Brokelyn » charity

‘Groupon for good’ saves more than $$

Vanessa Londono — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:00:33 +0000

A dollar here goes a long way there.

You could feel twice as good the next time you give in and purchase a group deal. The Mutual is the latest group-buying service joining the dozen already filling up your inbox. But this one has a charitable twist: Billing itself as the “Groupon for good,” The Mutual rewards philanthropic giving with sweet hookups on VIP events, early product releases, discounts and more. The Brooklyn-based start up is simple enough: You pay a monthly $10 fee for access to the perks. Of that, 80 percent is donated to an environmental charity, with the rest going back to The Mutual. Perks right now include a VIP Brooklyn Brewery party, a free Sustainable NYC totebag and steep discounts to Broadway shows, which means you might recover your monthly fee in just one use.

The five charities currently available include CarbonFund.org, Ecoliteracy, World Resources Institute, Oceana and The Trust for Public Land. The Mutual’s CEO tells Brokelyn that each charity was vetted for its effective use of funding, tangible results and transparency.

“We brought together the five areas that we think collectively have the greatest impact on the environmental crisis,” says Daniel Vallejo, CEO and co-founder of The Mutual. “We are certain through our selection of cause partners and the smart model that we are maximizing the impact of every philanthropic dollar that goes through our system.”

Subscribers have a choice of donating to one of the listed charities or distributing their donation equally among all five. As The Mutual expands nationally, the site plans to allow members to choose the next impact area and selecting local charities for every region.

For now, perks for The Mutual remains mainly in NYC, with more than 45 available discounts from businesses such as uncommon goods and Dossier. The environmental causes so far have received more than $3,000 from more than 50 members.

“People want to do good and live better, but for a lot of us in today’s economy it’s just slightly out of reach,” Daniel says. “With The Mutual, we enable people to spend the money they would have on products and deals, have it go to charity, reward them and write off the bulk of it as a tax deduction.”

Starving artists: Feed your own for the holidays

Jonathan Berk — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:33:41 +0000

Will blog for drinks.

There’s no shortage of worthy ways to be charitable this time of year, but you’d be hard-pressed to find another that says “Made for BK” quite like this. Open Source, a Park Slope gallery/creative space, is looking for a few good cooks to staff its Open Source Food Kitchen every night in December. For a fourth year, the gallery’s running its month-long free kitchen where a volunteer comes in each night, whips up a meal, and 15-20 starving artists dig in. The site says fellow artists usually don the chef hat, but really, anybody’s welcome to come in and cook.

Requirements for the one-night gig are pretty few: Meals are served between 7 and 9pm and you should plan on something easy to serve, like a “one-pot meal — either a soup or stew which can be served in bowls with bread on the side.” Open Source provides the cookware and utensils and will help with logistics. All you do, they say, is “supply the love” (and, um, the food, lest you want an overly expressive uprising on your hands).

If you’re at all culinarily-inclined, this seems like a cool way to give a little back this holiday season. Also, there seems occasionally to be wine and beer-laden late-night convos. Now, if you’re one of those who’s reading this salivating, rather than planning your menu, the meal is open anyone, but seating is limited to first-come, first-served.

Sign up soon, charitable chefs, because shifts are disappearing fast (the actual holidays at the end of the month are still free, though). And while you’re checking it out, you might as well look at all that art stuff Open Source does the rest of the year.

Open Source Gallery, 306 17th St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves., Park Slope.

A bike-mounted Supermarket Sweep, to help the hungry

Karina Briski — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:35:14 +0000

Crank it up for good this Saturday

The holidays are rolling into full twinkle-lit gear, so any scrooges looking to hit the brakes are out of luck. You might as well ride out the season from the comfort of your two-wheeler. The annual Cranksgiving race on Saturday is your chance to kick your pre-trytophan bod into gear while doing something nice for your neighbors. Benefitting City Harvest and the New York Bike Messenger Foundation, the ride involves a Supermarket Sweep-style scavenger hunt race around Manhattan in which participants buy Thanksgiving dinner ingredients for food banks and other local charities. It’s free if you’ve got a bike, a bag and grocery money ($20, according to organizers). Winners are determined by race times as well as the generosity of donations. That said, in this race, nice guys finish first.

