This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Super-storm Sandy did major damage to the East Coast, especially New Jersey and New York City. The offices of DonorsChoose are in New York City. Their fabulous staff is safe (and mostly dry) and their computer servers are up, which means the Science Bloggers for Students drive has been operational and ready to receive your donations. However, a bunch of potential donors to the drive have probably been kind of distracted keeping their own selves safe and dry.
So, a few things we're doing about this situation.
FIRST, we're extending the drive through next Friday, November 9. This gives our East Coast compatriots who are waiting to get power back a chance to join in the fun. The dollar-for-dollar match from the DonorsChoose Board of Directors will be extended to the end (unless we blow through all $50,000 first, which would be awesome). Just enter SCIENCE in the "Match or gift code" field at checkout, and every dollar you give up to $100 will be doubled.
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SECOND, I've added three projects to my giving page from hurricane affected area:
Calculators for a math-intensive Earth Science class at a high school in New York City.
Soil test kits for Dr. Charles E Brimm Medical Arts High School in Camden, New Jersey, to help students in an environmental science class with their urban gardening project.
A human body torso display model for a middle school biology class in Carteret, New Jersey.
In the event that we get these fully funded before the end of the drive, I'll add more.
THIRD, for each of these new projects that we get to full funding before the end of the drive, I will donate $25 to the American Red Cross for Sandy relief. If we get all three fully funded, I'll donate $100 to the American Red Cross for Sandy relief. If we fully fund additional Sandy-affected-area projects beyond these three, it will be an additional $25 out of my pocket to the American Red Cross for each of them.
If you hit your $100 limit on the matching funds, I know you'll lean on your family and friends who care about science education.
We can do this!