My husband and I stopped exchanging gifts a few years ago. Instead, we donate and do something fun, like see a play. That’s great: no shiny new books to add to the teetering tower of unread tomes, no scarves to add to the basket overflowing with these, and especially no complicated kitchen equipment to look reproachfully next to. this never used air fryer I got from a neighbor on Freecycle. Whether or not you give gifts to your loved ones, here are some suggestions for your end-of-year gifts.
1. Give directly. What do low-income people need? Money! That’s the idea behind GiveDirectly, which sends stipends of around $40 a month for three years to poor villagers in Uganda, Liberia and other African countries. It’s amazing the difference that small amount makes. For the price of your weekly deli and soda sandwich, recipients can pay for their children’s school fees, fix their homes, start a small business, or get medical care.
2. The Bail Project. The cash bond system is completely unfair. Got the money? Go home. Do not do it? Stay locked up. Not only does this keep prisons full of people who have not been convicted of a crime, but it prevents those people from working their cases effectively, separates them from their families, jobs and schooling, and can destroy their lives even if they end up being found not guilty. The Bail Project is simple: it pays your bail, and after the trial, the money goes back into the kitty to help the next person. So far, it has bailed out more than 26,000 people. Help them to help more.
3. Afghan Women’s Fund. Do you remember Afghan women? Despite fierce Taliban repression, which even bans them from visiting amusement parks, they continue to fight for basic education, health care and equity in one of the world’s worst countries for women. . Though it must work with care—two of its volunteers have been murdered and one has been tortured—AWF perseveres, sending school supplies for girls to use at home, helping women use their skills in sewing for a living and keeping local elementary schools running. . Plans are underway for a new program that could bring education within reach of tens of thousands of Afghan girls and young women. “The struggle continues,” says Fahima Gaheez, AWF Founder and Leader, “and we will overcome this brutality.
4. Funds related to abortion. There are plenty, and the National Network of Abortion Funds has a list of where you can find some in your state. A few specific funds to check out are next.
5. Brigitte Wedding Ring helps women and others who have to travel for an abortion. He pays for everything except the procedure itself: transportation, accommodation, food, childcare, whatever it takes.
6. Indigenous Women Rise Up is the only Native American abortion fund. The need is great – due to the Hyde Amendment, the procedure is not performed on reservations and many Native Americans are low income and live far from clinics.
7. ARC-Southeast assistance with procedures, travel and logistical support in the great abortion desert that is the southern United States. With abortion bans proliferating since Dobbsthe pressure is strong and growing.
8. Access to Wellspring Health. Even before Dobbs, super-red Wyoming had no real abortion clinic, just a single provider prescribing pills for early terminations. Julie Burkhart aims to change that by rebuilding a clinic in Casper, which was unfortunately destroyed by an arsonist before it could open. Help Burkhart launch a mobile clinic to provide first-trimester medications and procedures while Wellspring rebuilds, and help her fight in court to overturn a pre-trimester anti-abortion law.deer days. The people of Wyoming need abortion care too!
9. Amazon watch. The world is on fire even as you read these words, so don’t wait until the next holiday to support those trying to save it. Amazon Watch fights to protect the Amazon region and the indigenous peoples who live there against multiple threats: mining, livestock, oil production. It performs a dual function, joining environmentalism to human rights.
10. Black voters matter. Did they ever! Without black voters, we would be deep into Trump’s second term and about to suffer six years of Senator Herschel Walker. This group fights disenfranchisement and other barriers to voting, registers voters and works to increase enthusiasm and participation. Unlike many state Democratic parties, BVM is in African American communities year-round and for the long haul. Fight racism and support democracy with a gift to these local organizers.
11. Draft Report on Economic Hardship. Barbara Ehrenreich passed away last September at the age of 81, which was way too soon, but her fighting spirit lives on in her books and articles, the many people she inspired, and in this organization she co-founded and supported for so many years. many years. The EHRP funds serious long-term journalism on working class struggles and victories and co-publishes the resulting stories with major news outlets such as USA today, The Guardianand Mother Jones. As the news industry becomes more corporate and high-end, we need these stories more than ever.
12. Freedom From Religion Foundation. With six of the Supreme Court’s nine justices being right-wing Christians, there’s no better time than the present to champion the separation of church and state. The FFRF is fighting the good fight, with lawsuits and public campaigns and, okay, some jokes and snark too. (Full disclosure: I am on the Honorary Board of Directors.) Join us!
13. Liber: a feminist journal. There were so many feminist literary journals, but most have folded. Released is a fresh and sparkling novelty, barely a year old. (Truth in advertising: I’m the poetry editor.) We’ve published some fantastic writers before: Bessie Head, Anne Carson, Catherine Stimpson, Alicia Ostriker, and many more. Next year is going to be even better, but we can’t stay alive without your help. Subscribe now for thought-provoking reviews, essays, interviews, fiction and verse from poets young and old.
14. Your local food bank, public library, public school, park, women’s shelter, etc. Look around you. There are needs everywhere. I live on the prosperous Upper West Side of Manhattan, but several times a week I see long lines of people gathered for food distributions in church pantries. The free store held every few months at a local church is always filled with people in need of clothing, toiletries and more. Have you become less social and more lonely due to Covid? Volunteering isn’t just a way to help your community, it’s also a great way to get out and make friends.
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