Ways to Give

The main reason I started this site was to try and help others. Of course everyone has their favorite charities and here is just a list a few of mine. There isn't one right way to help others. The idea here is there are so many ways to help. Not all involve giving money and you might not have enough to spare anyway. Sometimes you can make a world of difference lending your time or volunteering in some other way. The important thing is, no matter who you give back is an important one no matter how small.

Kiva: Kiva is a very original non profit organization. I have been a big fan of theirs for about a year. What they do is arrange micro loans. Micro loans are small loans anywhere from $25 and up. You might think what can a $25 loan do to help someone. Maybe not a tremendous amount here in the United States, but in some foreign countries where a worker makes $1 a week, a loan can be incredibly useful. For $50-100 someone could open their own shop or business.

Be cautious though. My advice is loan money with the understanding you're getting zero interest back and you're even taking a chance your loan might not be re-paid. Some of these countries are war torn and some of the economies are clearly unstable. I haven't lost any money yet and I take great satisfaction seeing how my money is changing others lives. I love the updates I get and I don't loan anything I expect back. You have the potential of having your loan repaid to then lend to another and so on. So your $25 could literally change many borrowers lives.

Habitat for Humanity: I've been doing Habitat builds for a few years now. Habitat for Humanity is great because even if you can't donate money you can donate a little time and leave with a extremely rewarding experience. You get to get a little exercise and even learn a few things about home building and home repair. Even if you know nothing about working with tools there is usually something you can do.

Red Cross: The Red Cross is there for countless people around the world. They're there when there is a major disaster both here and abroad. They are also there locally for families who suffer from fires or other local disasters. You can donate money of course, but they also take used household items and clothing. One of the most known things to donate to the Red Cross however is blood and platelets. Of course not everyone can donate, but its quite painless and how many chances do you really have to do something that can literally save someone else's live.

To find a local blood drive go to givelife.org.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is an incredible charity that grants wishes for children with life threatening illnesses. A lot of the wishes are things the terminally ill children might now have been able to do without the help of this organization. Some wishes include going to concerts or sporting events. Some include vacations such as Hawaii or Disney World.

Make-A-Wish has various fund raising events to raise money to make these dreams come true. Take a look at their web site. Even if you can't donate money they sometimes need helpers to organize or carry out their events.

Top Ways To Give