USA Network has announced the winners of the first-ever Character Approved Awards to honor individuals from a cross-section of creative disciplines who are positively influencing American culture. This year’s winner for Giving is DonorsChoose.org founder Charles Best. As a public school teacher in the Bronx, Best saw a classic problem—the lack of money for teaching supplies—and came up with a radical solution: the eBay of philanthropy.
Founded in 2000, DonorsChoose.org allows teachers nationwide to post online requests for classroom materials and for donors to give directly to those needs via the web. A video highlighting Best will soon be featured on the USA Network over the next several months. It is currently on view over at YouTube. The video not only features a Bronx classroom that has benefited from using DonorsChoose.org—but Best’s own awesome mustache that was a part of the Mustaches for Kids competition that raised over $300K for public schools.
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Comment by dudeguy — Feb 1, 2009 @ 6:37am
Hello, Charles Best I think you have a wonderful program for teachers and their students. I am a retired teacher. I have spend money for many years when I taught for my students. I have written a song called “Teacher Tears that so many people think would win a grammy if it would be marketed and would help thousands of teachers. If I had a donor to listen to the song and help market the song, many teachers would benefit from the project. If you are interested please email me at emmalenepenn@verizon.net and I will send you the track. Thank you for what you are doing for teachers.
Comment by emmalene penn — Feb 9, 2009 @ 2:29pm