The race starts at Solar One on the East River between 22nd and 23rd streets, where riders will get a manifest with the address of various stores around town and a shopping list.

Afterward, celebrate the bounty of your holiday booty at Chrome Store (238 Mulberry St). And for those who still haven’t gotten their fill, the crew is throwing an after after party at Red Lantern Bicycles in Ft. Greene (345 Myrtle Ave.).

Follow Karina: @Karinabthatsme.

Buy a cool photo, help Japan relief efforts

Faye — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:22:38 +0000

From NYC with LOVE, by Ciro Miguel

Our friends over at the wonderful Brooklyn photo blog For the Love of Brooklyn (bookmark it, kids) are selling a print that shows a view of Manhattan from the Standard Hotel rooftop. Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji rises in the background, representing “a symbolic image of strength, support, and love.” The 8 x 12 prints, by Brazilian photographer Ciro Miguel, are $25, and all net proceeds benefit the Red Cross. Buy one here.

Too many bedbugs, too little cash? Apply for charity help

Tim Donnelly — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:01:02 +0000

Cute mascot, soon to be brutally gassed to death

Bed bugs are terrifying not just for their sci-fi levels of indestructibility, but also for the sheer cost of getting rid of them, which can run $1,000 or more. If the bug plague is threatening to grinch up your holidays this year, you may be in luck: NJ-based Bed Bug Central is offering a charitable holiday bed bug elimination program to people in rough financial situations who can’t otherwise afford it. To qualify, you have to write a 300-word letter to “Beddy Bed Bug” (seriously) explaining why your home could use the free service this season. Of course, the best bet is to not get them in the first place, but here’s how to apply.

The offer is good for single-family homes, apartments, group homes, shelters and nursing homes. If selected, you’ll be notified the first week of December, and the pest control team will come to your home on between Dec. 12-19. Submit your “too poor to afford bed bug treatment” essays either by email: beddy@bedbugcentral.com; snail: “Beddy Bed Bug” (again, seriously), 351 Lawrence Station Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648; or via Facebook.

It does come with this caveat, however:
“These efforts are not intended to eliminate all bed bugs from your home or facility but to better the situation and provide you with some comfort as the holiday season approaches.”

So even charity may note quite kill those suckers, but it’s better than nothing.

via The Awl

Show your favorite good-doing do-gooder some love

Anna Jacobson — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:53:24 +0000

We all have at least one friend who just makes us feel bad about ourselves. They work a full-time job, coach a team of disadvantaged youngsters, host a pottery session at a senior citizen’s home and rebuild houses while on vacation in Haiti. This do-goodery usually makes us generally-lazy but well-meaning selves feel like crap. But now The Brooklyn Community Foundation is giving us a chance to give back without waking early for that shift at the soup kitchen, and to show our respect for those out there doing the dirty work themselves. To celebrate its upcoming first anniversary, the BCF is giving away $5000 to five different charities. The recipients will be chosen by the winners of the Brooklyn Do Gooder Awards, and choosing these super citizens… that’s all up to you.

How it works: You nominate a local do-gooder who deserves the recognition, 20 finalists are determined by public vote and five winners will be chosen by a pretty impressive panel of borough heroes: Sara Horwitz (founder, The Freelancers’ Union), Laura Walker (president, WNYC), Laurie Cumbo (founder, Ft. Greene’s MoCADA gallery), Richard Becker (CEO, Brooklyn Hospital), Lexy Funk (co-founder, Brooklyn Industries), and others.

Nominations close Sept. 30, so you have 35 days to get someone in for one of these categories: Arts for All, Caring Neighbors, Community Development, Education and Youth Achievement, and Green Communities. Winners will be celebrated on Nov. 3 at The Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Follow these steps to get your Mother Teresa on the ballot. And while you’re at it, tell us who deserves the do-gooder votes.

