The Sherman Grants

You might remember this project from last year at the Other Place. For no particular reason (and definitely not related to my ennui, anger, and depression post-election), I thought that the Grand Army of the Off Tackle Republic could come together to do some good.

As a community, we proposed good causes. We voted. We chose one cause to collectively support (the Damiano Center in Duluth, MN, a fantastic organization which provides meals, clothes, other goods, and charitable programs to people in need). And we ended up raising $4,601.35 as a group for the Center (across 22 donations and 13 Big Ten fanbases)! I need to take this moment to tip my cap to the Rutgers fan who donated $1,869.00 to represent the year in which Rutgers played the first college football game. That was beyond awesome.

This year, the situation remains dire for many across the country. Organizations are enduring the loss of government funding. Food banks are running bare. Winter is coming. The need remains severe. So what do we do? To paraphrase the fine folks at the Shutdown Fullcast podcast and their charity program that I've blatantly stolen this entire conceit from:

We put our head down. We run the damn ball. Again. And again. And again. It's small yards, clouds of dusts. But if we all keep doing it, if we keep putting in the work together? Someone's going to bust through and break off a huge run. Let's run that damn ball.

How It Works:

From now until Thanksgiving weekend, I’m asking you all to look around your communities for small, local charities. Food banks, animal shelters, arts organizations, conservation groups, children’s programs, etc. All are fair game, as long as they are important to you, they’re hyperlocal, and they do good work. Hit your proposal in the comments below or by email to alma.otter91@gmail.com. We’ll take the list, narrow it down to a set of options, and we’ll all vote for the winner next week.

Then comes the fun part. As a small community of Midwestern, football-loving weirdos, we get to compete to see which fanbase can donate the most to our newly-adopted charity. The winning fanbase gets everlasting glory (and maybe OTR coffee mugs?). The non-profit group gets much-needed funds. Everyone feels good. Everyone wins.

This is not a corporate initiative (unless your company wants to donate, in which case please hand over that cash). It’s not a tax hedge. It’s not part of a national campaign or anything like that. We have a strange, little community here. Let’s do some good with it.