Seeing How Far $100 Can Go — 2012
In September 2010 my grandmother passed away. Gran was an impressive lady. She attended and worked her way through Butler College in the 1930s. At the time, only 10% of women attended college. Even fewer graduated. And– this is shocking to me today– 26 states had laws on the books prohibiting married woman from having jobs. Her graduating was no small feat.
She was a trailblazer. Not only did she finish college but she spent her life giving back as an advocate for women and women’s rights.
She believed in service and in charity. And she volunteered her time with a smile on her face. As tribute to her 93 years, and replicating a project in New York that I’d read about a few years back, I founded a “giving circle.” In late 2011, I doled out $100 each to nine friends, and kept $100 for myself. The only instruction: use the money in a way that gives back. Creativity was encouraged.
On Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012, at a large reclaimed wooden table, the ten of us got together over beers and nachos and inaugurated our giving circle. We’d used our $100 and were now sharing how we’d spent it. Here are those stories:
Giselle turned her $100 into $800. The Open Society Foundations–her employer– will match three times over whatever an employee donates to charity. So Giselle contributed $100 of her own money to the starting $100, which was then matched with $600 from OSF, and gave away two $400 chunks. One chunk to the Dream Foundation–a U.S. based, wish-making organization for terminally ill adults– and the other to the Hilde Back Education Fund–a Kenyan based organization that assists children from poor families to complete secondary school.
Kevin donated the $100 to Vittana.org, an organization that provides low-interest loans for education in the developing world. The $100 was targeted to two women, one in Bolivia studying to be a social worker and one in Paraguay studying to be an accountant. After they complete their 2-year degrees they’ll multiply their weekly income three to fivefold, a difference of $250,000 in earnings over the course of their lifetime. When the loan is paid back, the money will be lent again to other deserving students.
Michelle said she knew immediately that she wanted to use the money in a way to help young women and people in Burma. She split the money in two. With $50, she bought Girl Scout cookies and distributed the sweets to elementary school teacher friends. She asked them to use the cookies to encourage students to be kind to each other, but especially, to encourage girls to speak up in class, to reward them, or to comfort them when they’d had a bad day.
On the advice of a friend in Burma, in late March she sent the other $50 with a family member traveling to the country. Her friend– seizing on opportunity and good timing– used the money to transport Burmeses to vote in their national elections. On April 1, 2012 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition National League for Democracy party won 42 of the 43 contested seats in the first first free and fair election since 1990.
Scott decided to make the day for 20 unsuspecting people through a random and surprising act of kindness. Inspired by the buzz around the MegaMillions jackpot, he made 20 of his own fake lottery tickets with $5 bills strapped to the back. He handed the “tickets” out to passers by at the U Street metro. He learned it’s harder than you would think to give out free money. Most refused, but after a full hour of effort, he’d succeeded in giving away his $100 and no doubt providing fodder for some exciting ‘you’ll never guess what happened to me today’ talk.
Sabrina donated her money to the Muslima al Nissa Women’s Shelter in Baltimore. Escaping domestic violence for Muslim women is especially challenging. According to the shelter, in many Muslim households, “in order to protect the image of the family, domestic violence is often shrouded in silence.” Moreover, traditional domestic violence shelters are insensitive to the cultural and religious needs of Muslim women, which makes it hard for women and their families to leave abuse. Muslima al Nissa ensures that Muslim women and families who are fleeing violence have a safe space to go.
Chris donated his $100 to the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC-DC). ROC was founded after September 11th by the surviving employees of Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center. ROC-DC is a worker center dedicated to improving the conditions and raising industry standards for all Washington, DC restaurant workers.
Meaghan, who has volunteered with Women for Women International for many years, matched the $100 3:1 with her own money and sponsored women to participate in Women for Women International’s program. The program supports women survivors of war and conflict in Afghanistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, DRC, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Sudan as they complete a one-year program that helps them rebuild their lives. The sponsored woman receives job-skills training, business and money management basics and rights awareness education. The program helps women move from victim to empowered, and builds a local and global community of love, trust, compassion and empowerment.
Jon wanted to use the money in a way that reflected the work of my grandmother’s life. He donated the $100 to Campaign for Female Education, which provides funding for education for young, impoverished girls across five countries in rural communities in sub-saharan Africa. The organization partners with communities, schools and families to provide full monetary support– including shoes, books, uniforms and bags– through the duration of a child’s secondary school education.
Sophie also lost grandparents in between 2010 and 2011. She wanted this project to serve as serve a tribute to their lives as well. One day, while walking through Columbia Heights, she stumbled upon a flyer with the words “take what you need.” At the bottom of the paper were tabs to tear off. “Love.” “Luck.” I’ll let her describe the rest:
It made me stop for a second and think about what I need and want in life, right now. I decided to use the money to support thought-provoking, public space art. I wanted the money to have an impact locally, and for it to have a kind of local relevance. I am just deeply moved by (good) public art – it makes me stop where I am and appreciate the wonder and absurdity of life. I came across Candy Chang, who helped to start a space called the Civic Center in New Orleans and does kick-ass public art projects. And one that I liked the most is an interactive mural with the words “before I die I want to________” written over and over on chalkboard paint. She leaves chalk and people walking by fill in the rest.
At 4:00am on Saturday night in early May, two days before she was to leave for Sweden for grad school, she and her boyfriend Dan erected the 32-foot long wall on vacant property on 14th St NW. It immediately captured the attention of the city. Within a week it was featured on the front page of the Washington Post, NPR’s All Things Considered and just about every local blog in town. For three summer months it recorded the the hopes and dreams– some deep and serious, some lightheard and trivial– of Washington D.C. (I’ve posted some highlights of the wall here.)
For me, I saw using the $100 was an opportunity to both pay tribute the life of my grandmother and to emulate it. Gran grew up during the Great Depression, and, as someone one who came of age in times of scarcity, she was never shy about being grateful for life’s gifts.
Gran was a great artist, though I always found her to be a bit shy about sharing her work. Her chalk reproduction of Renior’s The Skiff hangs in my bedroom and I decided to take its image and print ninety postcards. Throughout the year, I’ve been writing notes of gratitude to ninety people who add value to my life. I’m saying thanks to the foreman at the DC City Center complex, who starts the day with a cup of coffee, saying hello to everyone who walks (and bikes) by; the very sweet woman in the Rayburn Building cafeteria who always asks me, with sincerity, how my day is going; the owner of the neighborhood pizza place that makes a great slice and pours a great pint; and, of course, the awesomely creative and inspiring people that participated in my giving circle.
Giselle Kasim
Kevin Fanfoni
Michelle Kobler
Scott Graham
Sabrina Hersi-Issa
Chris Vaeth
Jon Elkin
Meaghan Casey
Sophie Miller
