I Stream, You Stream, We All Stream For Icing!
December 12, 2009 
One thing's for sure, Liz O.: when I see yellow snowmen, I think "you're in" trouble.
- Related Wreckage: Whirled Peas
Also, I know it's a pain entering your info with each donation - believe me, I do! Unfortunately, almost no one accepts Paypal donations - and John and I are not comfortable collecting your money to give ourselves. So please, don't let the extra minute or two of data entry prevent you from giving. The sites are secure, the companies are reputable, and I'm personally trusting each one with my own info and credit card number.
Finally, many of the charities, including this one, have no immediate tracking ability for donations. We will contact each individual charity at the end of the day to try to get our numbers and will try to post them when we know.
Reader Comments (127)
This is a great charity, we've done the bakesale and attended one of their Taste of the Nation events. Tons of fun, tons of good food and all for a good cause.
Music National Service is a non-profit organization that is like PeaceCorps, but it brings music to needy and underprivelged children.
Pleace check it out at:
www.musicnationalservice.org
Jen, i LOVE the great american bakesale!
You should have just said "Urine" trouble. Teehee.
Hmmm. There are either a lot of dogs in that neighborhood or those snowmen were made by drunken frat boys with weak bladders.
Just sayin'.
Please consider adding the Humane Society of the United States!! They are a fantastic organization dedicated to the welfare of all animals.
Thank you!!
D'oh! Share Our Strength won't let you donate just a dollar :(
hmmmmmmmmm, says "Gift amount is invalid"
"And since we've no place to go... Yellow Snow! Yellow Snow! Yellow Snow!"
This is fun, sort of like two weeks' worth of Christmas mornings, waiting to see what's under the tree. (Though I do look forward to Cake Wrecks every day!) But yesterday, I had a pretty good time looking up people's suggestions on Charitynavigator.com. I learned a lot about some charities I've been meaning to look into, and found some others I'd not yet heard of. And it was nice reminder of how much we really have, even when times are tough. :)
For the sites that don't track how much Cake Wrecks donators have given, I wonder if the charities track how many have come to their site from Cake Wrecks? It would be great if you could post progress reports, at least for the charities who can track that info - seeing how much other Wreckerators have given is inspiring, and will I think lead to more contributions.
What a fantastic idea you guys have with this - you will truly make a difference for so many people this year, by providing inspiration and a vehicle for easy generosity!
Seriously - who in their right mind thought this was ok? They should just put little doggie prints next to the snowmen and go with the theme... :)
If I could suggest a few charities...I would have to say the ASPCA, the Humane Society of the United States, or Pilots N Paws. The ASPCA and HSUS are well known, but Pilots N Paws is less well known. It is a group where private pilots volunteer their planes and services to bring abandoned animals to loving forever homes. Their website can be found at http://www.pilotsnpaws.org/ and they could definitely use donations to offset the cost of transport.
Almost made it to halfway yesterday!
So, I'll see you this afternoon! I actually get to see the slide show this time.
There *is* cake... riiiiight?
Come on! Everyone knows you NEVER eat yellow snow!
Great charity! Unfortunately they don't allow you to donate just $1. The lowest you can go is $5. Might be a problem for some people.
Thanks for organizing this. It is a pretty amazing thing to be apart of.
I just went to the charity site today and tried to give, but it says my gift amount is not valid! Sorry, Share our Strength, I can't afford $25 or more...
Is anyone else having this problem?
The link you provided won't let you donate anything below $25.00
Maybe it connects to the wrong spot on their website.
...So, are these supposed to be Jamacian snowmen? (based on color scheme) What exactly is the green package they are holding in their hands?
"That was supposed to be snow peas, not pee snow!"
Hm, why'd the charity change? (Namely, is there a reason I *shouldn't* donate to the other one?)
Also, I forgot one great charity I didn't mention.
http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/coj/
Cup of Joe for a Joe sends a cup of coffee (like, real stuff!) to a solider in the Middle East, where comforts are few and it's probably been 6 months since they'd had anything to eat or drink that wasn't rehydrated.
Oh! And because I can't keep my head on straight today, I meant to also say: Cup of Joe for a Joe accepts PayPal. :D
Hey guys,
I had to tweak today's charity since Share our Strength doesn't take dollar donations. Bummer.
john
I'm on board...I only wish I could give more than a $1 a day.
