Web Crush Wednesdays: The Season of Giving

As the holidays loom ever closer, the part of us that is so over all the never-ending choruses of carols is constantly at war with the parts of us that try to keep the cheer of the season in the forefronts of our minds. While it’s easy to slip into the familiar mindset of Scrooge and the Grinch, I implore you to allow this year to be a year of giving. Of course, this site being all about geeks, nerds, and all the lovely in-betweeners, I’ve found a couple sites for you that fit with our theme and exemplify the giving spirit.

First up is Fandom 4 Causes: a website that simply wants to bring people of a like charitable mind together to participate in a variety of causes. Fandom 4 Causes reports on charities from both a global level and a community level. It’s an interesting touch, I think, and really gives the sense that fandom is a community where people care about their fictional characters just as much as the well-being of their own neighbors. Since the site runs off user-submitted ideas, it’s also a great place to submit causes that are important to you personally. It’s a great resource to take advantage of!

Second is The Box Scene Project. As we’ve discussed many times on this site, fandom usually takes it upon themselves to add into canon what has been unfortunately left out, usually taking the form of little to no representation for people of color or for QUILTBAG characters. So, what better way to show support, ally or otherwise, than to help donate to causes that aid marginalized groups? The Box Scene Project doesn’t stop there; check out some of the things they’ve done:

The Box Scene Project is a fan-based non-profit organization. Our mission is to achieve equal representation for LGBT*/minority characters, actors, and issues on network television.

Since our inception, we demonstrated fan support for equal representation by successfully lobbying for the release of a deleted scene between TV’s most popular gay teen couple, and raising over $100,000 for charity by offering fans prizes and items from their favorite diverse celebrities and television shows.

An admirable goal, I think. And while a little less open-ended than Fandom 4 Causes, it’s still a worthwhile project.

None of us can avoid the negative feelings that surround the perception of fandoms, and in some cases, it is warranted. However, by no means should that stop anyone from trying to make it better. Fandoms can come together and achieve some really great things, especially in terms of charity. Even if you don’t feel comfortable donating in the name of fandom, or you just don’t care to, I encourage you to donate this season anyways. There are tons of causes that would appreciate it, and truly every little bit helps.

Warning: you may get a feeling of the warm fuzzies after doing so.

On Games and Giving

Gentle readers, I was raised Catholic, by a mother who believed that you could pray all you want, but if you weren’t going out and actually doing good work, then your faith was half-hearted, and that half was the easy half. Now, that’s just an opinion, and it may not be shared by all reading this. But since Sundays were the day we went to church, they were the days also devoted to charity and volunteerism. I wasn’t always psyched for it, and for much of my childhood I wished that I could play video games instead of volunteering. As it turns out, you can do both! So today I’d like to tell you about some good deeds being done at the intersection of gaming and good intentions.

Hannah Hart’s “Hello Harto” Tour

About a year ago (wow, I can’t believe it’s been that long!) I talked about Hannah Hart in a Web Crush and since that time I have grown from simply crushing on this wonderful young woman to full on loving her. Yes, I am a Hartosexual, and I’m clearly not the only one, because Hannah is taking her show on the road!

When Hannah first proposed her tour, she started an Indiegogo campaign to raise money to fund it. I had every intention of making a post here about it to help spread the word a little, but it turned out that I didn’t have to. Why? Because Hannah reached her goal of $50,000 in less than 24 hours. I literally didn’t have time to make a post about her campaign before the Hartosexuals of the world swooped in and saved the day, making her campaign one of the most successful in Indiegogo history and reaching more than four times the original goal. Hannah’s response to the success was touching:

Because Hannah is such a loving person, her tour is going to focus on charity. In each city she visits, rather than doing a typical “Meet & Greet” event, she will be volunteering at a local non-profit organization where fans can pledge to spend their time volunteering with her. She will also be filming episodes of her web series “My Drunk Kitchen” in fans’ kitchens throughout the tour.

I don’t know about you, but I really find Hannah very inspiring. For one thing, she is one of the success stories that really shows the power of the internet to connect people and move them. We aren’t just schlubs who sit in basements watching cat videos and ranting anonymously about whatever irritates us, we are people who have found a community and connection with people spread far across the world that we often have difficulty finding in person.

In addition to this somewhat intangible success, Hannah is taking that community out into the “real” world and doing good. This humanitarian effort, combined with her own personal brand of entertainment, helps so many people, from the organizations she assists to her fans who get to be a part of something bigger than themselves. If you’re a fan, or even if you just want to be part of a group of people trying to make a difference, I encourage you to check out her tour site to see when she’ll be near you and pledge to take part in the activity she has planned for your area.