h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Heyup!

Thanks for suggesting a charity on the Hitchhiker's Foundation announcement thread.

I'll be honest - I don't quite see what the literacy connection is, but that doesn't mean there isn't one of course.

Could you explain it to me?

A link to the article about the foundation, the one that lists the "formal objectives", had not been posted when I posted my recommendation.

COTA, is a charity that helped my sister when she was in need of a heart/lung transplant. Her husband's insurance refused to cover her and one hospital demanded a $300,000 down payment to even put her on a transplant list. They qualified her since she was a new mother. What impressed me most about the organization is that they provided the funds for anything she needed as soon as they took her case and only asked that we raise funds. Not matching funds, not reimburse them, just raise funds. We held a benefit and auction and put out collection buckets and passed the word along to everyone about their work. Fortunately, her husband found a new job with insurance that would cover her, and another hospital that put her on the transplant list right away. Unfortunately, she died after a preliminary surgery before a transplant was available. But our family has continued to support COTA and recommend them to others either needing their support or looking for a good charity. They are a very reputable charity. http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=9891

While they do not have a connection to literacy, they do meet the third stated Formal Objective:

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3) The relief of those in need, by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, poverty, financial hardship, illiteracy or other disadvantage, by any and all means charitable under the law of England and Wales.
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However, if the Foundation wants to go with another charity, or in another direction, I understand. As I said, I recommend them to anyone interested in charities.

What a terrible situation for your sister and your family to have been in. I am so sorry that it didn’t have a happy ending too. My condolences for your loss. That must have been very hard.

And I can quite see that the COTA charity is worth recommending. That’s an organisation that does good work, and compassionately.

But as you anticipate, it is too far off the remit of the Foundation really. That objective is indeed there to give us flexibility, but charities, it turns out, are quite limited in how far they can go off piste so to speak from their main goals. Which is a good thing, of course.

I do appreciate your making the suggestion though.