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You and Your Hair Stay Classy, Rod
Dec. 30th, 2008 03:21 pmThis year, I have been working at the Stanford Calling Center part-time to supplement my financial aid money. Twice a week, I call Stanford alumni and try to convince them to donate money to the Stanford Fund, which funds financial aid and undergraduate programs. A lot of the people I call don't want to give money because their finances are tight, and they think we aren't interested if they can't donate enough for us to name a building after them.
What I tell them most of the time is that we don't care how much they donate. Really, we don't. Big donors are great, and we couldn't do without them, but a hundred alums donating 50 dollars adds up. Every person who agrees to make a pledge, who gets involved, who doesn't blow us off, makes a difference, even if it isn't a huge one. Small donations matter.
Today I took my own advice, and donated $25 dollars to Planned Parenthood. It's not a lot of money. I wish it could be more. I wish I wasn't a poor college student getting by on financial aid. I wish I didn't have to watch my money so closely so that I have enough for tuition and textbooks and food. But I still won't be one of those people who say they support a cause and then never think about it again. Better my 25 dollars then nothing, right?
And that money will do good. It will help pay for birth control pills for a teenage girl who's smart enough to use protection. It will cover a little bit of expense on a pap smear so that a woman who doesn't have health insurance can know she doesn't have cancer. It will contribute to the cost of doing prenatal check-ups on a young mother. And yeah, maybe my money will pay in part for an abortion for a woman who doesn't feel like she has other options.
It's nice to feel like I'm doing something, even if it's not as much as I'd like.
In other news, Ken Starr and everyone else involved in the Prop 8 marriage nullification bullshit make me want to start punching people, and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich continues to rule the news cycle as the source of endless, if rather appalled, lulz.
What I tell them most of the time is that we don't care how much they donate. Really, we don't. Big donors are great, and we couldn't do without them, but a hundred alums donating 50 dollars adds up. Every person who agrees to make a pledge, who gets involved, who doesn't blow us off, makes a difference, even if it isn't a huge one. Small donations matter.
Today I took my own advice, and donated $25 dollars to Planned Parenthood. It's not a lot of money. I wish it could be more. I wish I wasn't a poor college student getting by on financial aid. I wish I didn't have to watch my money so closely so that I have enough for tuition and textbooks and food. But I still won't be one of those people who say they support a cause and then never think about it again. Better my 25 dollars then nothing, right?
And that money will do good. It will help pay for birth control pills for a teenage girl who's smart enough to use protection. It will cover a little bit of expense on a pap smear so that a woman who doesn't have health insurance can know she doesn't have cancer. It will contribute to the cost of doing prenatal check-ups on a young mother. And yeah, maybe my money will pay in part for an abortion for a woman who doesn't feel like she has other options.
It's nice to feel like I'm doing something, even if it's not as much as I'd like.
In other news, Ken Starr and everyone else involved in the Prop 8 marriage nullification bullshit make me want to start punching people, and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich continues to rule the news cycle as the source of endless, if rather appalled, lulz.