Catchin' the Spirit
December 11, 2009 I've jokingly told my friends and family that I'm boycotting Christmas this year, and I bet a lot of you can relate: too much stress, too little time to sit back and remember what it was that you used to love about this time of year, and too many annoying advertisers screeching that you're a bad parent or friend or loved one if you don't BUY STUFF - and lots of it.
But here's the thing: buying the usual run of candles and foot massagers and, yes, even outrageously funny gift books [wink wink] for my loved ones doesn't get me in the holiday spirit. Frankly, most of these gifts don't get them in the spirit, either.
"Gee, you shouldn't have. No, seriously."I found inspiration in the form of Wreckie Collette Yates (no relation) and the Charity Cake-Wreck-a-thon she and some friends recently put together in Brighton. See, they asked friends and community members to bring in horrendously decorated baked goods (and boy, were there some doozies) which they sold at a local train station. In one afternoon they managed to raise 450 pounds for two cancer-fighting charities.
(From the left, that's Rachel, Collette, & Helen)Which got us thinking: If 3 gals can use Cake Wrecks as a springboard to organize something that cool for charity, why can't we? And since Wreckies are some of the most creative, giving, and nattily dressed folks we know....
(You continue to rock, Mary Beth.)So here's the deal: instead of buying gifts or trees or decorations this year, John and I are going to donate a minimum of $200 to a different charity or worthy cause, every day, for the next two weeks.
Which ones?
Well, that's where you come in.
See, we have a few organizations in mind, but certainly not 14. So, I'm asking for your recommendations.What are you passionate about? Where do you volunteer your time, talents, and money? Who do you know that needs help? Tell me in the comments (not e-mail!), so that we all can read and learn and maybe even give a little together.
Oh, and if you're worrying that CW is going to turn into a charity-pushing propaganda site for the next few weeks: don't. I'll just be adding a footnote to each day's post giving you the name of the organization, a one-sentence summary, and a link if you want to learn more.
Now, John and I will be choosing each day's charity based on our own individual passions - which might not match up exactly with your own - but even so I'm going to issue you a little challenge. Ready? Here 'tis:
If you each give one dollar - just one solitary smackeroo - together we can raise over $80,000 each day. BAM. Just like that. Imagine that 14 times over, all for worthy causes. Imagine the number of lives that could impact. Imagine, if you will...the bragging rights.
Yeah, you heard me. When you get involved in something that awesome, you get major bragging rights.
Ok. So. You pumped? You with me? You...ready for this post to be over? Heh, I hear ya.
Today's charity is Charity: Water. These guys use 100% of all donations to drill wells and provide clean drinking water to developing nations. Believe it or not, 1 out of 8 people on the planet lack this basic life-need, and every $5,000 builds a well that serves over 250 people.
Go here to donate your $1. That's the CW campaign page, where you can watch our progress, leave notes, and learn more. (Watch the video: it'll make you do a happy dance.) I've set us an easy goal - just $20K, or 4 wells - so I can't wait to see how far above and beyond that you guys are going to get us.
It's just a dollar, guys. C'mon. Let's do this together.
Note: PayPal *is* an option to donate, if you click here and hit the red donate button. A few caveats, though: PayPal takes $.30 of your dollar in fees, and your donation can't be tracked as part of the CW campaign that way. However, the point here is to give, so if you're only comfortable using PayPal, then please do so!
Reader Comments (1529)
Hi Jen and John!
As a proud type 1 diabetic with a major sweet tooth (cruel irony!) I would suggest donating to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). I'm a big fan of CW, so I know you two appreciate all things ironic-- what's more ironic than a website dedicated to sweetly terrible disasters donating money for diabetes research? I'll post the link below. Great idea for the holidays, and great site!
Claire
http://www.jdrf.org/
What a wonderful, wonderful thing to y'all to do!! I work for the Houston Food Bank and share an office with three others. We are all avid addicts of Cake Wrecks, giggling - and often laughing hysterically - over the site daily, sharing photos with one another and finding the wreckiest cakes we can, come birthday time!
