The Charity of the Week #8 and #9

This week I am Donating My $52 to the Blue Monarch, a "Life-Recovery" program for Abused Women.

This organization is right in my backyard, so to speak, and has a partnership with a wonderful coffeeshop/bakery/restaurant/gift shop/foodmarket called "The Blue Chair", which is right behind the restaurant where I work. We use the same dumpster, I think. I have donated to the Blue Monarch before, in the form of buying muffins from the Blue Chair (They are Really Fantastically Good Muffins, too! You should try them if you ever find yourselves in Sewanee), but I had not given money directly to the Blue Monarch program before.

No matter What your political, religious, or philosophical leanings, I am relatively sure you can join with me on this point: Women should not be getting beaten up. Period. When a Man starts beating up on a Woman who is either physically, financially, or emotionally weaker than him, something very wrong is happening.

If you have ever known a woman who has had this terrible fortune befall her, then you know what I mean when I say that recovery from such abuse is difficult in the best of cases, and can often leave scars that can never be undone. The Blue Monarch Program helps women who have been through horrible trials, over the course of a year, to reclaim their lives as their own. The Program puts these women to work, teaches them, coaches them, encourages them, and trains them, so that when they exit the program, they are no longer victims, and unlikely to ever be again.

Plus, their Blueberry Muffins are seriously out of this world. Really. They're great. (I'm getting hungry...)

But I didn't stop there!! No, no! Continuing on the theme of Violence against Women, I also made a donation to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. (Just for the record, I am against Violence against Men, too. Especially when it's against me)

These folks have a lot of various support programs for women (and girls) who have been victims, or feel they might soon be. They also have a lot of preventative educational programs, particularly on college campuses, where it can be hard for young co-eds to tell exactly where the line between "drunken making out" and "date rape" is. (Hint: if you avoid the drunkenness, this line is much clearer for both parties involved)

Education and Prevention Before the Fact, and Support, Care and Counseling After the Fact, are both great reasons to support these folks. The girl you save might be your own, or one close to you.