(no subject)
Sep. 4th, 2005 02:37 pmOkay. I'm closing the poll (so to speak; you can't actually close it) and making an executive decision, if y'all are amenable to it. Here's why:
1. You can't edit a poll once it's created, and I totally forgot to put Habitat for Humanity, one of the best and least problematic charities of all, on the list.
2. By the time CafePress sends me the quarterly earnings, the need for emergency donations will have passed, but there will still be need. This is actually great, because we'll be sending money when other people have stopped. But the focus will be on feeding and housing the survivors by that point, not rescuing them.
3. Several of the charities I chose turned out to be problematic. (See this comment, among several others on that entry.)
3b. Especially the Red Cross. It was suggested, and I think this is an excellent idea, that if you do want to give to the Red Cross, go down to your local chapter and donate. Give blood, also. It sounds like your donation has more chance of going where it needs to go if you give locally. That, and you can give now, which we can't with the CafePress funds. You can always give directly at the website if you disagree with me on this one, by the way.
So here's my idea: I'm liking the sound of Second Harvest and Habitat for Humanity, which will focus on feeding and housing survivors, which is what they'll be doing when the CafePress money becomes available. No one has come up with any problems these charities have, financial, ideological or otherwise, and some have even said, "I've worked with them, and they're good people."
In addition to that: at this time, the Humane Society is actually leading the poll, so clearly there's a lot more support behind that one than I anticipated. Why don't we donate all the proceeds from any design referencing an animal (polar bear, horsybird, comedy sheep--hell, even werewolves) to them?
So: discuss. We have plenty of time to make a decision, but I'd feel more comfortable putting up products on the CafePress store if I could say, "Proceeds are definitely going to these charities." Rather than, you know, "Uh... we'll give 'em to someone. Promise!"
( More designs )
Have I linked to the Hunger Site yet today?