Office of Good Deeds Asks You...

Hey Y'all,

So let's see-- the economy is in the toilet, it's the holiday season during which we pressure ourselves to spend money we don't have on crap we don't need, and...

Oh wait, I'm being glum and you're not supposed to be glum when soliciting good deeds. Okay, let me try that again. Take Two:

Hi Y'all!

Isn't it the most WONDERFUL time of the year?! Well I have a way for you to make it more wonderful. This past year, I found out about Casa Marianella, this amazing homeless shelter in East Austin that, for 25 years, has been providing food, shelter, English classes, social services and legal advice to immigrants seeking asylum. Folks find Casa M often after terrifying journeys that include fleeing homelands where they have been tortured, and detention centers here in the U.S. where they have been kept, like prisoners, for months or years at a time. 

You'd think a place like Casa might be full of the broken-spirited but that's not the case. There really is a lot of hope and optimism going on. I got to spend some time over there this summer with my friend, Sarah, a lawyer who does pro bono work helping these folks out. I was so excited to find out about this resource and, having some Office of Good Deeds funds hanging around looking for the right place to land, I hooked the residents up with a really awesome badminton set. Because, you know, it can totally suck just sitting around, unable to work due to legal constraints, waiting for a shot at asylum and a life that is free of brutality and oppression. 

To speed up the process from badminton-playing, legally-mired immigrant to free and productive citizen, Casa Marianella has started a new legal clinic. Okay, here's the part where I hit you up for some dough.  Can you spare $5? Tell ya what-- you can forgo getting me a Christmas gift AND a birthday gift (what, you forgot my birthday is in two weeks?) and just earmark a portion of what you would have spent to buy me a new chicken coop and spinning wheel on helping these folks out. 

Five bucks. That's all I'm asking. You can donate online here.  Please indicate that your donation is for the new legal clinic. 

Thanks,

Spike