What Can I Do?

Volunteerism, Membership, & Donations

Ways To Donate

Paypal

PayPal is the easiest way to send money via the internet. You can donate anytime to: [email protected]

GO HERE

Network For Good

Network for Good is a massive online charity registry. Click here now to donate to Hero via Network for Good.

GO HERE

Honoree/Memorial Donation

Make a donation for someone’s birthday or graduation, or for a memorial. You can enter a person’s name and occasion.

GO HERE

Ebay Giving Works

Get better placement and heightened search by donating 10% to 100% on your eBay auction to Hero with eBay Giving Works.

GO HERE

Personal Check / Money Order

The Hero Initiative always thankfully and graciously accepts monetary donations via cash, check or money order to:

The Hero Initiative, 11301 Olympic Boulevard #587, Los Angeles, CA 90064

Are donations to The Hero Initiative tax-deductible?
YES! We are a non-profit organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization. Therefore, all monetary donations to The Hero Initiative are fully tax-deductible . If you donate a non cash item, such as a piece of artwork or your time i.e. goods or services, your donation receipt will note as such. Either way, we will supply an itemized receipt, making the donations tax-deductible.
Will you determine the value of my tax deduction?
According to IRS regulations, we cannot determine the value of your donations. That is between you and your accountant. According to the IRS, the amount of deduction is based on the price that a “willing buyer” will pay for your item. Our receipt will specify when your donation was made and what was donated.

Donate With Employee Giving

Hero Initiative is registered with many major companies through their “employee giving” programs! Through these programs, employees can often donate to a charity of their choice, and donations are made through an easy payroll deduction. In some cases, the company even MATCHES the funds, resulting in double the donation to the charity! The process is usually a breeze, as Hero Initiative volunteer and ING employee Mary Ann Borelli (below) explains:

As an employee of ING, I’ve taken advantage of their Giving Campaign to contribute to my favorite charities through payroll deductions. I’ve also been a volunteer and contributor to Hero Initiative for years, and I wished it was as easy to donate to Hero as it was my other favorite charities. After a few inquiries, I learned that it IS easy! All I needed to do was provide ING’s Giving Campaign with basic information (contact information and FEIN# that Hero provided to me), and my submission was vetted and approved within two weeks! The best part is that my contribution through ING’s Giving Campaign is eligible for 100% company matching AND I can share the information with my other comic book friends at the office. We can all enjoy the ease of donating, year after year, now that Hero Initiative is among our approved options.

Currently, Hero Initiative has employee giving programs set up at the following major employers:

Fidelity Insurance Group
Northern Trust
Abbott Laboratories
AT&T
Doug Mockett & Company
Liberty Mutual Insurance
Hewlett Packard
REI
ING
Symantec
Century Link
IBM
ClientSolv Technology
Aetna

We’d love to set one up at YOUR workplace! Hero Initiative’s FEIN (Federal Employer ID Number) is 31-1742604, and is listed under our corporate name, A Commitment To Our Roots, Inc. For more information or inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Become a Volunteer

A Message from our Head Volunteer

Kevin Brogan

Kevin Brogan, Hero Initiative Head Regional Volunteer

Hero Initiative, a charity dedicated to the welfare of our community, is always looking for individuals. The charity raises much of its funds with the help of volunteers at conventions. When you volunteer you are giving something back to the community. Beyond the personal reward of volunteering there is the payoff from your efforts. Many artists from the past dedicated their years and career to create and maintain an American culture; a culture that gave many of us our childhood of fantasy and dreams. They now find themselves in need of a little support. Hero Initiative provides a financial safety net for these great talents to ensure they have their golden years. Do you like comics? Do you have a hankering to meet for favorite writer or artist? Or maybe you want to be part of the convention culture without having to wear a costume! Whatever your reason you, like the rest of us, enjoy comics and the American art form or you wouldn’t be reading this message. You are committed to our hobby but maybe you are wondering how to get deeper into the culture. Volunteering may be the answer you are looking for.

We work with the talent and convention coordinators. Our Volunteers are on the floor and behind the booth as a central part of the show. The Hero Initiative has a major presence at many your favorite Comic Conventions throughout the year.

The chance to be a part of the comic book culture is available to you; and you don’t even need talent, just a willingness to be involved. As many of our volunteers have discovered, there is no better moment then working side by side with your favorite artist at the Hero Initiative booth. Or maybe there is – it is the moment when you are off your shift and you walk passed the artist’s booth and he looks up passed the line of fan and calls out your name “Hey, it was good working with you.” Convention work includes:

Being the booth coordinator and running the show from start to finish
Helping with setup and take-down of the booth
Volunteer time at the booth during the show to assist the talent or sell merchandise, ideally about four hours a day
Contributing ideas, merchandise, or personal connections in the comic community that leads to other activities
Collecting donation jars

The Hero Initiative is always looking for volunteers, whether at conventions or in your neighborhood and local areas. Many stores are willing to collect donations and do in-store events for Hero, sometimes in conjunction with other events such as Free Comic Book Day (or FCBD). Please, feel free to approach your local store and arrange for donation jars to be placed there, or for Hero merchandise to be sold. The Hero Initiative can supply the resources. We accept as much or as little as you can do. If you would like to volunteer please contact The Hero Initiative through this website or at the convention.

Do it for the love of the hobby; do it for the chance to meet the superstars; or just do it to help others. There are as many reasons as there are volunteers so take the initiative and be a HERO.