Shop on Amazon, help out a Route 66 organization

Mike May on his Electric Route 66 blog suggested a terrific way to shop on Amazon.com for your Christmas shopping — or any other shopping — and giving a financial boost to your favorite Route 66 nonprofit organization.

It’s through the Amazon Smile program. It gives a small portion of your spending to the charity of your choice. The final price of the item you’re buying does not change.

May wrote:

All you need to do to participate is visit smile.amazon.com and select a charity from over one million available 501(c)(3) charitable organizations. AmazonSmile uses your normal Amazon account, with AmazonSmile branding at the top of Amazon’s web pages to show that you are participating. If you have an Amazon link in your web browser or phone, you can change it from www.amazon.com to smile.amazon.com, or load Smile just before checkout if you have forgotten to do it earlier. If I put items in my shopping cart while on Amazon’s regular site, and remember I should be using Amazon Smile, I just go to smile.amazon.com using a new browser window – my Amazon shopping cart shows up just the same, and then I close the old non-Smile browser window.

May provided a helpful list if you’re stumped:

California

• California Historic Route 66 Association – headquartered in Apple Valley.
• Route 66 IECA – this charity restored and runs the historic Cucamonga Service Station in Rancho Cucamonga.
• California Route 66 Museum – the Route 66 museum in Victorville.
• Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association – operators of the historic restored schoolhouse and museum in Goffs.
• Mount Vernon Route 66 Historical Society – supporting the Mount Vernon Route 66 corridor in San Bernardino.
• Daggett Historical Society – supporting the museum in Daggett.
• Anul Cuwhal Santa Isabel Needles Regional Museum – local history museum on Route 66 in Needles.

Arizona

• Arizona Route 66 Association – headquartered in Kingman.
• Route 66 Association of Kingman, Arizona – supporting local Route 66 efforts.
• Route 66 Co-op – formed to preserve and protect the world-famous Painted Desert Trading Post, east of Holbrook (the charity is headquartered in St. Peters, Missouri).
• Friends of Petrified Forest National Park – supporting the only National Park containing a portion of Route 66.
• Mohave County Historical Society – supporting the Mohave Museum of History on Route 66 in Kingman.

New Mexico

• New Mexico Route 66 Association – Headquartered in Albuquerque.
• New Mexico Route 66 Museum – in Tucumcari.
• Retro-Relive the Route 66 – supporting local efforts in Edgewood.

Texas

• Old Route 66 Association of Texas – Headquartered in Amarillo.
• Historical Museum of Barbed Wire & Fencing Tools – aka Devil’s Rope Museum & Route 66 Museum, McLean.
• Milburn – Price Culture Museum – local history on Route 66 in Vega.

Oklahoma

• Oklahoma Route 66 Association – headquartered in Chandler.
• Route 66 Alliance – encouraging Route 66 in every state and working on the Route 66 Experience attraction in Tulsa.
• Route 66 Village – the historical attraction at the west edge of Tulsa. 
• Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum – a car museum in Sapulpa.
• Friends of the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum – supporting the museum in Clinton.

Kansas

• Baxter Springs Historical Society – supporting its local Heritage Center & Museum.

Missouri

• Route 66 Association of Missouri – headquartered in St. Louis. 
• Lebanon-Laclede County Route 66 Society – supporting local preservation.
• Pulaski County Route 66 Preservation – developing a Route 66 neon park in St. Robert.
• Webster County Route 66 Initiative – supporting Webster County and Marshfield.
• Route 66 Gasconade River Bridge Guardians – formed to save the endangered historic bridge near Lebanon.

Illinois

• Illinois Route 66 Heritage Project – aka Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway,  headquartered in Springfield.
• Route 66 Road Ahead Initiative – a national Route 66 advocacy organization based in Atlanta.
• Litchfield Museum & Route 66 Welcome Center – highlighting Litchfield and Route 66.
• Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County – supporting The Mill Museum in Lincoln.
• Towanda Route 66 Parkway – supporting Towanda’s segment of Route 66.

(Image of the Route 66 IECA-restored Cucamonga Service Station in Rancho Cucamonga, California, by Ron Reiring via Flickr)