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I highly recommend we donate a portion of our volunteering proceeds to Room to Read, a non-profit organization that “envision[s] a world in which all children can pursue a quality education, reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world.” Its motto is “World Change Starts with Educated Children.” I agree with their mission – by providing education and literacy to children who wouldn’t have otherwise received it, we can break mass cycles of poverty and starvation. As the world population eclipses 7 billion people, it is imperative that we do not let children slip through the cracks. The scale and potential consequences of not addressing the world’s future are enormous. I would argue that through Room to Read these millions of educated children may not just lift up the communities around them. They may ultimately provide the solutions to many of the other crises our planet faces.

CharityNavigator, a website which audits and rates charities on their overhead efficiency and other factors, had plenty of positives on Room to Read. It gives a 4 out of 4 financial score as well as 4 out of 4 on Accountability & Transparency. For a full breakdown, please visit: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=10217 as well as Room to Read’s own website: http://www.roomtoread.org/. Room to Read is based all over the globe with hundreds of selfless, dedicated, and result-driven volunteers. So far, they have addressed several noble goals and impacted over 6,000,000 children. Their programs include:

• Gender Equality through Girl’s Education – 13,667 participants who have received material support, training, and mentorship
• School Construction – 1,450 quality schools to provide a proper learning environment
• Book Publishing – 591 custom books for literacy in specific regions
• Libraries – 12,522 locations stocked with local and English language books
• Books Distributed – 10,000,000+ since Q3 2011

As students who are fortunate to receive higher education at a reduced cost in a first world country, it is our duty to reach out and change the lives of those who do not have the same opportunities. That is why I suggest we donate to Room-to-Read.

Avi Atkin

The charity I would like us to donate to is UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF is widely known for its effort in the humanitarian relief work for children through various methods of fundraising. The good word on UNICEF has been spread out through advertisement and many people and organizations have been trying their best to support the cause. As UNICEF states, more than 20,000 children die each day and they have been working for more than 60 years and in over 100 countries to stop this disaster. UNICEF’s goal is to make sure that every child has the health and education they need in order to survive.
According to UNICEF, the Horn of Africa is experiencing the most threatening humanitarian crisis. UNICEF has recently teamed up with Threadless (threadless.com/UNICEF) to host a fundraiser. If you check the site, you can get a cool shirt that corresponds to the amount of money you donate. Not to worry, all the money donated goes straight to charity. The design on the shirt represents what you have helped UNICEF aid to the Horn of Africa. For example, the shirt with the mosquito design on it symbolizes insecticide-treated mosquito nets (according to UNICEF, mosquito-borne malaria is the third largest cause of death of children in the world) while the shirt with the airplane design symbolizes a cargo flight. Even if we can’t donate enough money for a cargo flight, even a simple mosquito net can make a huge difference. So instead of going after those $70 shoes at the mall, why not get a cool shirt and save many lives with a vaccine for only about $25?

Setting that aside, UNICEF generally works to save the lives of children. It is considered one of the best charities that are continuously working to make a change, so let’s do our part in aiding them.

The charity that i would like to donate to is called “New York Cares.” This charity was founded by a group of friends who wanted to take action against serious social issues that faced our city in the late 1980s. Finding few options to help, they created their own organization to address the problems from the ground up. New York Cares is the city’s largest volunteer organization, running volunteer programs for 1,200 nonprofits, city agencies and public schools. The reason i chose this charity is because it does not just focus on one specific issue, it tries to recruit people to make a difference on a number of social problems that we are facing here in New York.

For example, the latest event that New York Cares had was a Coat Drive. This was a very successful event as they collected a lot of coats in many locations all over Manhattan. Since winter is approaching, these coats will be given to those who cannot afford them. The recipients of these coats were very happy and proud of this organization since it showed them that there are people out there who still care and can make a difference to go that extra mile to support the unfortunate.

New York Cares has a lot more events that help so many New Yorkers. This is why i am so fond of this organization and would like to choose it as the charity that i would donate it.

