We Are Cats Now, I Guess?
2019-12-03 · announcement · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube
Topic: Global development · mode: Advocacy & fundraising · tags: calendar ritual, fundraising ask, self promotion, community lore, heavy topic
John unveils Ashe Walker's 2020 Project for Awesome calendar, which turns the brothers into animals, and other P4A 2019 perks, then explains where first-half money goes: Partners In Health's Butaro Cancer Center and community health workers like Mabel, and Save the Children; every dollar is matched to count as $4, the P4A starts Friday, and a January charity tour is coming.
What is said
The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).
00:00:00 — Ashe Walker's photoshoot becomes the 2020 P4A calendar; other perks: Dear Katherine and Sarah, Anthropocene Reviewed vinyl, crushed pennies
- ★★ Earlier this year (2019) John and Hank had a photoshoot with longtime nerdfighter Ashe Walker, which John thought was meant to produce a semi-professional picture for media use. — 00:00:00 · Hank Green
- ★★ John says he can't act: he is such a bad actor that his cameo in the film adaptation of his book was cut, though he kept the wardrobe and wears it now as 'Girl's Father'. (playful) — 00:00:27 · The Fault in Our Stars (film)
- ★★★ Ashe asked for funny faces at the end of the shoot and used them to make the 2020 Project for Awesome calendar, in which each month the brothers become animals such as lemurs and elephants. — 00:00:46 · Project for Awesome
- ★ John says one calendar month is like the trailer for the movie Cats, only self-aware and for charity. (playful) — 00:01:03
- ★★★ John says the 2020 calendar is available now at projectforawesome.com/donate with many other perks, including a P4A poster, a P4A t-shirt and a commemorative coin. — 00:01:10 · Project for Awesome
- ★★ John's favorite perk is his and Hank's spouses' spinoff podcast, Dear Katherine and Sarah. — 00:01:17 · Katherine Green, Sarah Urist Green
- ★★ A limited-edition signed vinyl of The Anthropocene Reviewed is also a P4A perk. — 00:01:26 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast), Project for Awesome
- ★★ John notes the US keeps minting one-cent coins though they cost more than a cent to make and don't facilitate the exchange of goods and services, the point of currency. — 00:01:31 · United States
- ★★ At the DFTBA warehouse in Missoula, Montana, staff are crushing hundreds of these 'reprehensible' pennies into souvenirs as P4A perks. (playful) — 00:01:41 · DFTBA Records, Missoula, Montana, Project for Awesome
- ★★★ John says that, less the cost of producing and shipping physical perks, 100% of the proceeds go to charity. — 00:01:50 · Project for Awesome
00:01:57 — Where P4A money goes: PIH's Butaro Cancer Center, Save the Children, and Mabel's story
- ★★★ During the first half of the Project for Awesome the money raised goes to Save the Children and Partners In Health. — 00:01:57 · Project for Awesome, Save the Children, Partners In Health · first in: 2016-12-09, The Difference A Decade Makes: The 10th Annual Project for Awesome Is Here!
- ★★ John thinks it is really important to understand where the money goes and the good it does. — 00:02:04
- ★★★ John says the Project for Awesome has raised over $10 million for charity in the last ten years. — 00:02:08 · Project for Awesome
- ★★ As one example from that decade, Partners In Health helped build and support the Butaro Cancer Center in Rwanda. — 00:02:16 · Partners In Health
- ★★★ John says 70% of cancer cases occur in poor countries, where access to care is so difficult that outcomes are far worse. — 00:02:21 · cancer
- ★★★ In the US many types of childhood leukemia have cure rates over 80%, while in poor communities the same cancers are virtual death sentences. — 00:02:28 · United States
- ★★ The Butaro Cancer Center offers real hope: it has treated thousands of people with cancer and helped train many healthcare workers in oncology. — 00:02:38 · cancer
- ★★ Save the Children has helped reduce stunting from malnutrition and build safe places for children in refugee camps, amid the greatest refugee crisis since World War II. — 00:02:47 · Save the Children
- ★★ A recent PIH video tells of Mabel, a Sierra Leonean woman diagnosed with HIV while pregnant, whom Partners In Health helped get antiretroviral therapy and later become a community health worker. — 00:02:56 · Sierra Leone, Partners In Health
- ★★ Mabel is one of over 11,000 community health workers supported by PIH around the world. — 00:03:08 · Partners In Health
- ★★★ Mabel now helps people with HIV and tuberculosis get care and reduce transmission, and her salary lets her send her kids to school: the generational change the P4A tries to support. — 00:03:15 · tuberculosis, Project for Awesome
