Planned Donations

With all of the craziness of the past few months (moving twice, setting up a new household in a state I had never even visited before, and starting a new job), I neglected to make my donations for June and September. Hopefully, I can remedy this over the next two months. So I've been planning out three months' worth of donations. So far, I want to donate to Safe Passages for October to provide food, clothing, and education to children whose parents work in Guatemala City's garbage dumps. I also plan to donate through the Hunger Site for June and September's donations. Right now, I'm debating between funding several different projects. The options?

$35 Clean Water for Children
$20 Send Two Girls to School in Afghanistan
$18 A Year of School Lunches for an AIDS Orphan
$17 Send a Child to School in Guatemala
$100 Train a Backpack Medic in Burma

I love the feeling that I've made a difference. I can tally it up---I've sent two girls to school in Afghanistan, sent a child to school in Guatemala, funded two high efficiency stoves in Darfur, and vaccinated two children in India. I've also provided a prosthesis for a person in the developing world.

I may not earn a lot, but I can still make a difference.

Bone Marrow Donation

I recently signed on with Be the Match (the National Marrow Donor Program) to donate bone marrow to a patient in need if a match is found. The process was surprisingly easy: a short application process online, and then a simple cheek swab tissue matching. I was able to complete both from the comfort of my own home.


Being an AmeriCorps member, I have very little disposable income to donate to charity or contribute to medical research. This is one way that I can help others without cost to me---the medical procedure is covered by the other patient's insurance, and the tissue testing was done at no cost for me. Travel costs are reimbursed when a donation is made. With the exception of the possibility of a few hours taken off of work here and there for additional testing if a match is found, and a day or two surrounding the procedure, there is no significant cost to the donor.


Check out Be the Match today!

Gifts that Give More: June Edition

I love Gifts that Give More from the Hunger Site. It offers inexpensive ways to make a real difference in an individual's life. This month, I funded half the donor cost of a High-Efficiency Stove for a Mayan Family in Guatemala, one tenth of the cost of a wheelchair for a Guatemalan, and a prothesis for an individual in a developing country. All for just $77.70.


Just $28 funds half of the donor cost of a High-Efficiency Stove for a Mayan Family. These stoves reduce the need for Mayan women in the highland of Guatemala to search for hours each day for firewood. These stoves necessitate 70% less wood, which helps the "denuded environment of the highlands recover from severe wood overharvesting." With their extra free time, women can spend more time growing food for their family and caring for their children.


Additionally, these stoves also reduce the "number and gravity of pulmonary illnesses, and also burns among women and children" caused by cooking over open fires. These high-efficiency stoves burn wood more efficiently, reducing the amount of smoke released into the houses and the atmosphere. Best of all, these stoves are built in Guatemala, by Guatemalans.


I also provided 1/10 of the cost of a wheelchair for a Guatemalan ($29.70). These wheelchairs are also built in Guatemala from bicycle parts, which are easily replaced. They are durable, low-cost, and rugged, making them perfect for Guatemala. They are customized to fit the recipient, and are made locally.

A mere twenty dollars funded a prosthesis for an individual in a Third World country. This can literally transform a life---allowing a mother to care for her children with greater ease, or a father to go back to work. So little money can do such great things.

Where do you donate?

Carbon Offsets

I am seriously looking at The Carbon Fund's Carbon Offsets. This is a tax deductible way to reduce your impact on the earth for the miles you have to drive anyway.


The Carbon Fund clearly promotes reducing your impact on the earth as much as you can (by carpooling, recycling, biking to work when possible, and other means), and then offsetting what you can't. For me, that would be my trip out to Washington to begin my stint with AmeriCorps, two trips back home after a family member was diagnosed with cancer, and the offsets required to heat the house that I share.

All told, it would cost me about $79 to offset a year's carbon production. This seems like an easy, efficient way to offset the carbon that I use.

How do you reduce your carbon footprint?

Gifts That Give More

I recently discovered the joy of donating money to causes. I love giving through The Hunger Site. I'm able to pick a specific cause, and know exactly how my money makes a difference. Twenty dollars can fund a fuel efficient stove for refugees in Darfur. In addition to being better for the environment, women have to go on dangerous fuel-gathering missions less often. Seventeen dollars allows a schoolchild in Guatemala to attend school for one year, paying her school fees and tuition.

Eleven dollars provides one month of care for a patient in Africa with HIV. Alternatively, you can pay a nurse midwife's salary for one week for $25, or cover the cose of a prosthesis for a land mine victim in the developing world for $20.

It's a terrific concept---you can see exactly how your donation helps others, rather than just giving $20 to an organization, to be used for an unnamed purpose.

So check out The Hunger Site's Gifts That Give More!

What Food Banks Need Most

MSN Money ran a great article on needed items at the food shelf. Here is a selection:

1)Proteins. Canned meats such as tuna, chicken or fish are high in protein and low in saturated fat. Peanut butter is rich in protein and high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils, the "good fats." These are among the most expensive foods -- too expensive for food banks to buy large quantities.
2) Soups and stews. They are filling, particularly the "chunky" soups, and contain liquid for hydration. In addition, soups can be filled with protein and vegetables.
3) Rice and pasta. "They're really staples," Nowak says. In addition, grain-based foods, such as pasta, are a good source of fiber and complex carbohydrates.
4) Cereal, including oatmeal. Breakfast cereals can be an additional source of protein, and most cereals today include a variety of vitamins and minerals.
5) Canned vegetables, including tomatoes and tomato sauce. Studies indicate that canned vegetables have about the same nutritional value as fresh vegetables.
6) Canned or dried beans and peas. A staple of diets as early as 6700 B.C., beans are a low-fat source of protein and fiber.
7) Canned fruits. Only a small amount of vitamin C is lost in the canning process, making these a healthy choice.
8) Fruit juice (canned, plastic or boxed). Make sure it's 100% juice.
9) Prepared box mixes such as macaroni and cheese or Hamburger Helper.
10) Shelf-stable milk. This includes dehydrated milk, canned evaporated milk and instant breakfasts.

Of course, these are just a few of the many options to donate to the food shelves. So check out a few of the loss-leaders at your local grocery store, and donate away!

Gifts That Give More

I recently discovered the joy of donating money to charitable causes. I love giving through The Hunger Site. I'm able to pick a specific cause, and know exactly how my money will be used. I recently chose to fund a fuel efficient stove for refugees in Darfur. For just twenty dollars, these stoves reduce the number of dangerous fuel-gathering missions women have to go on in this war torn region, and are markedly better for the environment.

For seventeen dollars, I was able to pay the school fees of a Guatemalan child so that she can attend school for one year. This amount is a pittance in American dollars, but far beyond the reach of many families in Guatemala.

How do you give back?

Giving while still in debt

As I am currently $50,000 in debt, I have little money to actually donate to charity. However, I have found some other options to monetary donations. For the Internet lovers among us, there is http://www.thehungersite.com/, where every click generates food for the hungry (the advertisers pay for the ad space, and the money is then given to charitable organizations). You can click once per day on each computer you have. There is also http://www.freerice.com/, where twenty grains of rice is donated for each correct answer you give. You can be quizzed on vocabulary, multiplication tables, geography, art, French, Spanish, German, or grammar.

Alternatively, you can declutter and donate excess clothes and school supplies to a wide variety of organizations. The local school is always happy for donations of crayons, writing paper, and glue. They are also more than happy to take all of the excess tape and scissors off of our hands. Not only is the house a little cleaner, but someone else gets the benefit of all of the unused clutter.