December 1 through 25, a suggested charitable or non-profit donation will be made. The goal is to open doors for people, not doors for chocolate, and work on building community. Though Christmassy, this is a secular project. The only organizations with religious ties to be featured will be fully inclusive of all people. The range of organizations will be diverse and are not intended to be exhaustive suggestions; our city has too many to cover all. (So I'll do this annually to promote as many wonderful organizations as possible.)

Please consider monetary or in-kind donations for the featured organizations. I'm hoping each reader can contribute $5 per organization, per day. Please feel free to give more or to give what you can; some organizations have lists of items they need. Many are desperate for volunteers now and all year.

Please post if you have contributed in some way. I'd like to see if there is interest in a municipal charity advent calendar.

Thank you for participating!

Tuesday 15 December 2015

Door 15! John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights


Door 15 has been opened this morning to reveal:

John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights http://www.jhcentre.org/

As I mentioned to Portia Clark last week when we talked about the Giving Advent Calendar, it was an idea I had on November 30th, so I had little time to plan and develop a social media presence. Had I planned better, charitable organizations would have had better-timed dates. Yesterday the John Humphrey Centre from Peace and Human Rights had their annual award ceremony, celebrating the people in Edmonton who contribute to the values embraced by JHC.

Alas, I hadn't the time, but that doesn't mean I'm not thrilled to feature the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights today. An organization that provides education, resources, & training, workshops, youth events, and the aforementioned awards is a remarkable thing.

I have a personal and emotional connection to the Centre, as one of the awards they present is the Gerald L. Gall Award. I grew up down the street from Gerry, played with his children, and mourned his passing. As a child, I had no idea that Gerry, none of us called him Mr. Gall or Dr. Gall, was a trailblazer in the movement for peace. He was just our friend's dad who welcomed us into the house, as did his wife, Karen, any time of day to play. His children along with my siblings and me were likely the only students at our school who could sing Puff the Kosher Dragon from start to finish. (This Magic Dragon business I only heard of in my adulthood; it remains secondary to the dragon that frolicked in the synagogue.)

The John Humphrey Centre is not featured today simply because of Gerry though. In fact, I had no idea there was a connection when we selected JHCentre.

JHCentre is featured today because it promotes, educates, and aims for a world that is free of violence, a world of peace, understanding, and acceptance. And the Centre works extremely hard to meet those goals.
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