Contest to Help Provide Relief in Puerto Rico and/or US Virgin Islands & Charitable and Political Donation Accounting

I've been dealing with a lot of chores and other work with little exposure to new ideas or framing of ideas. I haven't even done much in the world of social media or working through my RSS feed, which some might welcome, but I like that kind of stuff. Most of my stimulation of thinking and ideas has come podcasts, which I've done a lot to catch up on, including changing to a longer bike route and foregoing morning NPR during funding drives and repetitive stories.

Some progress has been made in plowing through some Uncanny Magazine slush, but I can only speak for myself.

Whereas I've provided that minimal update (I also saw a preview screening for Professor Marston and The Wonder Women - plus on the sex positive and the portrayal of intolerance of the times but somewhat mixed feelings on the first parts regarding the portrayal of the power dynamics between the professor and student), I've decided to make this entry an accounting of my political and charitable donations since I last did so.

CONTEST FOR PUERTO RICO/US VIRGIN ISLANDS HURRICANE MARY RELIEF

Before doing so, though, I want to set up a contest based on my neglect of the Puerto Rico/US Virgin Islands Hurricane Maria relief initiatives. I have no good excuse. I will, however, run a short contest to try driving up some donating and help me decide where to put my money with your help.

I have a tendency, so I'll try to maintain the spirit of my conception while keeping the rules simple:

1. The contest will end Wednesday, October 25, 2017
   
   
2. I will budget a one-time $50 as base matching funds to an organization that works to provide relief to Puerto Rico and/or US Virgin Islands, preferably both, criteria provided in a later rule
   
   
3. I will increase that budget by an amount equal to how much money I recieve via ko-fi via my homepage at ko-fi. If you want to send me money for reasons unrelated to this contest, earmark the funds as "non-contest". Without the earmark, all funds donated until Wednesday, October 25, 2017 11:59 PM will go toward matching funds budget
   
   
4. I will match funds going to one or more organizations based on the following criteria:
   
   
   
   1. I won't put the funds toward the Red Cross or any other organization that I know has some tarnished reputation for how much actually goes toward relief vs administrative and other non-relief costs
      
      
   2. The organization that receives the most donations from you, my readers, will receive the most matching from me. I will donate either my budget or the amount donated by you to the same organization, whichever is lower. Even if your donations go higher than my budget, my decision will be based on the most value of donations to an organization will receive my highest preference
      
      
   3. If there is are ties as to what organizations have received the highest donation(s) from readers, I will then base my decision on two other conditions: the best reader made argument for the organization and the organization that strikes me as the most worthy, all by my own judgment
      
      
   4. If there is anything remaining in my budget after making a match, I will then match donations to the next organization that meets the rules above. I will continue through this process, matching budgeting funds to reader donations until my budget equals 0
      
      
   5. If my budget is more than the total amount donated by readers to relief organizations to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands for Hurricane Maria, I will pocket the remaining funds for myself
      
      
5. To enter your donations and organization into the contest, screen shot your confirmation or receipt for donation then e-mail it to me as an attachment, along with your agument for why this is the worthiest organization for matching funds to dummiester@gmail.com. If possible, please block out any routing, account, credit, or debt card numbers. I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE ANY EXPOSURE TO YOUR BANKING OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION!
   
   
6. After the contest deadline, I will post the results of where my funds went and a list of organizations and the arguments for these organizations. If you don't want me to publish your argument, note that in your e-mail when you send it to me. I will default to not posting any personal information, including online handles or aliases, unless you expressly ask me to post it along with any online or personal information that you would want to have posted alongside your argument
   
   
7. Let's make this a successful and fun contest!

MY ACCOUNTING OF CHARITABLE AND POLITICAL DONATIONS

• Uncanny Magazine: Estimated 10 hours
  
  
• Fair Elections Legal Network crowd source campaign called Restore Voting Rights in Florida!: $25 one-time pledge that helped them surpass their goal of $25,000.
  
  
• The Sierra Club Foundation via http://smile.amazon.com: $9.34 in 2017
  
  
• VstheUniverse: $2 per month, $16 so far in 2017.
  
  
• American Public Media's Marketplace: $7 per month, $63 so far in 2017. Started donating in 2016.
  
  
• The Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness: $5 per month totaling $10, first donation on 7/31/2017. Noticing that a donation wasn't made in September. I'll have to call them to check in.
  
  
• Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago: $5 per month totaling $15, first donation on 7/31/2017
  
  
• The Center for Popular Democracy: $5 per month totaling $15, first donation on 7/31/2017
  
  
• Chicago Public Media 91.5 WBEZ (NPR): $5 per month, $45 in 2017. Started donating in 2016.
  
  
• The NAACP: $5 a month, $45 so far for 2017.
  
  
• Youth Outreach Services: $4.56 per month, $41.04 in 2017. Unsure when I started donating.
  
  
• The National Alliance to End Homelessness: $5 per month, $45 in 2017. Unsure when I started donating.
  
  
• Doug Jones for Senate, the Democratic Nominee in Alabama running against Roy Moore: $5 per week, $30 in 2017. Started donating end of August 2017.
  
  
• Let America Vote, organized by Jason Kander (to fight voter suppression around the nation): $5 per month, $10 in 2017. Starting beginning of September 2017.
  
  
• Ameya Pawar's Illinois Gubernatorial Campaign (admittedly disappointed that he withdrew from the race the week after my donations, but I'll survive, it was worth it, and hopefully it will end up going to his One Illinois PAC): $63 one-time contributions in 2017.
  
  
• Per month total: $68.56 (+ $30 in "tips" to ActBlue). Total one time: $88. Grand total as of end of mid-October 2017: $421.04 (which includes some transaction fees/"tips" to ActBlue.

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