Sweet Charity

Tomorrow, I am going (hopefully with my dad) to the Planned Parenthood rally in NYC.

There are a million things wrong with the world, and there are a million things I could give money to, and it always makes my head hurt when I make these choices - do I give money to the amazing West Side Campaign Against Hunger that feeds people in my city?  Do I give money to Yale, for scholarships, because those scholarships allowed me to have an amazing college experience, and I want to give back?  Do I give to UNICEF?  Or to my choir, which is a non-profit that I am an active member of and who I love?  Do I give to The Trevor Project, a hotline for GLBTQ teens who are struggling?  Or Charity Water?  Or my friend Dale's amazing Cambodian charity RiverKids?

It's hard to choose.  I wish I didn't have to.  I feel like Dan Rydell every time.  (skip to 4:01 - this is one of my favorite Sports Night scenes ever.  Oh, Isaac.)

This week, I gave to Planned Parenthood, because there is a vote coming to the Senate that would defund all PP clinics in the country.  The House already passed it.  This is a vote with meaning, not just for Planned Parenthood as an organization, but for women and children and the poor who rely on places like PP for basic medical coverage.  It's also a vote to remind the country that abortion may be morally contested but it is LEGAL.  And it should stay that way.

Tomorrow I will go and stand with people who feel the same way, and make my voice heard.  It will be cold and long and amazing and uplifting and (probably) just a little infuriating, as all good political rallies should be.

But I am still annoyed that I can't give money to every one of those links above, and to a dozen more.  Someday.  Someday...