As you've probably noticed, cookies are some of my favorite things to give away! That's one reason why I love Treat the Troops, an adorable organization that has already sent over 2,000,000 cookies to our troops! So today's challenge is a pretty simple one, help send cookies to the troops! :)
DIFFICULTY: Medium
As you've probably noticed, cookies are some of my favorite things to give away! That's one reason why I love Treat the Troops, an adorable organization that has already sent over 2,000,000 cookies to our troops! So today's challenge is a pretty simple one, help send cookies to the troops! :)
2 Comments
DIFFICULTY: Medium
Women are an imperative part of family life, especially in unpopulated areas of Africa where culture dictates that it is the woman's responsibility to take care of the home, the cooking, and the children. However, although women are really important in communities, just as men are, they are often the greatest victims during brutal wars. Women often are raped and beaten and unable to defend themselves or their children. When mothers die in wars, it often means the children are left with no one to take care of them. Communities and families fall apart. On the other hand, the survivors of wars are often left with emotional and physical scars that are permanent reminders of the struggles they faced. Through Women for Women International, you can sponsor a woman in a war torn zone. You are also given the opportunity to correspond with the woman you are sponsoring, which I think is a great a deal. Not only do you get to learn about a different culture and another human being, there are always those universal things that can make for a great friendship, even across an ocean! Difficulty: Medium Wow! May has definitely been a busy month, and I'm having some trouble finding time to post. Once the next to weeks are over, hopefully some time will free up and I'll be able to accomplish more! I'm really excited for the summer when I can get some of the bigger challenges done :) Anyways, today's challenge is to sponsor peace by buying a peace bond! You can sponsor 2 hours of peace, or 1 day of peace, or however much time you'd like. Now, sure, it's impossible to really say that 10 dollars is sponsoring 2 hours of peace, but that's not really the point. Nonviolent Peace Force is an organization that fights war and conflict by working alongside community members, local police officials, as well as religious, political, and societal leaders in war-torn zones. After having finished Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, I'm continually reminded of the damaging effects that war has on not just children, but society as a whole. In Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael, the author, concludes the story with a memory of a question he was asked as a child. He was presented with a situation in which a man is hunting and comes across a monkey who says "if you shoot me, your mother will die, and if you don't, your father will die". He answers: "When I was seven, I had an answer to this question...I concluded to myself that if I were the hunter, I would shoot the monkey so that it would no longer have the chance to put other hunters in the same predicament." Although it's hardly the same as what Ishmael Beah went through as a child, I like to think of buying a bond like shooting the monkey. It's like we're doing our duty so that others no longer have to suffer, even if it comes at a cost to us. DIFFICULTY: Medium This challenge is relatively simple. What do you have to do? Go out to dinner at one of the participating restaurants in your area during the week of September 21-28th! Who does it help? Millions of children suffering from hunger! Children who are hungry are much more likely to get sick and wind up in a hospital. They have a harder time focussing in school and are proven to have more emotional health issues like depression and anxiety. It puts them at a huge disadvantage! A lot of us eat out once a week or every few weeks anyways, so why not try out a restaurant that's doing a little to give back? You can find a restaurant here. If you don't want to wait until September to do some good, why not check out some of their other programs like Operation Frontline, where they try to educate kids on the best way to eat healthier. In fact, why not try making the healthiest meal you can in the spirit of ending hunger? DIFFICULTY: Medium
Today's challenge is to donate seeds! You can donate seeds from your garden, extra seeds that you aren't going to use, or seeds you get at the store. Winter Sown accepts seeds for their seed sharing program. They are a non-profit effort to educate people on an easy, economic was to germinate seeds and start their own garden. You can send seeds for flowers, vegetables, etc. Gardens are beautiful and healthy. They can provide food, a hobby, or just something lovely to enjoy! :) DIFFICULTY: Medium
