I wrote a rather long travel / what-we-did-on-our-summer-vacation post not too long ago with the following tucked in around the mid-point:
What? You’re still reading? Good for you! Most would have started skimming or given up ages ago. In honour of your perseverance, I will donate 10 euros to charity for every reader who takes the trouble to find my email address in the sidebar and send a mail with the following subject line: I can’t believe I read the whole thing. I bet I won’t have to pay a dime. I’m dead serious.
Despite that rather cocky assertion that I probably wouldn’t have to fork it over, four readers let me know they indeed had read the whole thing. One left a comment instead of writing an email, but that’s OK.
So now it’s time to put my money where my keyboard is.
Saving the rainforest, curing cancer, feeding the homeless and supporting animal shelters are all worthy causes and I suppose the money would be put to good use wherever it goes.
We already sponsor a girl in Sri Lanka through Plan International, but there are also people close to home who could use a hand.
That’s why I’ve rounded it up by €10 and given €50 to a workshop in Hamburg that employs deaf people as bicycle mechanics.
They take bikes that nobody wants anymore, fix them up with spare parts, and sell them for a reasonable price. They not only give a steady job to people who might not otherwise find one, they recycle the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation going. I’ve bought two from them over the years, using them as bad-weather wheels to save my main bike from the ravages of winter grit.
They have also developed a really good sideline business rejuvenating out-of-date computers and computer equipment and selling them on to people who might otherwise not be able to afford top-of-the-line gear.
So thanks once again Michele, Bellicose, Onkel Mo and Silke, who took the trouble to let me know they’d slogged through the whole thing.
It was a pleasure to drop by there and say hello today, and pass along the money to a worthy cause. They were quite happy to see me, too. 
The banner photograph shows the town of Britannia Beach, BC, Canada, where I grew up. It's home. But I don't live there anymore.
Thanks, Ian! Definitely a good choice. I didn’t know such a thing existed.
what a great charity! they have a lot of organisations like that in vietnam too. I’m glad you have readers who found your mid section insert. I must have stopped just before it as I remember starting the post and then scrolling down to admire the wonderful photos….
Maybe I buried it too well?
I can’t believe I read the whole thing, Does this still count if I read the paper copy?
Ah well, Trish. Better late than never! I did bump up the donation by 10 bucks, so consider yourself included.
Hey, I just realised – you’re talking about the letter I sent you! The post in question was about our stay this summer in southwestern Germany.