Strengthen the Good: August

A week or so back I signed up for the notification list over at Strengthen the Good. In case you haven't run across this effort as of yet: it was very recently established by the founders of The Command Post, with the goal of highlighting charities that otherwise may not receive widespread attention.

STG is the nexus of a network of bloggers committed to raising awareness for small charities around the world. Every three weeks this space highlights a new “micro-charity”—a small, inspiring charity, one with a real face and where $1 makes a difference—and the bloggers in the network link to that post, sending traffic, and awareness, the charity’s way.

Within a day of my signing on with STG andúnië.net was blogrolled on the site—a surprise, since the roll didn't even exist when I first visited. That bit of trivia is worth mentioning only because STG is the first, and likely last, place that this blog can be seen listed mere lines away from Al Franken's.

Anyways: Alan from STG just sent the list notification regarding this month's charity.

Here’s the issue: a burning charitable need at this moment is relief for people affected by Hurricane Charley. And while I very much want to highlight a Charley micro-charity, the fact is that the need right now is macro … incredibly macro. Fundamental needs: housing … water … huge quantities of baby formula … needs that are best met by macro charities such as the Red Cross, the Christian Contractors Association, and Salvation Army, and it’s going to be this way for some time.

But I also think I’ve found something you can get behind and feel good about: The Gulf Coast Community Foundation Of Venice Hurricane Charley Disaster Relief Fund. […]

But here’s the really good part: last Tuesday The GCCF of Venice Board of Directors voted to match contributions to its Hurricane Charley Disaster Relief Fund up to $100,000, noting they are “pleased to be able to offer a means for giving where 100% of the donations will be directed to the agencies providing the services required to sustain and improve life for the victims.”

The Foundation's website is here. They accept MC/V donations, if you are moved to give a larger contribution. But the original idea behind Strengthen the Good is to inspire many people to give just a little—perhaps even a single dollar—and the best way to do that is through STG's PayPal account, which can be accessed on that site's main page.

So go give a buck. Or five.

And while I'm at it: I've included several other charities in andúnië.net's blogroll. There are two that I particularly recommend—Spirit of America and Samaritan's Purse.

Or—for something completely different but nonetheless praiseworthy—there's always Adopt a Sniper.

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