September 28, 2017 • 10 mins
Whether you’re covertly adding to a New Hampshire sock collection or crocheting a pair of knockers in your spare time, there are all sorts of ways to give back. Will, Gabe and Mango put a spotlight on some unusual charity work in this bonus episode.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So Ango. I was reading this story the other day
and it was about how different companies are finding ways
to give to charity, and one that really struck me
was about Toyota and they made the decision a while
back to donate their efficiency expertise to New York charities
instead of money. Now, how do you feel about that
instead of money? I mean that that kind of sounds
(00:22):
like a scam to me. Well, I had the same
thought at first, and I mean it kind of seemed
like a sneaky way of getting out of donating. I mean,
I know, we both heard about how the Toyota philosophy
involves this constant improvement to efficiency, but this sounded a
little suspect to me. But then I looked into it
and it's actually kind of incredible. So they changed the
(00:42):
setup at the Harlem Soup kitchen and change the weight
time from ninety minutes to eighteen minutes. At a Houston
food bank, they changed the layout and it used to
take eight volunteers an hour to sort five hundred pounds
of frozen foods, which really doesn't sound that bad, but
now they pack forty two hundred pound ounds an hour.
And this is with three fewer volunteers. It's actually all
(01:04):
pretty incredible, but with such an unusual approach to charity,
it got me wondering, you know, what are some of
the more unique nonprofits out there and what are some
of the more bizarre ways to help. And that's what
we're covering in today's bonus episode. Welcome to Part Time Genius.
(01:37):
I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my
good friend man guesh hot Ticketer and sitting behind the
soundproof glass and apparently admiring his stamp collection. That's our
friend and producer Tristan McNeil. And of course we've got
our PTG all star Gabe Bluesier on the line as well.
Hey they're Gabe. Hey guys, how's it going. Always good
to have you on. All right, so I'm going to
kick this one off. You know, one of the charities
(01:59):
that's been in the news of in recent years is
called Community Voicemail, and it may sound kind of unnecessary,
but actually provides this incredible service. You know, I I
haven't heard about that. Could you tell me a little more?
All right? Well, it provides this voice messaging service for
the poor and homeless in the US and It's especially
helpful for people looking for jobs, you know, because applicants
(02:20):
don't want to have to give the number to a
homeless shelter as their primary phone number, so it reduces
the stigma. And it's actually been pretty effective. CBM serves
more than forty thousand people a year, and it's received
funding from places like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
But you know, I know, we've all found a bunch
of nonprofits that we thought were quirky or fun or
(02:41):
just playing unusual. So, Omega, why don't you give us
one you liked? Yeah, so I can do that. Well,
this is kind of a similar one that's feel good
and also involves the phone. It's called Forget Me Not,
and it's really just a program devote to making friendly
phone calls to seniors who are lonely or depressed or
want to chat. The organized station was founded by a
seventeen year old named Annika Kamar from San Jose, and
(03:04):
she realized while volunteering how meaningful of friendly voice and
a conversation could be to residents and assisted living facilities.
It's manned entirely by volunteer high school students. But I
really love the simplicity of it, and what a reminder
it is of how little effort it takes to do good.
I like that, all right, gab Gabe, what do you have?
So my first pick is the Secret Stock Society. And
(03:26):
I like this one partially because having the word secret
in the title just makes you know, everything seemed cooler.
But this is like a simple idea too. It's it's
a nonprofit out of New Hampshire and it provides warm
stocks two kids so that everyone, regardless of income, and
you know, participate in winter sports and activities. So of course,
one of the secrets of the Secret Stock Society. And
(03:49):
you know, maybe they don't want me telling you this,
but they actually provide more than just stocks. They also
provide snow boots and outerwear, all kind of winter gear
that's really fun. And you know, actually, I was going
to do the animal category next, since we're all animal
lovers here, but since you brought up a nonprofit was
such a great name, why don't we do the nonprofit
with the best title we found? So, Mango, you want
(04:12):
to take a stab first? Yeah, So, obviously there's so
many good names for nonprofits, but my favorite is knitted Knockers.
It's this funny title, but it's actually describes the nonprofit perfectly.
They provide knitted prosthetics for women who have had mastectomies,
and it's especially helpful when women are still sore from
the surgeries. They've given away over eight thousand knitted knockers
(04:35):
or crochet knockers to women across America, and the demand
is actually so high that they're looking for more knitters
to help out, which is awesome. Alright, So my contribution
to this make me laugh but actually do good category
is called the Goliad Fruit Salad Shoot, and the money
raised by the nonprofit event goes to the Make a
Wish Foundation, which is obviously a terrific organization, but it
(04:57):
sounds so fun. So people gather at a ran inch
and they compete to shoot fruit and I think it's
mostly watermelon at a range of two hundred to six
hundred yards. Can you imagine that, you know? And and
while the event only started last year, it raised over
eighty thousand dollars. It's pretty incredible. It's amazing that you
can shoot fruit for charity. But from the pictures I
(05:19):
saw online, it was mostly fruit that was on this
still target. But I would love to see like a
clay pigeon style thing with like cantal oaps and jack
fruit where people are just shooting big melons out of
the air. I know it's it's it's pretty awesome. Well,
we'll have to check back to see how the event evolves.
