Helping Doesn’t Have To Hurt
The goal here at 365Things.org is to help you make you, your life, and your world, just a little bit better. Making things better doesn’t have to be hard, take time, or hurt. Here’s a list of things that you can do easily, will have an impact, and won’t cost you more than a minute, or a phone call.
• Support 50 non-profits every time you make a phone call. For 23 years, Working Assets has supported “peace, equality, human rights and the environment”. Some of the organizations you can help support by getting your mobile and long distance services through Working Assets, now Credo Mobile, include GLAAD: the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Doctors Without Borders, Media Matters for America, Greenpeace, and AlterNet.
• Give food, books, child healthcare, even mammograms by visiting The Hunger Site. You click, advertisers donate. My one click gave 1.1 cups of food to the hungry. Quick, easy, free.
• You probably use Google for your Internet searches. This week, to more boos than praise, Cuil (pronounced “cool”) launched. I give it a few weeks, based on all the feedback I’ve heard. But if you want your searches to count for more than Google collecting information on your habits, try Search Kindly. “Search Kindly lets you donate money for free just by using Google from this page instead of any other.” Basically, Search Kindly is an interface that shows ads before you make your search. Free, easy, impactful.
• Know you’re never going to use those frequent flyer miles that you’ve been collecting? Visit MileDonor and donate your unused or even soon-to-expire frequent flyer miles to charities like UNICEF, the American Red Cross, the US Olympic Team, OXFAM, AIDS Walk, or any one of over 100 other charities. You can also donate your miles to help injured service members and their families at Operation Hero Miles.
• If you’re going to use a credit card, why not get one that will support your favorite charity? The ASPCA, Humane Society, and World Wildlife Fund are three animal organizations that offer “affinity” credit cards, which will donate a portion of your purchases or balance to these charities. There are many other cards that support many different types of charities. Take a look at this Consumer Reports article, or contact your favorite charity directly.