Five national nontheist organizations, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, hosted an event of action to counter the National Day of Prayer on May 6 — raising $25,000 earmarked for five homeless shelters or food banks.
As those in prayer beseeched the heavens, thousands of atheists, agnostics and freethinkers participated in a three-hour fundraising event: the National Day of Reason Mayday for Humanity. The extravaganza (available to watch) included celebrities, comedians, musicians and poets.
“We believe in the Robert Ingersoll maxim, ‘The hands that help are better far than lips that pray,’” comments FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “Think of the good that would come if our nation stopped hyping prayer and focused on improving this world.”
The nonprofit secular groups are directing the proceeds to regional “helping hands.” FFRF will be donating its share of the donations to Second Harvest in Wisconsin. Recovering from Religion will be donating $5,000 to eStart in Missouri, and the Secular Coalition for America will direct $5,000 to Capitol Food Bank in Washington, D.C. Each benefiting organization operates in a nondiscriminatory, secular manner.
Margaret Downey, the Mayday for Humanity event coordinator and president of the Freethought Society, which is delivering $5,000 to Safe Harbor of Chester County, says, “Thanks to the nonbelievers who generously donated during the event, humans, not prayers, answered the Mayday for Humanity emergency call to help end homelessness and hunger.”
It’s all part of the secular notion of doing and acting — instead of praying and hoping in vain.