A perfect idea for a gift

Trust our old friend Andy to introduce us to something new for the holidays.
Andy’s a former bureau chief for The Associated Press who is retired these days thanks to serious, mind-bogglingly painful arthritis. Though he’s in a wheelchair much of the time and has hand controls to get around in his car, he stays amazingly active, teaching citizenship classes, working with Iranians who have fled their country because of their political views, coaching high school journalism students, and acting as a docent in an art museum.
Any conversation with Andy is humbling because he’s so completely undaunted by the challenges he is facing. He’s always able to step life up to the next level.
And he’s done it again.
The email arrived last week.
“Connie and Jack,” it read, “Thanks for being such good friends over the years. I think you’ll enjoy finding a classroom that can use your help. Andy.”
The email told us Andy had made a donation in our name via a website called DonorsChoose.org.
So, what the heck was this all about?
We clicked on the link and soon found out.
DonorsChoose.org is a clearinghouse for teachers in classrooms all across America who could use a little help from their friends. They might be short on supplies. They might need a new piece of technology. They might need books. They might even need chairs, which is a sorry commentary on the state of public education funding in the U.S. today.
What the website does is allow folks to find a project that pushes their buttons and help.
What Andy had done is make a gift in our name, then let us decide where that gift should go.
To a special needs classroom in Mississippi? To an English as a second language class in Illinois? To a science project in a charter school in Minnesota?
The choice was ours.
When we followed the link, we were given so many options it was hard to know where to start. We could search for needy classrooms by state, by city, by subject matter, by poverty level, or by the intensity of their need. Some projects had come up with matching funds that would essentially double our donation, or more accurately Andy’s donation in our name.
Obviously, we started searching close to home. But there were no Jay County classrooms listed, nor any in Fort Recovery. Either we’re doing a pretty good job meeting their needs already or folks haven’t heard about the website.
We checked out New Hampshire, where Connie’s family has had a cabin for nearly 100 years, but found nothing related to any of the towns we know.
Then we headed west.
Andy lives in LA so we started looking at classroom needs there.
Two things were striking: There is plenty of need, and it feels really good to be making a donation with money that someone is providing as a Christmas gift.
Finally, we found what we think is the right choice. It’s a science class (Connie’s field) in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The teacher is part of Teach for America, and the school is a charter school called College Ready Academy. It’s in a high poverty area. And the money is going to purchase scientific glassware that can be used by chemistry classes for years to come.
On top of that, our gift from Andy will be matched by an outfit called the Wasserman Foundation. And since we’re matching Andy’s gift in our name with one from us in his name, his initial generosity is multiplied by a factor of four.
How cool is that?
If you’re still looking for the perfect Christmas gift, check it out: www.donorschoose.org/.[[In-content Ad]]