Introducing......

StimulateColumbiaMO.org

No, the website isn't up yet, but it will be.  So, what is it?  A few weeks ago Rob Gaskin and I were discussing the next stimulus package that congress has been talking about giving us.  We both agreed that we are against another stimulus check, but since you can't opt out of getting it our thought was we should just give it away.  Then we started taking the idea a little further.  What if we started some kind of organization that would direct people to give their money to local charities and invest in our community.  Instead of going to Best Buy and getting that TV you don't really need, what if you took your money and gave it to an organization that would truly keep the money local.  Here's an example:

You donate your money to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central MO which is based here in Columbia. They take the money and recruit more mentors for local kids.  A kid that is mentored through their program has a greater chance of staying in school and doing something with their life.  So, with that kid staying in school, the school gets funding from the federal government for that kid. So that's more money coming in to the local economy.  Also, when the kid gets older he/she gets a job and pays taxes which is more money in the local economy.  It also is a chance for that kid to not be on welfare, which is then less of a burden on us.

When you buy that TV the money may be spent locally, but then it's gone, never to be seen again.  By giving your money locally it could have long-term effects on our local economy.

So, we have decided to focus on three groups of people:  at-risk children/youth, low-income families, and the unemployed.  Our idea is to have 3 or 4 local charities for each of these categories that we can focus peoples' giving to.  This way a larger impact can be made by focusing on just a few charities.  We are currently in the process of putting all this together.  We have recruited some help from several people at Karis Community Church and a few others.  We are currently building the website, crafting a vision statement, choosing and interviewing local charities, and building an advertising campaign.  Our goal is to be up and running on January 5th.  We want to be ready when the announcement comes from congress that the bill has been approved.  The goal of congress is to have the bill ready for President-elect Obama to sign on inauguration day.  When the announcement is made that the stimulus is official we have to have the campaign ready to go, as people will spend that money in their heads when the announcement is made.  

We are excited and we have a lot of work to do, but we feel like this can make a huge impact on our local economy and our community.  Assuming that we get $600 each again, if 10,000 people donate half of that here in Columbia, we would have $3,000,000!    It can happen!

So, what do you think?  Are you willing to help?  Do you have any ideas for local charities we should consider?  Any feedback you have would be appreciated.