Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. 

Shaved my hair

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQZRs_uq4FQ
• Any contributions up to Wednesday, Sep 2nd will be matched by BB.
  
  
  

What we are doing?

My colleague Andrew Cook and I, like most of you, have not been to a hairstylist in the last 5 months. We decided to donate our hairstylist cost for the past few months to the charitable organization that we hold dear and see if we can convince y'all to do the same.

To make it interesting :

• we are setting a fundraising target each and with the looser shaving his head entirely
  
• we have also agreed to both shave if we reach our thresholds
  

What is the charity?

Besides shelter, food and health are two of the basic necessities that we all need access to. After natural (and man-made) disasters, a large population may be in dire need of Food and Health services.

So I am raising money for World Central Kitchen - a not-for-profit non-governmental organization devoted to providing meals in the wake of natural disasters. More details about why I chose WCK at the end. You will see how WCK is not only feeding people in need, but it is also supporting the local economy by providing demand and employment to the restaurant industry.

Please check out Andrew's page to hear his side of the story and learn about his charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders (MSF).


What can you do?

Donate as much as you can to WCK, by 2020-08-25. JustGiving will send your donations directly to the charity.

But here is the bonus ...

We both work for Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropy will match every dollar we each raise, up to a maximum of $20,000 for each of our campaigns. So if either of our causes seems worthy to you and you'd like to be a part of supporting them, this will give you the chance to double the impact of your contribution.

This sounds familiar... didn't you do this before?

Some of you may be remembering this campaign  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/saru
from 2010, where I grew my hair to donate to a charity to make wigs for children undergoing chemo. That took 2 years to grow. I sure hope this pandemic doesn't last that long.

Why did I choose to raise money for "World Central Kitchen" (WCK)

Key Excerpts to from various sources about WCK to help you decide :-)

From Wikipedia: "WCK was founded in 2010 by celebrity chef José Andrés, the organization prepared food in Haiti following its devastating earthquake. Its method of operations is to be a first responder and then to collaborate and galvanize solutions with local chefs to solve the problem of hunger, immediately following a disaster. Since its founding, the NGO has organized meals in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Zambia, Peru, Cuba, Uganda, The Bahamas, Cambodia, and the United States."

 
I have read about many wide-ranging disasters that WCK has provided food security. For example,

•  in the 2018-2019 (35 days) shutdown of the US Federal government, "About 380,000 federal employees were furloughed, and an additional 420,000 employees for the affected agencies were expected to work with their pay delayed until the end of the shutdown. ... In addition to being unable to meet rent or pay bills, many federal workers around the country were unable to pay for groceries and turned to food banks." 
  
• WCK organized #ChefsForFeds campaign to provide food for the affected federal workers and their families.
  

WCK covid19 response is as follows (excerpt from https://wck.org/chefsforamerica):
 
"WCK is now active in dozens of cities providing over 150,000 fresh meals every day.

Traditional safety nets like school feeding programs, city services, and food banks are struggling to meet basic needs. Seniors, who are isolated for their safety, are unable to access meal services. Meanwhile, the country’s hospital workers are more stretched than ever before.

WCK is also now activating restaurants to help meet this demand by providing jobs for their staff and meals for those in need. #ChefsForAmerica is making a key connection between people who need meals and restaurant workers and drivers who need to earn a living.

As part of its #ChefsForAmerica nationwide emergency food relief program, World Central Kitchen has purchased over 5 million meals from local restaurants, and delivered those meals directly to Americans that need assistance.

Restaurants are the nation’s second-largest employer, sustaining 15.6 million American jobs with annual sales of $889 billion. The impact of the state-imposed shelter-in-place orders and restrictions on businesses has been dramatic. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of July 2, 2020, 17.8 million Americans – 11.1% – are currently unemployed, and the restaurant industry has been uniquely affected. Since February, nearly 3.1 million jobs have been lost in the restaurant industry.

It is WCK’s intention that by working directly with restaurants and providing demand for the restaurant business, we can get meals to those who need them most while also uplifting an industry that needs all of our help to keep their doors open."

See Also:

• https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jose-andres-chef-feeding-coronavirus-impact-60-minutes-2020-04-19/
• https://wck.org/2019

JustGiving.com boilerplate

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