Living La Vida "Local"

Ever wonder where your money goes when you donate to charity? Of course, why wouldn’t you. Ever donate to huge corporate charities because you’re not sure where to donate? I think we’ve all been in that situation. The truth is, all charitable giving is wonderfully encouraged, but it is truly important we don’t ignore smaller charities, they need your help!

If you hear of a small charity in your community, don’t hesitate.  You can expect your hand-me-downs and extra cash to benefit local causes and local people. Sometimes local charities will support the same causes as well-known charitable organizations, but they aren’t spending a lot of time advertising. Here are some reasons why people volunteer locally, and why you should too:

1. Small charities are in more need of donations because they usually don’t get those large corporate sponsorships
2. More of each donation actually goes to the people in need because small charities have lower overhead
3. Small charities are typically local, so you can usually expect money donated in your area to help people, animals, and causes in your area instead of being shipped off to corporate

If you don’t want to spend a lot of time searching for the best charity in your area, hit the web! Charity Navigator, Volunteer Match and Seattle Works are great resources for finding information on local charities.

On Charity Navigator and Volunteer Match you can narrow down your search by city, size, and type of cause. The first time I did this I found Homeward Pet Adoption Center in Woodinville Washington, which is hidden about one block from where I live. Seattle Works is a great place to find volunteer opportunities and support the community. On Twitter you can simply search for people or organizations in your area that exist to inform you of charities you can support.

So what are you waiting for?

CharityNavigator.org

VolunteerMatch.org

SeattleWorks.org

Homeward Pet Adoption Center

Donor Squad is a Seattle start-up committed to connecting people with local nonprofits.  To learn more, visit the Donor Squad Facebook Page.   To join the Donor Squad Meetup group, go to Donor Squad Seattle.

Nature Consortium and the Thorn People

The thorn people.  That is what the Donor Squad crew (above) named themselves after completing a day of Himalayan blackberry removal with the Nature Consortium.  On the brisk afternoon of February 26^th, Donor Squad did their part to help restore the West Duwamish Greenbelt in West Seattle. 

After four hours of intense battle with the ruthless Himalayan blackberries, the thorn people declared victory until next time.  The crew paid their respects, packed their weapons, and retreated home to fish broken thorns out of their skin.  Every respectable soldier has scar wounds.

The Nature Consortium's Urban Forest Restoration Project is committed to restoring the West Duwamish Greenbelt.  This green belt is 482 acres and is the largest remaining forest within Seattle city limits.  The main goal is to reintroduce the native conifer species and to remove the invasive Himalayan blackberry plants, making this reintroduction possible. 

The best part about volunteering with the Nature Consortium is that they provide superb entertainment.  Their mission is to connect people, arts, and nature.  They support local musicians while entertaining their volunteers.  Not a bad way to keep the troops motivated!  To learn more about the Nature Consortium, please visit www.naturec.org.

Donor Squad is a Seattle start-up committed to connecting people with local nonprofits.  To learn more, visit www.facebook.com/DonorSquad.   To join the Seattle meetup group, go to www.meetup.com/DonorSquad.    

How a Little Facial Hair, a Bar, and a lot of Pinball Benefited the Foster kids of King County

On the eve of last Sunday, guys and girls with beards and staches (both real and artificial) vowed to make a difference at a Belltown favorite, Shorty’s.  Among the carnival lights, hotdogs, hanging clowns, and frothy beers, the participants pinballed their big hearts out to raise money for the foster kids of King County.

Organized by The World is Fun (TWIF), a Seattle nonprofit, the Pinball Tournament at Shorty’s was one of many crazy and lucrative events of the Beard and Stache Festival.  During the month of February, TWIF is hosting Beard and Stache events at bars and venues all over Seattle.  At each event, guests donate money by sticking $5 in a can with their favorite hairy candidate on the front.  There are five to choose from; I never said it was easy.  To find upcoming events, visit http://www.beardandstachefest.com/.

All donations collected through the Beard and Stache Festival benefit Treehouse, a local organization committed to bettering the lives of foster children.  Their goal is to provide foster kids with the tools needed to lead a normal childhood.  Treehouse offers unique services such as raising money for extracurricular activities as well as providing nice clothing and school supplies for those in need.

TWIF highlights the social aspect of volunteerism.  Their mission is to involve a younger demographic in the community of giving and they are dedicated to helping local nonprofits with urgent needs for volunteers, donations, and fundraising events. 

Donor Squad has thoroughly enjoyed meeting the team at TWIF and helping out with volunteers.  We have received nothing but positive feedback.

To learn more about Treehouse, go to www.treehouse4kids.org.

Donor Squad Seattle’s First Volunteer Opportunity: The Aftermath

Saturday, February 5, 2011.  At a glance, it was just another typical winter day in Seattle.  Gloom ridden sky, constant mist and humid, heavy air.  You know the type of day that makes you want to sleep in till noon and watch endless movies.  The kind of day that looks way scarier than it really is.  On this particular day, 14 individuals decided to combat the elements and volunteer with Donor Squad in effort to end hunger among homeless youth in Seattle. 

The plan was to collect food from Capitol Hill homes and donate it to YouthCare, an organization dedicated to fighting homelessness for young people.  Donor Squad decided to involve the community from the comfort of their own living rooms.  A couple days prior to the event, flyers were distributed to homes in the Capitol Hill neighborhood in effort to prepare residents for the upcoming food drive.  Once people realized we weren’t trying to sell them something, we were pretty well received!       

