And so to March’s Charity of the Month which this month is taking place in the month of March. This thing isn’t just thrown together you know, it takes planning and coordination to get all the pieces in place.
It was a tough decision this month because there are a few big things going on: first, Libyans are fighting for a bit of the old ultra-freedom; second, Comic Relief is busy telethonning; and third, an earthquake, tsunami and potential nuclear meltdown have walloped Japan.
Amnesty International got a whack last month for a few countries looking to democratise and while I’m not saying I’m ruling them out because having the same charity for two consecutive months would be boring even if the cause was vital that is in fact basically what I’m saying. Besides, it seems like Libya’s gone past the point where Amnesty getting stuck in is what’s called for.
Comic Relief, meanwhile, is a cracking charity that does some amazing work and broadcasts telethons about as funny as rectal cancer. It inspires Steve from Accounts to shave his legs like he’s ker-ayzee, encourages Colin from HR to sit in a bathtub of baked beans like there’s anyone on the planet who hasn’t already seen it, done it or got bored of it, and allows Sandra from Learning and Development to dye her hair red and go a whole day saying “I’m mad, me” without being punched in the face. But then it raises huge amounts of money and spends it on poor people in the UK and Africa, was behind one of the first Fairtrade chocolate bars in the country and does all manner of good work, whereas the cynicism of my last sentence achieves nothing. It was looking like a sure thing until last week.
The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan doesn’t fit any of the four categories of environmentalism, global inequality, advocacy or meddling set out in the Zero Mission Statement but I’ve figured it falls into the fifth, hitherto unpublished category of Jesus Christ Ain’t Life a Fragile Thing. Rich as it is, Japan’s got people suffering and money could do a bit of good. I’m giving to the Red Cross’s appeal and you can too, here.
Photo credit: The Zero
