Digital Philanthropy: Poverty

Showing posts with label Poverty. Show all posts

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Fashion Fights Poverty

Fashion Fights Poverty's mission is to raise awareness for initiatives that encourage and support creative, effective, and sustainable means of challenging poverty.

Fashion Fights Poverty recognises "designers and organizations who embrace the powerful potential of creativity and design to address issues of poverty by adhering to such principles as fair trade, equitable compensation and the use of environmentally-sustainable materials."

It also promotes responsible consumerism and helps connect ethical designers and the growing population of socially-conscious shoppers.

FFP has supported some fantastic charities such as Nest, Aid to Artisans and BeadForLife.

Keep up with their good works on Twitter, Facebook or MySpace.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Sartorial Saturday: Eco Friendly Fashion Feeds the Hungry

Styles by Stiles - not just another celebrity fashion label!

The clothes might be sold out, but you can still donate to The Lunchbox Fund - a a great organization which provides impoverished children in the township schools of Alexandra and Soweto what is often their only meal of the day.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Take Action Tuesday: Eat so They Can

Take Action Tuesday - its all about finding things that you can DO to make a difference. Today, why not organise a Dinner Party and help feed children around the world who are living in poverty?!

Eat So They Can is an international fundraiser that invites citizens of the world to participate in what is collectively one huge dinner party October 17-18, 2009.

People from all over the world will host a meal and ask their friends and family members to make a donation towards ending child poverty. All donations will go towards GVN (Gobal Volunteer Network) Foundation's Global Children's Fund set up to aid children living in poverty. The money will assist with both short term needs and long-term development projects in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa and Peru.

Please sign up to host a dinner party here

GVN Foundation is an international charity that is working to end child poverty around the globe and has recently been granted special cunsultative status by the United Nations.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Bake Bread – Give Dough – Feed Africa!

The Worldwide Blogger Bake Off launched on October 15, 2008 with the aim of raising $1 million dollars for hunger relief in Africa.

The Bake Off is the idea of Breadline Africa. The money raised will be used to support grass roots community projects aimed at ending poverty and hunger in Africa. Breadline Africa will be placing container kitchens, vegetable gardens and more in poor communities, as well as sending emergency food relief to places where it is needed and helping poor communities to help themselves.

How does it work?

There are plenty of ways to take part. You can bake bread, donate or simply spread the word.

You could bake a magnificent loaf of bread, take pictures and write about your culinary masterpiece in your blog.
Download the Bake Off widget and tag your 5 favourite bloggers to do the same.
Hold a local bake sale to raise funds for the campaign
Submit your favourite bread recipe and get everyone you know to vote for it - the recipe with the most votes wins $250 Amazon Vouchers

If you spearhead the most donations you win the honour of having a container kitchen named after you - and $500 of Amazon Vouchers.

So get baking already!!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Night Night Sleep Tight

A good night's sleep makes the world of difference - and for kids living with the insecurity of homelessness, a good night's sleep can be hard to come by.

Project night night aims to provide some basic bedtime comforts to transient and homeless kids across America.

Project Night Night donates individual tote bags each filled with a security blanket, an age-appropriate book, and a stuffed animal to children (ages 0-10) in homeless shelters.

Want to help? You can get involved by making a donation of money, volunteering your time or skills or hosting an event to raise funds.

This blog post is part of Zemanta's "Blogging For a Cause" campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

Friday, April 17, 2009

The 12 for 12k Challenge

The 12 for 12k challenge is a social media experiment that aims to raise $144,000 in 2009.

The concept is simple:

12 months of the year
12 charities - a different one each month
$12,000 per charity.

So far they have supported Stop the Silence & War Child and raised over $15,500 for Share Our Strength in March.

In April they are fundraising for Yehu.org with the Mom It Forward network.

Yehu is a microfinance organization in the rural coastal region of Kenya for the poor, run by the poor. It provides financial and other support services for small businesses owned by very poor people.

