Wat Contribution?
Greetings from Siem Reap, Cambodia--home of Angkor Wat, the magnificent Hindu/Buddhist temples in the jungle! I've been here for two days. Seen the Wat. Dealt with the really annoying tourist-sales population "you want to buy t-shirt? no? you want to buy cold drink? ok, $1.00 for Coke can." Yes, and I've been royally screwed by tourist prices.
But that's not wat I'm writing about.
I'm writing about an idea that I'd like to bounce off you folks. See, our nice President has generously guaranteed aid money for Africa this year. $42 million of it, I believe. A pittance. To be fair, I have yet to read what exactly the aid will be for--details to be addressed. Anyway, the fact that the amount Mr. Bush wants to give is so trivial--especially in comparison to what the USA spends on other things--got me thinking.
Corporations sometimes match their employees' donations. So why don't we match Mr. Bush's donation?
So here's the idea. Set up a website, something like matchthepresidentsdonation.com, that is simply dedicated to raising $42 million in aid for Africa, with 100% of the proceeds going to whatever organization the Federal money goes to. Get some media coverage. Get the word out.
The objective?
1) Show what a pittance $42 million is, and encourage Mr. Bush (and our Congress) to dig a little deeper.
2) Contribute to the African aid efforts. Any of them. All of them.
Whaddaya think?
posted by Sameer | 5:46 AM
2 Comments:
I think you'd need to define what agency(ies) the money would go to, but I think it's a terrific idea. Let me know how I can help you set it up (once I get back from Cape Cod next weekend :-)).
yeah, it's a good idea. is it marketable? sure. will it have legs? as long as we get the word out and can show something that looks both impressive and not like a sleazy effort to dupe others into paying off our credit cards.
Problem with aid from this nation is both amount and the strings attached. For instance, aid groups on the ground in Africa, who are also most experienced in understanding the situation and making appropriate distributions have been systematically defunded during this administration because they distribute birth control - not even offer abortions necessarily, but distribute birth control. As a result, supply chains have been disrupted, connections severed, and communities which were making progress are sliding back into the Stone Age.
Further, billions in aid which was promised during the first term of this administration has yet to wend its way to the Dark Continent.
A good idea for distribution here might be to collect, and then piggyback on an organization which already has the connections and logistics established. As for raising funds, wristbands anyone?
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