Donating By Recommendation
(Originally posted Sept 14, 2020)
Random Observation/Comment #677: Give back if you can. Karma is real. Sharing is caring. Hording doesn’t bring happiness.
I started following/listening to Josh Gondelman because he was super witty on Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me (Sept 5th Episode, specifically). As I dove into his podcast “Make My Day“, I was really inspired by the questions, creativity, positive vibes, and the format. Check it out, if you haven’t yet – 25 min max, new point all-time-highs each episode, and a pep talk at the end to wrap things up. They’ve all brought me joy.
At the end of each episode, he donates $100 to a charity of the guest’s choice. Here’s the list so far:
Episode 1 – Akilah Hughes – https://www.lys.org/about-us/
Episode 2 – Miel Bredouw – https://www.foodbanknyc.org
Episode 3 – Todd Barry – https://www.glwd.org
Episode 4 – Doug Benson – https://www.smiletrain.org
Episode 5 – Karen Chee – https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org
Episode 6 – Andy Daly – https://www.givedirectly.org
Episode 7 – Jon Gabrus – https://www.lastprisonerproject.org
Episode 8 – Shea Serrano – https://minnesotafreedomfund.org
Episode 9 – Starlee Kine – https://www.naacpldf.org
Episode 10 – Zach Lowe – https://www.naacpldf.org
Episode 11 – Desus and Mero – https://wck.org , https://www.donorschoose.org
Episode 12 – Aparna Nancherla – https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/
Episode 13 – Myq Kaplan – https://www.chilisonwheels.org/
Episode 14 – Dani Fernandez – https://bit.ly/2CLDKXV
Episode 15 – Maria Sherman – www.donorschoose.org
Episode 16 – Mara Wilson – https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ggla , https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-aid-group.html
Episode 17 – Daniel Kibblesmith – https://action.aclu.org/give/now
Episode 18 – John Hodgman – https://pdxgdc.com/ + bit.ly/GETYOURFRIENDS
Episode 19 – Jill Twiss – https://aliceskids.org
Episode 20 – Alison Leiby and Halle Kiefer – https://supportwomenshealth.salsalabs.org/mkefreedomfund/index.html
Episode 21 – Scaachi Koul – https://supportlrc.app/I’m fortunate enough to be able to work remotely and have some savings from not going out for dinners in the past 6 months. To forward the causes recommended, I’ve donated $10 to each of them.
Even if you’re not able to donate, read through these organizations’ missions and impact. It is certainly inspiring by itself.
Pro Tip: Start a new email address for donation sites outside of your regular email. It’s useful for keeping track of all donation activities and also useful in case of spam (or sites get hacked). I did this when I was car shopping and I see quite a bit of solicitations.
As Josh does more episodes, I’ll keep donating to the recommendations. I’ll update this page once a month or so.
~See Lemons Donate