Charities / Donations

Many people have asked me if I'm doing this for a particular reason, charity, or cause.  The short answer is no - I got started on this because I wanted to push my limits and see if I could do it.  However, there are a couple of great organizations I've been involved with, and if you feel inclined to donate towards a cause I can vouch for:

The Ark in Kiev, Ukraine - this is a rehabilitation center for street children in Kiev, Ukraine, where I spent a couple of weeks over the summer of 2009. Kiev is estimated to have 50,000 street children who have been abandoned by their parents, often living in the heating tunnels under the city. The Ark helps educate them up to standards and prepares them to return to their families or live independently. The blog from the 2009 team can be found here.

Beacon Rescue Mission in Dunn, NC is not your typical homeless shelter - it's a temporary home away from home for folks going through unusual circumstances. It provides food and a room to stay in for a month or two while the residents find jobs and save to move out, and helps them in those endeavors. From what I could tell over about 20 hours there, they seemed to be doing an excellent job and the residents are doing well.

I'm sure to update this post as time goes on.