I sometimes get asked to provide specifics about the charities we support on the blog.  To date, in ten and a half years, we have raised a total of $1.8 million.  Our efforts are becoming increasingly productive: on Oct. 22 this year surpassed our entire total  disbursed funds from our banner-last-year (which came in at $360,000).

Where’s all the money going?  Not to me (I can assure you!) or to any of our overhead.  I get not a thin dime; and the overhead is raised in its entirety through separate fund-raising efforts and foundation donations.  Every penny from your membership fee, and from regular donations, from the book club, and from other fund-raisers, go directly to charity.

I talk about the specific charities on the blog site itself, under “About the Blog.”  But it’s good to get the information out there in even simpler form on occasion.  And so, here it is!

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All the monies collected by the blog (membership fees, direct donations, specified fund raisers) go into the Bart Ehrman Foundation, and all that money goes out to support the following charities. Two are international and three are local to my community.

  • 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, active in all the crises we read about in the paper and many, many that (pathetically, frustratingly, aggravatingly) never make an appearance there. 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/
  • 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, again in all the major crisis situations we know about and many we (most of us) don’t: http://www.care.org/
  • 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 religious in any way; the term is used in the sense that they “serve” those in need).  They certainly deal with pressing needs of members of the community through their homeless shelter, community kitchen, food pantry, and clothing pantry.  But even more impressive and arguably important, in addition 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 – an increased desideratum during Covid and now an ongoing one because of the post-epidemic economy. 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/.

Let me repeat, all the money that comes into the blog goes off to these charities. We don’t use any of the membership fees or blog donations for overhead/operating expenses or to line my own pockets. Every penny goes to help those in need. The Bart Ehrman Foundation in Durham, NC is a tax exempt organization. Donations to The Bart Ehrman Foundation are tax deductible. EIN 45-4810987. For more information about it, go here: http://www.orgcouncil.com/nc/durham/bart-ehrman-foundation-987.php