Grassroots News September 2005

September 2005
Volume 2, Issue 9
in this issue
--Donations for Hurricane Katrina
--Social Issues Research
--NPR Podcasts
--LearnThat.com
--Petition
--Nonprofit Technology Jobs
--Autism Today
--Distributed Computing Projects
--Featured Client: Samaritan Women
--Schwab Learning Center
--Volunteers
--Help Grassroots.org By Selling on E-Bay
--Grassroots.org Shirts, Mugs and More
--Donation Exchange
--Citizen Action Letter
--Free Services
--News and Views
--Discussion Forums
--Your Feedback
--Administration
--About Grassroots.org
To get a text version of this
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Welcome to Grassroots News!
This monthly newsletter offers
information and tools that can help you to make a difference in the
world. Daily updates of news and tips are available on the
Grassroots.org blog.We
also publish a newsletter for our clients called Grassroots Client
News with information for nonprofit organizations. You can sign up for
Grassroots Client News here.
Donations for Hurricane
Katrina
On August 29 Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in the Southeastern
US cause large amounts of causing property and infrastructure damage as well as loss of
life. (At the time of this publication, these numbers are still
growing.) All online donations to Grassroots.org in the month of
September will go towards relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
To donate go to http://www.grassroots.org/do/Donate.
Social Issues
Research
This web
page includes links to information on various issues was
originally developed to meet the needs of middle and high school
students in Multnomah County, Oregon. But the site is useful to anyone
looking to learn more about various issues, including Affirmative
Action, Binge Drinking, Civil Rights, and many others.
NPR Podcasts
Several National Public Radio shows and stations make their content
available for free through podcasts
See this listing on their web site for more information.
Petition
Today, US pharmaceutical companies fund more than two-thirds of the
medical research performed at US universities and colleges. More than
two decades ago, this was not the case as the US government was the
primary provider of medical research funding. Many suggest that
because pharmaceutical companies fund the research, the reported
findings about the research and drugs are biased. As citizens we need
to be concerned especially since we rely primarily on these experts to
fully disclose everything they know about a particular drug - both
good and bad. Just how much influence do drug companies have and how
does this jeopardize our safety? This petition is to ask our
regulators to ensure that public healthy and safety are first and
foremost before drugs and medicines are approved for sale to the
general public.
This petition will be sent to the FDA
Commissioner Lester M Crawford and to the US Congress. Sign this petition.
LearnThat.com
LearnThat.com
is an online service that offers free tutorials in a variety of areas
including business, computers, and personal finance as well as free
training for certification, including CompTIA A+ Certification. The
tutorials can be can take online and vary in format from text-only
pages to graphic web pages.
Nonprofit Technology Jobs
If you are looking for a job at a charity or foundation administering
or using computers as a primary too, the Nonprofit Tech Jobs list
averages about 40 job postings a month. You can subscribe to the list
and receive postings by e-mail or visit the group's web
site.
Autism Today
Autism
Today is an online magazine dealing with the latest news and
resources for autism and autism-related issues. Included on the site
are articles, a service directory, and a calendar of autism-related
events around the world.
Distributed Computing Projects
You probably have heard of the SETI@Home
project (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence at Home) or you
may have seen the famous blue and red screensaver on somebody else's
computer. SETI at Home is one distributed computing project that
allows computers around the world to solve mathematical problems
during their downtime. The combined computing power of these computers
is larger than mainframe and supercomputers and allows computers that
otherwise would be doing nothing to contribute to solving some of the
world's technical and scientific problems.
If you would like to enlist your
computer (or computers) in a cause various projects are listed at the
Distributed
Computing web site. Each link will take you to the project's home
page which will give you more information as well as instructions on
how to participate. (Projects typically require downloading and
installing special software to run.)
