Happy New Years!
January 2 marks the third anniversary of this blog. I had no idea when I started that I would still be doing this three years later.
While I've been consistent in the number of posts each year overall, I've always posted rather sporadically. Not sure if that will continue this year or not. I'm not setting any goals for the number of times I will post this year.
Something that I did in 2008 that I liked doing, was to have a tie-in between my blog and a charity. During NaBloPoMo, I donated $1 to Water Partners International for each comment left on my blog (71 comments).
This year, I've decided to start a lending team on Kiva. Kiva is a web-based organization that allows individuals (or teams of individuals) to help fund micro-loans to individuals in developing countries. By working with Kiva, you can actually do something about poverty. You'll know exactly to whom your money is loaned and what they're using it for. Most of all, you'll help someone
build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after the loan is paid back.
My goal is to have my lending team contribute $1000 in 2009. I challenge each of you who read this blog to join my lending team, Booklovers, and make a commitment to help alleviate poverty. Anyone can join. You decide how much you want to contribute and you get to decide who will be the beneficiary of your loan. When the loan is paid back, you can redirect your money to another loan applicant or you can get it back.
Today, I made a loan to an entrepreneur named Mary Nkrumah, a fabric retailer in Ghana, who is trying to raise $725 to grow her business. You can help Mary raise funds for her loans, or you can support another qualified loan applicant on Kiva. Just be sure to indicate that this is part of our Lending Team so we can track how much we raise in 2009.
Each month I will feature a different way in which my blogging will support microloans on Kiva. For this month, I pledge to donate $1 per comment, $1 per person who joins my lending team, and $1 for each new commenter on my blog. This money will go to Mary Nkrumah until her fundraising goal is met. Then, I'll find another entrepreneur to invest in on Kiva.
Won't you join me in this? Try it for 1 month! You can make a donation for as little as $25, and the Kiva site uses PayPal, so your transaction is secure.
I'm working on a badge you can put on your blog if you join the Booklovers lending group.
01 January 2009
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4 comments:
Happy New Year and Happy Blogiversary!
I haven't gotten around to figuring out my charity budget yet for 2009,, but I will definitely keep Kiva in mind!
Happy, happy blogaversary. So glad you are blogging.
Happy blogiversary! Count me in this month for $5 for every book I read (hoping I'll read at least five books).
How can I not leave a comment since this is right up my alley ;)
Especially in these tough economic times it's so important to help out where you can and your challenge is a great thing. Kiva is a great way to do that. There really are a lot of opportunities to help others with little cost of time or money if you use your imagination a bit.
I think that most people want to do good and make the world a better place, they just aren't sure how they can do it on their own. That is why these sites are so great. They leverage a lot of people doing a little bit to create huge results.
There really are so many little things we can do. We just have to remember them since they often get forgotten in the rush of our lives
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