September 2019 Accounting Report: Money

I've decided that it would be best to break up my monthly accounting report into two sections. This way if folks have triggers regarding either money or time they can easily skip the ones they have issue with while still accessing the one they want.

Money:

One axis of my "Showing Up" pledge has to do with money. I will be contributing 10% of my income to solving problems in my communities, local, state, national and global. This month all my income came from my job. I am paid a gross of $25.54 per hour as a test specialist at Amazon. Since I worked or got PTO for 167.5 hours during days in September that gives me a gross income of $4277.95 which gives me a contribution goal of $427.80 this month. Here is how those contributions shook out.

Kiva Top-Off: $16.86

You can learn more about showing up with Kiva by reading the blog post I wrote about it this month. This month I did my Top Off early so I imagine that my October Kiva loans will be more numerous.

This month's Kiva loans counting repayments and my top off amount:

Endis Roxana from El Salvador for a freezer to help with her fish selling business.
Juan from Honduras for a solar powered freezer for preserving his milk for sale.
The Margaritas De Chuatzam Group from Guatemala made up of a variety of entrepreneurs including tailors, nixtamal millers, spare part sellers, and folks raising animals and running small stores.

Hopelink: $6.87

A young girl was volunteering with her family outside of the grocery store when I went shopping. She asked me if I would like to help the homeless. I asked her to tell me more. She very matter-of-factly explained exactly what to do. I took her shopping list and bought a few items on it to support my local food-insecure folk and to honor the time and dedication the family put into raising resources for the community. Some of the items were also on Sale!

Couscous: $3.19
Canned Tuna: $1.89
Oatmeal: $1.79
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Total: $6.87

It wasn't much but it was something I could do to make things a little bit better while doing the shopping I was already doing. Imagine if everyone who had the means to do so donated $7 worth of shelf-stable goods to their local foodbank, soup kitchen, or homeless shelter, what a difference that could make in many communities.

Patreon: $67

I acquired some new folks to patronize so my monthly bill for support went up to $67. This also means that my own first goal for My Patreon has also gone up to $67 as the first goal I have with this endeavor is to be able to cover the support of all the creative folk that I've found doing work in this fight and marginalized folks doing work of authentically showing up on the platform. If you've read a couple of my posts and this endeavor I'm on is something you want to contribute to, consider becoming a patron. It will be very encouraging to see people supporting this even in tiny ways.

Political Contributions: $50

I have not yet decided who I want to fully support in the Democratic Primary but I think that it is important for me to support the folks who I think are most likely to be able to confront Trump in the General, most able to rebuild our global community and most likely to address the needs of our communities at the local, state, national and global levels and lay a solid foundation for continued improvement at all these levels. To that end I am contribute to several campaigns of democratic candidates for president. This year campaign contributions and polling is how candidates get a podium at the debates. By contributing I am sending a message that these are the folks I want to hear more from as we winnow towards an eventual nominee. I encourage you to donate towards your preferred candidate(s). I will probably do a blog post about the folks I'm leaning towards later on but for now, imperfect engagement is still showing up.

Statement-Wear: $33.24

I made a blog post about Statement-Wear earlier this month and what counts towards my goal and what does not. This month I picked up a #NoTechForICE travel mug. It is bright and easy to see from across the room and I feel it is important to be visible on this issue while working at Amazon, though not on any of the technology used by ICE.

RAICES: $253.83

Until as a country we stop ripping families apart at the border. Until as a country we reunite all families that have been torn apart. Until as a country toddlers do not need to represent themselves in immigration court. Until as a country we stop the atrocities that are concentration camps. Until we find our soul when it comes to caring for the strangers in our land, I will round out my monetary commitment with a donation to RAICES.

RAICES is a non profit organization that provides legal assistance and so much more to immigrants in the United States. It helps reunite families and helps children who have no one else. If you have money to help and care about this problem and don't know what else to do, consider donating to RAICES.