The NCAA’s Selection Show airs this evening and Episcopal Cafe has caught a case of March Gladness. We are offering a $100 bonus to the MDG-related charity designated by the winner of March Gladness, an ingenious bracket-related competition devised by the Rev Mike Kinman of Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation (e4gr). The only catch is that you have to leave us a comment on this or some subsequent posting, telling us what organization you are playing for. And that info has to be in before the tournament tips off on Thursday.
So, first some instructions on how to fill out your brackets. Then some info on how to register with us. And finally, some suggestions for organizations that might be worthy of your support.
First, Mike Kinman on how to get in the game:
It’s an NCAA tournament pool — but for every bracket you fill out (maximum of 5) , you put $10 into the pot and designate which nonprofit benefitting the Millennium Development Goals you are playing for. At the end of the tournament, the people whose brackets were the best split the pot for their nonprofits. For more details go to our March Gladness page.
It’s easy, it’s fun … and the more people who play, the more $$ goes to some great nonprofits.
There are two ways to enter:
*Go to our March Gladness webpage and follow the instructions.
*Go to our Facebook Cause and follow the instructions.
Second, if you aren’t already signed up to comment on the Cafe, pay a visit to our feedback page for a quick lesson on how it is done. Remember, we require commenters to sign their comments with their full names.
Third, here are some of the non-profit organizations at work on reaching the Millennium Development Goals worthy of your support:
The Bokamoso Youth Program in Winterveld, South Africa: Founded in 1999 to help at-risk youth, the Bokamoso Youth Program provides essential training in life skills, scholarships for college-level education and the equally important emotional support the young people of Winterveld so desperately need. Through the performing arts, program participants spread their message in their own community and in the U.S.
Any of the numerous ministries supported by the Millennium Development Goals Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.
Hannah Ministries: begun by Josephine Mujawiera, wife of the Bishop of Byumba, Rwanda it works with at-risk children (orphans, children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, children living in a child led household, and street children). For more info, contact:Ms. Josephine Mujawiera (Email: jomuja@yahoo.fr) or The Rev. Amy Real Coultas (Email: amycoultas@gmail.com).
Waters of Hope (which was mentioned in this recent item on The Cafe) is a bike tour to raise money for clean water projects, it’s a joint venture of the Diocese of Iowa and the Diocese of Missouri with their companion dioceses (Swaziland and Lui, Sudan, respectively). Find out more at www.watersofhope.org.
Of course, you can’t go wrong sending your money to Episcopal Relief and Development.
Okay, place your bets and let the genteel and church-appropriate trash-talking begin.