Giving Without Spending: Help a fellow blogger make her dream come true

First, I'd like to apologize for missing the Random Act of Kindness Friday for Bloggers last week. I haven't been feeling well and my blogs have suffered due to this. I'll try to do better this week.

Yesterday, I received an email from Christy asking for my help and yours in the Name Your Dream Assignment contest sponsored by Lenovo and Microsoft. She wrote:

Melanie,

I had an idea a last Christmas. I wanted to give the kids in my life a Partners International or Heifer International catalog, with a gift certificate, so they could choose a cause they connected with and would get excited about helping instead of getting. I was disappointed in the catalogs, though. They were to adult and not things that would connect with kids. I decided then that I wanted to partner with different organizations and create a catalog JUST FOR KIDS.

I recently entered the "Name Your Dream Assignment" contest. If I win I will receive $50,000 to make this catalog a reality. (I won't get to keep any of the money. All of it, up to $50,000, has to be used to make the dream a reality.)

You can read more on my blog:

http://lazyperfection.com/i-need-your-vote.htm 

Christy needs over 500 votes to be in the top 20 by Friday. So head on over
to her blog, read more about her idea, and help her out. I've submitted my vote
already and it was super easy. I know she will appreciate it.

Giving Without Spending: Plant a Tree

Help Celestial Seasonings plant 50,000 trees! For every virtual tree planted, they will plant a real tree up to 50,000. It is simple and easy to do. I've already planted mine! Click here to plant your tree now.

Giving Without Spending...Much: Wish Upon a Hero

Wish Upon a Hero is a website that allows registered members to place up to 3 wishes at a time. There are many wishes asking for financial assistance and although you may not be able to pay the full amount, a dollar or two would be very helpful. People also ask for clothes, birthday cards for friends and family members, and much, much more.

Click the image above to check out the site. You never know...someone may be requesting an item you want to get rid of.

Giving Without Spending: GoodSearch

Their concept is simple: "You Search, We Give". And it really is that easy. When you get to the site, choose the charity or casue you wish to support. Everytime you do a search, they donate money to them. They now have over 76,000 non-profits to choose from. You can also shop through their site and up to 30% of your purchase will go towards your charity of choice. Click here to get started!

Giving Without Spending: Donate Blood

If you aren't a blood donor, give it a try! I know, I know...you don't like needles but who does? When I go to give blood, I'm not excited about getting a big needle stuck in my arm either. :P Just think of all the potential lives you could be saving. Find out more at https://www.givelife.org/.

Giving Without Spending: Donate your breast milk

If you have an abundance of breast milk with no end in sight, consider donating it. The La Leche League website has a great page about breast milk donation here. Also included on this page, are a list of milk banks in the U.S. and other countries. If you go this route to donate, you may have to pay for shipping and packaging if you don't live near a bank.

There is another option for donation with The International Breastmilk Project. The milk they receive is sent to Africa for children who have been orphaned due to poverty and disease like HIV/AIDS. If you qualify for the program, they send you a cooler and cover the cost of shipping. Therefore, you pay nothing with this program.

Makes me want to start lactating! I really wish I would have known about this when I was breastfeeding my youngest.

Giving Without Spending...Much: Make a child smile

(Originally posted on my blog The Adventures of Frugal Girl )

Make a Child Smile is such a sweet, wonderful program. Each month, 3 children who are suffering from chronic or life-threatening diseases, are featured on the site. A mailing address and biography is provided so that you may send these children a card and/or a small gift to brighten their day. What a blessing for these kids who should not have to be going through what they are. With stores like the Dollar Tree, you can send a card to all 3 children for less than $5. Or if you have the time, you can handmake your own cards. I'm sure no matter what, anything would be very much appreciated.

Giving Without Spending: Ronald McDonald pop tab collection program

(Originally posted on my blog The Adventures of Frugal Girl )

The Ronald McDonald House is a "home away from home" for many sick children and their families each year. They are asked to make a $5-20 donation each day of their stay, but if they can't, their stay is free. What an awesome program!

You can help these families continue to have free or majorly discounted stays by saving the tabs on your soda cans, vegetable and soup cans, and pet food cans. Drop-off sites for pop tabs range in location, from the House to McDonald's restaurants, local banks and grocery stores.

Here's a picture of our collection so far. It's amazing how many aluminum cans have went into this small pile! We started doing this at the beginning of August when I was told about it from a friend.

Click here to visit the Ronald McDonald House website.

Giving Without Spending: Old glasses for new owners

(Originally posted on my blog The Adventures of Frugal Girl )


This week's featured opportunity is the Lions Club. They collect used eyeglasses which are cleaned then sorted by prescription. The glasses are then distributed to those in need in developing countries.

So do you have an old pair lying around or know someone who does? Instead of letting them collect dust, let the Lions Club put them to good use. You will greatly improve the quality of someone's life. To find out where to donate in your area, go the Lions Club website at http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/content/vision_eyeglass_recycling.shtml and click on "Club Locator" located on the left portion of the page. You will be given contact information for your local chapter.

Giving Without Spending...Much: Movies for the disabled

(Originally posted on my blog The Adventures of Frugal Girl )

Moviesforfree.org (http://www.moviesforfree.org/) is a program that sends out movies to people that are disabled and on a limited income. They accept donations of gently used VHS and DVDs to distribute to those eligible for the program. If you have a few movies you've only watched once or twice and have no plans to watch again, think about sending them to moviesforfree.org. You will have to pay for shipping but the cost shouldn't be much using media mail.

Giving Without Spending: IM'ing for a cause

(Originally posted on my blog The Adventures of Frugal Girl )

This has got to be the coolest thing I've seen in a while. Yes, I live a sheltered life! I received an email from MSN Messenger stating you can now IM for a cause. From the site:

i’m is a new initiative from Windows Live Messenger™. Every time you start a conversation using i’m, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. We've set no cap on the amount we'll donate to each organization.
The sky's the limit. So any time you have an i’m™ conversation using Windows Live Messenger, you help address the issues you feel most passionate about, including poverty, child protection, disease, environmental degradation and animal protection. It's simple. All you have to do is join and start an instant messaging conversation. We'll handle the donation.

Click here to get started.

I am IM'ing for the Red Cross.