Share our Strength got $5 from me, and St. Judes got $20. I don't mind donating twice.
Angel Flight (angelflight.org) coordinates free air transportation to people who need it so they can access health care. They've got a lot of people and organizations working together - pilots volunteer their time and pay for the planes and fuel themselves, and airports give them priority on the runways and waive landing fees.
Hrm... They let me donate 1 dollar, but i had to type in the 0 cents as well. (1.00)
(click "other" in the first box)
I know you already have a whole bunch of charity suggestions but I would like to recommend 4 paws 4 ability as one of them. They train dogs (both rescued and donated) to be helpers for both kids and adults. They are one of the few programs that will train dogs for children. They also accept both pay pal and network for good as sources for donations and will accept 1$ dontaions. Here is their donation page; http://www.4pawsforability.org/donation.html . I hope you will consider them. Thank you,
Kirstin
Is it just me, or can anyone else see the mutant hand coming from the side of the cake?
I haven't had my full fix of caffeine yet, so my eyes could be playing tricks.
St Jude's is a fantastic charity. I donate every year. They send updates and newsletters on the progress being made, it phenomenal.
You can create a fund raising page for Share Our Strength at http://www.firstgiving.com/6421 with no minimum donations!
I renominate Share Our Strength!
I would like to suggest the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. I work at a K-8 Catholic school in St. Paul, MN that has about 350 students. Within the last year 2 of our students were diagnosed with Lymphoma. The first little boy would have been in fourth grade this year. He was diagnosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma in May of this year. Unfortunately, he passed away in October. Around the time of his death, we found out that a 6th grade boy had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Fortunately, Hodgkin's is much more well known and manageable, so his prognosis is good and he is doing well. There are more forms of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (like Burkitt's) that are still more difficult to treat. More research needs to happen. Both Leukemia and Lymphoma are common among children. I hope you consider this society for your project.
One Laptop Per Child lets you give via Paypal! They don't really seem to have a tracking mechanism from what I can tell, but I am pretty sure they will let you give a dollar.
I regularly donate to the ASPCA, the Humane Society of the US, the National Anti-Vivisection Society, and just recently to Operation Migration.
There are so many organizations for humans, but animals need our help, too.
What a great idea to share, Jen!
I'm in for at least $2 per day in honor of my husband who is currently hospitalized and fighting for his life after a freak accident. I'd give more, but I'm spending $20 a day in expenses to be by his side.
Thank you Jen for giving me something to believe in during this nightmare in my life.
Come on wreckies! This is awesome!
Terri
word verify: 'recal' a government order taking all poo cakewrecks off the racks
If they wanted the snowmen to stand out from the white background with the use of yellow, they got their wish this holiday! Couldn't they pick another color, like blue (or poiple?) Or even just claimed there were 3 snowmen against a white backdrop, and sold a blank white sheetcake? Ugh!
Thanks for letting me get that out of my system! That said, St. Judes is a charity near and dear to me. What a legacy Danny Thomas has left for us, named for the patron saint of lost causes! Truthfully, any child sent there will be getting the best in care available to them-- and a least a modicum of hope. *wiping away tears*
I love what you're doing. I'm on board! ^_^
I am pastor of a church in Memphis, home of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. At my church is a 10-year-old who was diagnosed with a glioma (brain tumor) last December. Because of donations like yours, all of his treatments and medications are free -- and he is doing great! Thank you for your support!
I'm pretty sure that there are still Halloween decorations on the display window! I see pumpkins, creepy hands, and a candy corn.
St. Judes is a great charity and I think this is a great idea!
Wow, that's scary. What's up with the disco sprinkles around the suspicious snowmen? This would be a great gag gift cake.
Ok, donated to both. I just typed in the amount with cents (2.00) for strength.org, worked fine. Thanks so much for organizing this!
~anne
hi jen and john!
i love your website and it is great that you are encouraging people to give.
i work for a non-profit and i wanted to tell you that the reason most charities don't accept $1 donations is that it usually costs more to process the donation than that. usually a $5 or more donation would be better because the organization actually gets to keep some of it after the cot of processing the gift and reporting it.
As a survivor of childhood cancer who was received AMAZING treatment from St. Jude, I want to thank everyone who donates today!
