donate to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (donation page here)

You could donate to the National Domestic Violence Hotline which is available 24/7 and has translators available.  (donation page here)

You could donate to the National Stalking Resource Center, a program of the National Center for the Victims of Crime. (donation page here)

Or you could select a program from the International Directory of Domestic Violence and Abuse programs and Agencies

Giving Suggestion #4: Boys and Girls Club, Local or National

If you live in a middle-income area, the greatness of Boys and Girls Clubs might be flying below your radar.

In every community, boys and girls are left to find their own recreation and companionship in the streets. An increasing number of children are at home with no adult care or supervision. Young people need to know that someone cares about them.

Boys & Girls Clubs offer that and more. Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence.

Boys & Girls Clubs are a safe place to learn and grow – all while having fun. They are truly The Positive Place For Kids.

Here's the page to donate to the national organization.  Here's the page to find a club in your city or neighborhood.

Giving Suggestion #3: Light Up the World Foundation

As I was driving today, I was listening to a BBC world news program about solar technology and village lighting in Indonesia, where installed solar panels were not performing as expected due to lack of maintenance.  That got me to thinking: put the solar/human powered human lighting into the hands of the individuals or families.

So I went looking for projects that supply same to developing countries, specifically LED and/or solar powered, and included ongoing maintenance.

I remembered Jim Wilten's Caravan of Light project from a number of years ago, and that lead me to Light Up the World Foundation, which uses renewable energy and solid-state lighting

to bring affordable, safe, healthy, efficient, and environmentally responsible illumination to people who do not have access to power for adequate lighting.  LUTW remains the world’s leader in this endeavour: globally active and setting standards in the field.

Through generous support from interested individuals, corporations, host country organizations, international foundations and industrial partners, LUTW has lit up more than 14,000 homes in 42 different countries throughout the developing world from Afghanistan to Zambia.

Donation page here.