I think it would be absolutely appropriate for y'all to choose a Food Bank or two to give to...not necessarily Houston (hint, hint), but whoever is in your area. If you should decide to look into HFB, you will find that it's a great organization, doing amazing work on an enormous scale. We distributed 46 million pounds last year plus an additional 20 million in disaster relief, thanks to Hurricane Ike. Our goal is to increase distribution to 120,000,000 pounds annually by 2018.
Regardless of which organizations you choose, just want to say "thanks" on behalf of those of us in the non-profit community for your efforts, not only in fundraising for us, but also in keeping us entertained!!!
1) Speak Out Against Domestic Violence; 2) American Diabetes Association; 3) Ronald McDonald House; 4) St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; 5) ASPCA. Wow...you are starting something wonderful!
FANTASTIC idea!
Even I can afford a $1!
I usually do not post comments, but I think this is a FABULOUS idea. And it shows a great generosity of spirit.
Some ideas for charities:
The Central Asia Institute (www.ikat.org). Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Tea) builds schools for girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan, to 1) create goodwill towards the US 2) increase literacy where it is almost non-existent 3) train people in first aid to improve life expectancies.
Big Brothers, Big Sisters (www.bigbrothersbigsisters.org). This organization matches up children at risk with adults who can act as mentors, friends, cheerleaders, etc. Kids who go through this program are more likely to stay in school and stay away from drugs and other bad influences.
This is an awesome idea! Camp Smile A Mile is an organization in Alabama that has year-round programs for children and young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer and their families. I have had the amazing opportunity to volunteer as a counselor at their summer camps for several summers and the kids and their families are indescrible. Camp is a magical place for these families where they can be normal kids for a weekend or a week at no charge for the families. Their website has a lot more information and also how to donate on it.
www.campsam.org
I nominate Alley Cat Rescue for the next charity. This organization works hard not only in helping stray animals find good homes, but also in spay/neuter programs to help control the feral population.
http://www.saveacat.org
http://alleycatrescue.blogspot.com
As this time of year is supposed to be about people and animals alike, I'd like to suggest that for one day your donations go towards the creatures that roam the Earth on our side. I'm a big fan of those kind people who work at animal shelters and rescue homes, so maybe something like that would be suitable.
Cheers, and merry holidays from icy, snowy Finland!
Thank you for the wonderful charity idea. I'm in. $1.00 each day for 14 great charities. It could bring a smile to any of your cakes. I volunteer for Discovery Place in Burns TN, a spiritual retreat for men who want to recover from alcoholism. We don't charge much compared to treatment centers, but still need more money in our financial aid fund so that more men and their families will be able to live in the joy of sobriety. Please consider Discovery Place of one of the charities. www.discoveryplace.info
My name is Beth and I live in St. Paul, MN. I'm going to nominate the group I volunteer for, A Rotta Love Plus. http://www.arottalove.org. We rescue and rehome rottweilers and pit bulls. We work to raise awareness of these often stereotyped breeds. We also have a great education program to teach kids about dog safety, we're involved in trying to pass a law here in MN that would create a foster system for the pets of women who have had to move into shelters to avoid abuse, and we campaign against breed-specific legislation around the country. Currently we are working with the Missouri Humane Society to help them rehabilitate and rehome some of the 500+ dogs that were resecued from neglect and fighting situations in the biggest raid in U.S. history in MO, OK, and a couple other states.
So that's my plug! Thanks for listening, and thanks for all you do Oh Great Wreckbloggers!
One good organization you might want to look at is called "Community Servings" located in Boston, MA. They serve nutritious, tailored meals every day to clients in the Greater Boston area. Their clients are those too sick to feed themselves due to illnesses like HIV/AIDS and cancer. They'll also feed any dependents and caregivers of their clients, to help ease the burden on the whole family.
I work in their kitchens all the time to help prepare the meals, and not only are the people there truly kind, generous folks, but they really do make delicious food! (And yes they do send cake, all the time.)
