During the first week of March, I was fortunate enough to
win the Tweet of the Week contest with my tweet, "F*** the poor." This provocative video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBuC_0-d-9Y for anyone who wants to rewatch it) explored people's reactions to different stimuli. Many people were quite upset when a man carried a sign that said "F*** the poor," but almost no one could be bothered to donate when the sign said "Help the poor," and the man asked for donations. It showed how people could be aware of a problem, yet ignore it when it requires their help.
By winning the contest, I received $87.00 to donate to a charity. I chose to donate to an organization from my hometown, Syracuse, that has expanded to other locations in Upstate New York, including Binghamton. Interestingly enough, the organization I chose, the Rescue Mission, applied for the Learning by Giving grant and has been chosen as a finalist by the class.
I have been involved with the Rescue Mission since I was young. Having no younger brothers, when I grew out of my clothes, I donated them to the Rescue Mission for distribution to the impoverished or sale in their Thrifty Shopper stores. I have also cooked and served meals at the Rescue Mission homeless shelter in Syracuse many times, as well as have participated in the annual Ride for the Rescue charity bike race.
The Rescue Mission is an organization that I believe is an excellent finalist for our class's grant, as it performs an instrumental role in the community. Poverty is an established problem in Broome County, and the Rescue Mission takes many steps to combat poverty. It has built a nonprofit business model that is simply incredible through its Thrifty Shopper stores. The stores sell only donated items and clothing at low, affordable prices. Because of its affordability, many people going through hard times are able to purchase clothes at low prices. In addition, all of the proceeds go towards running the Rescue Mission's other ventures, including shelter and meals. In Binghamton, the Rescue Mission operates a dormitory and support center at Whitney Place. Whitney Place offers training, counseling, and education designed to help the impoverished get on their feet and find a place of their own. It not only provides shelter to the poor, but empowers them to find their own shelter.
The Binghamton Rescue Mission has applied for the grant in order to place more collection bins around the Broome County area. I can personally vouch for the success of these bins, as I have dropped off all of my donations to the Rescue Mission through a collection bin. The collection bin that I use is located adjacent to the local Wegman's, making it easy and simple to drop off donations before going grocery shopping. I have never seen it empty, and it is often completely full of donations. The donations are important because they are key to the operation of the Thrifty Shopper stores which fund all of the other services that the Rescue Mission offers. Without the donations, the Rescue Mission would not be able to function as its mission intends.
Alec-
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your blog post and appreciate that you acknowledge your relationship with the Rescue Mission as having the potential to be a conflict of interest for our class. With that being said I also appreciate that you have put years of effort and emotion into this organization, which builds its credibility as being a finalist for our grant money. Although we should not base our decision off of the relationship you hold with them I think it is reassuring that someone in our class has put good faith into this organization and what it does. Without proposing any new information that wasn’t provided by the organization itself you have merely displayed the importance of the things they do and that they really are doing good things, for example you volunteering to serve meals. I think it is great that an organization you hold close in your life has been able to benefit from your tweet of the week and has been nominated as a finalist and it just shows how important of an organization they are in this community!
Although I was skeptical at first about the bins and using our grant money for this I think you have shed a light on my worries about it being effective. As you stated you have personally used these bins and believe they are truly making a difference and will be used. After the representative came in last week I definitely felt a little better about the situation. I think the videos we were shown really hit home and it was nice to hear feedback from the people who are benefiting from the Rescue Mission. The people in the videos made it seem like the Rescue Mission has really made a positive change in their lives. The Rescue Mission was able to incorporate their message as well as say exactly how much money and for what they need it for into a short amount of time. I like that you reflect on the need for bins almost as a domino effect. If they don't receive donations it will result in a collapse in other areas in the organization. I definitely agree that this is an excellent finalist for the grant money!
