At 1 am yesterday morning a call went out to “Restoring Truthiness to the Classroom” to show support for the Restoring Truthiness rally. As noted on Reddit:
The drive to organize a Stephen Colbert rally continues to snowball. Over 5,000 people have subscribed to /r/ColbertRally. It’s gotten a stunning redesign. And now, the community wants to show that it’s not just another lame Internet petition.
See, anyone can join a reddit or Facebook group or sign a petition. It takes, like, one minute and doesn’t demonstrate much effort. So the rally movement has been looking for ways to show that they’re serious, that they’re willing to lift a finger to make this happen. And an idea has just been hatched: pony up some cash to one of Stephen’s favorite charities.
Stephen Colbert is a board member of a non-profit called DonorsChoose.org. It’s a place where schoolteachers can make a request for the supplies they need and aren’t getting. As the name suggests, donors get to choose which specific teacher they want to support (lazy donors can just let the charity decide). If “Restore Truthiness” can raise a large sum of money, it will be a fantastic show of strength. And even if it fails as a publicity stunt, it’ll still make a difference in our world.
Speaking of stunts, we at reddit would like to do our part to help propel this cause: Hillary Clinton’s been helping DonorsChoose raise money since 2008. So far, she’s been able to raise $29,945. That’s good, but we think the reddit and ColbertRally.com communities can blow that number away in less than a week. So as an added incentive: if we do just that, reddit has convinced a certain anonymous investor to throw in another $1000 on top of that.
Let’s get this started: here’s where you can donate, and see how much has been raised so far.
And so far the response has been tremendous. In about half a day, the Nation has raised over $59,989 (it may even be higher, as the counter is having difficulty keeping up with the donations.) Update: In a mere 7 minutes, it has increased to $63,060!!1eleven!!1!
Past donorchoose.org drives connected to Stephen Colbert include his run for President in South Carolina (raised over $68,000), Celebrate The Democralypse!, where the nation would donate in honor of Obama or Clinton (raised over $190,000) and one dedicated to US Military kids (raised over $167,000.)
Interestingly, there was also one for Colbert’s birthday that clearly many were not aware of, as it only raised $9,019. Appalling. Bad Nation!
The Nation is already receiving some wonderful feedback from the teachers’ we are helping, some a little confused, but still grateful. Here are some examples of their thanks:
Ms. D. the Teacher
“WOW that was so fast! I have to admit I’m a bit confused by the ‘restore truthiness’ thing, but I am SO inspired that so many people donated to this project while I was teaching today. I can’t wait to work with my students in using these models in the classroom!”Ms. R. the Teacher
Thank you everyone that has donated to my project. I brings tears to my eyes that people from around the world has donated to my project and to other projects on Donorschoose. It shows that people still care about our children and want to give these kids the tools that they need to succeed in school and in life. We will be using the flash drives as soon as we get, we have already done our first report and students were sharing with their friends. Now our students will be able to take the flash drives home and work at home and not have to depend on others. Thank you again for all of generosity and support.Mrs. C. the Teacher
Thank you so much for helping my kids. I am a mother of three at home, but a mother to 73 at school. This experience will mean so much to them and me. I am so happy to know that there are others who care as much about education and MY kids as you all have. It is a rare opportunity for these students to be able to open a brand new novel. I believe that this novel will truly make a difference in not only their education. but their outlook on life and opinions of others. I feel that this novel will closely relate to them and their lives. I am grateful for the opportunity that you have given me to pen my students’ eyes to a different era and prospective of “fair”. This story touches many and I hope that the inequalities that are held within the novel resonate with my students and open their eyes to a new world. Once again thank you so much for you donations and making this project possible.Ms. W. the Teacher
“Thank you for donating to my project! And….thank you, Reddit, for telling this donor to support this project! =)”Mr. W. the Teacher
I want to say from the bottom of my heart that I appreciate the support from the Restoring Truthiness group and Colbert Nation.I was surprised and elated that when I came home and checked Facebook I saw that I had numerous gracious supporters to my project, YOU. Not only did I have many supporters but my project is fully funded now!
These books will be a great resource this year and years to come in teaching the principles of Taoism in an easy to understand way using the characters of Winnie the Pooh.
Again I want to deeply thank all of you and your kind donation. With the contributions of all of you, you are able to make a great thing happen and bring about a great learning opportunity.
Mr. C. the Teacher
“I am absolutely blown away. I just logged on and saw all of the donors who just gave through the Restoring Truthiness Giving Page. To have my project go from close to $900 to within striking distance in a heartbeat… I have no words. I know that I’m very frequently moved by the generosity of the people who give to Donors Choose, but I’ve never had my breath taken away in quite this way. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
And some found their way to the Restore Truthiness Official Facebook page!:
Tofer Carlson
I just wanted to send my thanks towards those seeking truthiness’ restoration. Somehow, my DonorsChoose page got associated with the Restoring Truthiness giving page, and went from zero to funded in a heartbeat. I have never been so moved!Mary Jane Coward
Thanks for posting my project on the giving page! 2 donations so far! :)Kimberly DeFusco
As a teacher who just had a project funded through “Restoring Truthiness,” I am so blown away! More than $380 worth of college prep and career books were funded by 1 generous donor. My thanks go out to our donor & the Colbert Nation for finding a wonderful way to support our classrooms!
This all warms my little black heart knowing that we are helping so many students start their year with better support for their learning.
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