As Frank Zappa warned, don't eat the yellow snow. I'm sure he'd extend that to yellow-icing snowmen, too.
I would like to point out that St. Jude's is a major reason that any hospital, anywhere knows how to approach treating children with terrible diseases like cancer. Just sayin'! Yay, St. Jude's!
Although it is commendable to get people to donate even $1, a lot of charities won't accept that small of a donation because the cost to simply process the donation is more than $1, so you are, in effect, costing the charity more than the dontation is worth. Those that do accept $1 donations are hoping that with the contact information, these donors will give more in the future.
Please consider giving $5, especially if you don't plan on giving to the charity again.
Great charities...both are wonderful. They both received $10 from us today.
I hope you can track the giving, it would be wonderful to see how great an effort we can do together. Maybe we can entice other popular bloggers to follow suit....are you reading this Perez?
I think To Write Love On Her Arms would be awesome. They're a non-profit dedicated to helping with suicide prevention and drug addiction, as well as many other things. They serve a great cause!
Unfortunately I'm too young to have a credit card and can't donate :(
Have you considered the Joyful Heart Foundation to donate to? It's a great charity!
I would like to second (or third) the suggestion that you donate to http://www.4pawsforability.org because I have seen first had the amazing things that therapy dogs can accomplish. My husband and I are considering getting such a dog for our family and after doing a ton of research I know 4 Paws is where we would go.
Whatever organizations you choose, this is such a great way to get people into the spirit of giving this holiday season. A round of applause for you!
I feel blessed that I'm in position to be able to donate to both charities, so they both got my support today. Don't know about $1, but Share was able to take a $10.00 donation (I took the advice of previous posters and typed in the full amount with the cent zeros)
I nominated the Orphan Foundation of America yesterday. Just thought I'd let you know that they do take donations from the web(http://orphan.org/index.php?id=9), through Paypal (which seems to be the preferred method) or credit card.
And they will take a $1 donation (Just tried it to be sure)
Thanks again for this brilliant idea.
John and Jen!
Thank you for doing this - Awesome! I didn't get through many of the suggestions last night - bless your hearts for reading and considering each submission. Like other readers, I decided to give $2.50 per day - that's only $35 total.
I have another suggestion to add to the list and I pray it will make the cut. My 18-year-old son graduated high school last May and decided to put off starting college for one year so that he could volunteer for a year. He chose a homeless ministry in Louisville, KY called HOPE - which is part of Jefferson Street Baptist Center. Louisville, KY has one of the highest per capita rates of homelessness in the nation (because there are many services and ministries available to the homeless there - and so many migrate to Louisville).
From their site: "Jefferson Street Baptist Center exists to serve and glorify God through a Christ-centered ministry that meets the physical, emotional, spiritual and educational needs of homeless and hurting people in the greater Louisville area." I'm sure that some of your readers would be uncomfortable with this charity because it is openly Christian - and I love that you encourage us to donate somewhere else on those days when we don't agree with your choice - just so we're giving.
Please consider helping the homeless in Louisville get back on their feet. My son is Caleb Butler. The website is http://hopeforlouisville.com/. If you click on the donate button and then click beside his name, it will make tracking the donations easier - but the money goes into the same pot and helps the ministry equally. Caleb doesn't make anything personally from anyone's donation. The other website is http://www.jeffersonstreet.org/
Thank you so much for considering this ministry!
Jill Butler
Project Tiger is a group that is trying to educate people in India so they won't kill tigers anymore. It is one of the only tiger charities that focuses on keeping tigers in the wild. Right now there is no way to reintroduce tigers from zoos into the wild because of all the poachers. So keeping the tigers that are already there is vital for their survival. Here's the website (open it in IE, as firefox messes it up): http://projecttiger.nic.in/introduction.htm
Watch out where the huskies go!
Related Bud Lite Commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWLhkuuD-Nk
I'd like to recommend that you add NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) to your donations list. Their website http://www.narha.org/ has a link where you can donate directly to them, or use their center search page to find a NARHA accredited center near you and make a donation that hits closer to home. I've been a volunteer at a local NARHA stable for almost 5 years, and it has been a very moving experience. Also, it's a great idea for those of you who would rather donate time than money, because NARHA centers are always looking for new volunteers (no horse experience necessary). Thanks!