Giving Back

[bitspike]

I've been a student for many, many years.  Though I've been entitled to concessions from the government, and managed to score myself a well paying one-day-per-week job, I've learned to live simply and not spend my money on crap.  Early on I had a lot of trouble not going over budget on food even though I was buying the cheapest vegan food available

Comments

[dagda_ollathir]

i would suggest sea shepard & kiva as others have....

national-group wise, i would also suggest PCRM.

tho i'd strongly suggest looking into any small local groups in your area or outside of it- there are a lot of hard working local AR groups that do great work and don't have much funding, so they could really benefit.

[matt_nothing]

lol if you're suggesting PCRM i'll suggest WAR

www.war-online.org

so there.

[leah_loves]

Um, who is to say I am American?

[matt_nothing]

American, Russian, Croatian or Martian, the fact remains: bitspike's spelling was correct.

[prettyobserver]

I have a suggestion:

Give me, and people like me, a monthly ethical vegan allowance. I can hardly afford bus fare, and food banks give beans and canned veggies when you're lucky, and are coming up nutrient-deficient in any number of ways. So many organizations have ample funding, and so many people, like me, are being forced to eat crap for economic reasons and are seeing the physical results.

I am dreaming I know... but it's an idea you might try locally?

[tin_foil_hat]

*bounces around locally* >_>

Star Trek allowance. It's totally legit because they are vegan (well, they eat animal products, but they're replicated, so perhaps not vegan depending on which definition is being employed. Though Voyager has to be at least mostly animal product free because they have replicator rations. I'm not sure what Starfleet crews do when they eat with other cultures though, given their stance that it is cruel and barbaric, you'd presume they go vegan)!

[bizwac]

Some might say you have no life.

but others might say you're AWESOME!!!!

*imagines Picard and Data, eating a nice vegan meal before getting it on*

[bitspike]

If you watch season 7, you don't just have to imagine it!

[vegetus]

Oh wow I got this like 4 times on my friend-list- you must love me! :) Also I'm not going to repeat the suggestions of others

[bitspike]

It should only be three times, but yes, I did it specifically because I love you =)

"Is there any particular issue that you would like to donate to/ is important for you?"

I think I'd be most interested in supporting things which prevent problems rather than deal with their current consequences - although I do believe helping current animals/people in need is very important. I'd prefer to help 'change' the world, rather than just try to fix it, though often the latter does force the former. (Hope that makes sense.) Any ideas?

*bookmarks your suggestions*

Thanks for the help!

[vegetus]

Yes it was three, I can't count!

I totally get what you mean about changing rather than fixing things. Funding for a decent humane education or environmental education program would be awesome. I think the best HE programs that run in Australia are with RSPCA Qld. And yeah it's the RSPCA so there are welfare not rights orientated.

Actually Save Animals From Explotation (SAFE) in New Zealand are an animal rights group who do amazing work in education. They produce and distribute heaps of free resources in schools, particularly secondary schools which usually get forgotten about.
http://www.safe.org.nz/Education/

[bizwac]

Would you class the Grameen Bank/Kiva as being preventative or fixing current problems?

I was thinking that it's kind of fixing stuff, but then I think it's more long-term helping, which kind of prevents other stuff. Like it's getting people back on their feet and self-sufficient, rather than just giving people food but they have to keep needing aid.

Kind of like the (non-vegan) saying:
Give a man a fish, he eats for a day
Teach a man to fish, he eats for ever.

[bizwac]

I was going to suggest the Grameen Bank, but it seems they no longer ask for donations. Though I don't know if they'd let you lend money to specific people/projects, or if you would just have to give money to them and let them decide who it goes to (and so it could go to livestock farmers).

...so... in conclusion, this comment was not helpful. Thank you.

[bitspike]

You're welcome =)

I'll have a look into them anyway. Even if I can't donate the way I want, I'm very interested in how organisations like that work.

[vegetus]

There are other grassroots microfinance groups out there as well.

[bitter_moss]

Thankyou for this post, it's so nice to see someone else wanting to give back ♥. Plus i'e been wondering some of this stuff myself so i'm bookmarking. Let us know how you go with any of the charities/investing :).

[bitspike]

I kept this response in my inbox so I could reply to it eventually. Procrastination is a good enough excuse