Charity Challenge- Catch Up

I haven't forgotten to donate monthly to charities so much as I have forgotten to write about it.  I skipped writing about this for June, July, August and September.

Here's where my monthly donations for my Charity Challenge went for the following months:

June:  My monthly donation went to the American Diabetes Association.  Diabetes runs in my family on my mom's side.  I don't have it but I have to be careful as I'm susceptible to getting it if I don't watch my diet and I should lose weight to reduce my chance even further.

July: July's donation went to Minnesota Network of Hospice and Palliative Care.  This network includes Optage Hospice, the provider that was used for my dad.


August:  My coworker Jennifer's sister, Cicely Novy, suffered a brain aneurysm in May 2013. She's had multiple surgeries and setbacks with seizures but she's making progress.  She still can't speak but with huge support from her family, she'll get there. If you're interested in her story or donating, check out the link.  http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/the-novy-fund/58052


September: My dad's birthday is in September so I decided to donate to the American Lung Association for the second year in a row.


All these charities mean something to me in some way as well as all of these charities have very low administrative costs.

I'll post about October's charity later this month.

Charity Challenge- May

This month there were two different charities I gave to this month.  First was for the American Heart Association for the Heart Walk that was scheduled for May 4th.  I would have participated in the walk had it not been on the same day as the Animal Walk.  

The second donation went to Minds Matter.  Minds Matter opened a Twin Cities chapter last fall.  One of my co-workers and his wife opened up the chapter here but both were a part of the New York City chapter when they lived there.  

Here is the mission of Minds Matter:

Our Mission is to transform the lives of accomplished high school students from low-income families by broadening their dreams and preparing them for college success.

They're doing a great job at it too. 100% of Minds Matter students have been accepted into a four-year college.

On Thursday, May 16th, M and I went to the Spring for the Students Rooftop Bash for Minds Matter.  The party was held on the rooftop of the Else Warehouse in Minneapolis.  The restaurant on the ground floor, Borough, catered the event.  DJ Joe entertained us with music and silent auctions were lined along the wall.  One of the students from the Portland chapter came and told her story of success with Minds Matter and is attending college here in Minnesota.

M and I had a great date being fancy for a night while supporting a great cause.    

Upon leaving the party on the roof, M and I walked around the ground floor of the building. The majority of the building is apartments and wow, they're not cheap.  They have an apartment that is larger than our house.  Check out some of these amenities.  

Charity Challenge- April

This month's charity challenge is a no-brainer.  April's charity is the Animal Humane Society.  Why?  Because I'm doing the Walk for Animals in a week!  Oh, I might just happen to love animals too.  

Because I appreciate all of you that read my blog, I've made a donation in your name, Dana's Readers.  Thank you, readers.  ♥

If you are interested in helping me reach my goal of $750 (I'm 78% of the way there!), please consider donating.  If you have already made a donation, thank you!!!

My Donation Page

And for those that donated between April 15-18, an extra special thank you to you.  I was notified by the Animal Humane Society that I raised the most amount of money during that time frame. (I didn't even know there was a challenge going on.)  Because of that, AHS is sending me 3 t-shirts as a thank you gift.  I could choose between cat or dog shirts or a mix of both. What do you think I chose?  Meow!

I was featured in the weekly newsletter!

Help animals just like us!

Charity Challenge - March

This month for my charity challenge, I decided to donate to the PKD Foundation.  PKD stands for polycystic kidney disease.  This disease runs in my family and it is known that at least 3 members of my family have it, including my aunt who was lucky enough to have received a kidney transplant last summer, thanks to one of her nieces who was a match for her.  

March is kidney awareness month so if you'd like to donate to this cause, you can do so by going HERE.

If you don't want to donate money but want to become an organ and tissue donor, go HERE!

{PKD}

Charity Challenge - February

For my monthly charity contribution for February, I donated to Fractured Atlas, which is a non-profit arts service organization for a sponsored project called Midway.

After watching the trailer for the upcoming documentary Midway, I had to donate to this cause.  I was extremely sad and upset when I watched the video and you will be too.  It's terribly sad and it angers you at the same time.  We as humans are destroying this planet and even in the most remote areas our negative impact is being felt.  This tiny glimpse shows just how much our every day decisions makes a difference, for better or for worse.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE watch this video.  I would embed it right here into my post however I can't find this same version to do so and I think it's important to watch this almost 4 minute video.

Please click here to watch the trailer to Midway

If you have time, please tell me your thoughts after you've watched the trailer.

Charity Challenge - January

This isn't one of my new year resolutions but I thought of something I wanted to do each month for at least this entire year.  I plan on posting it each month in hopes of inspiring you to do something similar.

Each month, I am going to donate to a different charity. I have no charities lined up yet but instead I will just pick and choose a charity based on personal feeling and some research.  I plan on donating only $10 a month to these charities.  It's small and how impactful are my dollars, I'm not sure, but it's a start and it's something.  A great random act of kindness.

This month, I have donated to one of my friend's fundraiser page for the Polar Plunge, which benefits Special Olympics Minnesota. While thinking of what charity to donate to, I thought of him and since he didn't have any donations yet, I thought what a great place to start.

Maybe you'll consider donating to him as well?  Check out Andrew's fundraising page if you're interested.