I've always admired my brother-in-law. He decided his life had taken a wrong turn and walked away from MIT only three credits shy of his degree. He moved to rural Charlottesville, became a cabinet maker, married my sister and raised a family.
He's always involved in his community and always quiet about his good works. For instance he's been an election official for years--and I only found out when I called on election day one year. He's a man of deeply held principles that he doesn't discuss but you know make him rock-solid. He's the first person people call when they need a hand.
This year he sold his business. I wondered what he was going to do . . .and found out when my sister wrote me a note.
"Hey, Kate," she wrote. "Carter's going to build shelters for people in Pearlington Mississippi -- a small town near New Orleans that was totally flattened by Hurricane Katrina. He has to raise $2,000 bucks so he can help people."
My first response was Gawd, he's an expert and a volunteer. They should be grateful to have him. Why the hell does he have to pay?
Brenda Yordy,
the director of the organization, explained that, no, the volunteers aren't REQUIRED to raise money--though when Building Goodness does international work in places like Nicaragua, El Salvador, Haiti and Guatemala, the volunteers pony up for their own travel.
The volunteers are DEEPY ENCOURAGED to find money--because we're not talking big pockets like the Red Cross. The Building Goodness office is located above a coffee shop in Charlottesville Virginia and the staff consists of Brenda and one part-timer.
"We figure that the food and travel costs for one volunteer is about $400, and then it costs about $1,600 for materials to build one of the shelters," Yordy told me.
Here's some of the stuff I found on Building Goodness's website:
They send teams of volunteer craftspeople to international projects more than ten times per year.
At the heart of Building Goodness are the volunteers: skilled tradespeople--carpenters, electricians, masons, plumbers, cabinet makers--and construction professionals who share their hard-earned abilities and experience to help communities escape poverty and fashion better lives.
Building Goodness works alongside Habitat for Humanity and other organizations.
Their website is http://buildinggoodness.org
The organization sort of reminds me of my brother-in-law: quietly going in and doing what needs to be done without a lot of fuss and photo-ops. Katrina is yesterday's news but they're still there.
You guys here at Kos will tell me if I'm out-of-line talking about what my brother-in-law and Building Goodness are doing. But I figure it's time to help Carter help people and this is the one way I can.
I'm the noisy one in the family, and am willing to make an ass of myself. It's only fitting and proper that I should do it on behalf of someone who'll make a difference in the world--and do it very quietly.
And if it's okay to ask for money (I'm hunkered down, waiting for a barrage of "bad form, Kate!" Mind you, I'm ready to edit the heck out of this post) Until I'm told it's wrong to post this, I'll tell you that you can donate here:
Building Goodness Foundation
P.O. Box 2246
Charlottesville, VA 22902
or through http://www.networkforgood.org
If it's not okay. . . you can find out about donating at my website because I've cross-posted about this there http://katerothwell.blogspot.com/...