Charity: Water

"Almost a billion people on the planet (1 in 8 of us) don’t have access to clean drinking water. Unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all disease and kill more people than all forms of violence, including war. 90% of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under five years old. We're working to change that." - Charity: Water

Thanks to private donors covering operating costs, 100% of your money goes directly to the project. Here are a few ways to help through the secure Charity: Water website.

1. Educate yourself through the Charity: Water website, Water log and Video

2. Start a fundraiser. Not only will it help spread awareness, it can be very easy thanks to all the social networking sites! Do it in lieu of gifts for your birthday (how it all started) and holidays for example.

3. Donating to water projects around the world. As little as $20 dollars provides clean water to an individual for 20 years! Check if your company will match your donation.

4. Sponsor a well. $5,000 = Freshwater well in a village and provide 250+ people with fresh water.

5. Monthly giving through Paypal. Anywhere from $20 to $500 a month to change lives.

6. Buying Merchandise to promote the cause. Profits support behind the scene costs of running the charity.

7. Send an E-card.

There's A LOT of information on the Charity: Water website so take a few minutes to check it out.

Donors Choose

We featured Donors Choose back in 2009 but wanted to shine some light to this charity again. In the previous post, we mentioned micro-lending via Vittana. Donors Choose works along the same lines in regards to lending for education. In this case however, it's not a loan but there are promises of thank you notes and pictures from the students you help. You can donate as little as $1 and pick from a variety of projects based on your interests.

For a great source of information on Donors Choose (aside from the official website and our blog of course :D ) by a blogger currently going through this process, check out 'The Professor in Training' below. According to the future professor, HP will match your contribution so there's no excuse not to donate!

http://scientopia.org/blogs/trainingprofessor/2010/10/10/donors-choose-your-chance-to-help-kids-in-need/

Vittana: Building a world where anyone can get an education

Meet Daisy Mora, a nine year old from Colombia. Seen carrying her five year old brother in a cloth bag, while she zip lines it to the opposite bank via an old rusty pulley system. Her daily trek includes going 40mph and over 1300ft above ground just to make it to school.

A not so yellow bus to school

After going through such extremes for years, can you imagine not having a chance to get a higher education?

Taking a page out of Kiva, Vittana aims to use micro-lending in order to educate those in developing countries. Since loans don't exist in most developing countries, a family would have to fund the entire education. However, in countries that are mainly comprised of families with a very low and sometimes non-existent income, funding higher education is not an option.

As we previously blogged about Kiva, the process is very simple and anyone can contribute with as little as $25 dollars. Simply visit the Vittana website, choose a student, make the loan, get the loan repaid after the student graduates and ideally, repeat.

For a more detailed look at the success stories of Vittana, visit:

Faces of Vittana

My new job : NEED magazine blogger

NEED magazine aims to tell the stories of those in need and the people who are trying to help them through a combination of beautiful photography and written stories. Most of the contributors are award winning photographers who donate their time and effort to help spread the word. In their inaugural year they won the prestigious Folio:Show Gold Ozzie award for Best Use of Photography. You can subscribe to the quarterly magazine online or find them in your local bookstore.

I have recently joined them as a writer for their blog so check us out...

Gift Card Giver

Task: Donate unused gift card dollars
Effort level: Mailing card..
Investment: Postage stamp
Who: Teens and older..

(Courtesy Gift Card Giver)

So have you ever thrown away gift cards with the last few cents(or more) on them, cause you could'nt figure out how to use them? Well, send them to Gift Card Giver who will put it to good use helping charities and individuals in need. Want an excuse to throw a party? Check out their site for help with organising a house party and "card" guests to enter.

Send unused gift cards to: Gift Card Giver,490 East Side Ave SE,Atlanta, GA 30316

For a more detailed profile check out my post on the NEED magazine blog .

Inspiration: Jorge Munoz

This man, along with his sister and arthritic mother cook meals for immigrants (most days the only ones these homeless men eat).

(courtesy NY Times)

See this NYtimes video or read this article

To help visit this website or join this Facebook Page.

Donor's Choose

Task: Donate towards specific school related projects..
Effort level: Minimal
Investment: Money(even $1)
Who: Anyone with a little money to give


Babies are all the talk in our home these days - my sister is expecting the first baby in our family. I am also the godmother to a close friend's daughter. Chances are, all of the children we know, will attend good schools and have a great education. For those children that don't have this chance and live in poor communities, Donor's choose provides their teachers with a chance to ask for, and receive help. Projects vary from vacuum cleaners (to keep the classroom clean of course), carpets(so children don't have to sit on the cold floor), computers, to science materials. You can pay what you can (Seriously $1 or more) or help pay for the entire amount. You can choose projects based on level of poverty, lowest cost to complete, among other things. Donations to certain projects are matched by charitable foundations and this is classified as Double Your Impact. So lets give a little...