I live way out in the suburbs, so I don't see homelessness a lot where I'm from. Even when I go to big cities, homelessness is not something I see all the time. That's why it's pretty amazing that there are between 2.3 and 3.5 million homeless people in America. Even more shocking is that there are approximately 1.5 million homeless children. Over 40% of homeless men are veterans. One of the leading causes of homelessness is mental illness. 46% of homeless people have chronic health problems. It's an issue that I don't see a lot in everyday life, but it's definitely prevalent and definitely something that needs to be resolved. How can you help? By volunteering at a homeless shelter. You can find a homeless shelter in your area by looking here. Around 50% of homeless people rely on shelters for much needed food and a place to catch some sleep. No one, especially someone with a mental illness, a child, a veteran, a sick person, should have to sleep in the rain or on the streets where they could be easily taken advantage of. This is just one way we can help! DIFFICULTY: Medium
I know Thanksgiving is a little far away, but it's one of my favorite holidays and it fits perfectly with this month's theme! Today's challenge is to donate a turkey for a holiday meal, and what holiday would be more appropriate than Thanksgiving? It's also great because it brings the family together, and everyone deserves to have a nice meal to celebrate their family and simply, being thankful. DIFFICULTY: Medium
A while back, I found a really cool site called Hope Equity. They're an organization that has come up with this whole new way to look at donating and charity! It's kind of like Kiva, but with a twist. You get to pick where your money is going, whether it's a country in Africa or somewhere else around the world. Whether it's a certain charity or a specific cause, it's your choice! Not only that, but your money works differently for Hope Equity than for any other charity that I've seen so far! At Hope Equity, you make a donation and that donation creates interest. A portion of that interest is then used for the charity's needs and the rest goes back into your original "savings". This continues over, and over again, with your original money never being touched. Another cool thing is that your original "Micro-Endowment" can support as many different groups as you'd like. The interest it earns would be divided among the different charities. There is a video on the site that explains it a little better, but overall it's just a really unique way to look at giving back. On a different note, a couple days ago when I gave the challenge about writing a list of things you're grateful for, I forgot to mention something. There's this really amazing blog called "1000 Awesome Things". Check it out! It lists a ton of awesome things that I don't even notice day to day, but which really are awesome. For example "laughing so hard that you cry" or "opening a book to the exact page you're looking for". Who knew there were so many awesome things? DIFFICULTY: Medium
This one is a little more expensive, but definitely possible! A really awesome organization called Sleeping Children Around the World helps children across the globe to get a goods nights rest. This month is really about all the things that we are blessed to have that others aren't. Imagine that you had no bed to sleep on at night, nothing to keep you warm, and the knowledge that you had to get up really early the next day to do work. This is the reality facing hundreds of thousands of children every day! Sleeping Children Around the World has already helped over 900,000 children in 33 countries! The bedkits, besides blankets and such, also contain clothing, towels, school supplies, and a mosquito net if applicable. A really cool thing about this organization is that you receive a picture of the person who you donated the bedkit to! It's amazing to be able to see whose life you directly impacted and what a difference you're making just by providing a good nights rest! DIFFICULTY: Medium Relatively recently, a couple of my friends started a club at my school that deals with Microloans. Microloans are just what a they like, mini loans! For the club, we sell baskets handmade in Africa by fair-trade certified groups and then use that money to loan funds to groups of women in Malawi who are trying to start a business. Our club works on a larger scale, but there are ways that the every day person can make loans too! Kiva is a large organization that helps thousands of people around the world! Here's how it works. Field partners (from Kiva) find entrepreneurs looking to be loaned money in poor countries throughout Africa and other continents. They upload the profile of the entrepreneur, and people like you and I can choose who to lend to. There's a more thorough explanation here, but basically, the money you loan will be repaid and can then be used to make another loan, donate, or can be put back into your paypal account! It's a really simple process, and you can donate as little as $25. Kiva has loaned over $130,00,000 and helped people in over 196 countries! |
Grains of Rice Donated: 31,370
"I Am Malala"
By: Malala Yousafzai
All
|