Hi everyone, here’s a great Skip-a-lunch cause, although a bit higher than our normal ones. $10 is the minimum donation towards this breast cancer research and awareness cause. See press release below:

SAN DIEGO, CA – Emergen-C Pink is encouraging health conscious people everywhere to get behind professional surfer Jodie Nelson’s Paddle With Purpose, a 39.8 mile solo paddle from Catalina to Dana Point, to bring attention and raise funds for breast cancer research and awareness. By donating as little as ten dollars, you can win a year’s supply of Emergen-C Pink and a Stand Up Paddle lesson with Jodie. All donations will benefit The Keep A Breast Foundation and Boarding For Breast Cancer’s prevention and education outreach programs.

Visit firstgiving.com/paddlewithpurpose from until March 28, 2010 and make a donation to enter the Contest. A minimum $10 donation is required for each entry. Each $10 increment qualifies as one automatic entry. Unlimited entries permitted. Grand Prize winner receives a year’s supply of Emergen-C Pink (12 boxes) and one stand up paddle boot camp session with SUPspot owner and professional surfer Jody Nelson. SUPspot boot camp includes learning the proper paddle technique, turning techniques, correct stance and form, the proper use and care of the equipment. The lesson includes board, paddle and qualified instruction.

The partnership between Paddle with Purpose and Emergen-C Pink came easy with Pink’s commitment to making a difference. “Pink is about power, strength, and energy in so many ways and Jodie Nelson’s journey embodies healthy choices for today and hope for tomorrow,” says Emergen-C Brand Manager, Meghann Seidner. “Since the inception of Emergen-C Pink, a portion of all sales is donated to fund breast cancer awareness, research and prevention efforts with over $200,000 so far donated to The Keep A Breast Foundation.

Nelson completed the Catalina Challenge race in 2009 as a relay with another woman. “Last year’s race was the most physically and mentally grueling thing I have ever done in my life,” says Nelson. “This year I have been training using Emergen-C Pink which offers an electrolyte boost, which is the perfect companion for an endurance mission like this.”

She continues: “I’m setting out to do something that is, for me, super intimidating, unknown, and something that I have a good chance of failing at. But that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t do it! This isn’t about me. People battling cancer go through similar feelings that are magnified to a much grander scale. They are battling a life threatening disease that is intimidating and unknown to them.”

About Jodie Nelson
Jodie Nelson gracefully walks the line between accomplished competitor and soul surfer. Her natural charisma, athleticism and commitment to surfing have made her one of the sport’s best and most highly respected ambassadors. She has received praise for her on-camera hosting at the X Games, Fuel TV, and numerous webcasts, and has appeared on the pages of such magazines as Elle, Lucky, CosmoGIRL!, Seventeen and Jane. Jodie and a business partner recently started a company called The SUP Spot, which focuses on all things Stand Up Paddling. In addition to her surfing, Jodie is an accomplished photographer, an avid traveler and loves playing guitar and songwriting. She currently resides in San Clemente, California.

About The Keep A Breast Foundation (KAB)
The Keep A Breast Foundation™ is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization based in Carlsbad, CA. Our mission is to help eradicate breast cancer by exposing young people to methods of prevention, early detection and support. Through art events, educational programs and fundraising efforts, we seek to increase breast cancer awareness among young people so they are better equipped to make choices and develop habits that will benefit their long-term health and well-being. keep-a-breast.org

About Boarding For Breast Cancer (B4BC)
Boarding For Breast Cancer is a non-profit, youth-focused education, awareness, and fundraising foundation based in Los Angeles, CA. Our mission is to increase awareness about breast cancer, the importance of early detection and the value of an active lifestyle. b4bc.org

About Alacer Corp, makers of Emergen-C®
For more than 35 years, Alacer Corp., based in Foothill Ranch, California, has been an industry leader and innovator in developing, manufacturing and marketing dietary supplements and nutritionally-enhanced products that support an energetic, healthy lifestyle. It produces over 400 million packets annually of Emergen-C, which is sold in health food stores, supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchandisers and club stores nationwide. emergenc.com

Coco-Cola, through a special partnership with Facebook, is giving us a way to contribute to the Boys & Girls Clubs and a chance to get a sneak peak at one of their upcoming Super Bowl spots. If you’re like me, not only do I love the Super Bowl commercials but I love Coca-Cola commercials.

