One Civic Act

Back in 2018, I saw Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu speak at a Green Energy Consumers Alliance event . It was a moving and dynamic speech. Last summer, she announced her plan for a Boston Green New Deal and Just Recovery . Today, I made a donation to Michelle Wu’s campaign for Mayor.

Today, I met with the director of organizing for the Community Action Agency of Somerville to see how I could help, either individually or as part of the Climate Coalition of Somerville. I also made a donation.

Today, I donated several hundred grocery bags to Project Soup, the food pantry run by the Somerville Homeless Coalition, and to Somerville’s Community Fridge. Really, I was redirecting the bags, because they were all donated to the Somerville Stands Together Food Drive I volunteered at earlier this month.

Today, I made a donation to the Environmental League of Massachusetts. We missed out on Earth Night this year, but still want to support them.

Today, I made a donation of books to More Than Words , which is so much more a used book store. More Than Words works with youth in the foster care system, court involved, homeless, or out of school to get them involved with different aspects of running a business. Great organization.

Today, I made a donation to Food for Free , an awesome organization that “rescues” food from grocery stores and restaurants, and distributes the food to those in need.

Today, I made a donation to the Better Future Project , the parent organization for 350 Mass and Communities Responding to Extreme Weather.

Today, I made a donation to the Environmental League of Massachusetts. Check out the conversations they hosted around their 2020 Commonwealth Environmental Leadership Awards on Youtube .

Today, I renewed my membership to the Somerville Museum. It’s a small but important community resource that stays particularly connected to the community through its community curator program .

Today, I made a donation to a City Councilor’s re-election campaign for 2021. The election is along ways off, but that’s how the election cycle works around here.

Today, I made an important donation to the Brattle Film Foundation . The Brattle Theatre, like all movie theaters, has been hit particularly hard in the Covid-19 crisis with movie-going essentially going down to zero. Looking at Box Office Mojo data for April through September, box office receipts nationally fell 98%. That’s not a misprint — theaters took on just two cents for every dollar they took in last year. It’s not looking bright for the first couple quarters of 2021 either.

Today, I made a donation to the Somerville Community Corporation, which is our local community development corporation. I took advantage of a favorable state program called the community investment tax credit .

Thanksgiving weekend calls for overeating, but there are so many families struggling with food insecurity, even more so because of the coronavirus pandemic. Today, I made a donation to the Community Foodbank of New Jersey.

Thanksgiving weekend calls for overeating, but there are so many families struggling with food insecurity, even more so because of the coronavirus pandemic. Today, I made a donation to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, which serves food pantries and families in need in Los Angeles.

Thanksgiving tradition calls for overeating, but there are so many families struggling with food insecurity, even more so because of the coronavirus pandemic. Today, I made a donation to the Somerville Homeless Coalition’s Project Soup food pantry.

Reverb is a really interesting organization that partners with musicians, festivals and venues to “green” their concerts, while engaging fans at shows to take action. Today, I made a donation to Reverb. It didn’t hurt that I entered a lottery for an electric VW bus at the same time.

There will be two monumentally important Senate race runoff elections on January 5. Today, I made a donation to the Movement Voter Project’s Georgia Fund . This fund supports local organizing efforts, with local partners getting ready to keep registering voters and get out the vote.

The presidential election results are still not conclusive, which isn’t a surprise to anyone. Still, even when the results are known, there’s a good likelihood that there will be legal challenges. Today, I made a donation the Movement Voter Project’s Defend the Election Fund , which is a rapid response fund that will support local groups in critical states should election emergencies arise.

A few years ago, I donated some excess building materials to the Boston Building Resources (BBR) and its Reuse Center, which makes reused building materials available to low-income homeowners who are renovating their properties. BBR is building a new Reuse Center, with ambitions to make it a net zero building. Today, I made a donation to the Next Gen Reuse Center campaign .

I’ve been volunteering for the Mystic River Watershed Association for a few years now, counting herring coming up the fish ladder at the Mystics Lakes dam. Today, I made a donation to MyRWA. Its annual meeting was today, which I missed. The least I could do was make a donation.