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Struggling Americans

How can you help?

By Seth ButterfieldPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Help Those In Need With GoFundMe

Even before this pandemic hit, there were numerous struggling Americans. When the virus swept through the nation and closed down most states, it became even more difficult. Many people lost their jobs; others have dealt with losses in their families. It has become a heydey for strife and chaos. This comes after and exasperates a growing period of unrest in this nation.

Now, we near a third economic stimulus payment, but it, like the two before it, has been trapped in litigation and deliberation. Lawmakers dispute over the bill because those who write it cannot keep it simple enough to deliver the financial relief that many of its citizens need. One of them even going so far as to claim that American households are sitting on a historic amount of wealth. This idea that people are merely waiting for the economy to open up to spend hoards of cash is ludicrous. It is also a sentiment detrimental to those that are desperate for financial relief. In previous years this country had no problem bailing out big corporations and spending countless dollars on war. Showing that our government for the people and by the people puts the welfare of business before that of the people it is sworn to protect.

Meanwhile, the governments of other countries have leaped to help those in need. Some of them have given nearly half of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in relief to their citizens. GDP refers to the total value of goods and services produced by a nation in the span of a year. In the absence of such a show of leadership, people have begun to look to each other for the support they need; family, friends, neighbors, and a slew of social media platforms.

I do not say all of this to condemn the American government. It gives me no pleasure to face such a harsh reality that what was once a country that put its citizens first is falling behind. No, I say it to highlight the willingness of those more fortunate to help those in need. To bring attention to the fact that there is such a need; and the ways to help fulfill it.

One website for this is GoFundMe, a crowdfunding platform where users can post a fundraiser to reach financial goals for all sorts of needs. They create pages with a donation goal explaining why, be it hospital bills, surgeries, disaster relief, evictions, etc. Donations can be given anonymously and without creating an account. The platform does not even take a cut, though it asks for an added donation on top to keep the electricity on. The donation for GoFundMe itself can either be a percentage of the donation to the fundraiser or a specified dollar amount. That said, there are transaction fees.

Though GoFundMe may be the most well known for crowdfunding personal fundraisers, they are not the only one. Others include Fundly and Givebutter. The former includes a platform fee and processing fee on all transactions, but reportedly has some of the best customer service. Fundly also seems to allow more customization to the fundraiser pages to give them a more unique flair. Givebutter, on the other hand, is more like GoFundMe in not charging a platform fee, just transaction fees. Unique to Givebutter is the ability to livestream to keep supporters updated, as well as allowing supporters to fundraise as a team. Both of these platforms are tied into Double the Donation, which doubles donations on eligible fundraisers.

Below are links to GoFundMe, the GoFundMe Reddit, Fundly, the Fundly Reddit, Givebutter, and Double the Donation:

https://www.gofundme.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/gofundme/

https://fundly.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fundly/

https://givebutter.com/

https://doublethedonation.com/

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