Quick blip: Housing Works sale starts tomorrow

Stefanie Blejec — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:23:07 +0000

Starting tomorrow, the Housing Works Thrift Shops kick off a five-day “garage sale,” with up to 75 percent off clothing and housewares in all nine locations—including the the BK outpost cozily stationed in Brooklyn Heights on Montague Street. As always, proceeds go to fight HIV and homelessness.

Housing Works Thrift Shop, 122 Montague Street at Henry, Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday noon to 5 p.m., (718) 237-0521.

How to get Farrah hair in five easy steps

Faye — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:54:20 +0000

In case you forgot, we want to remind you that July is officially Farrah Hair Month, and two Brooklyn salons are marking the occasion by offering Farrah hair blowouts for charity—The Beehive in Williamsburg and Slope Suds in Park Slope. We love this idea—and we’re normally the $20 blowout types. Okay, the air-dry types. But this Friday at The Beehive, and all month at Slope Suds, you pay $50 and they’ll give half of the proceeds to two of Farrah’s favorite causes, cancer research and helping victims of domestic abuse. But not everyone around here has $50 to spend, so here’s how to do it yourself. (Results not guaranteed.)

To demonstrate, we took ordinary 25-year-old Park Sloper Emily Uecker (okay, really beautiful Park Sloper Emily Uecker), and had Texas, a singly named stylist at Slope Suds, perform a Farrah-style blowout that one could repeat at home. This technique doesn’t require any special equipment beyond a decent-sized roller brush (at least two inches) and a curling iron. Here’s the pre-Farrah photo of Emily, who works as an editorial assistant at a snazzy Manhattan media company:

Photos by Stefan Tonio.

STEP #1: WASH AND SECTION
Texas says you don’t need any special conditioners or anything, but there is one secret to doing a good blowout at home: “Patience,” she says. After washing and conditioning the hair, apply a handful of volumizing mousse (Texas likes the Davines brand), especially to the roots, then clip hair into four sections to keep the damp hair of the way. Leave a one- to two-inch strip at the bottom, which is where you’ll start drying. Why the back? If you begin at the front, your arms might get too tired and you might decide to leave the back wet. Patience.

STEP #2: THE DIRTY WORK
Here you do your standard blowout: wrap hair around roller brush, aim hair dryer at section, pull tightly. Never grab so much hair it flies off the brush when you hit it with the dryer, and always use a nozzle because it prevents frizz. When you do the top, lift the hair straight up and point the nozzle at the roots to get some height. Like yay:

STEP #3 THE SIDES
When you get to the front/sides, angle the brush and pull it out in sort of an arc shape, as if you were doing the breast stroke with your hair.

Emily tries it. Watch that brush angle, Emily!

STEP #4: THE TOP
Here, you basically continue the technique you used on the sides, pulling the hair across the head to help give it Farrah-like height on top.

STEP 4: THE CURLING IRON
Here’s where things get tricky. Use the biggest barrel you can find, pull forward and roll back at an angle like so. Only iron a third of the way up the hair. If you go all the way to the top, you’ll get curls all over, and we’re saving that technique for the DIY Bernadette Peters blowout. Use a medium-hold hairspray to keep the flips in place, before and after curling. Use amply and often.

STEP 5: BE GORGEOUS
That’s not hard for our volunteer, who also had her makeup done by Elke at Slope Suds. Want to try it at home? In honor of Farrah Hair Month, we’re having our own contest—and the winner gets $75 in beauty products from Davines. So why not give the roller brush a whirl? Send your before-and-after photos by July 15 to Farrah@brokelyn.com.

Beehive Salon, 115 N. 7th St., 718-782-8376 (phone bookings only) www.beehivesalon.com.

Slope Suds, 462 7th Ave. (on the corner of 16th Street), 718-788-7837, slopesuds.com.