Charitable Donations

A Portion of All Book Royalties and Revenues

A portion of all sales proceeds and other revenues received from the sale or distribution of any of the volumes of The Relevance of Reason – The Hard Facts and Real Data about the State of Current America (Vols I and II) and Dead Serious and Lighthearted – The Memorable Words of Modern America (Vols I, II, and III) are contributed by the author to charities. The recipient charities may change from time to time, but they will be selected by the author from those charities which have traditionally earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, which ranks not-for-profit organizations on the strength of their finances, their control of administrative and fund-raising expenses, and the transparency of their operations.

The first rounds of charitable donations were made in August, 2014, 2015, and 2016 and the most recent round of these charitable donations was made in November, 2018 to the following four charities: (1) First Book (Washington, D.C.) , (2) The Steppingstone Foundation (Boston, Massachusetts), (3) Shoes That Fit (Claremont, California), and (4) The Scholarship Fund of Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, California). A summary description of the work of these selected charities is set forth below.

While none of the charities are or will be associated with authorship, distribution or promotion of these books, this allocation by the author of a portion of such proceeds and revenues seems to be the least which he can do in this small way to promote the already wonderful work being done these charities and not-for-profit organizations.

Many of them already are dealing with one or more aspects of the many fundamental issues which need to be addressed as a part of the remaking of American life.

Any attempted listing of the literally thousands of extraordinary charities already serving the needs and remaking the future of our country is almost definitionally incomplete, but from time to time the author through this website will try to offer (and highlight) a mere sampling of the names, addresses and mission statements of highly-rated, excellent charities. The first such sampling is set forth below.

First Book
1319 F Street, NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20004

First Book has distributed more than 90 Million books and educational resources to 27,000 schools and educational programs since it was founded in 1992. Access to books, especially among low-income families, remains one of the biggest barriers to tackling illiteracy, and by making new, high-quality books available on an ongoing basis, First Book is transforming the lives of children in need and elevating the quality of education.

The Steppingstone Foundation
One Appleton Street
Boston, MA 02116

Founded in 1990, The Steppingstone Foundation develops and implements programs which prepare urban schoolchildren for educational opportunities which lead to college. The Steppingstone Academy prepares motivated urban schoolchildren for acceptance and success at top independent and public exam schools in the greater Boston area. After gaining admission to the Academy, scholars participate in a rigorous academic preparation component that spans 14 months. After completing the 140-month component, Steppingstone provides comprehensive support services, including college counseling, through middle school and high school. After graduating form high school, scholars stay connected to Steppingstone through alumni relations.

Shoes That Fit
1420 North Claremont Blvd., Suite 204-A
Claremont, CA 91711

Founded in 1992, the mission of Shoes That Fit is to build self-esteem of children in need by providing them with new shoes for school. At Shoes That fit, we provide new shoes and/or clothes to children in need so that they can attend school in comfort and with dignity. We do this by matching a sponsoring group  a business, school, church, civic organization or even a group of friends  with schools near them that have children in need. New clothing items that are appropriate for school help these children fit in, slowing them to concentrate on their studies rather than their circumstances.

Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93105

For 48 years, the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara has helped local students pay for their higher education  vocational, community college, or four year college or graduate school. We inspire, encourage and support Santa Barbara County students in their pursuit of college, graduate, an vocational education through financial aid advising and scholarship. Beginning with nine $100 books awards in 1962, we have grown to award $7.2 million in student aid for the 2010-2011 academic year. The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara reached 23,470 students, parents, an educators in 2009-2010 through financial aid and scholarship presentations and financial aid advising sessions at school sites.