STRATEGIC ACTS DONATION — MAY 2017
On the 9th of every month, the anniversary of the morning after the 2016 election, we will donate to an organization engaged in the hard work of standing against and undoing the damage of the presidency a minority of voters put into place. In tribute to Hillary Clinton’s greater share of the popular vote, we will donate $48.20 to the organization in question and invite others to join us in doing the same. The original post that explains it all is here.
Above: A screenshot from a short video by the organization World Orphans.
We often look to the front page of the daily newspaper to find inspiration for our monthly donations, surveying the current administration’s astonishing procession of offenses against the planet, the citizenry, and the government itself. If anything, there is an overabundance of organizations that stand poised to fight back against or at least compensate for the repugnantly giddy perpetuation of injustice that the current administration engages in with the regularity of a well-calibrated ticking clock.
For this month, though, we’re trying something a little different. This donation still represents a forceful response to the action (or callous inaction, perhaps) of the current administration, but we come to it along a more personal path.
The details are too convoluted to share at length, but the basics begin with this fact: our household was one of many caught up in the bursting of the housing bubble and fierce economic downturn spurred by the greed of others several years ago. We have spent the better part of a decade trying to claw our way out of the hole that collapsed beneath our feet. And we were lucky, far luckier than others.Â
Once we packed up the truck and moved back to Wisconsin, the wreckage of those days dogged us, making it difficult to purchase a house, especially in a real estate market as competitive as the one in which we reside. Even still, we pushed on, largely boosted by the support and encouragement of those who could see possibilities that eluded us. After over a year of hunting and negotiating, I type this update from a house we just recently moved into.
We worked with very good people to get here. That includes our buyer’s agent. Shortly after the whole deal closed, she informed us that not every dollar she earned in the transaction would go to her own bank account, at least not for long. She automatically donated a portion of all of her commissions to a group called Before 16.
“Before 16 is a local organization that provides funds to families that host orphans from Latvia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan,” she wrote to us.Â
Besides her financial support, our buyer’s agent gave to the organization what was needed most: her time, her home, her heart. She and her family have already opened their lives to two of those orphans in need. There’s even a testimonial from her on the organization’s website.Â
The organization’s name refers to the age at which orphans “age out” of the system. If they haven’t found a home by then, the likelihood that they will face a grim reality is dishearteningly likely. In heartbreaking numbers, these youth — still children by any reasonable measure — will wind up trapped in a life of crime. Or worse. Before 16 is committed to intervening before it reaches that point, delivering these orphans a better present that can turn into a far better future.Â
From the organization’s website:Â
They further note: “Many potential hosts and adoptions are derailed because of funding, and that is why we strive to aid the process by providing grants.  Once a child gets hosted, their chance of getting adopted rises from less than 1% to nearly 70%.  We find a surge of hope in being able to have that type of opportunity  to care for a child's life.”
That’s why we’re giving Before 16 our May 2017 donation of $48.20.
If you have the means, we humbly ask that you join us in doing so. DONATIONS CAN BE MADE AT THE BEFORE 16 WEBSITE.