In order to participate you need to visit the Live Positively tab on the Coca-Cola Facebook fan page. From here you can share a virtual gift with your friends. By sharing a virtual gift, Coca-Cola will do the following:

Coca-Cola makes a one-dollar donation to Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Gift recipients receive a special Coca-Cola bottle image, which is displayed on their Facebook page and newsfeed, reminding them and others they can also share virtual gifts.

Gift-givers receive a 20-second sneak preview of one of two new Coca-Cola ads that will debut during the Super Bowl broadcast on February 7, 2010.

Once game day arrives, gifters receive both ads in their entirety before their TV debut later that evening.

Coca-Cola will match every dollar contributed to the Boys & Girls Clubs (up to a total contribution by Coca-Cola of $150,000) and donate two My Coke Rewards points for every one point donated between now and February 15th.

This is a great program for a great cause. You can find out all the details at the Live Positively site and you can view a success story featuring Academy Award winner Denzel Washington on YouTube here.

Wow, The Fresh Air Fund had nearly 8,000 children enjoying their best summer yet. If you recall, we featured The Fresh Air Fund back in July for the NYC Half-Marathon they hosted.

Check out the latest here. The Fresh Air Fund 2009 Summer Memories video is worth the visit. From their News Facts section:

2009 Summer Highlights:
• Nearly 8,000 children enjoyed their best summers yet
• 370 students participated in the Career Awareness Program
• 11 counselors-in-training spent three days on the Appalachian Trail
• 168 young people were Leaders-in-training

That’s what I call a success! Keep up the good work and let’s get behind and support these organizations.

Wow, this is not for the feint of heart! Raise $1000 for Special Olympics Hawaii and you’ll be able to rappel over the edge of Waikiki’s tallest building, landing at the Edge of Waikiki which is the Sheraton Waikiki’s new adult infinity pool and bar. Crazy huh? The Over the Edge of Waikiki event takes places on November 13th, 2009 at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. You need to be 18 and less than 300lbs. to participate.

Contact info:
Kyle Karioka
Special Olympics Hawaii
PO Box 3295
Honolulu, HI 96801
Fax: (808) 943-8814
E-mail: KyleK@specialolympicshawaii.org

Here’s a link to the form. Sign up today if interested since its a limited opportunity.

Top Five Ways to Give Online (courtesy of replyforall)

5. Give Your Name. Signing petitions to Senators or foreign diplomats may seem like it won’t make a difference, but sometimes just a collection of people taking a stand has real power. Just look at Amnesty International’s track record. They’ve been relying on your names to help repeal laws, obtain stays of execution, and secure the release of hundreds of prisoners in foreign countries. Sign Amnesty’s petition to free US journalists Laura and Euna.

4. Micro-Volunteer. You don’t need money to give time, and now with companies like The Extraordinaries, you don’t really need that much time, either. Just download one of their phone apps, and you can volunteer with those ten minutes you’re waiting at the doctor’s office. You can help translate a nonprofit page into a foreign language, fact check for reporters, review congressional bills, even tag images for the Smithsonian. So you can do what you can, when you can, and still make a difference.

3. “Friend-raise”. Social networking is a great way to keep in touch with friends, acquaintances, and family members. And now, it’s a great way to raise awareness about your favorite nonprofit or cause. Over 26 million people actively use the Causes application on Facebook, and influence others to join their cause. You can support your cause by merely inviting your friends to join or posting your charitable actions in your status message.

2. Transform your search engine. We’ve ushered in a new age of technology, relying on search engines for answers from the momentous to the mundane. Why not fight desertification, global warming, and habitat loss at the same time? Don’t just search, Ecosearch. Ecosearch is a search engine that uses Yahoo technology and helps reforesting trees and safeguard water resources in the Amazon region, which constitute today one fourth of the fresh water reserves of our planet.

For every 10,000 searches, Ecosearch and Aquaverde (their nonprofit partner) plant a tree in the Amazon and in the Canary Islands. The website even keeps a running count of how many trees have been planted and how many more searches are needed to plant another tree.

1. Donate your email. What better way to make a donation than to have someone else pay for it? replyforall is a free cause email signature that is automatically inserted into your outgoing email messages. You choose your cause, personalize the information to appear in the signature, and you’re all set! replyforall then shares the advertising revenue with its nonprofit partners allowing you to donate without cash. Now you can raise awareness, drive donations for your cause of choice and monitor your impact all by doing what you do everyday – email.