All right, Gabe, So what do you have for this category? Okay,
this was a tough call for me because I was
going to say the Association for Dressings and Sauces, because
(05:43):
you know he doesn't love sauces. But I'm actually going
to go with the Intergalactic Crew of Chewbakis Incorporated. And
as you might know, most Marty Grass crews are officially nonprofit,
but this one is particularly fun because the goal, from
its mission statement is to quote bring the magical revelry
(06:03):
of Marty Graw to the poor, disenfranchise, socially awkward, and
generally weird masses whom they never had the opportunity to
participate in a Mardy Graw parade organization. And they also
have this wonderful goal of making the Chebacca's Parade the
only leave no trace trade, which means they strategically give
(06:23):
away their items so that there's no litter after the
event and if you hadn't guests, the costumes and the
number of lightsabers and attendant it's something to see it,
I mean. And it's called the Intergalactic Crew of Chewbaccas.
That is so great? All right. Well, for our final category,
we're gonna go with the animal name nonprofits. So manga,
(06:45):
what do you have? So? I almost used this as
my funniest name one. This is an organization dedicated to
rescue and rehabilitate donkeys and mules and need It's called
the Savior Ass Long Eear Rescue. And I don't do
you think of donkeys needing to be rescued? I I mean,
you know, aside from your from we need the poop,
but it's kind of a nice reminder that they could
(07:07):
use some love as well. And they offer it out
of dew Hampshire. That's pretty great, all right, Gabe? What
do you have? So I'm gonna go with the Critter Connection,
which is a guinea pig outreach and shelter that operates
out of Durham, Connecticut, and since two thousand four they
saved about fifteen hundred guinea pigs that have been abandoned
due to the unemployment, allergies, or just kids who aren't
(07:29):
ready yet to have a pet responsibilities, and the organization's
addressing a need because most bigger shelters are unequipped to
take care of smaller animals like these. And my favorite
part about it is that they also educate people on
guinea pig care and terminology. So in case anybody's wondering,
when guinea pigs, you know, jump up into the air
with their heads thrown back because they're really excited, that's
(07:52):
called popcornings. I think you get a bonus point just
for that term. That's pretty great. I'm popcorning right now.
That's good. All right. Well, I'm gonna take a page
out of Mangoes book here and not exactly follow the rules.
But my entry for best animal name nonprofit is called
Screaming Chickens forty two. So I don't understand that that
(08:14):
helps out chickens. What do they do? Well, I have
no idea why it's called Screaming Chickens forty two, but
it's a it's a nonprofit after school club in San
Antonio and they do engineering outreach. They teach web design
and computer programming two kids, so all important things, and
apparently it started out as a four h club, but
the robotics projects they do are so cool. And also
(08:37):
they sell these geeky chicken hats, which are just big
chickens and glasses that sit on top of your head
on their site, so you know, it's pretty cool too.
And I'm pretty sure that Anna Winter has three or
four of these sitting around for special occasions, if I'm
not mistaken. Yeah, nobody fact checked that, so um, I
I know we've got to cut the short. We we
(08:58):
didn't even get to talk about the Naked Clown Calendar
or the Tall Clubs International Foundation. But we've got to
pick a winner, and I think Give's got it this week.
I mean, I think I think you're right on this one.
Between Chewbacca and guinea pigs and secret socks and teaching
us about popcorning, I think it's pretty clear here. So Gabe,
you're gonna take the trophy. Congratulations. All right, that's two
(09:22):
for me now, thanks, guys. I'm gonna have to get
a bigger imaginary trophy case. I guess. Well that's it
for today's bonus episode. Of course, while these are all
fun and deserving charities, we know there's a lot of
hurt going on in the world right now, and hopefully
this episode gives you a reason to think about how
in the many ways you can give back. But we'll
be back tomorrow with a fresh Part Time Genius episode.
(09:44):
Thanks for listening, Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius
is a production of how stuff works and wouldn't be
possible without several brilliant people who do the important things
(10:05):
we couldn't even begin to understand. Tristan McNeil does the
editing thing. Noel Brown made the theme song and does
the MIXI MIXI sound. Gary Roland does the exact producer thing.
Gay Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the
Research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams
and Eve Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears.
Good job, Eves. If you like what you heard, we
hope you'll subscribe, and if you really really like what
(10:27):
you've heard, maybe you could leave a good review for us.
