I
WOULD HAVE BEEN A
GOOD RECIPIENT OF
GRANTS FROM FRUGAL GIVERS
When people hear that Frugal Givers offers money to projects run by
volunteers
or run by people who receive very little income from their efforts,
they are skeptical that any such organizations exist.
But my own story of volunteer projects
illustrate the kinds of projects I hope to find
that were created by others
who were willing and able to pursue their goals without being paid.
BOOK REVIEWS
For the last several years, I have been reviewing
books that interest me.
I have not been paid in any way for reading these books.
And I have received no benefits from writing my reviews.
There are now over 350 reviews posted on my website,
organized into about 60 bibliographies: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/BIB-JP.html
If anyone else is doing this
and if that person is frugal enough in life-style
to qualify for a Frugal Givers Grant,
then such a person should consider applying for $100
to support his or her continuing efforts to help the public find good
books.
ALTERNATIVE ADULT EDUCATION
In 1966 I began what turned out to be a long career
in the free university movement and other adult education
organizations.
During my many years with the Minnesota Free University,
it was the major way I paid my rent and bought food.
But most of my classes have been offered without charge.
I continue to offer classes in the Experimental
Educational Community of the Twin Cities.
All EXCO classes are free of charge.
Here is a summary of my
career in
alternative adult education,
including a listing of classes I am still interested in offering.
SAFEGUARDS FOR LIFE-ENDING DECISIONS
In 2006 I started a website supporting the
right-to-die.
A major source of controversy between proponents and opponents of the
right-to-die
is the use of safeguards to prevent mistakes and abuses of the
right-to-die.
So this website has created several meaningful ways
to separate foolish decisions to terminate life
(irrational suicide and other forms of premature death)
from wise and compassionate decisions to call life to an end
by making careful end-of-life medical decisions. http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/SG.html
Frugal Givers will be delighted to discover any such
similar efforts to support.
CYBER-SERMON REGISTRY
In 1999 I started a service for UU congregations
that post their sermons on the Internet.
In its first 10 years, this service has grown to over 10,000 sermons.
The following link leads to the geographical listing of congregations
that have decided to include their sermons in this service: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/Y-SERNET.html
There is no cost to congregations for this listing.
And no money has ever been paid out to anyone
for helping this service to operate.
I have provided the webspace for the Cyber-Sermon Registry free of
charge.
And, as it happens, this file is the largest anywhere on my website.
Putting that another way,
everything in An
Existential Philosopher's Museum is free of charge.
And this room in the museum is the largest.
In most cases, the webmasters who post these sermons
on the Internet
are also not paid for their efforts.
But, of course, the ministers who created the sermons for their
congregations
were paid for that intellectual effort.
In some cases, the sermons were created by laypersons who were not
paid.
We donate our time and talents because we believe in
the purposes
that underlie the sermons themselves
rather than because some organization pays for such services.
This is very much in the spirit of the Internet
itself.
Millions of people provide information by means of the Internet
without being paid by anyone
or without expecting any income to result from their intellectual
efforts.
Frugal Givers is looking for other meaningful
Internet sites
that were created and are being maintained by volunteers.
HEART, MIND, & SPIRIT
Heart, Mind, & Spirit is an on-line electronic
magazine for UUs on campus,
which has been operating since 1999.
Four times each year an issue is created and posted on the Internet.
In 2009, HMS moved to Facebook, where the feature articles now appear.
All past feature articles continue to be available
on the Internet.
Here is an organized list of the articles: The
Library of
Heart, Mind, & Spirit.
All of the time and effort needed to make this
magazine work
has also been donated —by
me and others who believe this is a meaningful service.
No money has changed hands.
The only direct costs are the electronic costs
for e-mail service and web-space on the Internet.
And these are provided free of charge by the webmaster—me.
Also in this case, the electronic articles are all
created
by people who believed in their ideas enough to offer them
without the reward of being paid for that intellectual effort.
Here is the website for Heart, Mind, & Spirit: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/HMS.html.
This link leads to full information about Heart, Mind, & Spirit,
including links to the articles, organized chronologically and
topically.
When people believe in what they have to offer,
they are willing to give their ideas away on the Internet.
And Frugal Givers is looking for other such meaningful efforts.
FREE SECULAR SERMONS
Another free service I have provided for several
years is my own secular sermons.
I have written (and continue to write) these discourses
because I believe in their content,
not because this effort generates income.
As noted above, my website itself is entirely a
voluntary effort.
There are many other projects reflected in the many rooms of this
website,
almost all of which have been pursued without any thought of monetary
reward.
Here is my website, called An Existential Philosopher's Museum: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/
Looking back on my life,
I find that most of my projects have been volunteer efforts.
I was employed full-time only during one period of 24 months.
The rest of my life has been given for the benefits of others
without being paid by any individuals or organizations
for the hours devoted to the many projects.
Some of my efforts, such as publishing my books,
have yielded some cash, which has at least partly repaid
the money I invested to share my thoughts in print.
But in recent years, the Internet has proven to be
a much more effective way to sharing my ideas with the world.
There are almost no costs involved with writing this sentence
and no cost to you to read it.
And I am looking for others who are similarly
inclined.
Do you see needs that are unmet?
Are you concerned enough about those problems or needs
to donate your own time and money to seeking solutions?
If so, perhaps you will qualify for a Frugal Givers Grant.
If I were not already receiving more than enough
money
to live on from the Social Security Administration,
then I would be an ideal recipient of grants from Frugal Givers.
But now because of this Social Security income,
I can share my new wealth with younger versions of myself,
who will not qualify for the benefits I now receive until they reach
age 65.
(One project you might work on
is extending this guaranteed annual income
to persons of all ages, from birth to death,
so that everyone will have
the freedom to choose a life of service without having to worry about
earning a living.)