During all of 2007, I was technically unemployed. A mixture of EI, freelance work and tax rebates from the government (I never quite figured out how that all worked) kept me afloat.
In January, I got offered an eight-week contract at my favourite job, as a copy editor at The Gazette.
I'm still there.
Facing the continually impending unemployment that contract workers must always prepare for, I've been pretty responsible with my money, putting most of it away in the bank. It's gotten to the point where I can start considering things like RRSPs for the first time.
Being a bleeding-heart liberal, I'm also overcome with guilt that I'm not giving the money away to help homeless people or something. So, I figured, why not just go ahead and do that?
Rather than just cut a cheque, though, I figured I'd have a little fun with it, and involve the dozen or so people who read my blog.
My challenge
So here's the plan: One week from today (Saturday, Dec. 20), I will donate $1 for every subscriber to this blog's feed through web services that report such information (Google Reader, Netvibes, NewsGator, Bloglines) to Dans La Rue, a Montreal charity that helps street youth, up to a maximum of $1,000 (you know, just in case this hits Fark or something and I have to contemplate taking out a mortgage on a home I don't own just to keep my promise).
By my calculations, I have 383 subscribers through those four main feed readers already, which means I'm $383 in the can. Let's see how high I can push that number up (I'll be keeping a close eye on traffic and other indicators, so don't think about artificially inflating those numbers through fake subscriptions).
If you don't subscribe via RSS and don't know how, check out What is RSS and the video RSS in Plain English to explain it to you. My feed's address is http://blog.fagstein.com/feed/
Your challenge
Now this second part is, of course, entirely optional, but while you're getting me to donate a buck on your behalf, consider making a $10 donation on your own to a favourite charity. Don't make me give out those "cup of coffee" metaphors to show you how insignificant $10 is.
If you want a charity idea, here are my suggestions:
- Dans La Rue helps local street kids
- Welcome Hall Mission gives out free meals and provides beds and social programs for homeless
- The Gazette Christmas Fund gives out $125 cheques to low-income Montreal families to make their Christmases a little brighter
Let's work together to make Christmas merry for everyone. Especially my ego.
A true “bleeding heart” liberal does not give to charities. This is a job for the “trickle-down economy”, “supply-side economics” “compassionate conservatives”.
The “bleeding heart” liberal instead gives his money to the taxman, who then distributes it to those in need through a generous network of comprehensive social programs that, instead of only catering to the most popular causes, will leave no stone unturned.
I hope you get a lot of traffic, more money for a good cause. I will be giving my money to the Welcome Hall Mission, that was always the favorite charity of your great-grandmother.
[...] Last week, you’ll recall I promised to give $1 for each RSS feed subscriber (through Google Reader and other online applications that report them) to Dans La Rue, my charity of choice this year. [...]
[...] Last year, I found myself in the enjoyable position of having some extra money laying around, so I decided I'd give some of it to a local charity. Being a self-centred narcissist obsessed with attracting attention, I decided to tie it to the number of people subscribing to my blog. [...]
You're a pretty cool guy, Steve. For the blog and this gesture.