Joy

[thefourthvine]

It's More Joy Day! And you all bring me more joy than I could possibly describe or repay; I'm like a giant joy sponge in fandom, really. Except, wow - "giant joy sponge" sounds like a seriously unfortunate euphemism from an even worse story ("His lover caressed his pendulous spheroids, and his giant joy sponge swelled impossibly"), and I apologize for that, but you get my point. I hope.

Anyway. Today, I'd like to borrow an idea from fan_eunice and give to the causes that bring you joy, or that you think are important. I'll donate ten dollars to the first fifteen charities someone links to in the comments. And if we hit that number, feel free to keep on commenting with links and descriptions; I'd really love to know what causes all of you support. (And it will be useful for, um, later.)

Comments

[marag.livejournal.com]

Ooooh! I can't afford to donate to anything right now, so it would bring me great joy if you would donate to Second Harvest. I'm *all* about food for people who are hungry.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you!

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

MSF (http://www.msf.org/). I'm not very original; it's always MSF for me...

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you!

[twistedchick]

American Friends Service Committee, which does not take political sides while providing humanitarian aid.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you!

(Note for anyone else using this list, or if I wrap around again in 2008: minimum online donation to AFSC is $15.00.)

[nestra.livejournal.com]

I'm not very original either. ACORN Katrina (http://acorn.org/?9703), for a city that I love.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you!

[utterfrivolity.livejournal.com]

My favorite charity of all time. Not only can you choose a school based on poverty level and/or geography, but you get to pick your project!

http://www.donorschoose.org/homepage/main.html

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you! You helped fund a project to buy accelerometers for physics students.

[birdsflying]

River Kids - http://www.riverkidsproject.org/

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you!

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

The National MS Society (http://www.nationalmssociety.org).

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you!

[gwynevere1.livejournal.com]

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (http://www.broadwaycares.org/)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you!

[winter-elf.livejournal.com]

http://www.worldwildlife.org/

I love animals, so almost any animal organization gets my support. This one more than others since it was endorsed by Steve Irwin, and I respected his love for animals.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of animals, too. Donated, and thank you!

[sprat.livejournal.com]

If you don't mind donating to a small, non-local kind of cause, Triage Emergency Services (http://www.triage.bc.ca/index.html) is doing good work with a really difficult-to-serve population. They're a shelter and housing support agency for people with mental health issues in Vancouver's Downtown East Side.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Um, it won't let me donate - the donate link on their page wraps back to the how you can help page. Would you like to pick another charity?

[karitawyr.livejournal.com]

Alzheimer's Association (http://www.alz.org/index.asp)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you!

[amberlynne.livejournal.com]

Camp GLOW (http://www.active.com/donate/campglow)!

Camp GLOW Bulgaria was founded in June, 2000. This week-long camp experience is held each summer in Veliko Turnovo. The camp is conducted with the goals of fostering leadership, teamwork, self-esteem, and expanding knowledge of contemporary issues facing young women. Young Bulgarian women ages 14-18 from all communities, interested in increasing their confidence and self-awareness, and in building cross-cultural bridges, are invited to apply.

:)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you! (Also, wow - interesting choice of charity. Awesome!)

[jane-elliot.livejournal.com]

http://www.ywcahbg.org/

YWCA of Greater Harrisburg. Domestic violence shelter, homeless shelter, rape crisis center, and low-income childcare.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you! (Also, wow. I don't think I've ever seen a YWCA in person - out here, we only seem to have YMCAs.)

[copernica3.livejournal.com]

Um, http://www.sanctuaryforfamilies.org/?

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. It's not letting me donate right now - I get an error message. Would you like to pick another charity, or would you rather I wait and try again later?

[laura47.livejournal.com]

www.ewb-usa.org/

Engineers Without Borders

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Donated, and thank you! You supported a water supply project in Cambodia.

(Note for me, for if I wrap around this list in 2008: minimum donation is $25.)

