Everyday Giving Blog

Comic with Serious Message

This was my first attempt at creating a comic. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

2009 Fredericksburg Arthritis Walk

If you were not able to attend the Fredericksburg Arthritis Walk this year, check out the below slideshow. Charity walks can be fun and provide support to your cause.

If you are not involved in a charity walk, go to http://www.LetsMoveTogether.org to find an Arthritis Walk in your area or contact your favorite nonprofit organizations to discover if they host a walkathon you can join.

Calling All Videographers Who Want to Make a Difference

Video is a great medium to use for bringing attention to an important cause. You don't need to be a professional videographer or use expensive equipment to create and distribute effective videos. Would you like to have some fun while creating videos that can make a difference?

The following are a couple of current video contests night you should consider participating in:

Show Us Your Moves

The Show Us Your Moves video contest is encouraging physical activity. It is a part of the Arthritis Foundation’s Let's Move Together campaign.

Monthly winners of the contest receive a Flip Camera. The grand prize winner will receive a vacation package for two.

Go to http://lmt.arthritis.org/ways-to-move/show-us-your-moves.php for details.

Will Ferrell Sunscreen

Cancer for College is searching for unique videos to promote their new fundraising product line, Will Ferrell Sunscreen. Whoever can make the best Will Ferrell sunscreen ad will get to meet Will Ferrell in person.

Go to http://www.cancerforcollege.org/Will_Ferrell_Contest.php for details.

Get your creative juices flowing and submit your best videos to these contests. You will be making a difference regardless of whether you win either of these contests.

Note: If you do submit a video for either (or both) of these video contests, please leave a comment with a link to your video. I would love to view your creation.

Nonprofit Board Leadership Interview

Are you a nonprofit board member or considering serving as a nonprofit board member in the future? That is great! Actively participating on a nonprofit board is a great way to make a difference.

Christopher Scott from the Nonprofit Leadership, Innovation, and Change blog recently interviewed me regarding my board experience. Christopher asked some great questions to uncover reasons to be a board member and how your participation on a nonprofit board can be most effective. Click here to check out the interview.

Enjoy the interview and be sure to leave Christopher a comment while you are there!

Did You Pledge to End Hunger?

Hunger is a critical problem today. 13.4 million children in America live in poverty. That is approximately 1 in 6 children.

The current economy is hurting even more families financially while donations of money and food are decreasing.

What if there was an easy way for you to help? What if a donation of your time and/or money could be multiplied due to the generosity of some businesses also concerned about this problem?

What Is the Pledge to End Hunger Campaign?

The Pledge to End Hunger is a campaign with the goal of ending childhood hunger in America. This campaign is bringing awareness to the problem and encouraging individuals to get involved and be a part of the solution.

How Does It Work?

For every pledge made via the online form at http://www.pledgetoendhunger.com, Tyson will donate 35 lbs of food products (the equivalent of 140 servings) to be used to help those in need. For your pledge, you can choose to share the Pledge to End Hunger website with others, volunteer your service and/or donate to Share Our Strength.

Pledge Now

In less than 28 hours the first 1,000 pledges were made. That was enough to fill an entire semi-truck full of food. Now it is your turn to join the movement and make a difference. Go to http://www.pledgetoendhunger.com and submit your pledge. Join me in doing our part to load the next semi-truck full of food to be delivered to a local foodbank.

Kids Get Arthritis Too - 2009 Juvenile Arthritis Weekend

Most people don't realize that kids can suffer from arthritis. There are 300,000 in the United States alone. It can impact a child's ability to get dressed in the morning or hold a pencil long enough to take a test in school.

Recently, I had the privilege of volunteering for the fifth year at the Juvenile Arthritis Weekend. This Arthritis Foundation event took place at the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Juvenile Arthritis Weekend started with families from Virginia.  However, it has now expanded to include families from several surrounding states as well.

Parents were able to listen to experts on topics related to dealing with juvenile arthritis. They were also able to learn from each other.  While the parents were in sessions, the kids participated in some fun activities and learned from experts and each other as well.

