What’s in a name? Maybe not much, but words do matter. This is not a typical COVID-19 announcement, as in the grand scheme of things, what I call my latest project (formerly called “March Gladness”) is not so important. However, its mission is important.
Over the past few days, I have been thinking about the name “March Gladness 2020” for my charitable giving campaign. I am sure it is obvious that the name was a tongue-in-cheek reference to NCAA’s March Madness. But with the current atmosphere, being tongue-&-cheeky feels uncomfortable. It is a serious time and I feel like authentic living needs to match the times we’re in.
When I came up with this idea, it was March 2nd. In a matter of 10 days, the world took a deep, dark turn, and now it seems odd to me to use the phrase “March Gladness” — it feels awkward because there’s not much to feel “glad” about right now (and I’m not the kind of woman to get all pollyanna and try to glue a “happy” word that just doesn’t fit my experience). Grateful (for my health and much more), yes; but glad… hm. Also, now that March Madness is canceled, it feels strange and off-putting to me to keep it under this name.
I am now renaming the campaign “Get & Give 2020.” I feel so much more comfortable with this name. It simply is what it is: You get yourself (or a loved one) some art made by me, and by doing so, you also give to a worthy charity 20% of your purchase price (don’t worry— your donation comes out of your purchase; I give that 20% to a charity of your choice as opposed to keeping 100% of the profits). You have a list of 20 charities to choose from (see blog post below for a list with links to each one, plus a more complete explanation of the “rules”). That’s where the 2020 comes in — OK, so a little tongue-in-cheek is not too offensive, I hope!
Regarding the charities, I did update it to include one which is addressing the COVID-19 pandemic (the CDC Foundation has a response fund) and an organization which is helping those affected by the devastating tornadoes that plowed through Tennessee earlier this month. There are other organizations on the list that also have a covid-19 action plan, amongst other dire situations that need our help.
And with this new name, it gives me a chance to do something else: Extend the campaign. Instead of it just being for the month of March, I will extend it another two weeks. So from now until April 15th, the Get & Give 2020 project will be active.
So far, the Hirshberg Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, and NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Health) have benefited. I am so honored to have your support and so happy to hear that my collectors are happy with their art! No purchase is too small or too big (some works start as low as $65).
So please, visit me on Facebook and Instagram to follow the progress and to watch videos showing available smaller works that are not on the website. I will be updating this throughout the campaign since there’s LOTS of art to share! For medium to large-scale works, you’re already in the right place, as the bulk of them are up here on the website!
xoxo
Randi