Epic Change, a charity I was introduced to via Twitter, is a finalist in a contest at Ideablob. Epic Change strives to build classrooms and foster learning in Tanzania. Stacey Monk, founder of Epic Change, has written a blog post about the fairness of Internet based voting for fundraising, calling attention to how students voted from Tanzania in a recent blog post. However, despite any concerns about digital divides in the current method of deciding a contest winner, it’s still a great cause worthy of support.  Take a few seconds out of your day and vote for Epic Change on Ideablob.

UPPERDATE: Stacey Monk, founder of Epic Change, asked that I include the following in the post:

This blog post is part of Zemanta’s Blogging For a Cause campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

Ok, so we all know I’m a big fan of Twitter and charity. I’m especially fond of charities that promote learning (#Tweetsgiving & #Tweetluck come to mind), reading (Kids Need to Read), and foodbanks. Charities that give people a hand up when needed hold a special place in my heart.

Recently I’ve been able to combine these two loves as the #yeg community has started responding to local needs.

First up was @SirThinks foodbank challenge. Many may not remember back in the day when a number of military members lined up at foodbanks because they couldn’t afford to both house and feed their families. Former CDS Hillier refers to that period in the CF as the “days of darkness”. I doubt many CF members who lived and worked through it would disagree. We were fortunate enough not to need the services of a foodbank at that time but there were days when we’d be sorely tempted. While we’ve donated over the years, when @SirThinks posted his 200 items for school lunch challenge on Twitter last week we couldn’t resist picking up the guantlet.

That event got @SirThinks and I thinking about other ways to support local foodbanks in a more formal manner through Twitter. The near weekly #yegsafetymtgs (nobody works, nobody gets hurt) seemed like the perfect place to launch a collection for the local foodbank. All that remains is to iron out the details.

As I’ve babbled many times over the year(s), I’m a big fan of a charity co-founded by Edmonton’s own Capt Tightpants, Nathan Fillion. Kids Need to Read purchases books for children’s school libraries – often in the poorest districts – to foster learning, imagination, and a love of reading. The charity was co-founded with PJ Haarsma, an author of books for young adults. Tonight I was once again Tweeting about my wish to hold a fundraiser in the #yeg Twitter community for this organization and luckily for me, marketing and promotions chica extrordinaire @Out_Inc has taken up the guantlet. My continual whining has inspired her to consider promoting one charity event that the #yeg Twitter community can sponsor at a #yegsafetymtg each month.

The timing couldn’t be better. The second part of #TwilightYEG, @ZoomJer‘s fundraiser for local womens shelters is taking place tomorrow night. The first half – collecting tips through charity bartending at LUX – raised just over $400 towards the $3000 goal. Hope we surpass it tomorrow evening. There’s still time to buy a ticket online at the #TwilightYEG web site or you can get one at the door on Wed. evening.

Crappy Town Update:
Regular readers may recall that we recently won an auction to “name a crappy town where you’re the hero“. Many towns were available on a number of planets. Our town is on Persephone.

The auction concept was based on an episode of our favourite show and funds raised are going to support CSTS‘s Equality Now fundraiser.

We’re still waiting to hear if our Crappy Town name for the upcoming QMx map of the ‘verse is acceptable. Haven’t really thought of a possible second choice so keep your fingers and toes crossed that option one makes it pastthe cutting room floor (and FOX lawyers).

NOTE: posted from iPhone. Will update with links later when at a computer.

Upperdate: Added links 11:20am May 20th

Spent the past 72 hours+ completely offline while getting re-acquainted with Drew. No interweebs. No cell phones. No Twitter or email. Figure it’ll be pretty slow around here for the next few days too. Got 6 months separation to make up for. Go make your own fun 😛

Been a little remiss in my postings of late. I’m going to blame it all on the advent of allergy season. I don’t think there’s enough Benadryl in the world to make me feel well this week. Spring is usually quite short here in Edmonton so it should all be over soon. I don’t seem to have problems once summer arrives. Unless you count the dogs. I don’t since I’m allergic to them all year long. The dogs don’t tend to make me sneeze (much). With them it’s just itchy ans watery eyes. Their companionship is worth the minor discomfort. Spring sneezing season is another story entirely. I doubt anyone enjoys sneezing and the associated loss of braincells.

Please excuse me. I need to go find some kleenex and sneeze my brains out now. Blech!

This morning I busted up a minor disagreement between the puppy and our oldest kitty. Thanatos was pretty squirmy when I picked her up and scratched the side of my face beside my left ear. I took a quick peek in the mirror as I rushed out the door and it didn’t look like she’d broken skin.

Apparently I was wrong.

After arriving in the office my boss immediately said to me “the cat must have gotten you good”. I was bleeding profusely. I was embarrassed and rushed to the bathroom to clean up the blood and ensure the bleeding was done.

What really upset me was that I sat on the LRT this morning beside a woman (on my left) and across from two others and none of them said a thing. How disturbing. I was bleeding and no one mentioned a thing. No one asked if I was ok.

After getting off the LRT I stopped for coffee. The barista didn’t ask about the blood on my face.

So I was shocked when my boss mentioned it. I wasn’t worried about the scratch. I just couldn’t believe that I’d encountered so many people this morning and all of them ignored the obvious bloody elephant in the room.

I can’t imagine what it’s like to be homeless and dependant on the goodwill of others to surive. But I know they’re often ignored when encountered. What we pretend to be unable to see normally won’t hurt us. I know many people in larger cities have learned to avert their eyes and ignore what’s going on around them as a self-defence mechanism. You never know when meeting someone’s gaze might be interpreted as offensive.

I worry about society when we stop paying attention to and caring for those around us. We should be reaching out to those around us in whatever way we can. Especially as times get tougher. That’s why I’m attending #twilightyeg on the 20th of May. Royal LePage is hosting a charity event to raise funds for local woman’s shelter(s). I encourage everyone in Edmonton with the means to support this worthy cause to do so.