This may be an appropriate one since it involves food and feeding people. :)
By the way, I think it's an AWESOME idea for everyone to donate $1 a day to a different charity each day! I just donated my first $1. I think it went through but when it asked me to register (and I did) to track the donations, I got a message saying the process had been aborted. :-(
Thanks for doing this - what a great way to celebrate the season! Volunteer Fairfax is a nonprofit in Northern Virginia that works with over 900 nonprofits to recruit and retain volunteers, increasing organizational capacity and ensuring volunteers have a great experience. We're currently running on a tight budget and cannot afford to be fully staffed, so 10 of us are running Volunteer Fairfax's 26 programs. The newest is a family volunteering initiative called Give Together that will debut on January 18, 2010. A great many of us are CakeWrecks fans :) If you can lend us your support, we would be so thankful!!
Your post has only been up for about half an hour and already an additional $400 has been raised!
I hope this trend continues!
Perfect. Such a beautiful idea! I'll be donating at least a dollar per charity for sure!
My bid for a charity that really needs some help?
DeafHope. (website www.deaf-hope.org) DeafHope is an agency that serves deaf women and their children who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. They provide support and legal advocacy to women who would otherwise have to navigate a confusing legal system that doesn't speak their language and is often not accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
DeafHope was founded and is run by deaf men and women who saw a need in the deaf community and are fighting to keep their services available.
Located in Northern California, DeafHope has been suffering from budget cuts that have drastically reduced the state's ability to support domestic violence agencies. They need help.
Everything I just wrote isn't a rehearsed pitch or a press release or anything of the sort. I'm passionate about DeafHope. Why? My mother is one of the co-founders. She's involved and is now a legal advocate because her best friend and her best friend's mother were stabbed to death by an abuser.
Everyone knows that domestic violence is a serious issue, but imagine trying to get a restraining order, or figure out court dates, or trying to get you and your child into a safe place, a shelter, when no one speaks your language. Many women who are stressed out and scared end up returning to their abuser even if they don't want to because at least the abuser speaks sign language.
DeafHope is making powerful strides in the community. Help them eradicate domestic violence.
I would recommend the Invisible Children organization. I'm super involved in work for them at my college, and they're an amazing team. They're currently working towards ending Africa's longest running war, that has been going on for over 20 years in Northern Uganda. Joseph Kony the man who is behind the kidnapping and brutalizing of over 100,000 children (and using them as soldiers) , and the displacement of over 1.5 million people.
They are involved in this conflict politically (calling on Obama and his administration to help the ICC and UN address this conflict), and the three boys (yes, boys, they graduated high school and bought plane tickets to Uganda when they started this in 2002) have spoken to Kony and his right hand men personally.
IC also works to fundraise for schools in Northern Uganda that will be educating Africa's next leaders. The Schools for Schools program donates millions for schools to build clean water wells, libraries, sciene labs, or to pay tuition for those kids who cannot afford it. They do amazing work!
Check out www.invisiblechildren.com for more info!
Equality Now is one of my favorite charities.
Equality Now works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world through the mobilization of public pressure.
http://www.equalitynow.org/english/index.html
I also support St. Jude's and the American Cancer Society.
I wanted to suggest a charity. It is called GEMS. It helps teenage prostitutes in New York get their lives together and out of the underage sex industry.
http://www.gems-girls.org/
i nominate Clown Noses 4 Cancer (CN4C). we are a new non-profit that seeks to ease the stress on cancer patients and their families through comedy. we have silly contests and fundraisers, put together "shoeboxes of smiles" (full of funny movies, games, jokes, and puzzles), and comedy shows to raise money and awareness. :o)
http://clownnoses4cancer.wordpress.com/
and because we're all about the funny, i'm TOTALLY going to try to organize a wrecktastic bake sale... what an ridiculously awesome idea - and perfect for us!
karen
This isn't really charity, but it is a non-profit organization.
you should donate to St.Mary's Home for Disabled Children in Norfolk, Virginia..it is an amazing place. It is a long term pediatric care facility for children 0-21 yrs.old. The kids that live there are severe to profoundly mentally retarded due to congenital problems, abuse or accident. They are a.m.a.z.i.n.g..the kids and the staff! I used to work in their after school program...everyone is so dedicated to helping the kids there. They do their best to really help the kids reach their greatest potential...that is why I love it. The kids don't just sit in a bed/a wheelchair all day...they go to school, do physical therapy, have planned outings and playtimes...
they actually have a blog..you can visit them here http://www.saintmaryshome.blogspot.com/
Great campaign, Jen!