[adina-atl.livejournal.com]

http://www.clothesthatwork.org/

Provides "working" wardrobes for people--mostly women--entering or re-entering the workforce. You can't get the job without the clothes, you can't afford the clothes without the job.... Provides both the clothes and the clothing advice.

[aerye.livejournal.com]

Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer (http://www.mautnerproject.org/home/)

[miz-nichola.livejournal.com]

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/

Not original, put a cause that is, of course, close to my heart. Their funds make it possible for many of my friends to practice safe sex each month, and for a couple of them to exercise their right to choose when they want to become parents.

[neonnurse.livejournal.com]

Food banks in your town. It's not just for the holidays anymore.... :/

Which reminds me, I need to put that on my to-do list. For our personal emergency preparedness, I buy large bags (20 pounds or so) of flour, beans and rice, wrap them in plastic and put them in the freezer. After a year (theoretically--in my case, 2+) I donate them to the food bank and get new ones. So it's time to get new ones, and maybe a spare to just go straight to the food people. They re-bag bulk items like that, and they told me last time no one ever thinks to give them flour and sugar and stuff!

[hyperfocused.livejournal.com]

The Center fror Community Change (http://www.communitychange.org/who-we-are/), where my sister works, a terrific grassroots poverty organization

[vass]

"giant joy sponge" makes me think more of bad female ejaculation stories, but even so I don't know how you can say something that hilarious then claim you soak up more joy than you give.

This one's local to me, so I'm not so much recommending it to people in the States as saying that supporting your local equivalent is good: the Lort Smith Animal Hospital. They're a shelter and a hospital. They're really committed to finding the *right* home for the animals at their shelter. On the hospital side of things, they charge a discount rate for people with low incomes - for regular veterinary treatment, not only emergency care. They help native wildlife too, and liaise with the people who rehabilitate them - their exotics vet is really good. Also they have a visit programme, taking the friendliest, best-behaved dogs they have around to nursing homes, to give spend time with the residents.

Another one along the same lines: the Cat Protection Society is where I got Roland. They have this huge outdoor complex, with toys and climbing structures and litterboxes and bedding, where the adult cats live; and they keep living there until they get adopted, however long that takes. One of the cats I met there had been there for three years. Roland had been there a month. And it's big enough that it's not overcrowded, and it's, OK, it'd be better if it just wasn't needed, but as shelters go it's pretty nice, and of course they include spaying/neutering, microchipping, and vaccination in the adoption fee, which reduces the number of stray and lost and feral cats in the future. Again: near to you there is probably an organisation with the same goal of making life better for pets. /soapbox

[omendreamer.livejournal.com]

http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm It's a developmental disease that's on the rise without any known cause that several people in my family (if you include me and my grandpa, who have the related disorder Asperger Syndrome) have. It provides aid and advice to the recently diagnosed and their families while providing a supportive network of the affected.

[macey-muse.livejournal.com]

A small one - our local children's hospice, Butterwick Hospice (http://www.butterwick.org.uk/). It looks after terminally ill kids, and helps their families cope, afterwards. It's in England, so it's probably not donatable-to, but, it's my cause ^.^

[http://users.livejournal.com/_minxy_/]

First Book (http://www.firstbook.org/site/c.lwKYJ8NVJvF/b.1043569/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp?c=lwKYJ8NVJvF&b=1043569&en=9qIPIVPrG8JHKOOrH8KMJTNyHkJVJ9PDKcKNI0PEIjJQK0OIJnI3H), provides inner city kindergarteners with books to encourage literacy. A small amount of money goes a long, long way.

[elizabeth perry (from livejournal.com)]

Planned Parenthood (http://www.plannedparenthood.org).

ACLU (http://www.aclu.org).

Emma Willard School (http://www.emmawillard.org/).

Human Rights Campaign (http://www.hrc.org/).

I think my inner liberal is showing.