What would Dickens do?

(No blasphemy intended!)

Time for me to explain what's going on around here. A few months ago, I was struck by a post by Jennifer Greenholt, over at Literati in the World. She was actually quoting a post of mine about Jenny Hartley's Dickens and the House of Fallen Women. But she went further than I did, by talking about how Dickens's example of philanthropy should help shape our own lives:

This is a poignant reminder to me and literati everywhere that we should not have our noses so firmly implanted in books (or computer screens) that we become indifferent to suffering or lethargic in our pursuit of change for the better.

This has stuck with me ever since. And its impact was strengthened by this reminder in Brian Murray's article the other day: "Dickens practiced what he preached. Surely no other great writer, before or since, ever spent so much time and energy supporting charitable organizations and benevolent funds."

The long and the short of it is, I decided that a Dickensblog really needs to be doing a little practical good in the world (besides just making literature fans happy, I mean), if it's going to honor its patron author properly.*

So on the left, you'll see two new widgets. One is for Free Rice, which lets you donate rice to the hungry by taking vocabulary quizzes. Dickens, I feel sure, would have been utterly delighted by the idea of turning words into food for the poor. The other is for the Somaly Mam Foundation. Mam has risked everything over and over again to help rescue Cambodian girls from the sexual slavery in which she herself was once trapped. She was one of the Time 100 this year, in the category of "Heroes & Icons," and you can read more about her at their website. From the story told in Hartley's book, it seems clear that this would have been a cause dear to Dickens's heart.

In addition to featuring their widget on the blog, I will donate all proceeds that I receive from Amazon sales on this blog to Somaly Mam's organization. That hasn't amounted to much so far -- which is okay; I know people often like to buy books at their own local bookstores. I do it myself. But the Amazon widget is on the lower right if you'd like to use it, and I just wanted you to know that a portion of everything you spend through it will go to help out a good cause.

I hope all this will serve as an opportunity and inspiration for us to help "make some slight provision for the poor and destitute," and pay tribute to the author we love in the way that he would have liked best.

*I would be remiss if I didn't mention that David Perdue of the Charles Dickens Page realized this long before I did. Go over to his site and scroll down to the bottom of page, left side, to donate to his featured charities.

Comments

[Deleilan]

Gina, I'm sure Dickens would approve. After just a few minutes on the Free Rice site, I was able to donate 1000 grains of rice AND added quite a few interesting words to my vocabulary.

[Christy]

Brilliant idea, especially with the Somaly Mam Foundation. I know quite a few people in the world of rescuing people from sexual slavery. Glad to see it's showing up here, too.