2024 Stuff I Loved (Causes & Donations)
I’ll do a few of these posts over the coming days - quick lists of things I loved and things that kept me going in 2024. Call it a ranking, or just a collection. I know everyone does this kind of thing at the end of the year, but what can I say, I always enjoy reading them. I’d love to hear yours too.
Today: Orgs I Try To Support With Money & More
(I don’t have enough money to do “philanthropy” but I’m lucky enough to be able to give smaller donations to a good number of organizations doing work that aligns with my values. If I’m being honest, supporting good work makes me feel better than almost anything else I do. So there’s a self-serving element for sure. I would really love to hear about any orgs that you think are doing good work; and if you are in a position to support a cause like the ones below, please do!)
Housing Works (also the best place to donate clothing and more)
Center For Family Life (amazing org that also does a lot of work at my daughter’s school, where I’m on the PTA)
One Acre Fund (my sister Detta works here)
Wild Ones (we’ve done some events with them through my daughter’s school - reach out if you have little ones!)
South Brooklyn Mutual Aid (if you live in BK, come help out!)
What the heck, if you’ve read this far and want to support my daughter’s school and the PS516 PTA, chip in here!
Bonus: Media I Actually Pay For
(Gosh, it kinda feels like actually paying for media counts as a charitable donation these days. Ugh. Anyway, here are places that do important journalism, but I also feel good supporting them)
Radiotopia (duh! the fundraiser is still going hint-hint…)
and then there are all the substacks, bandcamps, etc etc.. I’m sure I’m missing a bunch.
Finally, a tip: if you’re out of ideas for gifts, consider a TisBest charity gift card. It lets someone pick a charity they want to support, and people love it. I get one for all the people I work with through Roulette Productions every year.
Hey Jody — great media list. I would also suggest DOCUMENTED, which will become even more necessary after January 20th… Also, a thought about WNYC in particular but this really applies across the board: these orgs that ask for audience donations need to be more transparent. At WNYC (which I also support), for example, what’s up with all the recent layoffs? Is the place in financial trouble? Is somebody’s
$25 or $250 or $2500 going to news coverage or to severance packages? When folks like Matt Katz and Nancy Solomon and Alana Casanova-Burgess are gone (or reduced), what newsroom am I donating to? It makes me angry to hear the fund drives without hearing about what’s going on.
I saw Nick Lowe play at housing works in 2007.