I personally love Southern Animal Rescue Association (SARA), a no-kill animal shelter in Seguin, TX. It's over a hundred acres and they allow the dogs to roam "free" while still giving them quality care and happy lives. The cats have a large cat house. They also rescue farm factory animals. They never euthanize unless the animal is having severe quality of life issues. It is a small operation that houses over 800 animals, run primarily by one extremely hardworking couple and volunteers.
http://www.sarasanctuary.org
I would love for you to consider donating money to the local charity I work for, Foothills Alliance Sexual Assault Center in Anderson, SC. They give free counseling to rape victims...including children. (Most of our clients are children) We also have a Child Advocacy Center that teaches parents how to protect their children from sexual assault and to be better parents. I was once a client (date rape) and am now a proud worker there. We really need money because due to the economy so many grants have been cut; around 50,000 dollars is gone now. http://www.foothillsalliance.org/
If you don't give to Foothills, then please consider RAINN (Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network). Many of our grants come from RAINN supposed sources. http://www.rainn.org/
What a FANtastic idea! I'd like to recommend World Vision or Harvest of Hope/Partners International.ep
What an awesome idea, Jen! I'd like to suggest the amazing "Donor's Choose" (donorschoose.org) as a potential charity. Teachers around the country post projects they're trying to fund, and you (the donor) can pick which ones you want to support. You can pick schools in your area, high poverty schools, teachers trying to fund math projects, all sort of things. Or you can just donate an amount of money and the folks who run the charity will distribute it to the most urgent projects, whichever you like.
Best of all, once a project you've supported is funded, you get letters from the teacher and pictures of the kids using the supplies you've helped buy! Those pictures make my day every dang time, I'm not joking.
Habitat for Humanity!
Hey Jen and John! What a marvelous idea you have come up with! As the wife to a US Navy Sailor a benefit that is allowed us, and any other service member in need, is the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. This is straight from their website:
The mission of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society is to provide, in partnership with the Navy and Marine Corps, financial, educational, and other assistance to members of the Naval Services of the United States, eligible family members, and survivors when in need; and to receive and manage funds to administer these programs.
Everyone hears about sending care packages, and they are a great thing to send, but what about those service members and their families who are at home and in need? NMCRS is a huge help to those here on base. If there is an unexpected expense they are here to help. I think they would be a great charity to include in your 14 days of giving!
~Tiffany
All my spare cash goes toward Riverkids, which fights child trafficking by providing schooling, shelter and healthcare to families in the slums of Cambodia. The kids get an education and work skills and their families don't have to sell them to pay for things like food and clothing. It's just a little organization, so a donation like the one CakeWrecks would make would mean a whole lot. (Click the Donate link to see what I mean!)
http://www.riverkidsproject.org/
-Sarah
I volunteer with the http://www.caninecorps.org" rel="nofollow">Paw Prints Dog Sanctuary & Canine Corps. In addition to caring for senior and handicapped dogs from various shelters in the area, they give a temporary home to dogs owned by deployed military. There is absolutely no cost to any of the military members, all food and vet costs covered through donations.
http://www.stampedeofdreams.org/
I nominate Stampede of Dreams. It's a therapeutic riding program for children. It's still fairly new and they could certainly use all the help they can get. Their work is beautiful and amazing and it gives to these kids on so many levels. Please check out their website above, and mission statement posted below.
Mission Statement:
For the purpose of sharing the love for horses and a concern for people, to improve the bodies, minds and spirit of children and adults with disabilities through Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies.
