“CHANGE A LIFE. This year, the Black Lives Matter movement helped cast a spotlight on the United States’ approach to criminal justice, highlighting ugly truths about a prison system badly in need of reform. The US criminal justice system disproportionately targets people of color, subjecting them to brutal, harrowing punishments that would be inhumane regardless of the alleged infraction that brought them behind bars — and many prisoners are detained and denied basic human rights behind bars despite being guilty of minor offenses or of no crime at all. Every year, over 600,000 people enter prison gates. Even more troubling, 10.6 million people cycle through local county jails each year. To complicate matters, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned correctional facilities into death camps. As cases spread through overcrowded prisons and jails, social distancing becomes impossible, masks and other personal protective equipment are scarce, access to alcohol-based hand sanitizer is often banned, and medical care has a long history of neglectful treatment. We’re going to try to do something to protect people at risk of oppression and human rights violations in the United States Criminal Justice System.
YOUR MISSION In partnership with the non-profit Misha Collins’ founded, Random Acts (a 501 (c)(3)), we’re setting a goal of raising $100,000 to help close prison doors and open doors of opportunity for people incarcerated in the United States who are being subjected to inhumane and unjust treatment. To be clear, this isn’t an issue of guilt or innocence; it’s a human rights issue. No person should face abuse or risk death due to a lack of adequate resources and proper, humane treatment. WHAT TO DO: Create a fundraiser page here and get at least 10 donations of a minimum of $5. WE ARE NOT ASKING YOU OR YOUR TEAMMATES TO DONATE. Rather, we ask that you reach out to the global community and your social networks to make a contribution. Then, submit a screenshot of your fundraiser showing 10 donations and the total amount donated to us for your points.
WHAT YOUR DONATIONS DO: Your donations will help fund Dream Corps’ efforts to “#cut50” — a bipartisan effort to cut crime and incarceration across all 50 states – while moving the needle toward criminal justice reform on several levels to create a more equitable and just system. Funds from this campaign will go to programs that: (1) create dignity and safety for incarcerated people. (2) provide critically needed policy change that expands life-saving treatment, testing, sanitation gear to protect those behind bars from the pandemic, (3) fight for badly-needed legislative prison reform that reduces incarceration and provides fair chances for people when they return to communities, and (4) support advocacy programs that help formerly incarcerated leaders share their experiences with those empowered to change the system – changing minds, hearts, and laws. We invite you to please join us in achieving our goal of raising 100,000 to help change the lives of people who experienced atrocities and prejudices similar to Pamela Winn. DONATIONS ARE 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE AND 100% OF THE DONATIONS GO TO THESE EFFORTS (for countries other than the U.S., deductions are contingent on your laws).”
Tag: call to action
Item 159 – Nothing but Nets
Every 2 minutes, a child dies of malaria as a result of a mosquito bite. But we can help. Get at least 10 people not on your team to chip in at least $1 each to Nothing But Nets (for a total of $10) to provide at least 2 long-lasting insecticidal bed nets to families in impoverished countries. Submit an image with proof of your donation(s).
Item 156 – Uncage Willie Simmons – Origami Dove
In our most recent mini-hunt, we wrote letters to Willie Simmons, a man who has been jailed in Alabama for 38 years over a matter of a $9 robbery. He’s still in prison, despite good behavior, a clear victim of the inequities of the for-profit incarceration system in the United States. Let’s do something about that. Send an origami dove to Gov. Kay Ivey (600 Dexter Ave, Montgomery, AL 36130). On it, write a quote about justice and “Uncage Willie Simmons.
Continue reading Item 156 – Uncage Willie Simmons – Origami Dove
Item 134 – Postcard Art – Please Imagine a World
Our friends at The Art Department have been collecting futuristic postcard mail art, inspired by postal art of the 1960s and 70s, which was visual, concise, non-commercial, and political. Make a piece of original mail art, featuring your vision of an imagined future. Tell us what kind of world you want to see, including your own variation on “Please imagine a world…” Submit your original postcard art to us and mail your postcard to the address noted on this website.
Item 125 – Distantly Support Hospital Workers
Create a physically-distanced show of SUPPORT for hospital workers. If it is safe for you to do so in your area, place a sign outside a hospital wearing a mask and gloves showing your appreciation. Do not come into contact with others.
Item 119 – Add Closed Captioning
Item 108 – ArmyForGood Texts
(GRID) We need to get out the vote in the US, and we need your help to do it! Get at least 50 people to text “ArmyForGood” and “YourTeamName” (whatever that is) to Misha at (323) 405-9939. You may get the help of your team members or any other US or Canadian residents you know. Submit a grid showing all the messages. NOTE:
- Each person may text “ArmyForGood” ONLY ONCE, and for ONE team only.
- This number will only work for phone numbers in the US and Canada.
- If you are international, your team may use a proxy, but again, each person may only text “ArmyForGood” once, and only for one team only (their own or another). Reach out to your extended networks and outside the GISH Community to help you achieve this Item.
- Misha will later text everyone back about Get Out The Vote initiatives. Not during the Hunt!
Item 105 – Police Brutality Protest Song
(UP TO 60 SECONDS) Write and sing an original protest song about police brutality, and the racist foundations of the United States’ criminal justice system.
Item 52 – VOTE Land Art
(TIMELAPSE) Write the word “VOTE” as land art, at least 100 meters long. The message may be mowed or plowed if it’s land typically used in such a fashion, or you may use found objects or though any other means of land art, but your artwork must not damage the ecosystem or impact protected land. If you want to get creative, your message may be any pro-voting text or image. Take a video filmed from a drone that starts close to the ground and the text only becomes clear when the drone reaches a certain altitude. Post it online tagging @WhenWeAllVote and #GISHOutTheVote, then submit the video and your link to us.
Item 48 – Suffragette Votes for Women

(SIDE-BY-SIDE) This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment in the United States. We’ve made a lot of progress since then, but women represent only 25% of the US Senate and 23% of the House of Representatives, so we still have a long way to go. Find a female candidate you support and update a women’s suffrage poster so that instead of being about obtaining the right TO vote for women, it’s about getting votes FOR women — specifically, your candidate. Post the vintage poster and your update on social media, tagging the candidate and @sheshouldrun. Then, submit both the original poster and your updated version as a side-by-side image with the link to your social media post. (Do not submit a screenshot of your post — we want your original artwork.) – Inspired by Jrosebud