So what can I do? - NEWS

Global Forum for Health Research Essay competition 2008

2008-03-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

Young voices in research for health

The Global Forum for Health Research and The Lancet are holding their third joint essay competition for the under-30s on the theme:

Climate change and health: research challenges for the health of vulnerable populations

Rules and guidelines

* Authors must have been born on or after 1 January 1978.
* Each author may submit one essay only.
* Essays may be submitted in English or French and should be 1500 words maximum.
* Essays must be based on the author’s own ideas and not be derived from another source.
* Essays must not have been previously published.
* Entries are individual (i.e., the work of a single author).
* They should include original, even provocative ideas and not be technical or academic texts: tables, charts and figures are probably not necessary; references should be limited.
* Authors are free to be idealistic, passionate, to take established practices to task, albeit in a constructive fashion.
* Within the context of research for health, the theme allows authors to include any aspect that interests them particularly – for example, extreme weather, natural disasters, fuels and energy, transport, water management, vectors, food production, demographics, urban planning, security.

Deadlines

* The deadline for receipt of entries is 30 April 2008.
* A shortlist will be announced by the end of June. Shortlisted authors will be asked to provide a high quality photograph and to confirm original authorship and date of birth.
* The winners will be notified by the beginning of August 2008. The judges’ decision will be final.

Prizes

* A selection of shortlisted essays will be published in an anthology as well as on the Global Forum and Lancet websites.
* Winners will be invited to take part (with all expenses paid) in the Global Ministerial Forum on Research for Health, which will take place in Bamako, Mali, from 17 to 19 November 2008.

Staff members of the Global Forum or of the Lancet or their immediate families are ineligible to enter the competition, as are authors of shortlisted essays published in 2006 and 2007.

For any questions, please contact susan.jupp@globalforumhealth.org or f.mclellan@elsevier.com

KaiserEDU.org Essay Contest

2008-02-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

KaiserEDU.org invites undergraduate and graduate-level students in all disciplines to submit an original essay for the website's annual competition. Students are asked to submit entries by March 17, 2008 in response to the following topic:

Topic:

The date is November 24th, 2008. You have just started a job as an analyst working on the President-elect's health care transition team. The director of the transition team has asked you to draft a memo to flesh out the health priorities for the new Administration on a major health policy issue. Select an issue area and a candidate (from the list below) and identify the major policies or strategies that the Administration could develop to advance this issue. Make sure to include evidence and analysis to support your recommendations. Your priorities and strategies should be consistent with the proposals forwarded by the candidates in the campaign. You should also address the challenges in implementing your recommendations, such as budgetary and political considerations, delivery system issues, and how different stakeholders and constituencies would perceive the proposals. Your memo should not exceed 800 words.

Issue Areas:

* Controlling Healthcare Costs
* Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
* Expanding Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Efforts
* Improving Women's Health
* Improving the Quality of Health Care

Presidential Candidates (as of 1/22/2008):

Democrats
- Hillary Clinton
- John Edwards
- Mike Gravel
- Dennis Kucinich
- Barack Obama

Republicans
- Rudy Giuliani
- Mike Huckabee
- Alan Keyes
- John McCain
- Ron Paul
- Mitt Romney

Film Your Issue Short Film Competition

2008-02-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

FYI - Film Your Issue is an unprecedented, ambitious outreach to young Americans to engage them in the public dialogue about pressing issues of importance, locally or nationally.

We want to know what young people think, we want to empower the next generation of leaders to understand how their single voices can influence the public debate, and — as hoakey as it sounds — to understand the power of democracy — where every voice counts.

We want your passion, ingenuity, creativity, originality. We want to hear your heart, and see your talent in action.

Official Rules and Timeline

Length - Issue films should be no less than 30 seconds and no more than 120 seconds in length. We will accept a brief credit roll at the end, for a maximum five seconds beyond the 120 second limit.

Format - Live-action or animated.

Deadline - April 14, 2008

Who Can Participate - Anyone age 14 to 24 at the time of film submission. Certain prizes have age and citizenship requirement. Please check individual Awards and Prizes for eligibility.

Style and Content - This is important: we want mini-movies rather than dry Public Service Announcements. We encourage narrative — meaning a storyline. We’re not looking for lots of talking heads and scrolling text of facts and stats to tell the story. Show us dramatically rather than telling us.

Make us laugh, weep, gasp, grin.

And: Be Yourself. Share your issue. Be passionate. Be original. If it looks and sounds like something we’ve all seen for years, our eyes glaze over. Originality excites us more than whether it looks like prime-time.
Copyright and Broadcast Standards

You can’t use copyrighted music unless you have permission unless you have both publishing and licensing rights. (See copyright page). Original music, vocals and instrumentation, are encouraged.

