Altruism for Animals (Blog Post#13)

Observe: This week in class we watched a TED talk given by Peter Singer. In it he talks briefly about effective altruism that benefits animals and recommends a website called Effective Animal Activism. 

Reflect: Animals have always been near and dear to my heart so I was interested in seeing what charities this website considered to be effective. I was particularly wanting to see what shelters it recommended, but when I searched the website I became disappointed. Only two charities qualified as "effective" according to the website's criteria, however they did list other charities that they had evaluated and the reasons behind why they were not "top charities" or "standout charities". Sadly, the website does not consider rescues and shelters that aim to help companion animals to be effective at all and they do not recommend them as means to save as many animals as possible. Instead, they recommend numerous organizations that help save farm animals because they have saved more animals for less cost. 

I, however, disagree with the website's claim because I think that rescue organizations can be quite effective and worthwhile causes. One such organization that I highly recommend giving back to is Austin Pets Alive! I volunteer with APA through a fitness charity called RuffTail Runners and have seen firsthand what an incredible job they do to save animals and give them better lives. APA takes dogs and cats in that are set to be euthanized by the city shelter and they love and care for them until a forever family comes along and adopts them. While there, dogs are trained by the fabulous behavior team and some are even ready to become Canine Good Citizen dogs! Since APA staff, volunteers, and foster families give these sweet, sweet animals a second chance at life I consider these wonderful people to essentially be social workers for animals. Like traditional (for lack of a better term) social workers, they deserve more recognition than they get. I know I said it once, but seriously, check these guys out and give back if you can. They can always use more donations, volunteers, foster homes, and of course forever homes!

This handsome fella is my favorite running buddy named Rooster.

     

Rewarding Kindness (Blog Post#12)

Observe: Today in class we got in groups and created games that would simulate social issues.

Reflect: One idea for a game that our group discussed was intended to stop people from making assumptions about others based on one aspect of their identity. 

The setup: Volunteers would hang out on the main mall wearing shirts that labeled them with a variety of identities that are frequently stigmatized by society. For example, one person might wear a shirt that says "single mother" while another says "convict". There would be a table in the west mall where we would encourage passerby to go up to our volunteers and have a conversation with them.

The rules: People are supposed to talk with the volunteers about their lives and then ask them to walk to our table with them. If the volunteer feels that the person was genuinely interested in learning more about them then they can both walk together to our table where the person who struck up the conversation will tell us five things that they learned about the volunteer (not including the fact that they are a <insert identity label here>). 

The reward: As a reward for their respect for others and their kindness towards a stranger, participants will receive a delicious slice of pizza!

Although this game may not come to fruition I think it is worthwhile enough for us to all try and play it in some way in our everyday lives. We may not be rewarded with pizza, but spreading kindness and understanding amongst our peers should be a reward in and of itself.

Holy Haiyan! (Blog Post#11)

Observe: The Philippines were hit by Typhoon Haiyan this month. Many countries are trying to provide relief, but the damage is catastrophic.

Reflect: Before and after photos reflect the devastation that is an unfortunate reality for the people of the Philippines. Homes had been ripped to shreds and lives have been lost. Basic survival needs are unable to be met for many people living there because food and shelter were destroyed and washed away in mere minutes. The country already faced an earthquake just a month before the typhoon struck so emergency funds are depleted.

It is in times like these that countries must band together and realize that we are all people and we all need help. Times like these make me realize how important it is to have macro organizations, like the Red Cross, that are able to go in and provide relief. As someone who often dreams of doing primarily micro based social work these large scale situations boggle my mind. How can we rebuild an entire town, city, or country? It is tremendously difficult, but it can and has been done thanks to the people who have the ability to handle large-scale problems. 

While macro practice is highly important to disaster relief micro social work can also serve an extremely valuable purpose. After going through any type of trauma it is often helpful for people to go to counseling, either one on one or in a group setting. With a team of combined macro and micro forces many issues can be addressed at once and a community can rebuild. I hope that this is what lies ahead for the Philippines: help and a brighter future.

Ask and you Shall Receive...Hopefully (Blog Post#10)

Observe: In class today we discussed how non-profit organizations go about asking for funding. We looked at the differences between what donors want to know about an agency and what an agency wants to tell donors.

Reflect: The fundraising aspect of non-profits is extremely important because without donations from the government and private donors the organizations would not be able to operate. There are two general approaches to getting donations that we discussed in class. The route travelled is based on the donor and whether or not they allow agencies to approach them or if they would rather reach out to agencies. The approaches are: 1) follow an application process described on a donor's website and 2) know someone that can get a donor to ask your agency to create a proposal. I was surprised to hear that some foundations and other donors do not let organizations approach them for donations, but in viewing it from their perspective it makes sense. They want to limit the number of proposals that they are presented with for multiple reasons, one of which being that they only want to hear from organizations that have the same goals as they do. For instance if their goal is to improve the health of children they don't want to be asked to donate to an organization that primarily assists the elderly.

In regards to the actual proposal donors and non-profits often hold different views on what the most important topics of discussion should be. Agencies go in wanting to talk all about the people that they are working to assist while donors are of course are far more considered with the financial aspects. Those giving the money are likely to ask where exactly the money is going, what the intent of the project is, what the sustainability of the project is, and who else is providing funding. Those asking for the money are likely to emphasize how many people they are currently helping and how man more they could help with extra funds along with their ideas of how a particular population can be better served. Since the agency is the one in need of funds it is up to them to be able to alter their thinking in order to provide those giving the funds with the information that will cause them to feel comfortable making a donation.