Alec,
ReplyDeleteI was pretty opposed to Rescue Mission during the beginning stages of our finalist decisions. I didn’t see the necessity of funding donation bins when they clearly had an already-working system for collecting donations. I thought that there must be a fairly simple way to collect clothing donations that didn’t cost so much money. After hearing the presentation from Rescue Mission, my opinion has changed slightly. I still don’t think the donation bins are hugely necessary, and I definitely think they are WAY too expensive. I think it would be feasible for Rescue Mission to collect donations at their branch location or the Thrifty shop itself, but I now understand that the clothing must be taken to a sorting facility before it is put in the shop. Again, I don’t think sorting would be impossible to do in-shop, but restructuring an organization is not always the easiest thing.
On a positive note, the presentation left me with a real sense of respect for the organization itself. I didn’t completely understand everything Rescue Mission did just from the application form, and I hadn’t researched it further because I didn’t like the idea of funding the bins. Now, I see just how much they really do for the community and how many people they are able to help. I think the business model of the Thrifty stores is a really innovative and interesting way to fund a non-profit, and I love that it makes the organization sustainable and self-sufficient to a point. Obviously without donations the store could not run, but they use clothing rather than relying on monetary donations – something that makes it much easier for the average person to donate. Because the store sells these second-hand clothes at a cheaper price, people who shop there are able to get good deals and clothe their families for less, so not only does RM help those they directly work with, but also those who shop at their stores.
I’m still on the fence about whether I’ll vote for Rescue Mission or not. I greatly respect the organization, and the fact that it is so well established and has a clearly working model in place gives me a sense of trust in it. I’m still skeptical about the bins, but I think with more research I might be persuaded. The more difficult thing is going to be convincing me out of the other organizations that I think are putting the money towards better use. I’m really excited to hear from everyone else about why they like the organizations they do – and why they don’t like others. This is the part of the class I’ve really been looking forward to, and I think it’s going to help us all enormously.
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ReplyDeleteHi Alec. I love that your donation related to the tweet that enabled that donation. I think that the tweet of the week is a way of us telling each other that we trust each other to make a good choice with our money, even if it isn’t somewhere we would necessarily donate. I think by you tying the donation and tweet together makes it so it really was also partially our decision to donate to homelessness too. I think that really helped to make this a class decision to donate to the Rescue Mission, so thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the disclaimer as well. While I think it is important to know these things, I am not worried by your connection to the Rescue Mission. It must be great for you to see an organization that you have connected to for so long make it this far in our process. I know I would be super excited if I was lucky enough to be in your position. I also appreciate you giving us insight as to why you think Rescue Mission stands out.
One story that I love is about the founder of The Giving Keys. It is a jewelry company that refurbishes used keys and engraves encouraging words on them. The idea is that you wear the key until you see someone (usually a stranger) who needs it more than you do. For example, if your key is engraved with “hope,” once you find someone who needs hope, and you give it to him or her. Then they pass it on once they find someone who needs it more. Not only does it humanize someone and let the key receivers feel supported, it empowers them to do it for someone else. What else is great about The Giving Keys? They employ the homeless to do the engraving. While I love the concept, I also wanted to mention that a woman who wanted to blend her passion and career started this company, and was able to bring philanthropy into the mix. In class we have talked about figuring out how philanthropy plays a role in our lives and how we imagine it in our lives in the future. I think the story of the founder shows that we don’t necessarily have to plan exactly how philanthropy will be in our lives, but when the time comes we should embrace it. It is awesome that you’ve already found that passion and a great organization to help you include that passion in your philanthropic activities.
To read the employees stories: http://www.thegivingkeys.com/pages/employed-for-change
To watch the founder’s Ted Talk about getting it started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0VJaPe2Amk
I love this quote that comes from a short video about their company. “It is within our power to find beauty and power in forgotten places. Like old keys you may feel used and discarded. But we all have the ability to unlock potential. Potential to transform our pain into stories of redemption.” I think it is the perfect mix of creativity, explaining their mission and being inspirational.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBjlJ1tVxtM