Wow, great news from DonorsChoose.org. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund 50% of any classroom project request that preps students in rural and high-poverty schools for college. The catch is that the rest needs to be funded purely by citizens like us. 50%! That’s pretty damn amazing.

Things we can fund are college prep books, science equipment, etc. School is starting up soon (or just started as is the case for my daughter’s kindergarten class). Let’s fund some projects!

Watch a video featuring Stephen Colbert to learn more.

Thanks goes out to Matt for another great suggestion. Thanks Matt!
This time its Small Can Be Big, an organization that takes 100% of every donation and applies it to a specific expense or urgent bill to help a family in need and keep them from homelessness.
They do a way better job of explaining the process on this page. But the gist is:

This is where you come in. When you lend your support to a family in need – whether it’s $3 or $300 – 100% of every penny you give goes directly toward addressing a specific family need. No middlemen. No hidden costs. No time wasted. Just an uplifting, tax-deductible gift that goes to a landlord, utility company or hospital awaiting payment.

This falls in line directly with the model of Skip a Lunch. Small donations that in masse can create change, help, or hope. Please check it out and in their words, “Help more directly, more personally, more locally, more shared.”

We’re featured in the list of 100 incredible philanthropy blogs under the “Individual Ways to Make a Difference” category (we’re number 21 in the list). Thanks Amber for the head’s up!

View the list here:
http://www.bible-college.net/index.php/100-incredible-philanthropy-blogs/

In 2007, Idol Gives Back, produced by the folks who bring viewers American Idol, brought in more than $75 million in charitable donations; in 2008, the amount raised exceeded that. A June 2008 New York Times article described the way in which individuals—particularly children and teens—were finding that the opportunity to donate $10 mosquito nets to protect African children from malaria was making charity “cool.” But it’s not always easy for people of various ages and backgrounds to make intelligent decisions about donating their time, talents, services, and goods, as well as money and assets, to meet their own giving goals while helping not-for-profit organizations achieve their visions. Add on the concern for avoiding scams and pitfalls and possible unhappy consequences caused by their good intentions, and it’s enough for people to keep their donations to themselves.

In The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Giving Back, readers learn to donate wisely by learning how not-for-profits work and donations are utilized, and the best ways to match their personal ideals, values, and giving goals with a group or cause that’s meaningful for them.

The book covers:

•The not-for-profit landscape—how to read an annual report, decipher tax forms, and the issue of paying for overhead
•Deciding what matters and translating priorities into giving back
•Giving back later—charitable bequests and charitable trusts
•Handling telephone solicitations and detecting scams
•What to do if you’ve been the victim of “charity fraud”
•New trends in giving—philanthropreneurship, giving with a willingness to tackle social problems, and addressing the unintended negative consequences of well-intended actions that cause problems for not-for-profits and the people they serve

About the Author:
Elizabeth Ziemba, J.D., MPH, who holds dual degrees in law and international public health, has spent the past five years as the founder and president of the not-for-profit organization SHARED, which is dedicated to improving access to medicines in developing countries. Ziemba has firsthand knowledge and experience of the world of not-for-profits and donations. With a keen understanding of how not-for-profits function and the impact donations have on operations, she has worked with individuals, businesses, foundations, and other not-for-profits that have donated time, services, and goods as well as cash and grants. Each donation has a generally positive but sometimes negative impact on the organization. Educating the donors and general public about donations is a part of her every day job description.

Ziemba’s training and experience as an attorney provide the knowledge required to navigate the complex regulatory world of not-for-profits, including the environment in which they must operate as well as the tax implications for donors. Her skill as an attorney enables her to translate complex legal issues for lay persons in a practical and clear way to foster informed decision-making.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Giving Back
ISBN: 9781592578948, July 2009, $14.95
Author: Elizabeth Ziemba, J.D., MPH

For a review copy or to arrange an interview with the author, please contact Wilks Communications at patty@wilkspr.com, or 708-434-5006.

View more Complete Idiot’s Guide titles at http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/cig/pdf/Alpha_2008Q4_Newsletter.pdf

On August 16th, Fresh Air Fund will be hosting their NYC Half-Marathon. Last year the NYC Half-Marathon was a huge success, raising $125,000 which goes to programs for NYC children.

Learn more here.

Since 1877, The Fresh Air Fund, a not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer experiences in the country to more than 1.7 million New York City children from disadvantaged communities. Each year, thousands of children visit volunteer host families in 13 states and Canada through the Friendly Town Program or attend Fresh Air Fund camps.