I received a thank you card today for a monetary donation I made to the Ohi`a Domestic Violence Shelter this past Christmas. Our company was trying to raise enough money to build them a kids playground at their facilities.

For those that don’t know about it, the shelter:

offers a safe and confidential facility for women and their children who can no longer remain in their homes because of domestic violence. 

I hope this year we can do more to assist them as its a cause worth supporting. Contact me if you would like more info or a contact person at the shelter, thanks!

This article caught my attention this morning, “Oregon cancels Special Olympics“. From the article:

Marc Bourett, with the Special Olympics Oregon, says donations were down 30 percent and expected grants have fallen through, so the board of directors made the tough call.

How could this happen? I mean, even in a recession, the Special Olympics needs to go on. I volunteered once as a timer for the track event and saw first hand the dedication and devotion the athletes have. Since then we’ve donated about once a quarter to this cause.

It’s very unfortunate … I hope someone with cash to spare decides to donate and revive the Special Olympics.

This past December the company I work for, Archinoetics, worked at the Lokahi Tree warehouse for a few hours. Other then the fact that I was sick and the place lacked any semblance of air conditioning, it was a very rewarding experience.

For 2 hours we basically stuffed stockings with donations. There were a ton of t-shirts from Harley Davidson and we sorted them by size the stuffed them stockings. I wanted to take photos but in my cough medicine induced haze I forgot. Not to mention I had a fever and that place was super hot, I thought I was gonna pass out…

This year our company put together a committee to work on charitable work and donations. I’ll keep everyone posted as to what we do this year, it’s sure to be a rewarding and fun list.

After participating in the 2008 Blogger’s Challenge with DonorsChoose.org, I received a $25 donation card. I’ve decided to donate it to this project. From the project page:

My students need materials for Lego education projects. Materials include items such as Legos and Lego education supplies. These materials are essential to differentiating learning, to meet the varied needs of my kinesthetic learners. In addition, my students love to play with Legos and will be excited to use them as a learning tool.

I’m donating $25 right now, please help this cause if you can. Thanks and Happy New Year!

Brian