I volunteer for an organization called Love For Paws Rescue. Here in San Antonio we struggle in Pet overpopulation and euthanasia, one of the worst in the country. She takes in "hard luck cases". I am attaching two links, one is a write up that was just in the paper this week and another is the link to the website. What sets Love For paws apart from the others is the dedication of the founder. Her passion is contagious; she asks very little and takes whatever she can get in the way of donations with such enthusiasm.
http://www.loveforpawsrescue.com/
http://www.mysanantonio.com/community/north_central/news/Love_for_Paws_Rescue_evolves.html
Forgot the link,
http://www.nmcrs.org/index.html
silly me!
I suggest the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Cystic Fibrosis is a fatal genetic disease, and the charity is always highly rated. I do the walk every year. For all donations received this Christmas season, they have a donor that will match them, I believe, so all money will be doubled.
www.cff.org to learn more
Haitian Children's Home!
It's a small organization in Jacmel, Haiti. We have one orphanage with 22 children and recently started another orphanage.
We do a lot of service projects to serve the community thru soccer tournaments, music camps, medical trips, beach clean up, high school scholarship program, and VBS.
Visit us at:
haitianchildrenshome.org
Sry if this is a repeat...having issues with my Internet
This is a fabulous idea,
Just for charity ideas, My favorite is Habitat for Humanity, I am a Habitat Home owner, and they are a fabulous group of people, building homes all over the world for people in need.
What a great idea!
Here's my charity suggestion. For years, we've had a rule about no presents for adults and donated what would be gift money to charity instead. Heifer International has been our charity of choice for quite some time.
Heifer International gives families livestock, teaches them how to care for them and requires that the recipient share the offspring with other families.
Hi,
I would like to nominate my 7 year old son, Jaedin, and the charity he is working with: Orphanage Support Services Organization. Jaedin is working hard to raise money so that he can make kits for newborn babies in orphanages in Ecuador.
Jaedin turned 7 years old this past week (Dec. 9). He is a little kid with a HUGE heart. He wanted to do a special service project as his gift to his Savior for Christmas (it was all his idea!). We talked to him about charities and he decided on OSSO. He's made a youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwMMFQOwero
and he's started a blog:
www.jaedinsprojects.blogspot.com
(please visit his blog!)
Why Jaedin for cakewrecks? He's a mega-cake wrecks fan and LOVES to look at your site every day. He originally wanted me to make him his own cakewreck for his bday cake this week. But then he saw an R2D2 picture of a cake, and now I'm in charge of making THAT tomorrow. With my "superb" cake making skills, I can guarantee he's going to get both wishes! ;)
I can't say enough good things about Jaedin. He's a one-in-a-million type kids. He's always thinking of others before himself. He excels at school. He's always quick to smile and wants nothing more than for everyone around him to be happy.
It would make him SO happy if you would donate to his cause. All the money donated will go toward buying supplies for the kids, and anything leftover will be given directly to the OSSO orphanage to buy milk for the children.
Jaedin's original goal was just to raise $100. He's half-way there right now. I would love it if we could blow that amount out of the water and give these children in Ecuador everything they need to be warm and happy on Christmas.
Thank you so much!
Timber
As with charities and donations, I work at an animal hospital and I support no-kill shelters and cat rescue organizations. No-kill shelters help keep animals alive that need homes instead of euthanizing each one that comes through the door, and cat rescue organizations capture, spay/neuter and vaccinate wild cats and release them back into cat groups, called colonies, and then feeds and provides medical care for those colonies.
As for the $1 a day thing, it's such a great idea! I will try to participate as much as I can!
This is a great idea! I donated. Are you considering St Judes as a charity?
I really like the business called TOMS shoes. You've probably seen the AT&T commercial of the founder, Blake Mycoskie, doing a shoe drop. Basically, for every pair of shoes bought, TOMS shoes gives a pair of shoes to a child in need. It's known as a one for one movement. Their passion is to provide shoes so children can attend school, have preventative care in contracting disease, and give children the opportunity to safely walk. I love that this company is other-centered and makes it known. Here is their website: http://www.tomsshoes.com/default.asp .
TOMS shoes has a non-profit associated with it called Friends of TOMS.
