Life, Interrupted

It's very easy to not think about what happens in other parts of the world. Life is busy, confusing and highly stressful even for those of us not currently challenged by health or work issues.

When I look for charities to give my time and money, I look for places that can cause a ripple of effect, an improvement that can change lives.

Habitat For Humanity -- build a house, create a home for a family. Security, a roof over their heads, a place their children can safely sleep and study and grow up to make something of themselves.

The Heifer Project -- Buy a share of an animal, that will be given to a poor family. They will have the milk from this animal, the work of it -- if it is a working animal -- and when it produces young, they will pass on at least one of the offspring to another family in need. Ripples.

Here is another idea that crystallizes another category with ripples: the education of women. You know, instinctively, that this is a desperate need, if you read National Geographic, if you watch TV, if you sign petitions on-line.

Educated girls grow up -- they don't die young, in horrible ways, or get trapped into marriages that produce children also trapped in their cycle. Educated girls compete in the world economy, they raise their children to be healthy, successful adults.

But they must have the chance to grow up, live as valued adults, have good health and a chance for success in life. They can't be married off at 12 to be abused, impregnated, and then left to die or be permanently damaged by childbirth. A child bearing a child.

A young woman reaches out to educate us, and give us new organizations our ripples can reach. Watch her video at her site (YouTube is below.) Read her blog intro (which just started) -- she gives some of the organizations where she found her statistics.

Here's a fledgling Canadian actress and model who plans to donate any money she wins in a contest to this movie's charities. Will she? I don't know. But if you want to help her reach her goal, and perhaps donate money to these causes, go vote for her.

Because it only takes a girl.

Every year, House the Homeless, Inc. has a thermal underwear drive. This year, they have a nice link set up at firstgiving.com. 100% of your tax-deductible donations goes to HTH projects -- they are entirely volunteer. Ten dollars buys a top and bottom thermal underwear set for someone homeless and on the street -- if you give $25.00, HTH can outfit them from warm hat to new, thick socks, including gloves and a scarf.

I need to crater, but that's where my next drop of sweater money is going. So thought I'd leave you with a link:

http://www.firstgiving.com/thermals