Back in
November (it kinda feels like the good old days now, doesn’t it?) I felt
helpless when Donald Trump was elected President. (If you are a Trump supporter, please don't stop reading. I'm speaking to everyone, not just those who feel as I do.) I feared for myself, women, the
planet, the country, the world, the Latinx population, Black people, the lgbtq+
population, Muslims, people with disabilities, and so many others. Now, I also
fear for the state of the media and our ability to get the real facts, and the
first amendment. I fear for things I probably haven’t yet realized I should be
afraid for. But, let’s go back to how I felt in November. You know, the happier
times.
After Trump won, that depressed,
helpless feeling threatened to crush me. I wanted to do something, but I didn’t
know what. People were out protesting, and as someone with an invisible
disability, I couldn't do that. People were donating to various organizations like
the ACLU and other civil rights group, but as a person in an ongoing battle
with an insurance company over a worker’s comp injury, I couldn’t do that
either.
A week after the election, a good
friend of mine had an idea. Motivated by the safety pin movement, she decided
to take it to the next level by getting volunteers together to create jewelry
made out of safety pins, sell it on Etsy, and donate 100% of the proceeds to
various charities. She called it Pins With Purpose. The current list of organizations we support includes: The Trevor Project (helping LGBTQ+ youth), Trans
Lifeline, Border Angels (helps immigrants), The International Rescue Committee (helps refugees), The Mexican
American Legal Defense fund, the Council of American-Islamic Relations, The Southern
Poverty Law Center, The American Civil Liberties Union, The National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Black Lives Matter, RAINN-Rape,
Abuse, Incest National Network, The Native American Rights fund, Standing Rock,
Planned Parenthood, Propublica (supports free press), The Committee to Protect
Journalists, and Earth Justice. As you can see, we’re ambitious and have our
hands full.
My friend asked for volunteers to
create jewelry. We would be donating our own supplies and only be reimbursed
for shipping and shipping supplies. At first I said no, because I didn’t think
I’d be very good at making jewelry. A few days later, I started having ideas
for projects, so I decided to help. I didn't have a lot of $, but I was able to
buy enough beads to get started. Also, my wonderful sister gave me a lot of
beads, and so did my wonderful mother out-law. It’s been hard, learning
something new, but I love it. As a writer, I consider myself an artist, but I
never thought I could create jewelry. It also feels good to know I am doing
something. I’ve been getting a lot better at it too. It’s therapeutic and fun. I’ve
also became the self-appointed Twitter manager, where I spend several hours a
week putting Tweets together so people will actual be aware that Pins With Purpose exists.
As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I
once worked in human services, in direct-care. I loved the people I worked with
and the joy I got knowing I was making a difference in the lives of such
wonderful individuals. Since my on-the-job injury, the company was forced to
lay me off (no hard feelings—it is what it is). One of the things that has hurt
so much about it, was that I was no longer helping people. Knowing I was making
a difference in the lives of wonderful, beautiful people was what made that
tough job worth it. I missed that feeling. I know I need to take care of myself
and my health, but I’ve felt useless lately, which made my depression worse. It
feels good knowing that I am helping, even just a little. I’m so grateful to my
friend for starting Pins With Purpose, and am proud to be a part of it. So far,
Pins With Purpose has raised over $800 for our various organizations, which is
pretty remarkable considering it’s only been 3 months.
This post
it about sharing my experience, but we also need help, and that's where you--my fabulous, amazing readers--come in. We need sales and we
need help with advertising. I realize that many of you have probably seen my FB
posts about the items for sale, but may not have understood what it’s about.
Now you do, and may be more motivated to help.
Here are
some ways you can help:
•
Invite your friends to like it
•
Share the individual posts
•
Like and retweet us
• Check out
our Etsy shop and see if there is anything you might like to buy (100% of sales
go to the organization the item supports)
Etsy.com/shop/PinsWithPurpose
•
Each item is connected to a particular organization, but we have a wide variety
of items for each one.
•
If you do buy something, leaving us a review would be awesome
Pins With
Purpose is made up of a handful of artists. We all have our own unique style,
which means we have a variety of designs and styles. If you know me personally
and are interested in knowing which items I made, checkout my FB profile, where
I have a “my jewelry” album.
I would
like to add that, for me, this goes beyond politics. I don’t care if you voted
for Trump, Johnson, Clinton, Stein, or wrote in Sanders or Mickey Mouse. Yes,
Pins With Purpose was created as a response to Trump being elected, but this is
about helping people who need help. You don’t have to be against Trump to want
to help people. And if you disagree with some of our organizations, then we
have plenty of others that you might not disagree with. If you are pro-life,
then I don’t expect you to go against your personal beliefs and donate to Planned Parenthood, but maybe you could
donate to RAINN (helping victims of sexual violence) instead. If you insist on
believing that Black Lives Matter is a hate group (it isn’t) then why not
donate to the NAACP instead? If you’re tired of being called a racist, bigot,
homophobe, or xenophobe because you voted for Trump, then maybe donate to the NAACP, The Trevor Project,
Trans Lifeline, or one of our many organizations that support immigrants and
refugees. And then there’s the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center. They
help with civil rights for everyone. So who wouldn’t want to donate to them? My
point, is that everyone can help. And again, it’s cool if you can’t/don’t want
to buy anything. Even a like on FB or a share of a post would help.
I think
what’s important right now is that we come together as Americans and help one
another, because we really need it right now.
Thank you,
everyone, for helping! You are all awesome!