On Saturday, the Donor Squad team set out with shopping carts (compliments of Madison Market) to collect food from the selected homes.  I must say, it was a great success.  In two hours, 14 enthusiastic volunteers conquered 4 miles of neighborhood, visited roughly 300 homes, and collected 74 bags of food accumulating to about 300 pounds of pure nutrition, totaling out to roughly an $800 value.  Not too shabby for a couple hours on a Saturday!  Our two hours of volunteer work will feed a homeless young person for about 160 days, or 160 homeless youth for one day depending on how you want to look at it!    

I would like to take a moment to give a special shout out and thank all the Donor Squad volunteers who decided to venture out last Saturday and collect food with us.  The time you donated will make a big difference in the life of a homeless youth.  Thank you! 

YouthCare is an amazing Seattle organization that is dedicated to helping homeless youth turn their lives around.  In addition to feeding hungry kids, YouthCare provides many tools to help get them permanently off the streets and into stable lifestyles.  Some of the other services they offer are case management, education, employment training, health and hygiene distribution, and drug and alcohol counseling.  To learn more about YouthCare, please visit www.youthcare.org.

To find out how about more volunteer opportunities with Donor Squad, please visit http://www.meetup.com/DonorSquad/. 

Donor Squad Food Drive and Kickoff Party!

On Saturday, February 5th, don’t be alarmed if you see superheroes roaming the streets of Capitol Hill, Seattle. They are battling a social villain, a nasty little one called homelessness. They are on a mission to collect food for homeless youth at YouthCare.

Recruited by Donor Squad, a new Seattle start-up, volunteers will be traveling door to door to collect food for those who are less fortunate. Donor Squad will be delivering a bag and an informational flyer on Thursday to homes that the volunteers will be visiting, providing fair warning that superheroes will be stopping by on Saturday afternoon. The goal is to avoid heart attacks at all costs.

Unfortunately, homelessness among youth in Seattle is rapidly growing. Since the collapse of the financial market, YouthCare has seen a 63% increase in youth asking for help. Last year, 3,337 street kids received services from YouthCare. Sadly, some were turned away. The demand outgrew the funding.

YouthCare does more than feed kids on the street. They strive to battle homelessness, not sustain it. Some of the other services they offer are case management, education, employment training, health and hygiene distribution, and drug and alcohol counseling. As you can see, YouthCare provides many tools to help get kids permanently off the streets and into stable lifestyles.

On Saturday, Donor Squad is doing their part to help. Every year, YouthCare receives heaps of food around the holidays from holiday food drives and such. Then, like many other charities, there is a lull in donations for most of the remainder of the year. The Donor Squad team is hitting the streets to help break this trend. There will be an after party for the volunteers at Piecora’s New York Pizza. Feeding hungry superheroes is important. To find out how you can help, please visit http://www.meetup.com/DonorSquad/events/16169930/.

Waking up to a tighter community with 501 Commons

The Intiman Theater at the Seattle Center awoke bright and early Wednesday morning to debut the new 501 Commons. Rocking the a.m. with a little hip hop from MCDK (a Seattle hip hop group), I couldn’t help but to strut with a little grove to my step. They even made me smile. I must say, that is pretty impressive for 7:30 a.m. Nice work 501 Commons.

501 Commons serves charities, philanthropy, schools, and faith organizations. Simply put, they serve the 501 sector. On Wednesday morning they hosted a launch party to unveil their new self, morphing from the former Executive Service Corps and into the new and sexy 501 Commons. Although their name and website underwent a massive makeover, their mission remains the same; to strengthen communities by empowering schools and nonprofits.

With over 200 volunteer consultants and coaches, 501 Commons provides roughly $750,000 worth of services to over 60 nonprofits every year. Now that’s impressive! Nancy Long, 501 Commons Executive Director, spoke on the panel during the launch and emphasized the organization's goal to build customizable services and programs for each unique client.

Before the presentation, I met a consultant who had been volunteering with 501 Commons for about ten years. Being surprised with the turnout for a 7:00 a.m. event, I asked the consultant how 501 Commons pulled it off since I didn’t see much prior advertising. He told me that Nancy Long’s roots run deep and that she has been an active in the Seattle community for many many years. “In my opinion,” he said, “Nancy walks on water.”

The Gift of Giving

The debate on when to donate to charity happens to so many of us. All year long we say we want to give back to our community or support a cause we believe in but don’t because there are so many other things we need that money for. Then Christmas rolls around and we have to buy gifts for friends and family while trying not to break bank. Well why not kill two birds with one stone?

The gift of giving is becoming a huge online trend along with online donations, which have greatly increased in the past few years. Now there are many website that offer online platforms that focus on different kinds of giving - i.e. teachers and classrooms, small business start-ups in different countries, artists trying to get started, all varieties of charities or individual causes.  All you have to do is buy a gift card on a giving website and the person you gift it to can then make a contribution to any cause they want. It’s a win-win situation because you want to get gifts for family and friends, but also want your money to benefit good causes.

If you’re not convinced, here are a few things worth thinking about. Shopping during the holiday’s means dealing with huge crowds, traffic and sold-out items because it’s the busiest time of the year. Wouldn’t you rather order all of your gifts from home, on the Internet, in one transaction? You won’t have to worry about websites running out of gift card either. The other thing about Re-giving is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money. More online donations are made each year and the average donation amount is becoming smaller. The idea of Micro donations is that everyone can make a difference and every little bit helps. You can buy everyone a gift that you need to with the same small amount. Whether you’re giving to your friends, family, co-workers or teachers, they will be pleased and excited to receive any size gift that they can turn around and give to something they support.

This Gift idea was one of my favorite before it was one of Oprah’s “favorite things”. If you would like to receive something like this, chances are your friends would like it too. Choosing this gift route means you can actually relax and enjoy the holidays like we’re supposed to instead of worrying about presents for 12 different people.