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I feel for Juan Williams, I really do. The dude should not have been fired, especially in the manner that he was. A phone call! They could’ve at least had Carl Kassle call him and leave a message on his voicemail.

But even more than that I feel for NPR. NPR is getting hammered in the press for being this liberal conspiracy to take over the world. (Full Disclosure: I would totally vote Tom and Ray of Car Talk into the White House. There is all of this talk of which party, the Democrats or the Republicans, drove the bus into the ditch and who is going to drive us out. Well, at least with Tom…

Giving $10 to 3 Cups

Tonight I have the honor of speaking at the Columbus (IN) Library. The community selected Three Cups of Tea for their community reading program and since they apparently couldn’t get Greg Mortensen himself, they contacted me. I’m super pumped. I love the book and every time I read about Mortenson I’m amazed by his psycho-like dedication to his cause and all the positive change he is bringing into our world.

I’ll be talking about the Girl Effect, the importance of educating and employing women, and up and coming Greg Mortensons like Jake Harriman of NURU who I’ve had the pleasure to meet.

Here’s the official description of my chat:

Common Threads: Exploring Poverty One Story at a Time presented by…

What's the cause of your life?

We learn an awful lot about a person reading about their death.

I appreciate a good obituary; one that speaks to a life lived. Unfortunately many of us don’t have the luxury of being eulogized in inch after inch of newspaper type by someone who can adequately navigate the arc of our life. So our families are left with the task.

Usually, it’s a very utilitarian thing, here’s who died, here’s who they were close to (if you know them you should attend), and here’s the where and when. It’s not until the end we learn the most about them.

“Memorial contributions may be made to…”

Sometimes this is where we find what killed the person, which is a shame (unless what causes their death was their cause). But…

The $10 for Tuesday Project: "Letting my babies down"

My “Free Money” post, part of my $10 for Tuesday Project, has received over 60 comments. Everything from “Give me $10 or I’ll kill you” to, more often, tales that are a sign of these tough times.

It’s become much more of a responsibility than I ever imagined. To think someone was so desperate that they Googled “free money” and took the time to comment or email me their story hoping they might get a measly $10 breaks my heart. I always try to respond.

I received this note a while back:

My name is Michelle I am a 32 yr old single mom of 2. A 12 yr old lil girl and my 7yr old…

The Poor Give More than the Rich

If you had more, you would give less.

Americans earning less than $25,000 give away 4.2% of their income on average and those earning $75,000+ give away only 2.7% of theirs according to a piece by Judith Warner in the NY Times The Charitable Giving Divide.

Some of the most interesting parts of the story were Warner’s discussions with grad student, Paul Piff, about his research at UC Berkeley:

“…lower-income people were more generous, charitable, trusting and helpful to others than were those with more wealth. They were more attuned to the needs of others and more committed generally to the values of egalitarianism.

“Upper class” people, on the other hand, clung to values that “prioritized their own need.” And, he told me this week, “wealth seems to buffer people from attending…

$10 to the forgotten people of Bangladesh

I was invited to speak to class in Indianapolis by John Clark, who runs a very cool organization called Provocate that seeks to connect Indianapolis to the world.

I was trying out some new material on being a glocal (think globally, act locally). The more I travel and the more I come into contact with extreme poverty, the more I realize that it is Bangladeshi’s that are the most capable of helping other Bangladeshi’s, just as it is Hoosiers who have to help other Hoosiers.

So now I donate money to organizations that I feel do a good job of supporting Bangladeshi’s helping other Bangladeshi’s. And where I’m a local – Muncie, Indiana – I’m donating time to fight poverty in my community.

I think that it’s important that each of us thinks about our place in the world and in our local community. I’ll hash these thoughts out more in a future post. This is something I really want to work into my new and improved “Where Am I Wearing?” presentation this fall.

Anyhow, during the Q&A after the talk someone posited, “Wouldn’t it be better for countries like Bangladesh if instead of traveling there you just donated the amount of money you would have spent and stay home?” I like the question. It kind of reminds me of this one that Wall Street Journal asked me. The audience turned a bit on the poor fella who was really just playing devil’s advocate and lobbing up a softball for me to knock out of the park.

I answered it similar to my answer in the Journal:

That’s misguided, says Kelsey Timmerman, a 28-year-old Muncie, Ind., scuba-diving instructor and author. If he’d never been to the Great Barrier Reef, he wouldn’t care as much that it is dying from rising ocean temperatures. Decisions he makes as a consumer and a voter offset emissions resulting from his travels, says Mr. Timmerman, who visited Bangladesh, Cambodia and China last year. “Travel helps us care more about our world.”

My answer was okay, but nowhere near the answer that came from the next hand that went up. Anwar Khan and his wife were planning a trip to Bangladesh with the intention of helping one family. They went and couldn’t do it. There was just too much suffering to help only one family. They founded OBAT Helpers an organization that gives hope to Pakistani refugees in Bangladesh.

Soon as Anwar told his story, I knew that some Tuesday in the very near future I would be giving OBAT $10. Today is that Tuesday. Here’s how to join me.

A letter from Anwar is below the break

$10 for Tuesday: In support of wounded soldiers

Captain Scott Smiley

Leaving your family isn’t easy. I leave mine for a month or two at time. That’s a tough goodbye. Each time I’m faced with it, I think about the men and women of our military. They are gone for much longer and traveling to lands far less welcoming.

Returning home is always sweet. I return with my hair a bit longer, a few pounds missing, and some great stories. Annie usually cuts my hair within a few days, a couple weeks eating dessert puts the weight back on, and I stew over the stories making them readable. It takes next to no time for me to be back to normal.

But that’s not always the…

$10 for Tuesday: Samaritan’s Purse

It’s not always easy giving. First it takes time.

Today I was flying back from 12 days in NYC and really didn’t have any idea of who I was going to give $10 to this Tuesday. I got home. I was tired. I was much more interested in playing with Harper and Oreo than staring at my computer. There was a chance that my $10 for Tuesday wouldn’t get posted until Wednesday.

And sometimes it takes a kick in the pants. Today that kick came from Michele Shaw:

Hi Kelsey! In the spirit of your Tuesday project, I have contributed for a month to Samaritan’s Purse. They do one of my favorite projects-Operation Christmas Child, and are already gearing up to help children around the world come December.

Giving is…

$10 for Tuesday: Homeless are Homeless

It’s sort of funny when a big butter Jesus burns down – in fact, I drove by the site last week and it’s even funnier in person – but there’s nothing funny at all about a homeless shelter burning down.

No one wants to live in a homeless shelter.

I remember the scenes in Pursuit of Happyness where Will Smith and son are waiting in line for a bed at a homeless shelter in San Francisco. The father, Will, was looking down at the ground to avoid eye contact while simultaneously scanning out the side of his eye for anyone that might recognize him.

Making the decision to move into a shelter must be quite humbling.

But then to have the last place you would turn burn would really seem like…

$10 for Tuesday: Update

I need to do a master page for the $10 for Tuesday project showing whom I’ve given to and more information explaining the project.

It’s been a pretty amazing experience for me so far. Everyday I get an email or a post from someone asking for $10 or from someone who his giving in their own way. A couple of days ago I received this note from Hannah Ford.

My husband and I do not have a lot of money but every Sunday we pick at least 5 different children in our churches (my husband is the organist for two churches)..from 1-5 dollars each..someday we will be able to do more..we set aside 20 dollars each week for this..love what you are during.

We can all do a little more. Thanks for…