The Elder Frater has initiated, partly at my request, a Northern Alliance fundraiser. This one has a very personal touch, as Elder explains:

The company that I work for has a manufacturing plant in Chihuahua, Mexico. The facility is actually quite nice. In fact it's a newer and better facility than the building I work in right now in the Twin Cities. I travel down there two to three times a year, and have written about my trips to Chihuahua a couple of times in the past.

The depths of the poverty that you witness in parts of the city is striking. People who are considered "poor" in the U.S. live like kings compared to the poor in Chihuahua. It is especially hard on the children.

Last year a coworker and I organized a drive at work to collect toys and winter clothes (Chihuahua is in the Sierra Madres) for an orphanage just outside the city. We were able to collect four very large boxes of goods which were eventually shipped to the orphanage. But it was a logistical nightmare.

This year we contacted the orphanage and asked what their most pressing needs were. Basic medical supplies were among the items high on the list. In order to make the process easier, more efficient, and most importantly get the supplies to the orphanage in the shortest amount of time, we decided to raise money here at our two plants in the Twin Cities. In mid-February my coworker and I will travel to Chihuahua, meet with someone from the orphanage, and then go with them to buy the vital supplies that they need (mostly common over the counter type medications, band aids, etc.). This way the money that is raised goes right to the source of the need. No overhead. No expenses.

Every dollar in goes straight to the orphanage. I've dropped my donation there as well as to the Heifer Project, which is one of my and Lileks' favorite charities. No matter the evils of contract negotiations at SCSU, we're hale and happy and grateful that God has given us so much.

The Scholars ask that you join in the spirit of the season by sharing your increasing Gross Family Product with the Fraters or any others you feel are needing. And if you'd like to list them in our comment box, we're all too glad.

Who knows, you might even get them off double secret probation!

UPDATE: Pipe Captain Ed on board! And the Commish! Join us, won't you?