But, no, HN does not take donations.
You could be a paying customer of some of their products. Other good ways to show appreciation: participate in good faith and follow the rules.
Donate to your closest hospital / food bank instead
Time ahead of us will be very challenging
we, the users, are the ones responsible of you "learning a lot" by submiting content, and reacting to it, therefore take my suggestion, since i contribute to that too, if you wish to "thank the people who make you learn a lot"
educating people, that's what i am trying to achieve, whether you understand or not, i won't stop