Hi everyone! I wanted to follow up on this thread where I asked for your thoughts about #AltGovCares. After a lot of thought, I’d like to explain why I decided to join the effort and authorize Teespring to use my twitter avatar and handle to raise funds for charity
I am still concerned about appearances, & remain adamant that #AltGov accounts exist to resist corruption, & should not be used for personal profit. I’m comfortable that this effort holds true to those beliefs, & hope you will be too. Here are some reasons that helped convince me
The Teespring platform enables me to be 100% outside of any funding processes, so no money can ever come to me. I authorize them to use my name and graphics, then they sell the items and donate all funds directly to my selected charity
Some followers said they really wanted to be able to buy items with my and other AltGov avatars. Others were willing to donate to charities, but did not want to have to buy anything. Joining #AltGovCares allows the former, and I’ve put a direct donation link on my Teespring page
I’ve selected @CEDRdigital as my charity. As many of you know, I was one of the AltGov accounts that helped to start HarveyRescue in 2017, which helped rescue more than 5,500 people and 350 pets. CEDR Digital Corps is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed by some HarveyRescue volunteers
Their mission is to carry on what we helped to start, and to work with FEMA and other first responder organizations to prepare for and respond to future disasters. For any who preferred to donate directly, you can at cedrdigitalcorps.org/Donate-2/
Some raised legitimate questions about how they know selected charities are legitimate. There are 2 things I hope help those concerns. 1) Teespring independently verifies 501(c)(3) status and puts a “Verified” seal on the page. 2) You can verify CEDR at charitynavigator.org
In short, I’m not selling anything myself, I’m authorizing Teespring to sell items with my handle and graphics, and to donate all funds to @CEDRdigital. I sincerely hope that doesn’t make people uncomfortable or feel that I’ve betrayed your trust. If it does, please let me know!
For those who *did* want some Scales items, we have two main designs, each with different options. One features Lady Liberty art and says “Liberty and Justice For All” 
The back has a small #AltGov resistance flag graphic
Here’s a closer view of the graphic on the back
The other includes a small graphic of my avatar on the front, with a word cloud generated from common terms from my tweets across the back
Here’s a higher resolution view of the word cloud
They can be found at AltGovCares.com/who-we-are/Alt…. All thumbnail links connect through into the Teespring website
I said Lady Liberty, and meant Lady Justice. Given the text, though, I was close, right? 😜