Pay-cable is more liberal than network television. However Starz reserves the right to exclude any winning film from broadcast if it violates broadcast standards of decency, excessive profanity or copyright infringement.

Submission Format - All major media formats including:

* Video: .mpg, .mp4, .mov, .flv, .avi, .wmv
* Audio: .mp3, .wav
* Bitrate should be 400Kbs minimum
* Resolution: 320 by 240 minimum
* Maximum upload size is 100MB

When and how to submit - Film entries will be accepted after February 25, 2008. To be eligible for the competition, you must register at www.myspace.com/filmyourissue. Your film entries should also be uploaded at www.myspace.com/filmyourissue. You will also be given the option to have your film posted on Think MTV.

We also encourage you to post your film on your own on as many sites as possible, both for your own visibility and to promote the FYI competition. Use tags pertaining to the film's issue(s), as well as "Film Your Issue," "FYI" and so forth.

The sooner you create and upload your film, the sooner your film will get promotion and international visibility: Following February 25, the Associated Press will pick entries over the next six weeks to distribute to its 1,800 Online Video media outlets.

So the faster you submit, the more exposure your film can get.

Submission Deadline - April 14, 2008

The Voting Period - The voting period runs from approximately April 21 to May 4, 2008. From all entries received by the submission deadline, the FYI editorial team will select approximately three dozen films to continue to the public and Jury voting. All films submitted will be reviewed by the participating organizations for the joint awards selected by The United Nations DPI, The Humane Society of the United States, USA TODAY, NRDC, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/ Strong American Schools, NAACP, Human Rights Campaign, P.O.V. Series.

Beginning on or about April 21, 2008, the semi-finalists will be submitted to the VIP Judges and FYI ThinkTank, which will select the FYI 2008 Jury Prize winner.

The semi-finalists will also be posted on a voting platform on MySpace Impact, where the public will have two weeks to view and vote on the finalists. The top-rated film will receive the FYI – MySpace Impact Audience 2008 Favorite Award.

Films posted on the Think MTV site will also be rated during a one-week period, and the filmmaker of the top-rated film will be profiled on MTV News.

Additionally, The United Nations DPI, The Humane Society of the United States, USA TODAY, NRDC, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/ Strong American Schools, NAACP, Human Rights Campaign and P.O.V. Series will each pick one film from all submissions for the Award and prizing in its respective category.

All organizations reserve the right to decline naming a winner should none of the entries effectively articulate the suggested issues.

All winners will be announced on or around May 6, 2008.

Official Sponsor:

FYI - FILM YOUR ISSUE
1920 N. Alexandria Avenue, #3
Los Angeles, CA 90027

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR 2008 PURPOSE PRIZE

2008-02-17T19:26:00.001-08:00

Every day nearly 8,000 baby boomers turn 60. Since 2006, anticipating this huge demographic shift and what it could mean for our country, Civic Ventures has been awarding The Purpose Prize–– five $100,000 and ten $10,000 investments in Americans over 60 whose creativity, talent and experience is transforming the way our nation addresses critical social problems. Dozens of other innovators received national recognition for their work. Now nominations are being accepted for the 2008 Purpose Prize. To nominate someone or apply yourself, visit www.purposeprize.org. The application deadline is March 1, 2008. The prizes will be announced in the fall of 2008.

echoDonations.org™ Releases Web 2.0 Widget for Facebook, MySpace

2008-02-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

Local Nonprofit Launches New Viral Marketing Tool

CINCINNATI, OH, January 28, 2008 – Today echoDonations.org™ announced the launch of its first Internet widget; a tool used to share information among millions of people who use the Internet in their daily lives. Demonstrating the capability to reach over 300 million sets of eyes, the widget provides a way for echoDonations.org™ to spread its message around the world.

Everyday more than 300 million people interact with each other online through over twenty social media websites. Facebook alone has over 60 million registered users, with numbers constantly swelling. “The widget is an incredible tool for online sharing,” according to the widget’s creator Ryan Rosensweig, Director of Web Marketing and Design at echoDonations.org™. “I believe that a new wave of viral marketing will develop quickly among nonprofit organizations as they seek new ways to share their mission with the world.”

As a sharing tool, the widget has been added to www.echoDonations.org, as well as other social media websites, such as MySpace, Facebook, and LiveJournal. Once added to a webpage, the widget has the capability to link to other sites and can be shared with other people who have accounts with a social media website or their own webpage.

The widget is a program in itself, which allows for advanced communication in a very simple, concise way. Its physical appearance resembles a button or badge on a computer screen, and contains a simple, clean message in the graphic.

