Giving Matters

Looking for an organization or group to support with your tithes and offerings? Check out the Giving Matters Foundation – a group dedicated to helping your research and find causes and needs to support.

The website lets you look up different organizations as well as particular issues (though the issues are slightly more specific to Middle Tennessee where the group is located). This is a great place and a great idea for giving. Be sure to check it out …

Economic Justice

This organization works to change how federal money is spent in order to get more money allocated for things such as education and alternative energy. Their most recent video is worth checking out.

Donations Needed

Decatur Cooperative Ministries is in need of the following items. There are donation bins in front of the Refectory for your offerings …

• frozen foods & non-perishable foods
• recent model desktop computer
• alarm clocks
• Lysol
• 55-gallon trash bags
• Clorox Clean-Up
• Relaxation CDs
• sealed bread containers
• sugar
• rabbit-ear antennae
• area rugs
• queen-size bed (new or excellent condition please)
• twin beds (new or excellent condition please)
• sofa slipcover (new or excellent condition please)
• dressers/bureaus (new or excellent condition please)

Central Outreach & Advocacy Center

The Central Outreach and Advocacy Center has two goals: to help provide emergency food and services to the homeless and impoverished in the Atlanta area, as well as advocating at all levels of government to promote public policy changes that directly impact the needs of those it serves.

And, they are in need of volunteers to serve on their steering committee . . .

The Central Presbyterian Church Outreach & Advocacy Center needs your leadership as we shape our future!  Volunteer committee members are needed to help decide the advocacy issues we pursue, advise on programmatic and service-related issues, develop a communications and marketing plan and help recruit and train board members.  Committee meetings are held in the evening.  Call Chuck Bowen at (404) 601-3173 or email him to volunteer!

In Need of Overnight Volunteers

Hagar’s House, an emergency shelter for women and children in downtown Decatur, is in need of volunteers to stay overnight with our families. Being an overnight host is a terrific hands-on opportunity to work directly with clients. Role includes having dinner with guests at 6:30 p.m. through serving breakfast the next morning.  (Staying awake all night is not required).  Singles over 21, couples, small families (limited sleeping space) all welcome.  We’re especially looking for people who could commit to one or two nights per month.  Overnight hosts are eligible for a $25/night stipend.

If this sounds like something you might like to do, please contact Rachel, the volunteer coordinator, by e-mail or phone (404.377.5365)

Central Night Shelter: This Thursday

Columbia is signed up to stay Central Night Shelter this Thursday evening. We arrive around 6pm and stay until 6am (times are flexible). Because someone has to stay up all night, it is a great way to get some work done and/or spend time with friends. The shelter does have wireless if you need it for papers or homework.

This is also a great opportunity to meet and get to know people you might not otherwise ever run into. For more information, check out their website here. If you’re interested, e-mail Catherine Neelly.

Free David LaMotte Concert

David LaMotte, singer and songwriter, will be performing a free concert this Saturday evening (February 10th) at 7pm in the Harrington Auditorium. David has released 10 CDs and performed all over the country and on four continents. His music is folky and prophetic. Come hear this one of a kind performer this Saturday.

A love offering will be taken up for David’s charity in Guatemala.

Idealist.org

Idealist.org is a new website devoted to nonprofit and community outreach. Below is their description of what the website is all about and what you can do with it. Check it out:

Idealist.org is a project of Action Without Borders. In the site you will find:

• Over 58,000 nonprofit and community organizations in 165 countries, which you can search or browse by name, location, or mission. If your organization is not yet listed here, you can add it now (it’s free).
• Thousands of volunteer opportunities in your community and around the world, and a list of organizations that can help you volunteer abroad.
• The best Nonprofit Career Center on the web, with hundreds of job and internship listings.

In addition to searching and browsing, individuals can use Idealist to:

• Define what information you’d like to receive by email from among the job openings, volunteer opportunities, internships, events, and resources posted here by organizations all over the world.
• For example, you can choose to receive updates about job openings and environmental events in New Zealand, volunteer opportunities next summer in Chile, and human rights resources in Spanish, and receive all of this in no more than one personalized email per day.
• Design the perfect volunteer opportunity for yourself by setting up one or more Volunteer Profiles with your interests, skills, and schedule. These Profiles can then be searched by organizations in Idealist.
• Find people around the world who share your interests, goals, and ideas.

The Lantern Project

Interested in donating just a little bit of money and making a big difference? Check out the Lantern Project. They support small projects all around the world, where just a little bit of money will make a big difference. Below is more information from their website.

Lantern Projects is a non-profit organization that was established in 2003 to raise funds for small projects around the world. The projects request small amounts of funding for specific items. This enables adults and children an opportunity to contribute a small amount of funds and see that their funds really make a difference in someone’s life.

Donations are tax deductible and 100% of the donations go to the projects. Projects are found through the international schools, service organizations, such as Rotary and personal contacts. There is a personal known contact for each project. Recipients agree that 100% of the funds they receive will be used for the intended project. If applicable, associated organizations are listed in the description so that donors can obtain additional information. The project items are purchased in the locale. This assists the local economy and it avoids shipping costs and problems.

The name Lantern Projects was based on a project for a school in rural Kenya where they needed lanterns in order to be able to study at night. The lanterns cost $10.00 a piece. Some teachers, students and administrators got together and raised funds. Everyone saw how a small amount of money could make a big difference. The lantern symbol lead to the motto of “bringing the light of hope to others.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CHECK OUT SOME OF THE PROJECTS THEY’RE WORKING ON NOW:

#74: Medicine and Winter Coats, Laos, $2.50 will buy a warm jacket and $50.00 will purchase medicines for one year for children at the Luang Prabang Orphanage where 350 children from 7 to 16 years of age live. Many children have lost their parents due to unexploded bombs left over from the Viet Nam war.

#75: Helmets, Gloves and Jackets, Guatemala, $53.00 will provide a motorbike helmet, $33.00 will buy a pair of gloves and $55.00 will purchase a protective jacket for local outreach health care workers. They travel to the remote regions to identify patients for needed surgeries, which are available free of charge to poor people. Rotary is raising funds for the motorbikes.

#76: Feminine Supplies and School Supplies, Zimbabwe, $3.50 will buy a packet of sanitary napkins; $8.50 will buy a pencil, pen, and textbook or exercise book. Most girls in Zimbabwe lack basic resources, which are vital in assisting them with their education. If they do not have these supplies, they do not go to school. Associated Organization: International Child Resource Institute.

#77: School Tables, Chairs and Workbooks, India, $35.00 will provide a table and $10 will buy chairs constructed by village carpenters in Samthar; India. $10.00 will purchase a student workbook for an English for Young Learners classroom. Associated Organization: Project Awake and Shine

To donate to a project, click here.

Central Night Shelter: Volunteers Needed

Central Night Shelter is in need of volunteers tonight (Sunday the 14th) through Wednesday night (the 17th). If you can help, send an e-mail and let me know. Here’s their website for more information.