Life-Changing Easter Meal – Just $2.59
Easter is just a few short weeks away and the Union Gospel Mission needs your help. The Mission will be providing over 41,900 hot meals and other life-changing services to hungry, hurting and homeless men, women and children in the Greater Vancouver area during the next few weeks.
The Union Gospel Mission has been helping the less fortunate since 1940. They are an organization that I support and I’m asking you to join me in helping to feed the hungry this Easter. A complete meal cost just $2.59. This is an amount I believe we can all afford.
I Will Match Your Donation
I was wondering how I could help the Mission more this Easter and I’ve came up with an evil plan. I will match every dollar donated by the John Chow dot Com community up to a maximum of $500.00. Simply make a donation at UGM’s online donation page, then email me a copy of the email receipt. Feel free to leave a comment about your donation as well. For tax reasons, some readers in the US may want to donate to Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. That is fine; I will match donations to them as well.
This is the evil part of the plan: all readers making donations will be recognized in a blog post this Friday. If you have a website or blog, I will link to it. I grew up in the Downtown Eastside, the poorest neighborhood in Canada. I did not come from money. I am where I am today because I know that in order to receive any blessings in life, you must first give.
April 8 is just around the corner. The meals and other services we provide can be the start of a new life and new beginning for those in need. Let’s show the Union Gospel Mission that the John Chow dot Com community cares.
Vancouver’s Union Gospel Mission • Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission
*Update – If you wishes to make a donation using PayPal, you may do so by sending the funds to johnchow@johnchow.com and I’ll add it all together and write the UGM a check for the total amount.
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{ 83 comments }
A very nice gesture John, sadly neither of the websites accept Paypal at this moment and since I’m too young for a credit card I’ll have to pass on this one – I’ll be glad to contribute double next year *18 then, hurray*
Man, I hope to be able to do something like this one day. Having my online monetization be successful like John’s TTZ and blog. I will try to make a donation, but I’m not promising anything. A very nice gesture John, indeed
Sounds like a good way to help. Going to make a donation now
Ditto…especially since John is matching. However, I’ll be making most of my donations (as usual) to similar programs in my community. Very glad to see you doing your part and then some, John.
I like the idea of returning back to society. Yet, how I wish they had an option for Paypal as well!
Maybe someone with a Paypal account (a trusted source) could collect payments and donate on behalf of the other people. They would have to be trusted that they would actually make payment though
Are u volunteering?
I could… but I am not too well known around here. When it comes to handling others money I think it needs to be someone else (Maybe John
)
Well, that is what I was thing as well. Or actually, someone can voice this issue out to the organization. Who knows? Maybe they will go get one.
That’s good…If somebody trusted can volunteer…..Must do it in an organized and transparent manner….
John could I send the funds to you via Paypal? I would like to donate this option:
$51.80 to feed 20 people at Easter Dinner
Let me know. You know my email.
too bad they dont accept paypal
You have voiced out my feelings as well.
It’s retarded how they don’t accept paypal.. that’s odd.
Church’s aren’t usually technically savvy Jeff. Specialization…they specialize in giving. Its up to us to specialize in donating to them. Now who’ll handle the tech? I nominate John Chow.
Get a PayPal debit card–that’s what I used.
Good thought John. I have done my small bit by making a contribution.
This is really cool of you John. Pat yourself on the back!
John has indirectly convey the donation message and that’s a very good deed to be done by a very special person.
If the readers cannot give donation due to no credit card reason, or no paypal or what ever reasons…you can always donate the easy way, not necessarily to Gospel, but to other institutions…that may need some other help….
If you don’t have the money now,,, you can donate later when the you get your google adsense or other cheques….you can also donate by giving useful item/material ….there’re actually a lot’s of way to donate to various parties in need.
Haha he counters the evil.
I love this approach. I should consider it, and start doing more evil things as well.
Humanitarian efforts from the Axis of Evil!
It’s a shame I don’t believe in domestic charity whatsoever.