Widgets are designed to spread messages as far and wide as the Internet will allow. Anyone who finds echo’s widget online can “click it,” “donate,”“grab it,” or “share it.” By “clicking” the widget, the user is linked to echoDonation.org and has the option of reading their blog. Secondly, the widget has a feature that allows its user to “donate now,” a button that links directly to echo’s donation page. Thirdly, by choosing the option on the widget to “grab it,” users can take the widget themselves and add it to their own website. Lastly, the user can “share it,” or invite others to add it to their website.

The widget provides a highly broad form of marketing, which is greatly needed in the expansive Internet world of today. No longer are marketers competing by word of mouth and billboards. Today, they must find new ways to reach out and captivate their audience.

About echodonations.org™

echoDonations.org™, the nation’s leading online charitable mutual fund, is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping charities start or grow their online fundraising programs by offering loyalty building cash rewards for donors to give more. More information is available at www.echoDonations.org.

CONTACTS:

echoDonations.org™, Michelle Matthews, 513.276.4332, ext 105.

michelle@echodonations.org

Social Entrepreneurs Help Nonprofits Solve Critical Business Issues

2008-01-21T19:37:00.000-08:00

Business executives put technical prowess to work helping charities help themselves

CINCINNATI, OH, January 11, 2007 – A group of Cincinnati based social entrepreneurs are tackling the two most significant challenges to the survival of every nonprofit: raising money and gaining donor loyalty. How? By providing the technology and tools necessary to do so in a world engulfed by digital trends.

Possessing all the vim, vigor, and business savvy of business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs are a slight variation of the breed; they measure their success in terms of social impact rather than profit and return.

A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas business entrepreneurs typically measure performance in profit and return, social entrepreneurs assess their success in terms of the impact they have on society. While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many also work in the private and governmental sectors.

Every year, nonprofits face the challenge of having to work harder and spend more money to raise the same amount of fundraising support as the year before. However, increasing the frequency of direct mail solicitations or telephone fundraising is not only expensive, but involves risks. Overbearing solicitations can drive donors away, and in turn be cost prohibitive to the nonprofit. Therefore, the nonprofit industry needs new fundraising tools and communication methods to enhance their ability to communicate, raise money, and increase donor loyalty.

A local entrepreneur, Christopher Hytry Derrington, CEO of Alta Financial Technologies, set out to help solve this critical nonprofit issue. He assembled a diverse team of Cincinnati executives to explore all possible options using the latest business and technology tools.

“No longer is earning cash rewards income and tax breaks from donations exclusively reserved for the high network individuals,” Hytry Derrington said. “Now nonprofits of all sizes and donor demographics can offer their donors cash rewards for their loyalty.”

After two years of research and development, Alta created a new fundraising tool specially designed to create donor loyalty. This tool enables donors to earn cash rewards from their donations year after year. The team of entrepreneurs took a well-established trust method called a charitable mutual fund, put it on the internet by using the latest technology, and made it available to the general public.

Until now, charitable mutual fund models have required high maintenance overhead that made them available only to large dollar donors. Smaller, or “average,” donations were not cost effective in this trust due to the high costs of setting up and managing the charitable fund. As a result, the general public, or the largest segment of a typical donor base, was not being given the same compelling loyalty reward opportunities as the wealthy.

echoDonations.org, a web site created by Alta Financial Technologies, accepts donations as low as $25 to any U.S. 501(c)3 charity – currently 1.3 million on file with the IRS. All donations, large and small, that come through echoDonations.org™ are combined in an online charitable mutual fund, which is invested and monitored for performance in the market. As the charitable mutual fund builds investment return, annual Lifetime Cash Rewards™ are distributed to donors and charities while building an endowment for the charity. The benefit to nonprofits is exponential by way of the annual cash received and through the increased donor loyalty gained from receiving their rewards.

“The new technology offered through echoDonations.org is an impressive lead to the future of online giving,” said Drew Fink, Board Member of nonprofitSherpa.org, an organization dedicated to helping nonprofits through technology and innovation. “This innovative idea is has enormous potential not only in the realm of nonprofit organizations, but of any educational organization in search of loyal donors for steady financial support.”

About echodonations.org™

echoDonations.org™, the nation’s leading online charitable mutual fund, is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping charities start or grow their online fundraising programs by offering loyalty building cash rewards for donors to give more. More information is available at www.echoDonations.org.

About Alta Financial Technologies

Alta Financial Technologies™, Inc. is a financial services technology company whose patent-pending back-office products and services enables the creation of web based, paperless, mutual funds targeting specific demographics such as nonprofit donors. More information is available at www.altafinancialtechnologies.com.

CONTACTS:

echoDonations.org, Christopher Hytry Derrington, 513.276.4332, ext 102.

chris@echodonations.org .

