Inked For a Cause: Red Dodge

Name: Red Dodge

What is your job? I am a Makeup Artist. My clients include Disney, NBC, Fiat, GM, and an extensive list of celebrities. You can view my work on redddoge.com. I am also the manager of Garage Magazine and co-owner/executive editor of Tache Magazine.

What social causes are most important to you? Pediatric health and cancer treatment, animal rights, welfare and protection, human equality, violence against women and freedom from religion.

What charities do you support – and how? I love Star Wars so I am very active with the 501stLegion, whose mantra is “Bad Guys doing Good.” There is nothing that compares to the joy on a child’s face when they have been stuck in a cancer ward for days, weeks, even months and they have stormtroopers visit them, rooting them on at their bedside. While the 501st was initially founded to unite costumers with a penchant for Star Wars villainy, one of our real-world missions is to bring good to our communities through volunteer charity work. Some of the organizations that we’ve proudly worked with include:

American Cancer Society, ASK, The Association for the Support of Children with Cancer, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cleveland, Belgian Federation Against Cancer, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, The Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation, Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, Carle Clinic Association and Foundation Hospital, Central Illinois Down Syndrome Organization, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Fisher House, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Half a World Away Foundation, HEROES, Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital, International Child Abuse Network, The Jimmy Fund, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, Kids Flix, Make-a-Wish Foundation, March of Dimes, MediCinema, Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer (MACCFUND), MS Foundation, National Association for Autism Research, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Palms West Hospital, Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation, Red Cross, Relay for Life, Ronald McDonald House, Royal Childrens Hospital, The Salvation Army, Shriners Hospital for Children, Special Olympics, Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation, Toys For Tots, Tri-City Hospital Foundation, Wolfson Children’s Hospital

I am also a huge supporter of Planned Parenthood and have been a member since 2000 in addition to the American Humanist Association.

Why do you have a passion for these, is there a personal tie? We all want to believe that we will live to see 100. The mortality rate of the human species increases annually with a huge variety of diseases (and with an ever growing population in the anti vaccination movement, we are losing kids senselessly at an alarming rate. Ignornace kills. Please educate yourself!). Sickness and death is especially heartbreaking when it affects children. I have lost dozens of friends and family to cancers and am a survivor myself. So when I found an organization that supports and troops for children afflicted with cancer and does so in full Star Wars nerdom, I knew I had to be a part of it. It is no secret that I am a Star Wars nerd. I even had a Star Wars Trilogy Tribute Tattoo.

Is there a particular way you would want to encourage readers to be involved? I would hope that every person would be a volunteer or supporter to another human.

How would you define social responsibility? Social responsibility is an ethical framework suggesting that an entity, organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large. It is a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems.