This post proposes two local charities, the Wagner Free Institute of Science and the Brandywine Valley SPCA, to be considered for support as part of the 100 days of Steem initiative.

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Delaware Valley Charities: The Wagner Free Institute of Science and the Brandywine Valley SPCA

Introduction

This post is a response to Steemit's challenge post, 100 DAYS OF STEEM : Day 71 - Friday Challenge - Find A Local Charity. I know that the instructions were to find just one charity, but I'm going to ignore that part of the instructions and suggest two. The reason I'm suggesting two of them is that I think each one has characteristics that make them specially appealing as potential community members for the Steem blockchain.

The first charity that I'll be discussing is the Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia. Located in Philadelphia, this charity is about 20 miles from my home. The Institute offers a museum exhibit hall, educational programs, and a library. I have personally never been there, but the reason that I include them is that they are already a Steem account holder. A couple years ago, Temple University used the @phillyhistory account for a graduate level history course. At the conclusion of the course, they considered a number of different charities to receive the rewards that were generated during the session, and after their deliberations, the @phillyhistory account was given to the Institute.

The second charity that I'll suggest is the Brandywine Valley SPCA. This organization provides animal welfare services, including rescue, shelter, daycare, health care, and adoption. I think they would be a symbiotic addition to the Steem blockchain because the animals that they care for could be used to provide unique and exclusive photogenic content for the blockchain. As we're all aware, photos of charismatic-looking animals are perpetual social media favorites.

I am willing to contact either of these organizations, but as Clint Eastwood said in one of his movies, "A man's got to know his limitations." I am definitely not cut out to be a recruiter or sales person, so outreach by someone who is more of an extrovert might be more successful.

The following sections will contain more information about each of these entities.

The Wagner Free Institute of Science

The Wagner Free Institute of Science, was founded in 1855 as one of the earliest free science education programs for adults in the United States. They have social media links on Facebook and Twitter. At present, they operate a museum, educational programs, and a library of scientific literature.

When it's not closed for coronavirus pandemics, the museum offers the opportunity for visitors to view a number of artifacts that were all collected by the Institute's founder, William Wagner. These include rocks & minerals, fossils, mounted mammals and birds, insects, shells, dinosaur bones, the first American saber toothed tiger - that was discovered in 1886, and more. These specimens were originally assembled in order to teach science, and they remain organized for study, and still serve as resources for scholarly research.

The institute's educational programs serve more than 10,000 children per year in programs that include tours for school groups, after school programs, scout merit badges, and more. For adults, the institute also offers college-level courses in the natural sciences as well as lecture series and symposia, including Weeknights at the Wagner and the Westbrook Free Lectureship.

The library contains primary scientific works dating from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Topics include, "the natural and physical sciences, education, medicine, archaeology and anthropology, the pseudo-sciences, instrument building, and engineering." It also includes the personal and business records of the institute's founder, William Wagner. The library is a member of the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) and the Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine.

The Support link suggests donations in amounts ranging from $35 for individuals with different categories up to the Leidy Society donation at $1,885. Patron/Corporate donations are specified in the range from $500 to $999, so they appear to be operating in a range that is achievable for the Steem blockchain.

I think that this organization has the potential to be a valuable asset to the Steem ecosystem because they have already demonstrated an interest in the platform. I assume they left because most curators didn't manage to discover their content, but hopefully they'd be willing to give it another try and would stick around if they find support here.

As an aside, people in the Delaware Valley region might be interested in their online event, Ending the Anguish of Spotted Lanternfly Infestations on Wednesday, June 24, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

The Brandywine Valley SPCA

The Brandywine Valley SPCA was founded in 1929 as the Chester County SPCA and has a stated purpose to, "end animal suffering and to involve the entire community in the welfare and well-being of animals." They now have locations in West Chester, Pennsylvania as well as Dover, New Castle, and Georgetown, in Delaware. They have social media presences on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Flickr. They also accept Bitcoin donations (via BitPay).

As noted earlier, they offer rescue, shelter, adoption, health care, and day care services for animals, and they even provide tours of their facilities. The site notes that they follow, "best practices in open admission, no-kill sheltering while also leading the way with progressive programs and services." It also notes that they care for 13,000 animals per year and place 96% of the homeless pets into homes or other placements.

Their Donate link suggests donations in amounts ranging from $25 to $250 and offers a Wish List, where they describe material needs such as 6 foot leashes, collars, pet foods, toys, and even office supplies like pens, papers, filing folders, and sticky notes.

Finally, they suggest corporate sponsorships ranging from $5,000 (Bronze) to $20,000 (Gold).

The bronze corporate sponsorship level is ambitious, but might be achievable by the Steem blockchain. Even if that's not reachable, the blockchain could certainly provide smaller donations or fill some of the needs on their wish list.

The reason that I think this would be an ideal organization on the blockchain is that people love photos and videos of charismatic animals. This is the type of content that is fairly easy to produce and often goes viral. If they would be interested in posting photos and/or videos of their animal clients through Steemit, it could result in a symbiotic sort of relationship where their content brings people to the blockchain at the same time as the blockchain helps them to meet their financial needs.

Additionally, I am under the impression that they already have a strong support network. If they were to bring some of their supporters to Steem, it could lead to an increase in investment that would grow their rewards and also the blockchain's economic value.

Conclusion

As I stated in my post, A Local Promotion Plan for Promoting Steem in Chester County, Pennsylvania, I think that the ideal subject for recruiting to the blockchain is an existing network where a central entity is surrounded by supporters. In this way, the central entity could be a content producer, and the supporters could come in as investors (initially, at least). This way, the selling pressure that's produced by bringing in a new content producer who wants to monetize their content creation can be offset by demand for voting power from the pre-existing supporters.

I think that both of the organizations in this run-down fit that description. If either or both were to (re)join the blockchain, I think it would be an amazing opportunity to simultaneously accomplish two goals. First - like Brooklyn's Steem Park - it would showcase Steem's capability for facilitating positive change in the real world. Second, it would bring content, attention, and investors to the blockchain - and that would make the blockchain more valuable.

As noted above, I'd be willing to reach out to either or both organizations, but as an INTP, this sort of thing isn't really my strong point. There are almost certainly many people who would be better than me if we want the outreach to succeed.

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Thank you for your time and attention.

As a general rule, I up-vote comments that demonstrate "proof of reading".

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Steve Palmer is an IT professional with three decades of professional experience in data communications and information systems. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics, a master's degree in computer science, and a master's degree in information systems and technology management. He has been awarded 3 US patents.

Steve is also a co-founder of the Steem's Best Classical Music Facebook page, and the @classical-music steemit curation account.

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