Guest Post: Help The Foundation Beyond Belief

Since I don’t seem to be able to get it together enough to post here as regularly as I had planned, I’m very grateful to my guest posters!

Here is one from my friend and colleague on the Board of Directors of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, AJ Chalom. AJ is also the Humanist Giving Program Coordinator for one of my new favorite charitable groups, the Foundation Beyond Belief.

The FBB is close to getting a sizable grant from Chase Community Giving Foundations and YOU can help. AJ explains how:

I’ve been looking for my calling. My husband and mother found their calling, Rabbi Jeff Falick found his. But what is mine? My previous careers as an environmental and historic preservation consultant left me unsatisfied. Is there more our there? My time as a Stay At Home mother has been rewarding, challenging and exhilarating, but I’m ready to make a difference in the world.

I need to make a difference, a big difference, in the poor, the sick, the uneducated, those our society rejects.

I found Foundation Beyond Belief. Foundation Beyond Belief understands that the central focus of compassionate humanism is that helping others changes lives.

My worldview as a lifelong Humanistic Jew taught me this as well. There was synergy.

Cancer has not affected me, but it has taken a burden and a toll on people I love.

When I began to work with Foundation Beyond Belief, I was inspired again. The Society for Humanistic Judaism and Foundation Beyond Belief partnered with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to fundraise $1,000,000, no small goal. Suddenly, I was reading and listening to incredibly personal stories of the destruction, to finances, to hearts, life plans. Rabbi of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, Miriam Jerris, contributed the story of her good friend’s fight. Director of African Americans for Humanism, Debbie Goddard, contributed stories from her family. Suddenly, I was involved in a project to make a tangible difference in the lives of people I knew including a first grader at my daughter’s school, fighting his own fight against Leukemia.

What does Foundation Beyond Belief do? It CHANGES LIVES. We give 16 charitable grants to organizations working in poverty and health, Human Rights, Education and the Natural World. We give 4 charitable grants to religious institution making a difference in this world without proselytizing their message.

We encourage Volunteer Teams to give their time in their communities. And we are leading the charge to raise $1,000,000 for cancer research this fall.

You and I, with a little help from Facebook and Chase, can keep this going. Foundation Beyond Belief is up for a grant from the Chase Community Giving Program. As of today, we are in 56th spot with a potential of a $20,000 grant. We are simply 10 spots from the next level, which would provide us an incredible $50,000 grant.

We need 200 votes by Saturday September 15 at 5am and another 125-150 votes every 12 hours through the end of the contest September 19th at 11:30pm.

We NEED YOUR VOTE!

Dale McGowan, the Executive Director and Founder of Foundation Beyond Belief states, “This (grant) would completely transform our ability to increase the humanist presence in philanthropy. Thanks in advance for whatever you can do.”

Please, help us help others.

How can you help Foundation Beyond Belief?

1) Vote for them on Facebook – http://on.fb.me/Rn54Xd – You get two votes, for two different charities, and can earn a third vote.

2) Are you a Chase customer? – Vote here: https://www.chasegiving.com/charity/view/ein/26-4822541 – you get two additional votes.

3) Spread the word, on Facebook, through your networks. We appreciate and need your efforts.

Much thanks – Help me make a difference in this world!

L’Shana Tova…This can be your Rosh Hashanah mitzva.