If you ended up starving in a country like Canada you deserve no help.
You never know. One can’t assume that just because the country is way better off, thus everyone are well-off. A minority will always exist, and needs help.
I do not believe in religion (see post below) but I still donated. The system fails and there will always be a place for charity. Read the book Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, and you will see the impossible situation the working poor are faced with in the US and most likely Canada.
For some reason people do end up starving in countries where you wouldnt have thought it should happen. There are too many factors to consider before the blame can be passed on to them. I personally think it’s best to help where you can.
I agree with you, Matt. One just can’t assume.
I saved all the money that I could have donated for bums.
I went to a fundraiser for my friend’s trip to the gymnastics competition in Ottawa. THe ticket was $12 – I paid $20.
My friend Drew says “yeah good stuff. May as well pay for Chris and his team’s trip than for some druggy who will use it for a cheap shot of heroin”
I come from a country where it’s a lot harder to get even a basic job and be guaranteed the basics.
Of course the general North American mentality often involves donating things and helping others but it seems it’s more for achieving a sense of self-righteousness more than anything else.
The general scope of the capitalist world involves competition and Canada offers a great economy and a very socialist swing in its public policies and systems.
Of course, there are a certain percentage of people who were just unlucky but most people are there for their own reasons.
The world is an unfair place – and I’m not really willing to give out any of my pennies because they “might” be unlucky.
I got kicked out of home at the age of 18, with less than $500 in my pocket. Paid my first months’ rent. Got a job. Moved on, and now I live in Yaletown at the age of 21. I crawled up from the bottoms, which is another reason why I don’t sympathize with homelessness in Vancouver etc.
I could go on about the social structure, the economic structure of competition etc. from a very philosophical and theoretical point of view but I’ll save you the trouble – I’ll summarize it – I’ve lived in 3 different countries spanning across the East and West in my life, I’m well read, and I’ve been to many different countries. I see such a soft, dreamer-like attitude in some people here but I disagree with it. That’ll do.
great idea John
Very kind of you John
John shows the world once again that he’s not 100% evil – only 99.99%
$2.59 for a link from JohnChow.com – that’s not a whole lot + you’re helping out and that’s always nice. I might donate a meal or two… but like others have said, it would be great if they would accept PayPal. John, maybe you can pull some strings and see if they can set up a PayPal account?
But you said “..just a short week away” – you probably meant “just a short month away”, right? Or do Canadians have a special Easter?
I guess he was emphasizing on how soon the help has to be in.
Hannes you are real funny man.. Any way John is upto something good. I am sad that since I dont have a credit card right now (Pay Pal got no money in it) I cant donate
I am not religious at all, but I still made a donation since I know that religious groups do not discriminate amongst the hungry (at least I hope not). I was hesitant to give to a church, but on the other hand I believe this to be a good cause for humanity. I only hope it is not a way for these missionaries to track me down and evangelize to me.
I’m in for 4 meals, one for each person in my family. Thanks for the opportunity to donate John.
Hmm.. nice knowing you did some social works here too John. Unfortunately, I’m living in a far away land.
Me Too, for stuff like this I prefer to give to local charities, I suppose thats a bit mean, I could give to both….
Its a great idea though, I definately think a paypal option would be useful
Keep this up and you’ll be known as the root of all virtue
Yeah, I always amazed reading all the good ideas that came out from his evil mind.
Good cause here, John, and $19.20 feeds and cares for 10 people.
It’s great the know that if even just 10 people donate that helps at least 100 people. I did this, and I encourage everyone else to do the same.
Was that fat finger or US$ or what? My meat calculator said you need $25.9 to feed 10 people. But hey, better you than me. You have made donations and that was what counts. Good for you.
I’m in the US so I made my donation to the group in Seattle. That’s how much they said goes to care for 10 people.
http://www.ugm.org/
Thanks for the link. How did you email John Chow after making the donation? His Contact Us page does not accept the attachment.
I just copy and pasted the text.
