So, I'm (t)-5 days until I reveal my inner baldness.
Nervous? Heck yeah.
Excited? Absolutely.
Curious? Off the charts.
Worried that because of how I designed this project, I will be bald for for a year or more?
Crosses my mind every friggin' day!
Freaked out that I may look more like Evan Handler than is comfortable? Hey you...get outta my psyche!!
I'm going to be bald until I raise $25,000 for charitable organizations.
See why I'm already planning my hat wardrobe for next winter?
Yeah. I know. Kinda crazy.
Contours of the Ransom Drop:
- At the $5,000 mark, I will donate my very long locks to Locks of Love (http://www.locksoflove.org)
Until then, the (n=100,000) x (30") of hair will be remanded to a Ziplock bag.
- I will NOT be growing my hair back until I raise another $20,000
People have suggested I aim lower.
No! (Though I appreciate the spirit of your concern for me in the suggestion.)
I decided that $0.25 per hair is absolutely reasonable ransom (I have approximately 100k hairs). Actually, I came up with the figure by asking myself "What's the minimum amount of money I'd take if someone walked up to me and asked if they could pay me to shave my head." So the way I see it, $25k is a low bar, because I didn't take into account the indecent proposal of shaving my head and staying bald for an extended period of time.
Donation Station -OR- How I helped Bevyn get her hair back
Though I am inspired to do this project by survivors of the ravages of cancer and mental illness, I am also psyched to declare war on apathy (see previous post). To do that, I realized I can't mandate where people choose to put their energy/money/time.
Thus:
- You may donate to ANY charitable organization that you believe betters the lives of humans, creatures, and/or the planet.
Does World Wildlife Fund or ASPCA count? YES!
http://worldwildlife.org/
http://www.aspca.org/
Surfrider Foundation or Greenpeace? YES!! Yes!!
http://www.surfrider.org/
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/
NAMI or Henry Street Settlement? YES PLEASE!
http://www.nami.org/
http://www.henrystreet.org/
A Village for One or Called to Rescue? I'd be honored!!
http://avillageforone.org/
http://www.calledtorescue.org/
(Research additional charities here: http://www.charitynavigator.org/ ) - Volunteer! If you are unable to contribute monetarily or are inspired to do both, report your volunteer hours. Each hour of volunteer work counts as $20.
(Research volunteer opportunities here: http://www.volunteermatch.org/ ) - Report/email/post: If you decide you would like to participate in my project, note your contributions of time/money by posting a comment on my blog with the following information:
Comment: Your first name, last initial. Organization. Amount of volunteer hours and/or $ dollar amount.
If you would rather email me that information, I can post it for you. I will also honor requests for anonymous donations of time/money via my email account (DRBevyn (at) gmail (dot) com). It would look something like this:
Dexter M. $50 A Village for One (www.avillageforone.org)
Anonymous 6 volunteer hours at Henry Street Settlement
This is also a way for you to give a shout-out to a worthy organization.
Love a charity or know a great place to donate time? Post it! Or email me and I'll post it!
Finally: there's nothing wrong with taking satisfaction in being public about your donations.
(I believe that the pride in doing something good for the world is a healthy thing and deserves to be acknowledged. You may differ from me on this, and if so, please ask me to post for you anonymously.)
One of the powerful things about donating "out loud" is that it creates an awareness that guides our own behavior; it's called Social Norming. When we see others do something, it changes the way we see it and impacts what we do. For good or for ill, it does. And when we give exclusively in quiet ways, other people miss out on the chance to see modeling of care-giving behavior to the world.
Just a thought.
One of the powerful things about donating "out loud" is that it creates an awareness that guides our own behavior; it's called Social Norming. When we see others do something, it changes the way we see it and impacts what we do. For good or for ill, it does. And when we give exclusively in quiet ways, other people miss out on the chance to see modeling of care-giving behavior to the world.
Just a thought.
Anyway, I promise to post photos of my baldness as shortly after I shave as I can.
Thanks for your interest, willingness, support...even your thoughts that I'm guano crazy. Attention getting is the first step to consciousness raising.
Mad love.
-bkr
(Please email your hours/donation amounts to: DrBevyn (at) Gmail (dot) com
(Please email your hours/donation amounts to: DrBevyn (at) Gmail (dot) com
I am committing $25 a month to one of my favorite organizations, Vibe of Portland. So proud of you. xoxo
ReplyDeleteAmanda! You're my first official donation...and a monthly committment is something AMAZING and I hadn't even thought of it! Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I LOVE this organization...thanks for supporting them and spreading the word!!!: http://www.vibeofportland.com/
xxo
Ok- so I am looking at the doing the following volunteer work..
ReplyDeleteFirst of all is to become a telephone counsellor to Lifeline. Once you have had the training, it is one night shift a month.
The second, and I have wanted to do this for some time is have Ashleigh assist me with volunteering in eldery nursing homes. Will have to see if they will allow this, but think its very important for young children to be raised with respect for the eldery. Many have no family or visitors, so if we can spend a few hours after school each week making cups of tea, or painting their nails it would be worth it.
I also have some good fundraising skills - a cousin entered last years London Marathon, to compete she had to raise $10,000. I did a wine tour and raised close to $900.
I'm sure I can manage to do something similar this year :-)
xx
Katsy! This is amazing! So, I have 2 volunteers then!!! And the training would count as volunteer hours, not to mention the shifts. Thank you! This is wonderful!! And I love the event idea. Depending on my progress, I might throw an event myself.
ReplyDeleteAnyone you can inspire to join you would be much appreciated (did I seriously just ask for more???!!!) Thanks and love!!!!!!!
I found buying vouchers on the Groupon deals (think thats what they call them over there), were great to fundraise. Many people are difficult to part with their cash, but if you make it to be that they get something in return, they are up for it. I purchased a bunch of full day wine tours with lunch. Normal price is around $100 pp. On a Groupon, they were around $42 pp. I sent an email out asking who would like a fun day out to raise money for $100 and everyone was up for it. I doubled what was originally spent and everyone had a brilliant time.
ReplyDeleteIf only I could get all the classes to give up 1 hour per week to volunteer at Ashs school. 900 students at $20 per hour, we would get your total in a few weeks ! :-P