DonorsChoose Science Challenge Results!

The DonorsChoose Science Blog Challenge is over–and Bug Donors were able to fund a Connecticut teacher! Yay!

Here’s what she had to say:

I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for your generosity. It is so amazing and inspiring to know that you are all committed to expanding my students’ experiences and opportunities. 

The resources that you have provided will give my students first-hand knowledge of life science. Students who have never before explored the natural world will get a chance to observe, care for, interact with, and study live animals in their habitats. My students will be exposed to the world outside of the streets, and this exposure and experience can help them reach their full potential in life. 

I know that my students can succeed, given the opportunity. YOU have helped give them this opportunity. Thank you on behalf of my students and their futures.

With gratitude,
Ms. O

If that letter doesn’t make you a little verklempt, you have a heart of stone.  Thank you so much for your generous donations! It’s not really important to win the competition, but to get kids involved with nature.  The total for ALL the science bloggers that participated was over $50,000 and will affect over 27,00o kids. WIN.

If you haven’t donated yet, there’s still time–you can visit the Insect Donors Challenge page and still give.  We are just $179 away from funding a teacher in Tulsa that wants to give her pre-K urban kids natural materials to learn and play with.  There are two other projects that will involve kids in composting and gardening.

Thanks everyone!

Update on the Donors Choose Challenge!

The Donors Choose Challenge is now over, and the project to get more nature bloggers involved was a success!!

The total amount given for the Nature Blogs Group was $5,170.  That put our group at #11–not quite in the top 10, but still pretty darn good!  That also is quite a bit more than I managed by myself last year ($270).  YAY! And THANK YOU!

Overall, the total amount given this year was $637,336. That’s amazing! I was very excited to see that one of the top groups was Making a difference for Michigan Children.  Teachers are being laid off left and right here, so making sure our remaining teachers are supported and have the tools they need is very important.

9 of the 12 projects I chose were fully funded–that’s a lot of new buggy and gardening stuff in the hands of kids. Still need an end of year tax deduction? You can still give!!

• Bug Girl’s Giving Page (some projects only have 10 days or more left–please hurry!)
• Deep Sea News Oceans in the Classroom Initiative
• Potspoon’s Challenge
• Wren’s Bird Challenge Page

MUCH LOVE TO ALL OF YOU THAT DONATED!!!

Update on the Challenge

You might remember that last month I threw down the gauntlet to some of the bigger cousins in the interwebs for the DonorsChoose Challenge!

DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that provides an easy way for people to fund projects in schools by donating online.  The Challenge is a  month-long competition between blogs to see who can bring in the most donations to help low-income classrooms.

I chose schools in high poverty areas that have insect-themed or garden themed projects. A couple of them are in Michigan!

I invited some of my Nature Blog Network Friends to come along, and talked some smack about kicking some A-list blogger asses.

So, how are we doing?

Ah.

Err.

Fashion Blogs and Gawker are beating us into a pulp. This is fairly embarrassing.

Please visit my Giving Page to make a donation. Or, choose another of the NBN blogs to make a donation to!  If we can gain additional donors by this weekend, HP will make an additional donation to the NBN blogs!

It doesn’t have to be a lot–the whole idea of DonorsChoose is that lots of people can pool little amounts of money to do big things.

Thanks!

I CHALLENGE THEE

Hey–who wants to have a ScienceBlogs vs. Discover blogs vs. Nature Blog Network throw down for Donor’s Choose?

This October, I’ll be part of the DonorsChoose.org Social Media Challenge.  This is a friendly month-long competition between blogs to see which can bring in the most donations to help low-income classrooms on DonorsChoose.org.  DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that provides an easy way for people to fund worthy projects in schools by donating online.

Please visit my Giving Page to make a donation.

I’ve chosen schools in high poverty areas that have insect-themed or garden themed proj
ects. A couple of them are in Michigan!

ALL NATURE BLOG NETWORK FOLK:

Make sure you choose the “Nature Blog Network” as your Giving Group!

I hereby challenge PZ and BA. I think all our the little nature blogs  can kick your A-list blogs’ asses in donations to get kids involved with nature. NEENER! 

End of the Year Donors’ Choose update!

I am really excited to report that the Donors Choose Blogger Challenge was a huge success! Yesterday I got a surprise package from Donors Choose, and this info:

• $276,171 in donations to classroom projects reaching 66,654 students from low income communities
• 168 bloggers participated in 2008, double last year’s participation
• 2910 blog readers donated, up from 1700 in 2007

I’m happy to say that nearly all the projects featured in the Bug Challenge were fully funded. In fact, the Bug Blog donations TOPPED that from Boing Boing. W00t!!
(This came despite my being booted from the Science Blogs category into “general blogs”, since I have not yet been assimilated into Sb™.  I’m totally over it now though. No resentment. Really.)

One project has only 23 days left, and still needs a little cash, if you need an end of the year tax deduction.

THANKS SO MUCH to all of you that contributed! 

Refugees, Malaria, and bednets

UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) has asked bloggers to give this campaign by Nothing But Nets some promotion.  Unfortunately, the majority of displaced people in the world live in malarial areas, and malaria is the greatest causes of death in refuge camps.

This fall, Nothing But Nets will work closely with UNHCR to send urgently-needed bed nets to more than 630,000 refugees in four countries where the threat is greatest. 

Looking for a way to give a gift this holiday season that has some meaning?
How about some bed nets?

Here’s a video that describes some of the dire conditions:

You can read more about the 4 countries that are being targeted in this campaign here:

• Uganda
• Eastern Sudan
• Kenya
• Tanzania