My Annual Post: The PTA vs. P&G

by Trapper John

Hi, it's Trapper.  I figure I need to get a post in here once a year or so to justify my name on the masthead.  And this isn't much of a post -- in fact, it's a bleg, of sorts. But it's a bleg for a worthy cause that I have absolutely no personal interest in, and it won't cost anyone other than American Express a dime.

You may have seen American Express's ads for its Members Project, which will award $5 million to a worthy non-profit voted on by Amex cardholders. The two leading vote-getters right now are A) a "children's safe drinking water" project funded by Proctor and Gamble to the point where its budget is over $380 million/year, and B) DonorsChoose, a fantastic little non-profit that funds small proposals (generally less than $1000) made by public school teachers in big-city systems, including NYC and DC. Essentially, DonorsChoose works like a micro-NSF/NEH, dispensing tiny grants to educators who can turn a $300 investment into a world of discovery for their pupils. Here's a representative proposal, from a pre-K teacher at Butler Bilingual in DC. She's looking for $547 to buy paints and art supplies for her kids -- because arts funding has become "an afterthought in most school curricula." Imagine how important a basic art program is to the developing mind of a four year-old. Imagine what $5 million would mean to an organization that funds such modest, yet critical, projects.

So if you have an Amex card, I urge you to take 2 minutes and vote for DonorsChoose at the Members Project. Someone's going to win that $5 million -- and while clean drinking water is critical, P&G has their back. Let's get the back of the hard-working teachers of DC and NYC. God knows, they won't let a dime of that $5 million go to waste.

Comments

[bmaz]

Hey Trapper, never seen you before, but I put this in an email and sent it out to about 15 pretty influential people.

[Trapper John]

Heh. I actually started this blog with DHinMI. But it's all Marcy now. Which is better for everyone.

Thanks for the help.

[bmaz]

Well, I have been around here a while now, but not that long in the scheme of things. I enjoy your creation and am happy to help; it is a worthy effort.

[emptywheel]

Trapper

I thought your job was to poison me nearly monthly with a certain set of wings in DC.

[Mimikatz]

Sounds like a great program. We have a fund here in my city in CA that solicits donations to fund similar grant applications from local teachers. I'd do it if I had an Amex card, but I'm now down to just one credit card.

[Trapper John]

Marcy-

I can multitask!

[Mauimom]

Thanks for your promotion of Donors Choose. I've contributed to their programs here in DC [where the went under the name "Means for Dreams" until this year].

They really ARE a good program, and I've had great pleasure in contributing to dedicated teachers in the District.

[Mauimom]

Also, Mimikatz, go to the Donors Choose web site. This program operates all over the country, so you may be able to find projects in your area. And if not, and if you know of a program, the web site will tell you how to get it in touch with Donors Choose.

One of the things that's neat about the way Donors Choose operates is that when you go to the site, you'll find lots of projects. If you pick one, you don't have to fund the entire thing (or even a big portion of it). you can contribute $10 or whatever.

One of the things that's popular here is for kids who are celebrating a bar or bat mitzvah to designate one or more programs on Donors Choose and ask people to "honor" them by donating there, instead of giving a gift to the bar mitzvah kid.

I also use it a) to give gifts to immediate family members (husband, college-age kids), who then get the "feedback" from the individual project; and b) to give as a gift to fellow "boomers" who clearly don't need one more piece of junk in the house.

I particularly try to spread the word on this last aspect.

[Former Fed]

I just cast my vote with AMEX. Good cause!

[low-tech cyclist]

I've cast my vote for DonorsChoose.

Now, Marcy and Trapper, what's this about wings? I haven't been able to find any decent buffalo wings since moving back to the DC area several years ago. Spill!

[oddball]

Done

[Tim]

Hello! http://googi.com
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