Roll Call: The Duck Club | Canadians, Beer and Cow Pastures

I know, I know. Keep this to the politics thread, but I’m not really looking to spark discussion as much as I’m just looking for feedback. So I’m going to link to a tweet of mine from yesterday to see if the fine folks of The Duck Club have any recommendations.

My wife and I do a few charitable donations each year and we want to make sure we donate to one that is advancing causes for marginalized voices in our country. Any one have some recommendations on Provincial (think Ontario) or National causes that do good, hands on work that actually has tangible effects?

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https://blacklivesmatter.ca/

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Yeah, that is one of the more obvious ones. We’ll probably make a donation there, but we’re also hoping for lesser known causes that are really helping. I’ve found this list:

Just trying to validate some of the orgs listed.

Not sure about Ontario, but I think any organization that enables access to justice is valuable (ie. PIVOT or West Coast LEAF in Vancouver area). I know Toronto has a pretty large BLM group. And honestly, Food Bank is always a great option. They can make your dollar go really far and food availability is such a baseline need for anyone to work towards equality/justice.

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Awesome! Thank you.

We were thinking about the Harriet Tubman Community Foundation, the Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project, and the Black Legal Action Centre as causes we would get behind, so good to know we’re looking in the right areas.

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I’ve always been on donating to local and specific charities with little overhead, or overhead operating lean. Local womens shelter (Hiatus House) has been one I’ve donated to for years. The impact is immediate and may not always directly help those have a bigger voice, but its definitely being put to important use.
I do worry people may shift away from these needs to other important causes instead of just giving more.

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Certainly. We’ve got a few groups here locally that we’re involved with, but we’re lucky to be in a position where I can make a $100 donation to another worthy cause.

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Was watching Canada’s Drag Race with the GF last week and they had an episode with Rainbow Railroad to promote their work. Toronto based charity that helps people in the LGBTQ+ community relocate from bad situations to safer countries.

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Man it’s such a worthy organization.

My brother in law is gay and one year at Pride he was talking about Rainbow Road and how awesome of an organization it was.

We’ve made a few small donations to them over the years and my wife has gone to some of their events.

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So uh, Labour Day weekend my wife has just informed me that I have a full day and night to go golf because she’s taking the kids to her sisters.

I’m not sure which day it will be yet (either Saturday or Sunday and I should know by the end of this weekend), but any refugees wanna plan to meet somewhere to play 18? I’ll drive anywhere between Hamilton and Windsor to play.

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I’m in. One vote here for Tarandowah!

Where are you driving from?

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Can probably get away one of the days. Tentative to highly likely.

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Driving from Petrolia.

Tarandowah sounds abso-frickin-lutely lovely.

I will confirm the day ASAP.

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I’m easy on either day - Monday is the only day I’m not good that long weekend.

Lunchtime-ish is better for me than super early, but I’ll make anything work.

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I’m the exact same way. Noon or noon adjacent on the Saturday or Sunday is ideal.

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Somebody make a poll, and if you pie chart it I’ll… laugh. Hard. But yeah - let’s see who’s interested / available for next week!

I’m definitely interested.
Saturday can likely do.
Sunday is a no go as I have a fantasy football auction starting at 10am.
Monday is also open (as far as I know).

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I’d be heavily down on Tarandowah. I feel like I can swing it and I freaking love that place.

It’s not related to BLM, but if you’re ever looking for a worthy charity to donate to (or even attend a fundraising event) I can not tell you how amazing Ronald McDonald House is. Our family stayed there for over 4 months last year, and I don’t know how we would have survived without it. They have info on donations, meal sponsor programs and community events here: https://www.rmhcsco.ca/ways-to-help There may even be a location closer to you, and that’s great, but I didn’t even know how important a charity it was until I lived there. They are taking a bath in fundraising this year and income, so we have tried to contribute and took donations on our son’s NICU discharge date to help out.

Now let’s go launch em!

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If you don’t mind me asking, which RMH were you at?

My niece was in the NICU in London for 83 days last year and our family benefited greatly from it.

We wound up doing a joint Christmas present from our whole family to my BIL, SIL, nephews, and niece where we bought a few hundred dollars worth of gift cards for them to donate to the RMH in London for families to use while they stay there. Just an awesome cause that does some great work.

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That’s awesome. I believe there are 3 locations in Ontario, Toronto, London and Hamilton (where we were). They work geographically based on the area where you live. The volunteers and staff are what make the places, absolutely amazing. They were great with our daughter too, who got shuttled around back and forth constantly, but loved the playroom and movie nights. As well as riding in the elevator, snacks and sprinting down the hallway at full speed.

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