The charity of my choice is “charity:water”. Many of us most likely never experienced prolonged thirst because we can simply purchase a bottle of water or drink from a water fountain. However, 1/8 of the population do not have access to the same sources that we have because the town that they live in has only a muddy swamp to be used as a water source. In order to get water, they have to travel miles and wait on line for 8 hours to get water from a well or even to dig in the sand to find water. Water is considered one of the necessities we need in order to survive and it does not take much money to help. Approximately $20 per person can help bring water to millions of people. In addition, water can be stored for a very long time, thus making it possible for it to stay stale even in harsh weather conditions. The laborious process of getting water demands help from children even at the young age of 10 to lug around 80 pounds of water to and from the source and back to their home. This is not only dangerous, but is unnecessarily painstaking just to obtain water.

The charity to which I would like to give the money that we make to is: The Lance Armstrong Foundation, LIVESTRONG. The charity was founded by cancer survivor Lance Armstrong.
– The money collected goes to the help of the recovery process after cancer for the survivors. This includes programs for physical, social, and psychological recovery of cancer survivors, much needed programs to ensure the health of the survivors after their win with the battle.
– The money given is also spent on more research to further help gain more knowledge and as a result more ways of fighting cancer and advancements in medicine and technology to improve the chances of surviving.
– The foundation also helps those fighting through cancer. It gets them the help that they need to ensure that they survive.

As you can see, the foundation helps those who really do need our help. Without the LIVESTRONG foundation, these peoples’ lives would be in danger. With the help of donors, the foundation makes it its priority to help cancer patients and those who have survived to ensure healthy life ahead of them. The foundation also invests money into much research to better these procedures and thus have higher chances of survival for the diagnosed patients. A close family member of mine was diagnosed with cancer, but thankfully recovered and went through a long recovery process after. I’m sure many of you may know someone, someone’s family, or even your own family who is diagnosed with cancer and battling through it. The time to help them is now with our donation to a foundation whose sole purpose is helping those affected by cancer.

The charity I would like to donate the money is to the Pakistan Flood victims via UNICEF and this is why. This year as I started to watch the news more, I realized that there was very minimal coverage of the devastating flood that occurred in Pakistan. I, honestly, cannot fathom the thought that this wrath of Mother Nature’s brought more destruction than Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti and Chile – combined.  Yet, it is still not on the cover of every magazine or newspaper; it is simply being swept under the rug.  From this, it made be realize that the reason why it was not covered in the United States as much is because it is an Islamic nation and unfortunately there is a sort of prejudice towards the nation due to the horrific events of 9/11. However, I know that even though it isn’t getting the media coverage that it deserves, we have to do something and we can make a difference. By donating this money it will make a difference to the 15,000 children whose schools and homes were washed away down to the thousands of countless families who cannot even receive clean drinking water.

Alexandra Bauer

Hello Professor Neal,

I would like to let you know that I was sick last Thursday and had to go to the doctor. I will bring a doctor’s note to show you. I would be very grateful if you allowed me to reschedule the midterm exam I missed.

Thank you for your time,

David Zakaryan

Freshman Seminar, Thursday 9:45

Dear Ms. Neal,

I just woke up and I am feeling extremely sick. I’m still not sure whether or not I’ll make it to class on time. If not, I’ll be sure to bring a doctor’s note. I would really appreciate it if you would let me take the midterm on another day. Thank you.

-Tasnim Chowdhury

Freshman Seminar 1000, FRO, Thursdays

Hello Professor Neal,

After working on my e-mail assignment that is due tomorrow, I don’t know who I should write it to. I thought about it for a while and I was wondering if you have an idea for who I should write it to. Thanks!

Hello Professor Neal,
                    I was didn’t get to copy down the homework that’s due monday, could you please give me the textbook pages and problem numbers.
                                           
                                             Thank you for your time.
                                             Math 2207 KMWD, 2: 55