Austin author releases new book about the orphans of India

For three years, Shelley Seale would travel to the orphanages of India, bags loaded with treats and toys to share with the children who had made such an enormous impact on her. After all, these were the same children who inspired the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Each time she got to know the children’s stories a little [...]

Video Wanted: Lights.Camera.Help. entries due JUNE 30!

There’s a little more than a week to submit your entries to the nonprofit film festival, Lights.Camera.Help; the deadline is June 30, in fact. I highly encourage you to submit any film, YouTube video, PSA or series, and be a part of this first-ever film fest in Austin.
Austinites who launch these projects-with-a-cause continue to amaze [...]

Red McCombs: “I want the joy of giving while I’m living”

I grew up in the shadow of that big American Indian chief statue on NW Loop 410 in San Antonio, the one that sits on the Red McCombs car dealership, so I’ve known the name Red McCombs all my life. For a while, I thought he was an Indian chief.
I was able to meet him [...]

Thank goodness for Recognize Good, new Web site that lets you thank someone

See? I was just talking about this exact thing the other day: A public recognition site for volunteers. Except the RecognizeGood people have made a site with the potential for much more than that.
I’ve tried the site. First you register – name, city, etc – then you just fill out the thank you. You include [...]

So why would a local restaurant donate to a local nonprofit anyway?

Yesterday, I posted about Rio Grande’s Philanthropy Week, during which they’re donating 10% of bar sales during happy hour to a different nonprofit each day. You can see the details here.
Lots of local businesses contribute a portion of their sales to a local nonprofit from time to time. Why? Is there anything in it for [...]

VIDEOS: We ask McCracken/Leffingwell about growing culture of philanthropy in Austin

The United Way’s Spring Day of Caring event always brings out the crowds, and the most recent on April 24 was no different. This time, though, it also brought out the mayoral candidates.
Candidates addressed the crowd of volunteers, encouraging them and mostly staying away from any campaign talk. It was nice to have their support. [...]

VIDEO: Interview with Laurie Loew of Give Realty

More about Laurie Loew and her real estate agency that gives 25% of its commission to the charity of your choice in your name (still blows me away) in our next issue. In the meantime, enjoy this short interview by Christine Cox.

Check out more GivingCity videos on our YouTube channel.

She saved my life with cupcakes… AND she gives back to the community!

I don’t want to get into the endorsement business, but I have to share a story about a great experience I had with a local small business: Hill Country Cupcake.
In early February, my son Sam, 5,  volunteered with me at Marathon Kids. He woke up way too early for a Saturday morning so that we could get [...]

“I am heartbroken over what has happened on East 11th Street. I fear that it just might be too late.”

In  GivingCity Issue #2, we interviewed three African-American social entrepreneurs to get their opinions on East Austin, gentrification, and being African American in Austin.
I was a little worried about running that interview. What worried me is that I had never heard anyone say these things before. Yes, I’m a little naive and ignorant about East [...]

We’re looking for Austin’s young philanthropists

Austin’s a great town for volunteers. In fact, we’re ranked among the top five cities for rate of volunteerism. Unfortunately, we still have a ways to go before hitting the top five list for rate of donations. Why are we so great at volunteering but not so great at donating locally?
Lots of people think it’s because we have such [...]