Causes and Effect, 12/7/17: Michigan Humane Society

Back in December of 2015, I took over the Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily blog for a month. Started by entertainment and culture journalist Melinda Newman back in 2013, the premise of the blog is simple: Donate $10.00 every day of the year to a different organization or individual that needs it, and write about your experiences daily. As she wrote in her first blog post, "The only criteria is to give the money to some outlet that needs it that day more than I do."

Writing the Causes and Effect blog for a month was one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done. So, as the blog gets ready to wrap up after a five-year run, I was thrilled to be asked back by Melinda to be in charge of the blog for six days this month.

Today is the first of those days and my post honors my late feline companion, Elliott, with a donation to the Michigan Humane Society.

Here's the link to today's post:

Because Animal Lives Matter, Too

Today, the Michigan Humane Society (MHS) is the recipient of a $10.00 donation from my family. If you would like to make a contribution to the MHS, you can do so here:

Michigan Humane Society's donation page

One down, five to go.

Peace.

Rest in peace, Elliott. We miss you.

Countdown to Causes and Effect

(Note: I wrote about this same subject back in January, but as December inches closer I wanted to write about it again. Maybe that's weird, but it's my blog, so I guess I can do whatever I want, right?)

On January 1, 2013, Melinda Newman, former West Coast Bureau Chief/Deputy Editor for Billboard Magazine and now a freelance writer, started a blog. The name of that blog was "Causes and Effect: My Year of Giving Daily," and the first sentence of Melinda's first post summed up the blog's purpose quite nicely:

"Join me on this journey as I commit to donating at least $10 every day of 2013."

The idea for the blog came to Melinda "in a flash of inspiration, or maybe desperation," after a friend asked her if she was working on a book. The idea stuck with Melinda for months, and she felt a responsibility to follow through, calling the blog "an experiment to see what happens to my heart and my spirit and my soul" over the year.

In 2014, Brian Mansfield took over the blog. Brian is a former USA Today music writer and currently works as the Content Director at Shore Fire Media. Like Melinda, Brian did an incredible job over his 365 days of giving and writing. But it was a monumental task.

So for 2015, Melinda decided to divide the Causes and Effect duties among 12 different writers, each of whom would be responsible for a different month. Thankfully, I was chosen to be one of those 12 writers.

December is my assigned month.

Over the last several weeks, I've been thinking about different charities and causes that mean a lot to me. I also asked my friends for suggestions. At first I thought coming up with 31 organizations to donate to would be difficult; now--surprise!--I have a list that exceeds 31. (Thank God there aren't any rules that say I can only give to one cause each day.)

Nine days from now, I will take over the reins of Causes and Effect. For my donations I plan to follow Melinda's original guidelines. As she wrote in her first post: "Some of the giving will be to recognized international charities, but others will be to Kickstarter campaigns that catch my eye, friends’ 5Ks, and maybe even to homeless people on the street. The only criteria is to give the money to some outlet that needs it that day more than I do."

I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about this gig, primarily because I've never written blog posts for 31 consecutive days. Hopefully I'll be able to live up to the high standards established by Melinda and Brian; and by the 11 bloggers who have preceded me in 2015.

I'm thinking I'll probably be posting links to my daily Causes and Effect posts on this blog, too. I figure the more exposure I can give the causes I donate to, the better. But just to be sure you don't miss anything, I urge you to follow the Causes and Effect blog. Here's the direct link:

http://myyearofgivingdaily.tumblr.com

You can also sign up to get the blog's daily posts emailed to you. If you go to the blog, you'll see a button at the top of the page that says, "Followmyyearofgivingdaily." If you click that, you can sign up.

This 31-day journey will definitely make doing my federal taxes a little more difficult this time around, but it will be totally worth it. I hope you'll join me.

Peace.

"I don’t expect my $10 to change the world, but my hope is it will somehow change me." --Melinda Newman

Sometimes People's Generosity Blows My Mind

As you probably all know by now, I decided to take the Shatterproof Challenge in Cleveland on August 6th. I'll be rappelling down the side of the 22-story Westin Hotel to raise awareness for addiction and recovery. My son will be joining me, too, which is soooooo badass. (If you haven't read my earlier posts, you can do so here and here.)

The only requirement to participate in the Shatterproof Challenge is that you have to raise $1,000.00 for Shatterproof, which is a fantastic nonprofit working to end the stigma associated with addiction. I met my fundraising goal before my son decided to rappel with me, so all that was left to do was raise his $1K.

This morning his campaign stood at $265.00, which was very good progress.

But then I found an envelope stuck in my front door.

In that envelope? A check from a friend, made out to "Shatterproof." The amount of that check? One thousand dollars. As in $1,000.00. As in, the total amount my son needed to raise to go walking down a building with me.

Sometimes people's generosity blows my mind.

I could sit here and type some fancy words to tell you all how grateful I am for this friend's amazing donation. But no matter what words I chose, they wouldn't even begin to describe my gratitude. The fact that someone I know cares enough about this cause to make such a donation is so unbelievably awesome to me.

To my friend, I just want to say:

My son and I thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

Peace.

Wow. Just wow.