Operation NICE: Last Day of 2008!

It’s the last day of 2008, and so far I’ve been a bit of a failure with my own personal version of Operation NICE. So when I received an update from Amnesty International in my inbox today, informing me that until midnight tonight they would double my gift, I knew I had to dig out the ol’ credit card and give from the heart.

Dude, seriously, how often do you get to double your money on a good deed? I donated $60, so my actual gift is $120. Pretty sweet. Just think of the good deeds Amnesty could do if we all gave $60… or more!

Naturally, all of these gifts are tax deductible, something you might want to keep in mind at the end of 2008 cus tax time always comes up faster than you think. If you haven’t given any charitable donations this year, it’d be an excellent way to give back.

J.K. Rowling (image: biographyonline.net)

If you need another reason, I found it interesting to know that before she became a big-deal children’s book writer, J.K. Rowling worked for Amnesty’s London branch. Here’s an excerpt from a commencement speech she gave at Harvard, called “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination”:

I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International’s headquarters in London. There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. I saw photographs of those who had disappeared… I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries… I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.

And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before. Amnesty mobilizes thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.

Maybe you’re not into Harry Potter, though, so that doesn’t mean much to you. If you need a selfish reason, here’s something: If you donate $60 or more, you’ll get a free 2009 wall calendar in addition to the doubled donation. Supposing you haven’t already blown your Xmas wad on one with cute kittens or whatnot yet, there’s that incentive.

But seriously, do you really need selfish reasons to give money to a good cause? Amnesty International helps free political prisoners and stands up for human rights all over the world. They are a major force behind shutting down Guantanamo Bay’s prison, they aid refugees and prisoners of conscience, they speak for those with no voice and help to make sure that all of our rights are taken seriously, no matter what the cost. This is a great organization, and as human rights effect all of us, we should support them in whatever ways we can. Even a modest donation will be doubled, until midnight tonight, so why not give what you can?

Here’s the link if you’d like to donate to Amnesty International today. This will take you to their U.S. site, but you can choose your home country, for those who live elsewhere in the world and would like to give via their credit cards.

I need to make a list of goals for 2009, but I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me for today, so I’d better get going. I hope at least some of the people who read this post decide to give, as I think this is a fantastic way to end 2008 on a positive note. Happy New Year!