As we barrel forward in the holiday season, a lot of people are thinking about end-of-the-year giving.   If you’re one of them, would you consider making a donation to the Bart Ehrman Blog?  Every penny you donate goes straight to the charities we support (see below); we take nothing out ourselves to pay for overhead.   And if you’d like, we can apportion your donation to just one or more of these charities as you prefer.

Our goal for the blog heading to December 31 is to raise $325,000 for the year (through membership fees and donations).  We’re close.  Wanna help?   Just go to the homepage and scroll to the bottom of the screen, and you’ll see the two easy options for making the donation.

In case you don’t know, or in case you’d like a reminder,  here are the charities we support through member donations.

 

  • The Urban Ministries of Durham: This charity is near and dear to my heart, the agency that deals with hunger and homelessness in my own part of the universe. It is an absolutely amazing “ministry” (it is not religiously oriented; the term is used in the sense that they “serve” those in need) . Among other things instead of (or rather in addition to) putting a bandaid on the problems through their homeless shelter, community kitchen, food pantry, and clothing pantry, Urban Ministries works diligently to get people off homelessness and into permanent jobs and permanent housing. Last year they ended homelessness for 287 people. Anyone interested in seeing what a local organization can do, and do brilliantly, should check out their work at http://umdurham.org/.
  • Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina: This, too, is a phenomenal organization which deals with food distribution to the needy throughout my part of the state. The quantity of food they collect from all kinds of sources and the complex distribution process they undertake are logistically mind boggling. They literally keep people from starving. You can see what they are about at http://www.foodbankcenc.org
  • The Durham Literacy Center: Literacy Centers throughout the nation are doing a world of good, teaching those who need help learning to speak, read, and write English, training them to be productive and happy citizens and valuable contributors to our society. The Durham Literacy Center does amazing work with numerous programs – English instruction, skills classes, high school equivalency, and and and – all of them improving the lives of people who need help, and thereby making significant contributions to my city and state – and through that, to the known universe. To see more about them, check them out at https://www.durhamliteracy.org/.
  • CARE: CARE is a hugely successful international relief agency that works in nearly 90 countries. Founded in 1945, CARE is nonsectarian, impartial, and non-governmental. As they say: “implementing long-term programs to fight poverty, responding to humanitarian emergencies, and advocating for policy change to improve the lives of the poorest people.” They deal with heart-rending problems with dignity and integrity: http://www.care.org/
  • Doctors Without Borders: What do I need to say? This is one of the truly great humanitarian charities in the world, without a question, a bright light shining in our universe. By their own summary: “Doctors Without Borders provides medical care to people in nearly 70 countries worldwide, saving lives threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. As a humanitarian organization, we treat people in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation.” http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

I hope you can pitch in to help us support these worthy causes!