Worthy Causes: Scarleteen

I remember when I first started to get a sense of community, activism, and desire to do something, help, make a difference, I was frustrated when the answer to the question, “What can I do to help?” was often “Donate.” That just seemed – detached. Like I wouldn’t really be involved or get my hands dirty or be a part of something. Where does all that money go? Does it really help people? How does money translate into real services and real change for real people?

Organizations of different sizes that serve a variety of communities obviously answer this question in very different ways. But having spent a bunch of years involved in grassroots organizing with groups that had no funding, or were channeling personal funds or tiny grants into the work they believe in, and then moving into for reals non-profit work: ok, I get it.

I’ve certainly donated a ridiculous amount of my time to volunteer for causes I believe in over the past bunch of years (sometimes so much time it was detrimental to my comfort, sanity, and wallet), but this past year, I did something new: I donated money. Because I have a real job, and I have enough money that I’d like to pay it forward to organizations I respect.

I’ve donated to a few different organizations, but the organization I want to highlight here is Scarleteen. For more than ten years, Scarleteen has been run by Heather Corinna, who I have to say is at the absolute top of my list as one of the of strongest, most amazing, and caring people I know. Scarleteen isn’t funded by any government grants, they don’t have monies from large foundations – Heather has stubbornly and steadfastly kept the project alive because she believes that young people deserve real sex education, sex education without limitations.

And though there’s no limit to the heart that Heather puts into Scarleteen, there is a limit to the amount of time one person can stay awake and functional, and there’s certainly a limit to the funds that one person can stream into her project.

In Heather’s words:

What you might not know is that Scarleteen is the highest ranked online young adult sexuality resource but also the least funded and that the youth who need us most are also the least able to donate. You might not know that we have done all we have with a budget lower than the median annual household income in the U.S. You might not know we have provided the services we have to millions without any federal, state or local funding and that we are fully independent media which depends on public support to survive and grow.

Your donation to Scarleteen, which you can make here, actually goes directly to funding online sex education for young people. If you have benefited from Scarleteen or can think of some young people who do or could, you should help to support an amazing community project with whatever you can spare. I know it’s cliche to say that every little bit makes a difference, but for Scarleteen, that is actually very much true. Scarleteen is run in a very stripped down, streamlined way – when you don’t have a lot, you learn to make big things with very little money. Donations to the project have a solid and positive impact on the health of Scarleteen, and will help keep it running longer and better.