$1 Million Votes: Chase Community Giving

On November 15, 2009, Chase Bank launched its first round of voting with its Chase Community Giving application on Facebook. Given almost a full month, Facebook users voted for their 20 favorite charities. The top 100 charities from this first round received $25K and the opportunity to advance to the next round. This first round was difficult because I had to think of charities on my own instead of being able to easily search a list. I ended up focusing on local charities and any big name charities that I already supported.

Round 2 is now gearing up. Each of the Top 100 charities from Round 1 have been given the opportunity to update their profile on Chase Community Giving with pictures, logos, a video, and answers to short questions. Voting for Round 2 starts on January 15, 2010 and goes through January 22. Each Facebook user can add the application and vote for 5 charities in this second round of Chase Community Giving

Going through the charity sites made me realize my own priorities when it comes to charity organizations. While I really want to make a difference abroad, it is too big a task so I want to focus on charities that fix problems in my own backyard first. I focus on charities serving the youth because they are the future. I focus on charities that are clear with voters about how they will use the funds and use them in ways that I see as likely to make a difference.

Who will I vote for?

(Note that the links for each charity go to the Facebook site which you will need to log in if you wish to see more information)

Kiva Microfunds

It should come as no surprise to my readers that I plan to support Kiva with one of my Chase Community Giving votes. I have written articles here and here about Kiva and plan to write more. Kiva is a microfinance charity. Users from around the world loan out $25 at a time to people needing loans to make their business run well. These people then repay their loans and the users get their money back to loan out again. I have already made 8 loans through Kiva.

East Harlem Tutorial Program

The East Harlem Tutorial Program gets my vote for several reasons. I highly value programs that work with youth. This charity has been working for 50 years serving its community. It is respected and has already made a significant difference. This charity has also expanded to meet the need. Right now these students have been able to get into college but not graduate. Many low-income students are struggling with staying in school. I almost didn't make it through my undergraduate curriculum due to financial concerns myself. Education can make a big difference in the lives of low-income youth. To survive in today's culture, these students have needed to have their wits about them. By providing an education to these students, we are providing them with the opportunity to put those wits to their best use.

Teen Living Programs Inc

No charity touched my heart like the video for Teen Living Programs Inc. This organization works with homeless youth of Chicago. They currently serve 500 of approximately 2,000 homeless youth between the ages of 13 and 21. They recently decided that getting the kids off the streets was a top priority so they reorganized their facility causing offices and services to be squished or temporarily eliminated. Teen Living Programs gets my vote because I trust them to fulfill the plan they set out and I have faith that this plan will make a big difference in the lives of Chicago youth. Being a teenager is hard enough without having to cope with homelessness and the circumstances that caused homelessness. I'm voting for Teen Living Programs to tell these kids that I trust them to use the services and equipment that comes from this prize wisely and with care. All kids are the future, not just the ones whose bright future we can forecast.

National Youth Rights Association

From anecdotal experience I have noticed that concern and engagement in politics has an interesting spike half way through high school. Many of my friends were itching to vote at 16 or 17 years of age. They thought about the issues, considered other viewpoints and made rational decisions about them. You may think that this is rare but what I've found is that those who are not thinking through the issues at 16 are not doing so at 18 either. National Youth Rights Association is about getting youth involved in their rights and exercising the political process to fight for their rights. Even if their end goals are not achieved, the process of striving for them has a positive impact on the youth of this country. I want a country of young people who care about what their political leaders are doing, who exercise their rights and know effective and legal ways to fight injustice. For this future, I give a vote to National Youth Rights Association for the $1 Million Chase Community Giving.

GLSEN Inc

GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) seeks to eliminate bullying and harassment in schools. Students have the right to a safe environment for education but many queer students don't have this benefit. One major problem is that students often do not report incidents because they fear they will not be supported. GLSEN hopes to send a Safe Space Kit to every middle school and high school in America. This kit would provide some basic training, ideas and safe space stickers for teachers and counselors. Displaying a "Safe Space" sticker has and can help students realize they have at least one safe faculty member they can talk to. I support this simple but far reaching goal. GLSEN has my vote for Chase Community Giving so that all students can go to school without harassment and receive proper services when their rights are impinged upon.