00:03:28 — Matching makes every dollar count as $4; donate; P4A begins Friday with a 48-hour livestream
- ★★★ Right now every donated dollar is matched by nerdfighters who contributed to a matching fund and by donors to PIH and Save the Children. — 00:03:28 · Nerdfighteria, Partners In Health, Save the Children
- ★★ Because of the matching, every dollar donated counts as $4 to the charities. — 00:03:36 · Project for Awesome
- ★★★ John asks viewers to go to projectforawesome.com/donate now and donate. — 00:03:40 · Project for Awesome
- ★★★ The P4A officially begins on Friday at noon Eastern, with a 48-hour livestream at projectforawesome.com/live. — 00:03:44 · Project for Awesome
00:03:54 — P.S. January charity tour
- ★★ John says the brothers are going on tour in January, also for charity, with tickets linked; the description names St. Petersburg, Raleigh and Atlanta. — 00:03:54
In the description and comments
- ★ In a channel comment John says crushing pennies is legal, since the government recognizes their worthlessness even as it keeps minting them, which he calls insane. — creator comment · United States
- ★ In a channel comment John says the calendar will ship before the end of the year, while other perks list June for shipping flexibility and savings. — creator comment
Threads in this video
- retold · John's cameo as 'Girl's Father' is cut from the TFIOS film (2014) — John says he can't act: he is such a bad actor that his cameo in the film adaptation of his book was cut, though he kept the wardrobe and wears it now as 'Girl's Father'. (00:00:27)
- milestone · P4A 2019 edition — John says the 2020 calendar is available now at projectforawesome.com/donate with many other perks, including a P4A poster, a P4A t-shirt and a commemorative coin. (00:01:10)
- restate · Should the penny (and other low-value money) be abolished? — John notes the US keeps minting one-cent coins though they cost more than a cent to make and don't facilitate the exchange of goods and services, the point of currency. (00:01:31)
- restate · What makes charity or aid work well? — John thinks it is really important to understand where the money goes and the good it does. (00:02:04)
- result reported · John asks donors of $1,000 or more to join the P4A 2019 matching fund by emailing ftdws@complexly.com (2019) — Right now every donated dollar is matched by nerdfighters who contributed to a matching fund and by donors to PIH and Save the Children. (00:03:28)
- asked · John asks viewers to donate to P4A 2019 at projectforawesome.com/donate (2019) — John asks viewers to go to projectforawesome.com/donate now and donate. (00:03:40)
- announced · Hank and John's January 2020 charity tour: St. Petersburg, Raleigh and Atlanta (2020) — John says the brothers are going on tour in January, also for charity, with tickets linked; the description names St. Petersburg, Raleigh and Atlanta. (00:03:54)
- asked · Hank invites viewers to the brothers' January 2020 tour shows, tickets in the description (2019) — John says the brothers are going on tour in January, also for charity, with tickets linked; the description names St. Petersburg, Raleigh and Atlanta. (00:03:54)
Where the stories that moved here went next
- John asks donors of $1,000 or more to join the P4A 2019 matching fund by emailing ftdws@complexly.com (2019) — reported back; last: result reported, 2019-12-03
- Hank invites viewers to the brothers' January 2020 tour shows, tickets in the description (2019) — invitation (not a request); last: reminder, 2020-01-07
- John asks viewers to donate to P4A 2019 at projectforawesome.com/donate (2019) — reported back; last: thanks, 2019-12-31
- P4A 2019 edition — completed; last: looked back, 2021-01-19
- Hank and John's January 2020 charity tour: St. Petersburg, Raleigh and Atlanta (2020) — past edition (2020); last: milestone, 2020-01-07
Mentioned
Central: Partners In Health · Project for Awesome · Project for Awesome calendar · Save the Children
Also: People: Mabel
Projects: DFTBA Records · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)
Works: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius · Cats (2019 film) · Dear Sarah and Catherine · The Fault in Our Stars (film)
Organizations: Butaro Cancer Center
Terms: doobly-doo
Concepts: antiretroviral therapy · cancer · community health worker · HIV/AIDS · leukemia · malnutrition · refugee · stunted growth · tuberculosis
Places: Missoula, Montana · Rwanda · Sierra Leone · United States
Events: Academy Awards · World War II
Policies: Abolish the US penny
Only in the description or credits: Ashe Walker · Atlanta · Raleigh, North Carolina · St. Petersburg, Florida · With Mabel
← Previous: My Most Controversial Opinion · Next → It is Much Easier to Destroy than Create