I am a lucky woman.
Healthy, married to a wonderful man, with freedom to travel and to write? It doesn’t get any better than that.
Yet my life was not always so charmed. In my lifetime, like most people, I have dealt with my share of problems: illness, financial problems, difficult relationships, and more. Not a human being on this planet escapes without some level of suffering, and I’ve had my share.
Those problems, though, have brought me a deep sense of gratitude for the life I have now, as well as the desire to share some of our abundance.
One of our favorite non-profit organizations is DonorsChoose. Founded in 2000 by Charles Best, a history teacher, DonorsChoose allows hard-working teachers to post classroom projects to the website, where donors like me (and you!) can contribute.
We’ve been involved since 2009. My husband’s company, SAS, provides matching funds to our donations, allowing us to help many teachers get the resources they need to do their jobs well.
Last week we visited the DonorsChoose offices in Manhattan, where we got a firsthand look behind the scenes! We met with Margie Cadet, Marketing Manager, who gave us a tour of the offices. They are bright and cheerful, with lots of open space and natural light. The organization is growing by leaps and bounds thanks to board members such as Stephen Colbert and Oprah Winfrey, who use their celebrity to promote this fine organization.
Teams work to connect donors with teachers, but also to connect teachers with vendors who will offer the best prices for materials. When a teacher puts a project on the website, it’s open for four months (or until it’s fully funded). DonorsChoose also works with corporate partners who provide matching gifts. Working together, we can leverage donations to allow more projects to be funded…and the better educated our children are, the better off we are as a country.
If you know a teacher who, like many, dips into his or her own pockets to buy school supplies…or if you are looking for a great organization to support, consider DonorsChoose.org.
Maybe, like me, you already know about DonorsChoose. Won’t you help me spread the word?