Yehu operates in conjunction with Choice Humanitarian, an international NGO specializing in village development. Yehu was created based on the principles and procedures of the world-renowned Grameen Bank.

Yehu mission is to empower poor rural entrepreneurs in Kenya to help lift themselves out of poverty. This is done through enhanced accessibility to sustainable financial services, business opportunities, and skills training.

As well as normal donations, the 12 for 12k Challenge will be running a host of special events throughout April. These include virtual pajama parties, 24-hour fund-raising marathons and perhaps the most exciting event - international charity meet-ups.

Cities across the U.S., Canada and Australia will be hosting live events on April 18. These will be a mix of fun, drinks, socializing, prizes, silent auctions and much more. The 12for12k events will be held in San Diego, Toronto and Sydney (Australia), with more hosted by Mom It Forward.

Visit The 12 for 12k Challenge for more info or donate with ChipIn below.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Pledge to End Child Hunger in America

1 in 6 children in America wonder where there next meal will come from. That's more than 12 million children in America going hungry! Hard to believe that there is that kind of poverty in the midst of such plenty.

I discovered this great way that YOU can help provide 140,000 meals to kids in Austin, Texas through the fantastic Good Concepts blog. Its sponsored by Tyson Foods & Kimball Office and is in support of the wonderful non-profit organisation Share Our Strength.

All you need to do it is visit PledgeToEndHunger.com and pledge to spread the word, volunteer or donate - and you will help Share Our Strength reach their goal of 1000 pledges. Your pledge will provide 140 meals - when the 1000th pledge is made Tyson Foods will donate enough food to feed 140,000 children in Austin, Texas.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Help End Poverty with Just $2

You don't have to be wealthy to be a Digital Philanthropist! You really can make a difference and help end Global Poverty with a donation of as little as $2.

FINCA International, an organization that provides low-interest loans to the world's poorest entrepreneurs, is looking for 500,000 caring people to give to its $2 a Day Campaign. If successful, this campaign will make microfinance loans available to 20,000 hard working individuals in a number of developing countries.

These loans will allow impoverished men and women to start new businesses, send their children to school, and work their way out of extreme poverty forever.

$2 sounds like so little, but it can do a lot to combat global poverty. Click here to make your donation - and don't forget to spread the word!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Everyone Deserves a Roof

I discovered this great organisation via Twilight Earth.

In the United States every year some 3 million people experience homelessness. That's almost the entire population of New Zealand! What a horrifying and shameful statistic for a country that in 2005 was home to around 8.9 million households with a net worth of at least $1 million.

EDAR (Everyone Deserves A Roof) is a charity that provides unique mobile shelters to those living on the streets in the United States. Each EDAR is a four-wheeled mobile unit which carries belongings and facilitates recycling during the day and which unfolds into a special, framed tent-like sleeping enclosure with a bed at night.

Photo courtesy of EDAR

The EDAR website describes how the units are being implemented in three ways:

EDAR works with current philanthropic, governmental and religious initiatives who currently work to house the homeless in temporary and permanent housing programs. EDAR units are being used as a “first step” into the homeless shelters for those that are typically reluctant to enter a traditional shelter system. The shelter creates a relationship with the homeless person who is using the EDAR unit and with time, the homeless person will often transition into the shelter’s program.
The EDAR units are being used as additional beds in shelters where there is a lack of portable cots for the homeless each night. EDAR users are mobile with the EDAR units during the day, and are allowed to enter the shelter grounds and sleep in a designated area. This provides the shelter extra sleeping units and gives the homeless person much more privacy than the traditional cot on which they might sleep.
The EDAR units are also given to homeless clients directly, those who are in need of a more comfortable place to sleep that protects them from the elements, for those who cannot or will not go to a shelter.

You can contribute online to help sponsor an EDAR unit. You can contribute whatever you can afford - but here is a guideline to what your donation will cover:

Sponsor wheels: $50
Sponsor a frame: $75
Sponsor a mattress: $125
Sponsor a roof: $250
Sponsor one EDAR unit: $500

Digital Philanthropy