Jayne Cravens

05/09/2026

I wrote this piece because I saw Trump administration officials start to peddle a new narrative about humanitarian aid: they were making it more efficient, substituting trade over aid, and so on. It's nonsense. Trump's destruction of the aid system is his most lethal policy.

And now he's doubling down by refusing to allocate money that Congress already appropriated, for $3 malaria vaccines and $4 vaccines against cervical cancer. Just from that vaccine element, some 600,000 will die unnecessarily -- many of them moms from cervical cancer, and I think about that on Mothers Day weekend. Here's a gift link to my column: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/09/opinion/foreign-aid-cuts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hFA.Bwr1.VffwgMd4VawT&smid=url-share

05/08/2026

AARP state offices are seeking nominations for the AARP Andrus Award for Community Service, recognizing outstanding volunteers age 50 and older who are sharing their experience, talents & skills to enrich the lives of others.
No deadline is earlier than July 15. A few states are not participating.

Recognize outstanding people 50-plus with the AARP Andrus Award for Community Service, honoring those who enrich lives through their talents and skills.

05/07/2026

The pinned post on the Philanthropy subreddit has a list of subreddits where one can ask for donations (since that is a NO NO on r/ Philanthropy), a list of free online resources to learn the basics of fundraising, grants research, etc., & more! Additions welcomed:

Explore this post and more from the Philanthropy community

05/03/2026

Really tired of reading an article recommending apps of a certain kind, that a person is claiming they use themselves, then going to look at the app & it is NOTHING like they describe - turns out it's a paid-for mention or the entire article is AI generated.
Nothing online can be trusted anymore.

05/03/2026

The Equal Earth Wall Map is for anyone who wants a map showing countries & continents at their TRUE sizes relative to each other (e.g, Africa appears 14 times larger than Greenland - as it actually is!). The free map is 55” wide x 29” tall (1.4 x 0.74 meters). & it's offered in different languages. More info and how to here:
https://equal-earth.com

04/28/2026

I carefully summarized a blog on a community post, and linked to it, and the first comment is an accusation that what I've written is AI slop.
I'm having a great day.
EDIT DAYS LATER: I just got accused of using AI to do all my social media posting. Accuser can't believe that human beings actually do engage with others online.

04/24/2026

04/24/2026

04/23/2026

Remember the UN "romance" scam, where someone online pretends to be part of a peace keeping mission, in an effort to scam lonely women out of money? I blogged about it in 2018 & just updated it at the end with a new scam, targeting those already scammed!

Scams abound targeting people that want to support humanitarians in the field, support soldiers serving abroad, or that want to work for the United Nations. The scam always involves the transfer of…

04/22/2026

The overwhelming majority of content on the Volunteerism subreddit is posted by me, but most of the content is NOT authored by me: I'm trying to curate info from a variety of resources for those that care about the support of & volunteersim. Come visit:

Discuss how volunteer engagement is community engagement & public relations, volunteerism philosophies, ethics & debates, & all aspects of supporting & managing volunteers. Testimonials about volunteer experiences & blog links are fine, but with some restrictions (see rules). Promote volunteerism? Y...

04/22/2026

En tiempos de cambio, la tecnología nos conecta y reduce la necesidad de viajar. Videollamadas, trámites digitales y trabajo remoto son herramientas que nos acercan. ¿Tu cuál usas más?