Sunday, October 21, 2007

Swedes Love Charity and So Do I

I’m a sucker for a good cause. So with that in mind you should probably go out and donate some money today. This post is going to be full of links. Click on at least one of them. It will be worth your time. I promise.

Buy a net to combat malaria. Donate some money to fight cancer, all cancer, breast cancer, leukemia, donate to the United Way. Or find your own charity and give some money to them. It’s pretty easy, everyone has a cause they believe in, everyone has a connection to cancer, everyone has something they want to change about the world. So go and do something, it can’t hurt. Even if it’s only a few dollars.

Buying a net only costs 10 dollars. That’s nothing. That’s maybe an hour worth of work and you get to save a life. That’s a pretty sweet tradeoff. Rick Reilly, probably one of the greatest sports writers ever wrote a few articles about this organization. The first one was a call to action if you will, the second, a thank you.

Money to the United Way does all kinds of amazing things from helping little kids with school supplies to helping single mothers to hotlines for helping with abuse and even suicide. Give some money. Or some pencils, some markers, some notebooks. Anything. Raid Office Depot when they have a sale then give it all away.

You can even pick a charity here in Sweden. Rädda Barnen (Save the Children) gives all kinds of money to helping children, usually in Africa. Recently in Stockholm, this organization put small coffins around town with a number to text message. Every text message donated 50 SEK and helped save a life. Which in turn removed one of the coffins from the city. A very visual and effective reminder of what a little bit of money can do. If you join IKEA Family, every time you make a purchase and show your card IKEA donates 25 öre to Rädda Barnen. Again, not a whole lot but it adds up quick. Especially when you consider IKEA on a Saturday.

Or if you just don’t want to give any money start using GoodSearch. It’s a search engine run by Yahoo. Every time you search for something they donate one penny to whatever cause you choose. It’s not a lot but that starts to add up pretty quick.

5 comments:

  1. Yes, we do love charity but one should be aware of that not all the money reaches the people needing it. That is why an organisation like Charity Rating started (www.charityrating.org) - they wanted to know what happens to the money you give. Recommend their site. Yes, I'm a supporter...used to work for the founder and did a lot of voluntary work when it first started. All for a good cause. And I really believe in their work and that it might put a bit of pressure on the charities to use the money where they are needed.

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  2. great post hairyswede! i guess this being charitable is a testament of you being a swede deep inside. ;)

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  3. That's a great point Annette. Some charities are black holes when it comes to money being donated. It's a good idea to check out whatever charity it is you plan on donating to. That being said, finding a charity that supports something you believe in is probably the most important step.

    Mogli, it's true. I blame my parents for the charitable part, and the Swedish part for that matter!

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  4. Could you add this link in your blog:
    http://www.ettklickforskogen.se/engelska/ettKlickeng.asp
    Thanks to this site, people can help save a forest in Sweden by clicking once a day on the button!!!
    source: http://www.freewebs.com/clickforcharity/environmentalcharities.htm

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  5. a good call... there are quite a few charitable sites like that.

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