Give A Little Bit

So give a little bit
Give a little bit of my life for you
So give a little bit
Give a little bit of your time to me
Now’s the time that we need to share
So send a smile, we’re on our way back home

-- Give a Little Bit by Supertramp


I'm a sucker for children's charities.

Actually, I'm pretty much a sucker for charities in general. I suppose I know how very lucky I have it. And, I know how very lucky my children have it. I watch movies like Hotel Rwanda, The Constant Gardener, and Blood Diamond in absolute horror. I can't imagine, in even my darkest moments, what the quality of life must be like for the people who live in these conditions. As a result, I'm often lead to action. If I were single and childless, I'd probably BE a relief worker. Perhaps in another incarnation later in life, I will be. At this time, I have responsibilities to the children I brought into the world, but I can't live in denial of what happens in other places.

There are a lot of very worthy charities out there, but I seem to be drawn to those that help children. Save the Children is a personal favorite of mine. They have a nice balance of political action with service that I like. Earlier in the year, I was involved in the Caps to the Capital campaign, and I knitted several and donated them in honor of my children's teachers and various family members. As a matter of fact, that was one of the gifts given during the Christmas season.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about what more I could do right now. And, with the opening of my Etsy shop, I decided that I would donate a portion of the profits to Save the Children. I don't know how much, at this point. I've been thinking in the 25% range. That seems fair, and allows me to have some money to reinvest in materials. I may up the percentage later, depending on how that works.

I went to Six Degrees.org (nice tie in, no?) which is Kevin Bacon's site partnered with Network for Good and set up my badge. You can see it to the right. You can donate directly by clicking on the donate button. One of the things I like about this, in particular, is you can use Paypal, but add the processing fee, so the charity gets the full amount of your donation. When I donated the first $10, one of the pages asked if I would like to pay the processing fee. It was 47 cents. I added the 47 cents to my 'bill', so Save the Children got all of my 10 bucks. You can also donate with a credit card. You can do a one time donation, or set up a series of donations. You can even set up your own charity badge.

So, I challenge you. If you don't wish to donate to my selected charity, that's fine. Go to Network for Good and check out their list. I know there's got to be at least ONE charity you're interested in. Donate.

Give a little bit.