Do we do? We forget Jason Jason who
So Ango. I was reading this story the other day
and it was about how different companies are finding ways
to give to charity, and one that really struck me
was about Toyota and they made the decision a while
back to donate their efficiency expertise to New York charities
instead of money. Now, how do you feel about that
instead of money? I mean that that kind of sounds
(00:22):
like a scam to me. Well, I had the same
thought at first, and I mean it kind of seemed
like a sneaky way of getting out of donating. I mean,
I know, we both heard about how the Toyota philosophy
involves this constant improvement to efficiency, but this sounded a
little suspect to me. But then I looked into it
and it's actually kind of incredible. So they changed the
(00:42):
setup at the Harlem Soup kitchen and change the weight
time from ninety minutes to eighteen minutes. At a Houston
food bank, they changed the layout and it used to
take eight volunteers an hour to sort five hundred pounds
of frozen foods, which really doesn't sound that bad, but
now they pack forty two hundred pound ounds an hour.
And this is with three fewer volunteers. It's actually all
(01:04):
pretty incredible, but with such an unusual approach to charity,
it got me wondering, you know, what are some of
the more unique nonprofits out there and what are some
of the more bizarre ways to help. And that's what
we're covering in today's bonus episode. Welcome to Part Time Genius.
(01:37):
I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my
good friend man guesh hot Ticketer and sitting behind the
soundproof glass and apparently admiring his stamp collection. That's our
friend and producer Tristan McNeil. And of course we've got
our PTG all star Gabe Bluesier on the line as well.
Hey they're Gabe. Hey guys, how's it going. Always good
to have you on. All right, so I'm going to
kick this one off. You know, one of the charities
(01:59):
that's been in the news of in recent years is
called Community Voicemail, and it may sound kind of unnecessary,
but actually provides this incredible service. You know, I I
haven't heard about that. Could you tell me a little more?
All right? Well, it provides this voice messaging service for
the poor and homeless in the US and It's especially
helpful for people looking for jobs, you know, because applicants
(02:20):
don't want to have to give the number to a
homeless shelter as their primary phone number, so it reduces
the stigma. And it's actually been pretty effective. CBM serves
more than forty thousand people a year, and it's received
funding from places like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
But you know, I know, we've all found a bunch
of nonprofits that we thought were quirky or fun or
(02:41):
just playing unusual. So, Omega, why don't you give us
one you liked? Yeah, so I can do that. Well,
this is kind of a similar one that's feel good
and also involves the phone. It's called Forget Me Not,
and it's really just a program devote to making friendly
phone calls to seniors who are lonely or depressed or
want to chat. The organized station was founded by a
seventeen year old named Annika Kamar from San Jose, and
(03:04):
she realized while volunteering how meaningful of friendly voice and
a conversation could be to residents and assisted living facilities.
It's manned entirely by volunteer high school students. But I
really love the simplicity of it, and what a reminder
it is of how little effort it takes to do good.
I like that, all right, gab Gabe, what do you have?
So my first pick is the Secret Stock Society. And
(03:26):
I like this one partially because having the word secret
in the title just makes you know, everything seemed cooler.
But this is like a simple idea too. It's it's
a nonprofit out of New Hampshire and it provides warm
stocks two kids so that everyone, regardless of income, and
you know, participate in winter sports and activities. So of course,
one of the secrets of the Secret Stock Society. And
(03:49):
you know, maybe they don't want me telling you this,
but they actually provide more than just stocks. They also
provide snow boots and outerwear, all kind of winter gear
that's really fun. And you know, actually, I was going
to do the animal category next, since we're all animal
lovers here, but since you brought up a nonprofit was
such a great name, why don't we do the nonprofit
with the best title we found? So, Mango, you want
(04:12):
to take a stab first? Yeah, So, obviously there's so
many good names for nonprofits, but my favorite is knitted Knockers.
It's this funny title, but it's actually describes the nonprofit perfectly.
They provide knitted prosthetics for women who have had mastectomies,
and it's especially helpful when women are still sore from
the surgeries. They've given away over eight thousand knitted knockers
(04:35):
or crochet knockers to women across America, and the demand
is actually so high that they're looking for more knitters
to help out, which is awesome. Alright, So my contribution
to this make me laugh but actually do good category
is called the Goliad Fruit Salad Shoot, and the money
raised by the nonprofit event goes to the Make a
Wish Foundation, which is obviously a terrific organization, but it
(04:57):
sounds so fun. So people gather at a ran inch
and they compete to shoot fruit and I think it's
mostly watermelon at a range of two hundred to six
hundred yards. Can you imagine that, you know? And and
while the event only started last year, it raised over
eighty thousand dollars. It's pretty incredible. It's amazing that you
can shoot fruit for charity. But from the pictures I
(05:19):
saw online, it was mostly fruit that was on this
still target. But I would love to see like a
clay pigeon style thing with like cantal oaps and jack
fruit where people are just shooting big melons out of
the air. I know it's it's it's pretty awesome. Well,
we'll have to check back to see how the event evolves.
