Charities / Go fund me's / good places to give

Sunny

A link came across my feed that an old mush pal posted (I don't even know if she plays anymore lol) and I wanted to share it, and also realized we could probably use a thread for posting not-us places to give (not to discourage the in-community giving, because I hope all of you realize how much good you do) for those that might be seeking places. Especially right now! If there's already one of these threads oops sorry.

SO!

Minnesota
Kids need a playground because adults are taking pictures of them on the public playground they use for recess:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/Help-protect-children-from-harassment

Puget Sound region, Washington
Homeless Backpacks is a charity that feeds kids. Usually primarily homeless kids, right now they're feeding any kids with food insecurity, which is a significantly larger number. $20 feeds two kids for a weekend.
https://homelessbackpacks.org/

ETA: also if you're local-ish HBP REALLY needs shoppers right now. People to go buy the tunafish and stuff with the money that gets donated.

Ominous

@Sunny said in Charities / Go fund me's / good places to give:

Minnesota
Kids need a playground because adults are taking pictures of them on the public playground they use for recess:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/Help-protect-children-from-harassment

This is...weird. Like is it one guy in a white, windowless can, breathing heavy as he does it? Is it always different people?

Sunny

@Ominous

Linked on the gofundme that I linked, this article answers those questions:
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/10/04/twin-cities-mosque-on-edge-after-opponents-start-filming-children

Aria

Yeah, yeah. This is a bit of thread necromancy here, but I had an experience today that left me pretty upset, so.....

I've been trying to reach out to friends, coworkers, and classmates that I know have family in India right now to see what I can do to help besides the donations that I've already made and the response I've gotten is just..... raw, and pained, and terrified, and entirely human. And thick with the sort of gratitude that breaks my heart, especially when one after another has told me that for the most part, no one outside the Desi community has reached out to them directly.

There are nearly 400,000 people in India being diagnosed with COVID a day and nearly 4,000 dying -- and that's just the official count, which many people are saying is grossly underreporting the situation from a lack of personnel, supplies, and access in remote or rural areas. One friend of mine has lost four family members in the last three weeks alone; two more of her cousins are in the hospital getting what treatment they possibly can. I just.... yeah.

I'm going to be linking a small slew of places that you can donate to. Please do so if you can.

And if you can't? Check on your Indian friends and colleagues. They are absolutely not okay right now and kindness costs nothing but a few minutes of your time.

Indian Red Cross
GiveIndia
Pratham COVID Relief Fund
Sewa International

I also know of two GoFundMe campaigns that I can link to if anyone is interested, both verified as authentic through people I know who are either directly involved with them or whose family members are.

Aria

Double posting, but one more. I didn't catch this one until today, even though it was on the local NPR affiliate, until it rolled up into the national Consider This podcast yesterday afternoon.

Oxygen for India

This is being run by several Indian doctors in the Philadelphia and New Jersey area who are buying oxygen concentrators here and shipping them over to colleagues in India that they have personally worked with or went to school with, in order to bypass bureaucracy and red-tape wherever possible.

Tracking updates are posted so that donors can see progress and apparently the Indian Embassy here in the US is covering freight charges and putting pressure on customs to fast-track them through the system.

If you're inclined to donate, this seems to be the fastest way to get supplies on the ground and in hospitals that need them that I've been able to find so far.