He has a heart? I don’t believe it.
Evil or good, everyone has one!
Until they add a sweet heart then they’d have two.
Great one John. Unfortunately I won’t be able to take part in this. Too much technical difficulties to get money from Suriname to anywhere in the world, especially for such low amounts.
Nice gesture, John! However, I just wonder, was that the evil part in this plan that drove the comment numbers down or what?
BTW, could a donations to local soup kitchen count if we email you the receipt?
Down? It looks to be on the rise instead!
Yeah, you’re right. Just notice that the number is rising now especially the evil one (like me) start to innundate (not spam
) this comment post to increase the number of their comments with the hope to lower their Technorati rating. Ok, I’d better stop here before making someone mad. 
Just donated for 10 meals. Great idea. Wish they took paypal. I’m not into having so many cards in my wallet to get a PayPal debit card. My wallet already looks like George Costanza!
Hahaha! Join the club.
Do they consider reading John Chow’s comment as an addiction to blog?
John, why don’t you charge, 1 comments for 1 donation otherwise the comment will be removed?
Great way to give back some of that $7,011.05 from February
No but really, good idea John. Thanks again for participating in my Monthly Blog Revenue Study.
Wonderfully evil John. I applaud your efforts to use your influence to help those who need it.
Done. Just fed 10 people through the Seattle Union Gospel Mission. Now I’m off to feed myself.
$186.56 so far in donations. You people are awesome!
That is some money indeed in a short period of time from posting! er.. 3 hours?
Should be more than $200 now.
wow..
in that little time!!
Sheesh. That’s pretty awesome actually.
Hey everybody,
My name is Kevan – I work in UGM’s communications department, and help oversee the website. All your suggestions about PayPal are smart and in-touch. I’ve just contacted our technical support team and asked them to look into getting PayPal running on the site. We use Moneris to manage our donations, and it’s synched up with an internal database that manages our donors. I’d imagine it will take a bit of figuring to work out PayPal on our system (maybe a week or so?), but I’d love to hear your suggestions if you have any.
Thanks again for being so generous, everybody. And John, you’re an amazing guy for spearheading this. I’ll be writing & publishing another news release for our front page again to give you due credit.
- kevan
Kevan, you are welcome. Hope you folks reached the target that you are aiming for!
Ditto! Best of luck, Kevan.
I donated $10.50. Not a whole lot, but it’ll pay for four meals, I believe, if my math is on.
It’s not the number that count.
After all, John only asked for one and you have done for one. Good job!
Sorry, that was fat finger. I mean you have done for 4.
The number may be even larger than you think. I donated to the Seattle branch and haven’t forwarded the email yet. I figure why not — tax-deductible and a good cause and a link from high traffic website? It’s a no-brainer.
John, what’s wrong. I keep getting this “Done, but with errors on page” at the bottom of this page. Is that IE 6.0 problem again?
Excellent idea, I just submitted my transfer from bank to Paypal so I will be making a donation in just a few days when the transfer is complete
I have received emails totaling $356.32 in donations now! WOW! I’m blown away!
I think it will be over 1K in member donations. Thats my little prediction.
Maybe John should raise his $500 cap
I’ll be tossing in my donation later this afternoon.
“Can I get a thousand? 500 to the man in the black turtleneck with horns and red eyes. Do I hear 1,000?”
A great idea John!
I called the Union Gospel Mission to see if they were going to set up PayPal to accept donations. They are going to try to get one set up in the Vancouver UGM.
It’d really help if they set up some form of paypal. If they did, I might feel generous again and send more money. *shrug*
I normally donate to the missionaries of charity, but I just made a small donation for the vancouver mission.
Hey
Great idea John, and some great publicity you are offering the mission. See, not so evil after all!
I have donated $25.90 for the 10 meals.
With 7K last month from your blog’s earning, many people will thank you for all the hot meals.
I just sent in my donation.
Wow! Glad that they managed to collect such a tremendous sum of money! That is sure to provide much-needed food.