Little Free Pantries Project in Toronto

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Justin Glassman

It’s often during times of turmoil that we see the best that humanity has to offer, and the COVID-19 pandemic has been no exception. Businesses have been helping lower income families put food on the table, individuals are making masks for others, and volunteers are grocery shopping for those that are more at risk of catching the virus. This pandemic has devastated countless families financially, shuttered businesses, and taken the lives of hundreds of thousands across the globe. The virus’ impact has been nothing short of devastating, but just like any other troubling time in history, you can always find the helpers.

With unemployment spreading rapidly because of the virus and how governments have responded, many are finding it difficult just to keep food on the table. Knowing this, some individuals and local businesses in Toronto, Canada, have started a “Little Free Pantries Project.” If you’ve ever heard of a “Little Free Library”—usually a small cupboard on a person’s lawn filled with books intended to be exchanged between willful individuals—then you can gather the general idea.

Neighbors are encouraged to leave a donation if they are well off, and those that are in need can take what they need when they need it. The Toronto Little Free Pantries Project has been building and stocking these pantries across the city. So far they have helped erect 13 pantries and are encouraging others to follow their lead.

It’s small acts of kindness—even a Little Free Pantries project—that make a significant impact on those in need. That box of mac & cheese might be insignificant to you, but it may mean the world to a single mom struggling to feed her kids right now. This is how we help our neighbors in a noncoercive, voluntary manner. With a little ingenuity, kindness, and charity, we can help those that are in need, especially those that fall through the proverbial government cracks.

Charity Amongst the Flames

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Justin Glassman

Can charitable individuals raise $300k for a business destroyed by looters?

The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was the focus of many protests across the country on May 27 & 28. These protests later led to riots and looting in the streets of Minneapolis. Unfortunately, this left almost 170 businesses in ruins. One of those businesses was Scores Sports Bar, owned and operated by KB Balla and his wife Twyana. KB is a firefighter with the Brooklyn Center Fire Department and active member in his community.

Scores Sports Bar was set for a grand opening in the spring, and then the pandemic hit and then the opening was put on hold. Then the murder of George Floyd sparked the protests and riots in their city. KB and his family poured their life savings into their business, just to watch it go up in flames in a matter of hours. Looters even attempted to rob the safe while the owners were inside the building. KB wasn’t sure what to do after watching all his hard work destroyed.

Needless to say, KB didn’t expect what was going to come next after setting up a GoFundMe in the hopes of being able to rebuild. With an original goal of $100k, they have met, and exceeded their goal by additional $200k at the time this article was written. We don’t have to agree on the protests or riots, but we can all agree that this man’s loss is a tragedy—and to see so many come together in this man’s time of need is an amazing story. Not to mention, only charitable individuals raise $300k for a business destroyed by looters—no government program can do that.

VIA Raises $15K for Australian Fire Relief

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Justin Glassman

The 2019-2020 bushfire season in Australia was especially devastating. Fires burned approximately 26 million acres, destroyed almost 6,000 buildings, and killed numerous people. Not only was this a tragedy for the Australians in the path of these fires, but also for the wildlife that was caught in the blaze. An estimated 1 billion animals have perished and some species that were nearing extinction may be lost forever. This doesn’t even account for the future problems facing Australia’s wildlife when you consider how much of their natural habitat was burned to ash. However you look at it, Australians have a rough path ahead of them.

It’s often during the most troubling times that we see the best in humanity. People around the globe have banded together to help Australians in their time of need, and we here at Voluntaryism in Action knew we had to do our part in the relief effort. With the help of our followers, VIA was able to set a new record by raising over $15,000 to help in the emergency relief effort in Australia. This may not sound like much, but right now they can really use any help that they can get. We were able to send $10,000 to Givit, an organization on the ground in Australia that’s providing essential items to the victims of the fires. The remainder of the donations were given to Wires to help our four-legged friends. Wires is Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organization and is leading the charge in helping the impacted animals.

The fires have mostly subsided, and there has already been new growth coming up through the ashes. There’s a lot of rebuilding and hard work in Australia’s future, but they have the world behind them. Millions of dollars have poured in from individuals and charities and not a single person was extorted to raise the money. This is just another example of how people of good will are more than willing to help others without a government body forcing them to do so, even if it’s for people on the other side of the globe. Thank you to everyone that donated and all the people that helped us spread this fundraiser!

Charitable 8 Year Old Organizes Homeless Care Drive

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Justin Glassman

Sometimes a story comes along that just gives you hope for the future. This story about little Autumn does just that. Autumn is a eight year old girl who lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her parents and two brothers. She’s a compassionate young girl who’s always uplifting others when they’re in a time of need. Her latest work is a perfect example of living a Voluntaryist principled life.

Autumn started a campaign to help the homeless in her area. She raised money from family and friends, and then VIA gave her campaign a monetary boost. That was all she needed to make a major impact in her hometown. Autumn was able to put together and distribute 95 care packages for those in need!

It’s stories of children like Autumn that give us hope for our future. The only way we can make a meaningful impact in our society today is to teach our kids the things that many of us had to learn on our own; that voluntaryism and charity are far more impactful than any legislation Congress could pass.

The Sweet Taste of Voluntaryism

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Justin Glassman

Without government to force people to pay for welfare programs, would people choose to feed the hungry of their own volition? If the countless volunteer-run soup kitchens and food pantries around the world aren’t enough to convince you, just look at what Voluntaryism in Action’s inaugural food drive accomplished on nothing but voluntary donations and volunteer work:

Over $4,000 in monetary donations raised in less than a week
Volunteers used some of these funds to purchase hundreds of pounds of dry goods, 20 turkeys, and 5 hams for Crossroads of Michigan in Detroit
Monetary funds were dispersed to various foundations and charitable organizations such as the Byron Saunders Foundation in Ohio, Macon Outreach and Sacred Heart in Georgia

Most people know what it’s like to go through hard times and not have enough to eat. The enormous success of our first food drive shows that when given the chance, people will help lift each other out of these situations. Empathy and compassion are far better motivators than coercion and force. And just imagine how much more people could afford to give if they weren’t burdened by our current state of excessive taxation? We are looking forward to seeing what else our community can accomplish going forward as we spread our message of voluntaryism by example!

Community Rallies Behind Mass Shooting Victims

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Justin Glassman

On the weekend of August 3rd, 2019, two separate mass shootings rocked the nation and left a combined 31 people killed. These shootings were not simply shocking from the aspect of the loss of life, but that they were two completely separate instances, just hours apart. The first happened in El Paso, TX on August 3rd and left 22 dead, while the second happened later that evening in Dayton, Ohio with 9 losing their lives.

Of course this stirred the usual conversations across social media. The #GunControlNow crowd was out in droves, whilst the #2A army was giving the usual chants of ‘come and take them’. But through all the pandering and blaming of one group of people or another, there was something wonderful happening in the background. A group of strangers banding together to help other people in need.

Voluntaryism In Action started a fundraiser to raise $5,000 on August 4th to help the families of the victims in any way we could. Little did we know what would happen next. In less than 48hrs the VIA Community and the rest of the VIA family was able to not only meet the $5,000 goal, but SURPASSED it by over $1,000!! We were simply blown away by how the VIA Family, as a whole, got the fundraiser and our message across the net in such a short period of time.

This fundraiser was just one more example of how we can be there for each other without the use of some overreaching and coercive government entity. We can lift each other up without any law trying to force us to, while simultaneously creating a middle man between us and the needy. We can be kind, we can be virtuous…we can be the helpers.

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