blissful philanthropy

my life has been completely consumed these past few days by taxes and, of all things, learning how to knit (and i haven't even picked up sticks yet . . . who knew knitting was so darn complicated?). anyhoo, i'll be back sometime tomorrow with new finds but wanted to mention that the mini version of bliss lau's pleat handbag (featured in jan) just happens to be one of lucky magazine's do good while you shop picks for march.

so if you were already planning on throwing down some serious money on a new handbag, just know that 30% of the purchase price of mini pleat orders placed by mar 31st will be contributed to donors choose. and, considering the price tag, that is a hefty chunk of change that will go to help fill the wish lists of public school teachers struggling to fund projects to educate their students.

lost on stage

 

a few members from the cast of lost are hitting the stage next weekend to benefit the honolulu theatre for youth. barring any scheduling conflicts, matthew fox, jorge garcia, daniel dae kim, terry o'quinn, henry ian cusick, michael emerson, elizabeth mitchell & chris soldvilla will perform selected readings from the theatre's upcoming 2007-2008 season.

the ticket prices may sound a tad pricey however just keep the following in mind when you phone in your order:

one - your dollars are helping to fund hty programs (a very good thing)

two - the benefit will include a reception so you just may get a chance to rub shoulders with some of the cast members

details:

• when: sun, mar 4th @ 4:30p
• where: tenney theatre @ saint andrew's cathedral
• tix: $100, $200 & $300
• tel: 808.457.4263

kokua festival 2007

maybe one year i will be home for the kokua festival but it looks like it is not meant to be in 2007. if your calendar is open at the end of april, celebrate earth day weekend with jack johnson & pearl jam frontman & part-time hawaii resident eddie vedder (fyi - if you have the sundance channel do check out the iconoclasts episode with ev & laird hamilton if you have a chance). all proceeds benefit jack's kokua hawaii foundation which educates island keiki on the importance of being green.

the official on sale date is next week but here's a little info on a few hush hush pre-sales:

• sat, feb 10th - remaining tix from the kokua members pre-sale (which has already ended) go on sale at jack johnson's website.

• thu, feb 15th - myspace members who made friends with the kokua festival await instructions to access their own not so secret sale. how very mission: impossible.

• sat, feb 17th - official ticketmaster sale kicks off at 9am hst and the poor souls who didn't score pre-sale tickets hope for the best.

there is a 4 ticket limit which will hopefully keep the ticket supply in the hands of the fans (and away from the profiteers selling tickets for obscene amounts on ebay & craigslist). more details can be found here.

no. 1 - goodsearch

here's a way to be an online philanthropist without tapping into your bank account. one of the neatest search engines to pop up is goodsearch (powered by yahoo!) which donates 50% of their ad revenue to charity (about a penny per search). it may not sound like much but over time it does add up.

it's pretty easy to use. just go to their homepage, select a charity, and then goodsearch away. there are a number of hawaii organizations listed or, if you can't find your favorite, submit them for approval. in the name of research, you can even take a peek at the number of clicks and the amount raised for a specific charity. and to make life a bit easier, download goodsearch to your toolbar so it is always ready for your next search.

no. 2 - gone for good

the saying one man's trash is another one's treasure especially holds true for non-profits. the volunteer hawaii website has a most wanted list posted by island charities and the wished for items range from the ordinary (computer keyboards, backpacks, musical instruments) to the curious (gravel, compost material, water catchment equipment).

got something languishing in your garage that you just know would be useful somewhere else? post your potential donations online and wait for a match to contact you.

click here to take a peek at the wish list.