Excellent humanist giving results in the third quarter

Q3 2012This past quarter, your generous donations went to improving nutrition, protecting animals in the face of cruelty, bringing humanist education to Uganda, fighting for equitable treatment in our justice system, and building communities safer for diversity. You collectively raised $47,150 dollars for Q3 2012, surpassing last quarter’s donations by more than $4,000.

Equal Justice Initiative, our Human Rights beneficiary, received the most donations, with Poverty & Health and Education taking a close second and third, respectively. We continued to support Leo Igwe’s study through individual donations and an additional small grant, and we supported the brave firefighters protecting Coloradans amid tremendous wildfire destruction and service budget cuts last summer.

Final humanist giving grant totals for the third quarter of 2012 are as follows:
 

Human Rights
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
$8,135
Poverty & Health
NOURISHING USA
$7,745
Education
KASESE HUMANIST PRIMARY SCHOOL
$7,505
Human Rights
ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
$6,620
Challenge the Gap
HINDU AMERICAN SEVA CHARITIES
$6,215
Crisis Response
COLORADO FIREFIGHTERS
$4,560
Donations to
IGWE WITCHCRAFT ACCUSATION STUDY
$2,185
Direct donations to Foundation Beyond Belief $4,185
FINAL TOTAL $47,150

 

Thanks for participating in the humanist giving program, and for supporting Foundation Beyond Belief through direct donations. It’s the support of friends like you that keeps us on track toward building a better world.

We are highlighting key programs and impacts of our fourth-quarter beneficiaries on our blog and in our weekly newsletter. No need to be a member to subscribe to our mailing list—just scroll to the top of the page and provide your email address. Click here to subscribe to our blog via your RSS feed. Thanks again, and we look forward to another successful quarter.

CHARITY VETTING FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2013 IS UNDERWAY! You can nominate a charity here, or you can get involved directly in the vetting process by joining the FBB Charity Research Forum on Facebook.

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Kasese: A unique outlook

KHPSLike any other school in Uganda, Kasese Humanist Primary School, our current Education beneficiary, follows the government curriculum of English, mathematics, science, and social studies. Lessons such as physical education, arts and crafts, and music, dance and drama are also common across primary schools. Kasese, however, is unique in its outlook and focus: The vocational value of lessons in the arts and physical education is recognized, and children struggling academically are encouraged to focus on practical skills that will enable them to make a living.

Kasese’s unique focus extends the primary school curriculum to lessons in computers, agriculture, and tourism. Despite the school’s financial constraints, the school’s leadership recognizes the necessity of computer literacy in the twenty-first century and ensures that the school’s pupils are trained in computer skills. School trips to national parks and heritage sites allow the children to experience biodiversity and the history of Uganda firsthand, while affording the children the opportunity to consider and explore the blossoming tourist trade in Uganda. The school’s garden allows children to learn basic agricultural and gardening techniques, vital skills in this largely agricultural country.

Many schools in Uganda are run and funded by religious groups, and Kasese struggles to raise enough funds to continue with its far-sighted vision of exposing children to freethought and evidence-based education. Because of widespread poverty, many parents and guardians struggle to pay school fees, and since the school is not government funded, teachers earn extremely low salaries. Basic day-to-day necessities such as sufficient textbooks and even a permanent location are still on the Kasese wish list. The continued commitment of the global humanist community is essential for this landmark school to continue its work.

For updates and news about Kasese’s progress, visit the school’s website

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Feeding the children of Kasese

Kasese Humanist Primary SchoolIn a region where most schools are religiously affiliated and many families struggle economically, the Kasese Humanist Primary School, our current Education beneficiary, has emerged as a unique experiment in freethought and community service.

The KHPS instills humanist values and ethics in the children of a small western Ugandan town. Its namesake Kasese district is mainly agricultural, but it suffers from high unemployment rates and low salaries for teachers who do find jobs. Further, many of the children in the community are tremendously malnourished. Local schools mainly offer only corn meal, beans, and potatoes because of budgetary shortcomings.

Kasese Humanist Primary SchoolTo work toward mending this symptom of the community’s poverty, the Kasese Humanist Primary School is building a chicken coop in order to be able to feed children chicken eggs and offset the limited nutritional options offered by the school.

Currently, they have fundraised to build the entire coop, which completes Phase 1 of the project. Phase 2, which entails distributing the poultry and feeding the children, will begin after Labor Day. Pharyngula and Godless Poutine have already pledged to help raise funds for Phase 2.

You can find more information on the chicken coop construction and how to support them directly at the KHPS website.

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July Volunteer Network Roundup!

Teams in our Food Security Project (FSP) reported 52 events in July, serving 13,579 individual beneficiaries and giving out 13,579 meals! Additional GO Humanity Service Teams held 12 service events. Year to date, that makes 106,305 individual known beneficiaries served at 481 events, and 124,711 meals/kits distributed!

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June Volunteer Network Roundup!

Teams in our Food Security Project (FSP) reported 52 events in June, serving 14,316 individual beneficiaries and giving out 23,011 meals! Additional GO Humanity Service Teams held 12 service events. Year, to date, that makes 92,486 individual known beneficiaries served at 414 events, and 79,293 meals/kits distributed!

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May Volunteer Network Roundup!

Teams in our Food Security Project (FSP) reported 54 events in May, serving 14,722 individual beneficiaries and giving out 21,224 meals! Additional GO Humanity Service Teams held 10 more service events. Year, to date, that makes: 344 total team events 78,170 individual known beneficiaries served 79,293 meals/kits distributed New Food Security Project Team GO Team…

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April Volunteer Network Roundup!

Teams in our Food Security Project (FSP) reported 48 events in April, serving 16,169 individual beneficiaries and giving out 20,263 meals! Additional GO Humanity Service Teams held 17 more service events.

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March Volunteer Network Roundup!

Teams in our Food Security Project (FSP) reported 50 events in March, serving 14,848 individual beneficiaries and giving out 22,467 meals! Additional GO Humanity Service Teams held 19 more service events.

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February Volunteer Network Roundup!

Teams in our Food Security Project (FSP) reported 55 events in February, serving 18,859 individual beneficiaries and giving out 9,453 meals! Additional GO Humanity Service Teams held 16 more service events.

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January Volunteer Network Roundup!

Teams in our Food Security Project (FSP) reported 50 events in January, serving 3,672 individual beneficiaries and giving out 5,856 meals! Additional GO Humanity Service Teams held 16 more service events.

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