Charity Disparity (My 4th Quarter)

Yesterday when I wrapped up my totally awesome attempt at categorizing my 2012 into quarters I mentioned that I had declared the 4th quarter of 2012 as ‘Charity Disparity‘ due to the fact that previously in my life I had not only neglected, but actively avoided giving back to my community.

I’m not going to go full monty just yet with the charity work, but toss my shirt into the crowd gently to benefit causes that personally strike home and then the plan is to grow gracefully into an aging philanthropist societal role.

Let’s take a look at what I’ve got penciled in for the 4th quarter.

BIKE MS – Crusin’ The Crossroads

Saturday September 8th and Sunday September 9th 2012.

I remember raising funds for Multiple Sclerosis research when I was in grade school but back then MS was just this scary sounding disease that did not affect me personally. Fast forward to 2012 and the research funded in part by bike rides like these are rated near the top of my personal charity list as not only do I have several friends fighting MS there is someone for whom I care deeply afflicted with this stupid disease. I bought an expensive bike and was going to ride along with my friends Peter Dunn and Nicole Misencik but, alas, the crazy weather this summer coupled with the unexpected Drama Llama season seriously cut into my training time. This year I will simply be donating to their Team Ginger but next year, watch out!

Indy Pie Wars (Twitter)

September 24, 2012 at Indy City Market

I consider myself a good cook. I can whip up a artisian pizza pie or chicken carbonara without ever cracking a cookbook. However one discipline of food preparation in which I’ve never excelled is baking or pastries. That will change here in a week or two when I attempt to not only throw fruit filling into a frozen shell, but for the first time ever actually create the filling and shell from scratch.

Long time readers know that there are two things on earth I despise. Bananas and Sheeple. My personal belief is that education is the best way to create future generations of independent thinkers. Indy Pie Wars is a grassroots benefit to support the Indy School on Wheels program whose stated mission is to provide one-on-one tutoring and educational advocacy for school-aged children impacted by homelessness.

Beards for Breast Cancer (Facebook | Twitter)

October 2012.

I don’t know much about this program except that it is a local organization designed to allow men to raise awareness of that classless destroyer of our favorite things. I know that for the past couple of years the guys over at Fox 59 have grown their beards out and my friend Tracy Forner over at Indy Style kept getting in trouble from his management for doing the same. The rules seem simple enough: Be clean shaven on October 1st (goodbye soul patch), grow a beard for 31 days, donate money. I’m sure there are more rules, but anything that allows me to not shave for a month while still supporting the eradication of a nasty and vile disease that took my Mom from me way to early (age 59) gets my vote as a worthwhile charity endeavor.

Movember (Facebook | Twitter)

November 2012

“Changing the face of men’s health” Movember is another facial hair oriented campaign but this time it’s about growing mustaches to raise awareness about a silent killer of men, prostate cancer. Ben Risinger from DoIt Indy told me about this event and I’m still learning all the details that this campaign entails, but since I am one hairy beast, anything that involves me not shaving a part of my body for an extended period of time is a-ok in my book. And for the record, I think a mustache is a much better symbol of awareness for prostate cancer than, oh, say, a dark brown ribbon.

Salvation Army Bell Ringer (Facebook | Twitter)

November & December 2012

I don’t think I’m going to be a bell ringer myself per se but last year a couple of my Tweeps @BgKahuna and @CS_indy set the world record for longest continuous bell ringing. As luck would have it, we have video evidence:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pADBC5p6CN0[/youtube]

I’m not sure if they plan on trying to break the record again this year or not, but I’m sure they will be ringing those Salvation Army bells somewhere. I may just sit across Monument Circle and lob donuts and quarters at @BgKahuna to make him jiggly dance.

That’s my Charity Disparity plan of attack for the 4th Quarter of 2012. I’m sure there may be other chances to give back to the community during the next three and a half months and if I find something that strikes my fancy I’ll let ya’ll know. I’m still formulating the plan for Bananapolis (or was that Indiabanapolis) in my head but I’m thinking that maybe be pushed to late spring of 2013 (like we need more to do in May).

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