Featured Client: Samaritan Women
Samaritan
Women, Inc. is a new nonprofit organization in Rochester, NY and a
new Grassroots.org hosting client. The organization was established to
address the needs of women and youth in the Rochester area. The
mission of the organization is to improve the life opportunities of
at-risk youth and women through a comprehensive approach aimed at
developing their overall capabilities. One of their programs, Keeping
Kids Connected is a community based support group for children ages
11-17 years old with a parent who is incarcerated. Spirit of Success
is a world exploration program which exposes youth to numerous ethnic
and cultural differences, arts and music events, as well as employment
training, academic support, and career development
workshops.
Their web site was developed by Virginia
Ramirez, a Grassroots.org web design volunteer.
Schwab Learning Center
Schwab
Learning is a nonprofit program of the Charles and Helen Schwab
Foundation and is a “parent’s guide to helping kids with
learning difficulties be successful in school and life” and
provides useful information and practical strategies for parents of
children in kindergarten through high school.
Volunteers
If you are interested in giving back to the
world community, consider volunteering your time and skills to
Grassroots.org. We especially need web designers to develop and
enhance web sites for our free web hosting clients. All Grassroots.org
volunteer opportunities are now listed on VolunteerMatch
and we were recently profiled on JustVolunteers.
Review our listings to see if any of our
opportunities match your skills, experience, and interest. (You can
submit your information to us through the appropriate "I like
this opportunity!" link on the page that describes the particular
opportunity.)
Help Grassroots.org by Selling on EBay
If you sell items on
EBay,
you can designate Grassroots.org as a beneficiary
of a percentage of the sale. (There is a $10 minimum per item. More
information here.)
This contribution will help provide funding for our operations. Thank
you for your support!
Grassroots.org Shirts, Mugs, and
More!
You can now buy Grassroots.org merchandise at our new online store. The
store currently features shirts, mugs, prints, and more. You can visit
the store
and any purchases you make from our online store are tax
deductible
Donation Exchange
This forum on Grassroots.org was created to facilitate the exchange of
donated items. Organizations or individuals looking to donate items or
those in search of obtaining donated goods should join in the discussion.
Citizen Action
Citizen action letters are a tremendous way to speak out and let your
voice be heard. In Grassroots News we are now including citizen action
letters which you can personalize and send to your government
representatives. If you forward this newsletter to your friends and
colleagues and have them submit the action letter to their own
representatives, the effect will be even greater!
The action letter below addresses the
need to give more policing to the distribution of obscene, corruptive
and offensive pornography. Americans spend over $10 billion each year
on pornography. In the US, one rape occurs every two and a half
minutes. Sex pedophiles have gone on record admitting that they use
pornography to lower the child’s inhibitions, before committing
their crimes. Please enter your first name, email address and zip code
as these are mandatory for your citizen letter to reach your elected
representative and FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
References and other informational
sources:
American Porn: The Mainstream Corporations
Profiting from Pornorgraphy
Facts About Rape
FCC Hires Conservative Indecency
Critic
How to Lodge a TV or Radio Indecency
Complaint
Porn in the USA
Pornography’s Effect on Adults and
Children
The Pornography Plague
Free Services
Grassroots.org offers
several free services to individuals around the world and nonprofit
organizations in the US and Canada:
News and Views
Keep up to date with the
latest information from Grassroots.org
on our blog, News
and Views. In addition to reading our blog on the web, you can
read posts from ours and other blogs using a RSS
Reader.
Discussion Forums
Exercise your freedom of
speech!!!
Our discussion forums are a great way
for you to help and encourage others, to allow others to learn more
about you and your organization, and to build relationships with
others in the same field of interest. You can access all of the
Grassroots.org discussion forums here.
We encourage you to visit the forums, register, and
participate.
Let your voice be heard!
Your Feedback
Drop us a line and let us know what you
want to see in future issues. E-mail your comments to newsletter@grassroots.org
To get a text version of this newsletter to be sent to you in the
future, send an email to address@grassroots.org.
Administration
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