A note from Debbie Allen, Executive Director of the Secular Coalition for America, on the success of our community’s National Day of Reason fundraising event, Mayday for Humanity.
As the Executive Director of the Secular Coalition for America (SCA), I want to personally thank the secular community for their support during our coalition’s Secular Week of Action, including our first ever Mayday For Humanity event. I also want to share the results of this fundraising event.
Thanks to the generosity of secular Americans, our coalition raised a total of $25,000! The contributions were earmarked to go to five homeless shelters or food banks. SCA was honored to present a check for $5,000 to the Capital Area Food Bank, where our team recently volunteered as part of a coalition-wide Secular Week of Action. Especially now, due to the COVID health crisis, tangible assistance — not thoughts and prayers — is needed more than ever. We are encouraging our supporters, especially those in the DMV area, to learn more about the important work being done by the Capital Area Food Bank and how they can make an impact in that work.
The fundraising extravaganza co-hosted by the Secular Coalition took place on this year’s National Day of Reason and included a diverse range of entertainers, comedians, musicians, poets, and activists. A recording of the Mayday for Humanity event can be seen here.
Four other checks in the amount of $5,000 each are being personally delivered by Mayday for Humanity co-sponsors to the Foothill Unity Center in California (Secular Student Alliance), Second Harvest in Wisconsin (The Freedom From Religion Foundation), reStart in Missouri (Recovering From Religion), and Safe Harbor of Chester County in Pennsylvania (Freethought Society). Each benefiting organization operates in a nondiscriminatory, secular manner.
Margaret Downey, the Mayday for Humanity event coordinator and president of the Freethought Society says, “Thanks to the nonbelievers who generously donated during the event, humans, not prayers, answered the Mayday for Humanity emergency call to help end homelessness and hunger.”
It’s all part of the secular notion of doing and acting — instead of praying and hoping in vain. Successful initiatives and programs like Mayday for Humanity could not be achieved without the support and generosity of the secular community.
My sincere thanks,
Debbie Allen
Executive Director
Secular Coalition for America