I really like your Christmas gift idea this year and I hope you will keep TOMS in your thoughts.
-Stacey
hey, it's an absolutely awesome idea.
but... not to rain on a parade- but can you just look in and see whether they'll be paying more processing fees on $1.00 contributions through credit cards than it would take in? I know that sometimes that happens. i would hate to see it be a burden on the charity.
i will DEFINITELY participate.
Awesome idea Jen! My family decided a couple years back to nix the presents and the holidays have been so much more enjoyable without the shopping and stress!
I'm suggesting Operation Baghdad Pups. http://www.spcai.org/baghdad-pups.html
When U.S. troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan they often befriend local animals as a way to help cope and feel like they have a piece of home with them. This SPCA program provides veterinary care and coordinates transportation to reunite these pets with their service men and women back in the U.S.
My Charity of choice is
Friends of Ferdinand.
http://www.friendsofferdinand.org/home/html/
I foster horses for them. They take in Off track thoroughbreds and rehab and retrain them for second careers. Most people don't know there is a market for horse meat and that 'retired' race horses (usually about age 6) are very likely to end up there if they aren't of breeding quality.
Check it out. $200 will care for one horse for a month and if we did manage to raise 80K for FFI that could impact over 50 horses. (their complete stay at FFI) all adoption fees are put back in so technically the money continues to recycle over and over. Check it out!
YOU ROCK! I am stoked about this idea...
About to donate but first I recommend one of your donations be to CIVIC (Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict). I used to work there a while back and since I left the economy bottomed out and not only did that lose them a good deal of the money they expected for the year (very well-used I can personally attest) but they lost a major grant when the foundation closed due to the Madoff scandal. They aren't aligned to the left or right, democrats or republicans, pro war or anti war or any of that. They focus solely on making sure that anyone who is accidentally hurt during war gets the help they need. Their site is civicworldwide.org and I can assure you $200 is a pretty big deal. They do a lot with a little, and being the only people out there doing this work, it can be very hard to find funding. Just a suggestion! Now off to donate :)
This is a great idea and finding a dollar a day isn't that hard for most people to give back. I want go get something more local into the game- The Boys and Girls club- They help so many kids every day with a safe place to go after school. They don't turn you away if you don't have money. It's probably one of most rewarding places to give to because you can see the rewards instantly in the joy on the kids faces when they get to go on a field trip or get a new sports item to use. http://www.bgcloudoun.org/ is our chapter.
I think this is a great idea! I donated today. I give my time to a local rescue called Animals for Life, which is a no kill shelter in CT for companion animals.
http://www.animalsforlifect.org
Nicole
that last cake looks almost EXACTLY like a photo i took t'other day to send you guys - except mine has jack sparrow eyes, bleeding into the white stuff. i think they're both FOOD LION cakes, too, lol.
my charity? i support the juvenile diabetes foundation because my husband's family has multiple members with juvenile diabetes, and a new diagnosis of type 2 diabetes just recently. i also support the disabled american veterans and running strong for american indian youth. they're all good folks.
and $1 a day is something we can ALL do for 2 weeks, so i'm really excited about your new plan!
I also nominate Heifer International - what a great organization.
Heifer International is a non-profit organization whose goal is to help end world hunger and poverty through self-reliance & sustainability.
www.heifer.org/
You are such a class act--thank you for organizing this fantastic idea. I will certainly participate!
Molly in Seattle
I think St. Jude's is amazing because they help kids even when they can't afford the cancer treatments.
-Kelley
What a great idea! My recommendation for a charity is the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund. http://www.fanconi.org/
Fanconi Anemia is a rare, fatal genetic illness. Because it's so rare, their research doesn't get big government grants. However, many researchers believe that in finding a cure for FA, they would also find a cure for many other things, including cancer, so research dollars given to the FA Research Fund bless more than just the families whose children have FA.
This cause is close to my heart because a good friend has a 7 year old daughter with FA. She is in the process of bone marrow failure, and it's very uncertain how long she'll live now. It could be just a few months or it could be a couple of years.
Kudos to you for doing such a fantastic thing for Christmas!