2009 USA Character Approved Honoree Founded Website that Helps Teachers, Schools

In case you’re not as big a fan of Law & Order SVU as I am and don’t spend nearly the amount of time watching repeats of it on the USA Network, then maybe you haven’t heard of an amazing new campaign being promoted heavily on this channel.

It’s called “The USA Character Approved Awards” and our very own topic of school fundraising has landed right in the middle of this extraordinary promotion.

For a little background, here is their mission statement, as I found it on their website:

The Character Approved Awards honor the characters of the U.S.A. who are changing the face of American culture. Character Approved honorees are innovators in their field who influence our opinions, our style, and our view of the world. They surprise and inspire us with fresh ideas. They are celebrated by their peers. And they have an authentic style that’s all their own.

This year, in what they claim is their inaugural campaign, they have announced seven honorees, one each from the worlds of music, art, food, architecture, fashion, new media, and giving.

I spent a little time and looked at the write-ups on all of these individuals, but it was the honoree from the world of giving that jumped off the page for me.

His name is Charles Best, and he is the founder and director of an organization called DonorsChoose.org. This is a website that connects actual schools and classroom teachers with real donors, people who are looking to make a difference by making a financial contribuation that has a direct impact on the recipient.

As an example, here is a recent entry on the Donors Choose site:

 NURTURING FUTURE AUTHORS

“I teach first grade in a large, urban district. Over 90% of my students receive free or reduced lunch. My students live in a high need community. They would benefit from a wide variety of materials that make learning fun and accessible to all of them.

My first graders love to write. They are always authoring their own stories and writing notes to each other. I feel that they could be future authors and novelists. The materials requested would enhance their writing skills and continue to foster their natural affinity toward writing.

I am requesting a wide range of materials, from sentence builders to paragraph writing activities to story writing helpers. These materials will help my students learn the writing process. This will also help them becoming better writers.

Your generous donation will help my students hone the craft of writing. You will make it possible for my students to become better writers and future authors. Your gift would be greatly appreciated by not only me, but the eager writers in my classroom.

There is then an opportunity for a private citizen from anywhere in the world to make a secure donation directly for this classroom. Any amount can be given and the site actually keeps track of how close to the goal this request is getting. As of this post, the above class has received $270 of the $425 needed. Donors also have the chance to leave an encouraging message for the class to read.

This is really a visionary use of the Internet for the public good. I can definitely see why USA has decided to include Charles Best in their list of “Character Approved” honorees for this year.

Below is a video of the on-air commercial they are running, featuring Charles Best. Enjoy!

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