Support the Troops!

A local organization here in MD has been formed with a simple mission: to support the troops returning from Iraq or Afghanistan & to encourage others to support those troops.

What's really neat about it is how they are doing it. We've all heard stories about personnel in uniform being thanked in airports or people buying them meals or what not, but how do you know someone has served if they aren't in uniform? This organization solves that problem by creating a sticker that they can put on their car:

Simple. Easy. Effective.....

Another great thing is this organization has no political agenda or affiliation. Their mission is to support the returning troops and anyone who wants to do that is welcome, regardless of political leanings. Considering the political climate we live in, how refreshing to find something that is truly bipartisan!!

Lastly, this is being done solely by private funds!! Stickers are free for those who served (or families of those currently serving). If you fit in that category, click on their website and request the appropriate sticker and it will be sent to you free of charge. (I know there is a volunteer "envelope stuffing party" being held in the area today where they expect to send out 200,000.)...If you are not in that category, but would like to contribute, you can donate thru the webpage/paypal. Each sticker costs only $.04 to make, so even a small donation can go a long way/help a lot of ppl.

I just donated. And while I can't make today's stuffing party, I do plan on helping out at the next one. The way I see it: if a sticker brings about even one thank you, that's $.04 very well spent!!

Be the Match Marrowthon

I've written before that bone marrow transplant is a subject that's near and dear to my heart. Thousands of people each year are thrust in the unfortunate position of needing a transplant due to leukemia, lymphoma, genetic disorders, etc. In about 70% of those cases, there isn't a suitable match within the family. Imagine how scary it must be to be that potential recipient, hoping that there's a match in the national database & the relief they must feel if they're lucky and one is found. Every person who joins the registry as a potential donor increases that potential recipients odds that a suitable match can be made...

Every once in a while, the National Bone Marrow Program provides the opportunity for new participants to join the registry free of charge.* The current opportunity runs until Monday, June 22nd, while funding remains. Their hope is to add 46,000 new names to the registry during this Marrowthon.

The process of joining is easy:

1. Confirm your eligibity -- are you between the ages of 18-60 yrs old? in good health/meet the medical guidelines? live in the US? etc.


2. Complete the online form & a registration kit will be sent to you.


3. When you receive your kit, follow the instructions to do a cheek swab & send it back to them.

That's all there is to it -- quick, easy, painless & if you do steps 1 & 2 before June 22nd, it's also free!

*A question I often get asked is why isn't it always free? Bone marrow matching is based on number of factors. Bottom line is it takes $ to type each sample that comes in, so they can determine which of the potential donors would be a match for a specific person in need of a transplant. Funding has been provided for the Marrowthon, so the cost associated with typing any new registrant has been covered, but donations would gladly be accepted from those who are able so that the funding can be stretched further.

As long as we're on the subject...

...of charitable giving, I wanted to make mention of iGive. For those who aren't familiar with it, iGive is another way to donate to charity, but this time, it won't cost you a single dime!!

iGive has partnered with more than 700 (and counting) online sites. When you make a purchase at one of these partners' sites, a percentage of that purchase is donated to your designated charity. You don't spend anything extra, you don't have to buy anything you weren't already going to buy, and yet, your favorite cause gets a little bit of much-needed funds. Not only that, iGive will keep track of it & provide you with a year-end summary for tax purposes. How cool is that?!

The participating online retailers run the gamut from high end (Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstroms) to lower (Kohls, Target) and everything inbetween. There are clothes (Ann Taylor, Aeropostale, Old Navy, the Gap), books (Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon),electronics (Best Buy, Abes of Maine, Dell, Apple), hotels (Wyndham, Hilton, hotels.com), gifts (iTunes, 1-800-flowers),etc. The list is really quite impressive!!

To have your purchases recognized, you can sign in at the iGive website & then click on the link to the vendor's regular website or you can download the iGive toolbar. If you choose the toolbar, it will recognize when you are on a participating site & will automatically register your purchase amount & direct the correct donation amount to your chosen charity. That means that you don't have to do anything different at all and yet you donate money. Again, I say, how cool is that?!

To see the list of participating sites and perhaps to sign up, click here.

(In the interest of full disclosure, the dog rescue group I volunteer with is my chosen charity and they will get a bonus for anyone who signs up via this link. It won't cost you anything and you don't have to keep that organization as your chosen charity, so I hope no one minds helping us out while heading on their way to helping their chosen charity. thanks!)

Charitable Gift Cards

Tiburon's post about receiving a goat for Xmas reminded me that I was going to post about an organization called Network for Good. Have you ever wanted to make a donation as a gift for someone or in someone's honor, but not known what charity they would most like it to go to? Network for Good allows you to make a donation and get a "Good Card" (aka a gift card) that allows the recipient to decide which charity or charities s/he wants that donation to go to.

Regular readers to this blog (all 3 of you!) know that my SO has been battling lymphoma. Even before he got sick, he hated clutter and having too much schtuff around bugged him. It's gotten even worse since getting sick and having to contemplate possibly figuring out what to do with his things should he get a bad outcome. In support of that, I decided that this year, all of the "little things" I gave him would be consumable or something that he could pass on when he finished with it & his big gift would be a charitable donation.

He has multiple charities to which he regularly donates. At first, I decided to find some new ones for him. He and I both like finding smaller, little-known charities that support causes we believe in/do good work, and where even small amounts can really matter. I did some research and found some new ones that I thought he'd like, but then started second guessing the whole thing. Afterall, it seems kinda presumptuous to just assume he'd like these new (to us) ones I found, or even if he did like them, perhaps he'd still prefer to donate more to some of the ones with which he's already associated.

Network for Good makes either option possible. I've done the research, so he'll get information on the new-to-us charities I discovered & perhaps he'll choose to donate the funds or part of the funds to them. Or maybe he'll send it to one or more of his already-favorite causes. Or maybe he'll find something else entirely....No matter which option(s) he chooses, he'll get to send the funds to where it means the most to him & afterall, what I really want is for him to be able to give to something that makes his heart sing!

Squidoo

Squidoo is an online organization that helps raise tons of money for various charities. They are having an $80,000 giveaway. All you have to do is click here, choose a charity from their list of partners & submit your vote. You don't have to register with them or even give them your email address & it won't cost you a single dime. They'll give $2/vote for every vote submitted by October 15th, up to the first 40,000 votes. You can only vote once, so go on over & vote and then tell a bunch of friends and family about this so they can go vote too. Believe me, the charities you select will be most appreciative; afterall, it's free money!

Squidoo has partnered with a lot of different charities. Whether you want to support health research, children's services, animal welfare or anything in between, there's probably a charity that will match with your passion. I personally voted for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society since my SO has been battling Lymphoma. Feel free to choose them or to pick another organization that you feel is a better fit for you, but either way, please go click & then tell others how they too can get in on the action.