Once, Twice, Three Times a Colbert-y

I suspect Mr. Colbert was again doing some late night snooping on this site the other night. After seeing my appeal for DonorsChoose.org, he decided to invite Craig Newmark on his show. Newmark, of http://www.craigslist.com , is a strong supporter of DonorsChoose. The website got some serious mention during the interview.

Here's the funny interview . . .

The Challenge

As I previewed last week, today is Blog Action Day. What's neat is that there's no guarantee blogs can really deliver on a philanthropic/civic-minded project. There are many isolated examples of success, but nothing systemic. But this is an advantage. Free of the shackles of what's worked in the past, each blogger can try something different in the hopes of supporting this year's theme, the environment.

My method is to promote DonorsChoose.com. DonorsChoose let's lets teachers create proposals for projects that need funding. Potential donors visit the site, browse through potential projects, and can choose to fund all or part of a project.

DonorsChoose . . .

• Rewards teachers for creative ideas and articulate proposals.
• Provides a forum for donors who are searching for something out of the ordinary.
• Combines the ease of online money transfer with the spontaneity of donating to a good cause.

To align with this year's theme, I have selected one science-minded project from the hundreds on DonorsChoose. I hope you will consider donating to it. Perhaps, together, we can fully fund this project.

I selected this project because

• It helps a teacher in a district where 84% of the students, due to povery, are on a free lunch program. By comparison, my high school, High Point, is at about 5%.
• It helps a Los Angeles teacher who is in the Teach for America Corps. Teach for America is a noble effort to increase the number of highly-qualified teachers in classrooms and hopefully keep them there for good.
• The project is already partially funded. This is important to me because it emphasizes that if everybody chips in a little bit, even if they're complete strangers, great things can be accomplished.
  
• It aims to put some actual objects in the hands of science students. As a visual learner myself, I can appreciate this.
  
• The teacher's proposal uses the word "realia." Therefore, it helped me learn a new word.
  

If nothing else, I hope you look at the neat things going on over at DonorsChoose.com.

Now I know some of you are saying, "Curtis, if I give enough money to fully fund the project, then nobody else will have the opportunity to donate to it. Therefore, I probably shouldn't give any money at all." That's hogwash. Stop saying that.

The project is $332 $297 short of it's its goal. Please consider clicking below and reading about the project. Then, consider chipping in some funds. According to DonorsChoose, if it's fully funded, every donor receives not only a personal thankyou, but the teacher is given a disposable camera to take pictures of how your money is being spent. Please click below to look at the challenge I've created.

Help Public School Kids by Funding my Challenge at DonorsChoose