Live Oak School Potrero Hill Learning Garden/100 Gardens Initiative

Last week, we broke down the crowdfunding process for you and pitched an awesome organization working to promote sexual health awareness. This week's local crowdfunded campaign is also about public health -- this time cultivating green thumbs and educating the community about healthy food choices.

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At any given point, there are hundreds of San Francisco-based campaigns on funding platforms Kickstarter and Indiegogo. For those of you who have missed the crowdfunding revolution, here's the lowdown: An individual or organization posts a fundraising campaign to one of these websites. This includes a quantified goal, a description of what they want to do with the money (produce a play, build a community garden, create a start-up), a tiered system of rewards for donors who choose to participate (tickets to an event, the end product, your name on a plaque), and a deadline to come up with the money. Then, hopefully, the pledges start pouring in. Anyone can pledge a certain amount toward their end goal. If they've reached their goal by the end of the allotted time period, they get the money and go make their thing. If they don't meet the goal, no one's credit cards get charged -- it's an all-or-nothing approach.

Tragically, this means that some of these don't meet their fundraising goals, whether they are good ideas or not. This is why we've decided to give a boost to some local campaigns that we've deemed worthy of your hard-earned cash.

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SF SPCA

Last Year's Winner: Chiquita the Chihuahua

The mighty Chihuahua once served as the companion to the Mayan civilization. Evidence points to the dogs participating in religious ceremonies. The Chihuahua is considered one of the oldest dog breeds within the American Kennel Club, and it deserves respect for having such a noble heritage.

Today, however, the Chihuahua has fallen from its once grand pedestal to become one of the most popular breeds in need of rescue. A Chihuahua overpopulation has struck the city, with a lot of the pups landing in shelters. The San Francisco SPCA and other organizations this weekend ask pet lovers to come celebrate this breed -- and learn more about the overpopulation issue -- while getting some laughs at an event called The While Enchihuahua. It happens tomorrow (Saturday, June 2) in Dolores Park.

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Evan Karp, president

​The North Beach bar 15 Romolo was packed. At the end of intermission, Quiet Lightning, series co-founder Evan Karp stood before the microphone to make an unusual announcement.

"Today," he said, "we filed our articles for incorporation as a nonprofit." The crowd went wild. To be fair, it had been pretty generous to people in front of that microphone all night. Karp raised his arms to explain what this meant: "Soon, the money you give us will be tax deductible. But, um, you can still give us money tonight."

It was a short announcement, but it was a big one - with potential to change the SF literary landscape.

The new nonprofit Quiet Lightning will have Karp as its president and his longtime collaborator Charles Kruger as its chairman. Their exact duties ares still unknown, but Karp seems poised to continue heading Quiet Lightning's artistic efforts. He has shown a willingness to alter the event's streamlined form and get experimental. "I like what we do," he says. "But it's been a year, and I don't want us to seem stale."

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