All right, Gabe, So what do you have for this category? Okay,
this was a tough call for me because I was
going to say the Association for Dressings and Sauces, because
(05:43):
you know he doesn't love sauces. But I'm actually going
to go with the Intergalactic Crew of Chewbakis Incorporated. And
as you might know, most Marty Grass crews are officially nonprofit,
but this one is particularly fun because the goal, from
its mission statement is to quote bring the magical revelry
(06:03):
of Marty Graw to the poor, disenfranchise, socially awkward, and
generally weird masses whom they never had the opportunity to
participate in a Mardy Graw parade organization. And they also
have this wonderful goal of making the Chebacca's Parade the
only leave no trace trade, which means they strategically give
(06:23):
away their items so that there's no litter after the
event and if you hadn't guests, the costumes and the
number of lightsabers and attendant it's something to see it,
I mean. And it's called the Intergalactic Crew of Chewbaccas.
That is so great? All right. Well, for our final category,
we're gonna go with the animal name nonprofits. So manga,
(06:45):
what do you have? So? I almost used this as
my funniest name one. This is an organization dedicated to
rescue and rehabilitate donkeys and mules and need It's called
the Savior Ass Long Eear Rescue. And I don't do
you think of donkeys needing to be rescued? I I mean,
you know, aside from your from we need the poop,
but it's kind of a nice reminder that they could
(07:07):
use some love as well. And they offer it out
of dew Hampshire. That's pretty great, all right, Gabe? What
do you have? So I'm gonna go with the Critter Connection,
which is a guinea pig outreach and shelter that operates
out of Durham, Connecticut, and since two thousand four they
saved about fifteen hundred guinea pigs that have been abandoned
due to the unemployment, allergies, or just kids who aren't
(07:29):
ready yet to have a pet responsibilities, and the organization's
addressing a need because most bigger shelters are unequipped to
take care of smaller animals like these. And my favorite
part about it is that they also educate people on
guinea pig care and terminology. So in case anybody's wondering,
when guinea pigs, you know, jump up into the air
with their heads thrown back because they're really excited, that's
(07:52):
called popcornings. I think you get a bonus point just
for that term. That's pretty great. I'm popcorning right now.
That's good. All right. Well, I'm gonna take a page
out of Mangoes book here and not exactly follow the rules.
But my entry for best animal name nonprofit is called
Screaming Chickens forty two. So I don't understand that that
(08:14):
helps out chickens. What do they do? Well, I have
no idea why it's called Screaming Chickens forty two, but
it's a it's a nonprofit after school club in San
Antonio and they do engineering outreach. They teach web design
and computer programming two kids, so all important things, and
apparently it started out as a four h club, but
the robotics projects they do are so cool. And also
(08:37):
they sell these geeky chicken hats, which are just big
chickens and glasses that sit on top of your head
on their site, so you know, it's pretty cool too.
And I'm pretty sure that Anna Winter has three or
four of these sitting around for special occasions, if I'm
not mistaken. Yeah, nobody fact checked that, so um, I
I know we've got to cut the short. We we
(08:58):
didn't even get to talk about the Naked Clown Calendar
or the Tall Clubs International Foundation. But we've got to
pick a winner, and I think Give's got it this week.
I mean, I think I think you're right on this one.
Between Chewbacca and guinea pigs and secret socks and teaching
us about popcorning, I think it's pretty clear here. So Gabe,
you're gonna take the trophy. Congratulations. All right, that's two
(09:22):
for me now, thanks, guys. I'm gonna have to get
a bigger imaginary trophy case. I guess. Well that's it
for today's bonus episode. Of course, while these are all
fun and deserving charities, we know there's a lot of
hurt going on in the world right now, and hopefully
this episode gives you a reason to think about how
in the many ways you can give back. But we'll
be back tomorrow with a fresh Part Time Genius episode.
(09:44):
Thanks for listening, Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius
is a production of how stuff works and wouldn't be
possible without several brilliant people who do the important things
(10:05):
we couldn't even begin to understand. Tristan McNeil does the
editing thing. Noel Brown made the theme song and does
the MIXI MIXI sound. Gary Roland does the exact producer thing.
Gay Bluesier is our lead researcher, with support from the
Research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams
and Eve Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears.
Good job, Eves. If you like what you heard, we
hope you'll subscribe, and if you really really like what
(10:27):
you've heard, maybe you could leave a good review for us.
Do we do? We forget Jason Jason who
Part-Time Genius News
Hosts And Creators
Will Pearson
Mangesh Hattikudur
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