Putting on an event like the Juvenile Arthritis Weekend requires a significant number of volunteers. One of my passions is to support those suffering from arthritis because of my own family experiences dealing with arthritis.

What is your passion? How are you going to start acting on that passion and help others? Start today.

Change a Young Life this Summer

Are you a college-aged man or woman who wants to make a difference in a kid's life this summer? There is a way to spend your summer being a positive role model to kids. Be a camp counselor!

The Fresh Air Fund is now accepting applications for counselors for this coming summer of '09. The Fresh Air Fund is an independent, not-for-profit agency that has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Last year 3,000 children attended five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre site in Fishkill, New York.

Go to http://www.freshair.org/work-at-a-camp.aspx to learn more about the program and how to apply. Your efforts this summer will be changing lives for the better. The experience will change your life as well.

Note: The Fresh Air Fund is also looking for volunteer host families in communities from Virginia to Maine to open their home to a child this summer.

Want a Free Cup of Starbucks Coffee?

Starting Wednesday, you can visit your local Starbucks and join the I'm In! campaign by signing a pledge to donate five hours or more of community service to the organization of your choice in 2009. Those who sign the pledge between Wednesday, January 21 and Sunday, January 25 will receive a free tall brewed coffee as a thank-you.

The "I'm In!" campaign is a joint effort by Starbucks and HandsOn Network to make it easy to participate in the President-elect’s call for national service.

The goal of the campaign is to raise pledges in excess of one million hours of service from all over the country.

Hurry to your local Starbucks and pledge your five or more hours of community service. Feel great as you drink your free cup of coffee because you are going to be making a difference.

Free Ways to Help Those in Need

Have you been affected by the poor economy and feel there is nothing you can do to help others during this holiday season? You can find a list of ways to help your community and worthy causes that don't require you writing a check at a new website called Give List.

Would you like me to share a free and easy way to give back during this holiday season to get you started?

Philanthropist and musician Peter Buffett has teamed up with AmieStreet.com, the Robin Hood Foundation and the Food Bank for New York City to make a difference. All you have to do is download Peter's Christmas album, Star of Wonder. Amie Street will donate $1 and the Robin Hood Foundation will donate $2 for each download to the Food Bank for New York City which will provide 15 free meals for New Yorkers in need.

Go to http://amiestreet.com/fhb and join me in downloading and listening to Star of Wonder. Know that you are helping many New Yorkers in need.

How to make a difference this Thanksgiving

As the holidays draw near we should be thankful for the many good things in our lives...a warm place to sleep, food on our tables, the ability to provide for our families and friends that enrich our days. It is sad to think that many people in our country are not as fortunate.

Thanksgiving can be a time of extreme grief and disappointment for the less fortunate families of our country who do not have a Thanksgiving meal to eat.

Would you like to help make a difference in the lives of these families who will not have a Thanksgiving dinner to eat?

Join A Day of Hope, a nonprofit program that delivers baskets of food and turkeys to families in need. A Day of Hope was founded in 2005 with a simple mission to give hope and encouragement to needy families through a basket of food for Thanksgiving.

Here are two ways you can make a difference in the lives of families this Thanksgiving:

• Make a donation via Paypal or check. Every donation of $20 will allow a family to have a glorious Thanksgiving meal that they would not have otherwise had. Details on making a donation can be found here.
• Join A Day of Hope's Facebook Cause Challenge. From November 7th - 27th the person who recruits the most members to the A Day of Hope cause on Facebook will receive a $20 gift card to Pizza Hut or Fuddruckers.
• Make a lens for A Day of Hope on Squidoo. Whether you're an experienced lensmaster or a newbie, you can become involved and raise money for A Day of Hope by visiting this Squidoo lens.

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This was a guest post by Christopher Scott who founded A Day of Hope in 2005. Currently he is the Team Leader who recruits, trains and leads the 125+ volunteers who donate their time to to help feed needy families for Thanksgiving.