Tampax and Always Launch Protecting Futures Program

2008-01-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Dedicated to Helping African Girls Stay in School

P&G FemCare brands announce joint program to provide school-based support and feminine hygiene products to girls in Southern Africa through HERO: A UNA-USA Campaign

NEW YORK, November 12, 2007 -- Girls living in sub-Saharan Africa can miss up to four days of school each month because they lack the basic necessity of sanitary protection and other resources to manage their periods. To help give girls in this part of the world a better chance at an education and to raise awareness of this issue, P&G brands Always and Tampax are joining forces with HERO, an awareness building and fundraising initiative of the United Nations Association to launch the Protecting Futures program.

According to research, 1 in 10 school-age African girls do not attend school during menstruation or drop out at puberty because of the lack of clean and private sanitation facilities in schools. And, if a girl has no access to protective materials or if the materials she has are unreliable and cause embarrassment, she may be forced to stay at home while menstruating. This absence of approximately 4 days every 4 weeks may result in the girl missing 10 to 20 percent of her school days. The Protecting Futures program will provide products and services to help keep girls in school as well as help foster the overall health and well-being of every child in the targeted school communities.

“Working with HERO, the Protecting Futures program brings together the brands’ global resources to help make a positive impact on these young girls by improving access to feminine hygiene products as well as education and health services,” said Michelle Vaeth, Protecting Futures Program Director for P&G. “Through this program, Tampax and Always will help build an infrastructure that – with support from local and national governments - can give children in these communities the chance to reach their full potential.”

“Protecting Futures is making a positive and direct impact in the lives of children living in HIV/AIDS-affected communities in sub-Saharan Africa. This program also helps support two of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals – promoting gender equity and ensuring that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling,” said Gabrielle Armand, Executive Director of Communications and Marketing for the United Nations Association of the USA. The UNA-USA’s HERO Campaign provides comprehensive school-based support to children living in HIV/AIDS-affected communities in Southern Africa.

Protecting Futures, a ground-breaking five-year commitment was born out of a pilot program Always launched in Kenya two years ago through a partnership with the Girl Child Network (GCN) and is a part of P&G corporate cause, Live, Learn, and Thrive which has helped over 50 million children in need.

Protecting Futures is a comprehensive care program which will bring puberty education, traveling health educators, nutritious feeding programs, educational support services, a pad distribution program, and significant construction projects to nine schools in the first year.

* Launched this year in Namibia, Protecting Futures is providing over 200 children with improved access to education by building and outfitting classrooms, dormitories, kitchens, and toilets, at two school sites. The program will also fund teacher training, uniforms for all students, and a year-round feeding program.

* Protecting Futures is also dramatically improving the sanitation, health and hygiene for the community in this region by building a four-kilometer-long water pipeline to 2 schools in this region. In addition to providing direct access to clean water at these schools for all children and teachers, this project allows girls to remain in class all day without having to walk long distances to obtain water for their fellow students.

* This Winter 2007/2008 support will expand to HERO schools in the KwaZulu Natal region of South Africa where Protecting Futures will provide sanitary protection to young girls at nine regional schools to help them overcome the obstacle of attending school during menstruation. These girls will also benefit from an Always funded Health, Hygiene, and Puberty education program taught by a traveling health educator. In addition, Protecting Futures will fund a traveling health care provider for all of the children at these schools.

* In addition, Tampax and Always help sponsor the HERO Youth Ambassador program through their teen-focused website, Beinggirl.com. Twenty-four teens from across the U.S.A. were selected to become Youth Ambassadors and traveled to Namibia and South Africa this summer to work on the Protecting Futures program. Their personal experiences were documented in a series of webisodes airing on beinggirl.com/hero to help encourage and empower all teens to become global citizens.

In support of Protecting Futures, Tampax and Always will launch a dedicated advertising, in-store and online campaign in the US and Canada beginning this Fall 2007.

“There are lots of reasons kids miss school”, said Ms. Vaeth. “Being a girl shouldn’t be one of them.”

For more information on the Protecting Futures program and ways to be involved and help make a difference too, visit www.ProtectingFutures.com.

Sikhcess™ Announces Launch of Sikh Community’s Global ‘Feed the Homeless’ Campaign in March 2008

2008-01-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

Sikhcess™ to launch worldwide ’Feed the Homeless Campaign’ on March 1, 2008 with volunteers in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Chicago, IL

Today, Sikhcess™, a community service organization, unveiled definitive plans to feed the homeless worldwide through its ‘Feed the Homeless’ campaign on March 1, 2008. Sikh communities throughout the globe will participate, with efforts to feed the homeless and needy in Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia.

“There has been tremendous interest from people across the world hoping to reach out and help those in need,” stated Mr. Amit Singh, Executive Director of Sikhcess™. “My phone has not stopped ringing and my email inbox is always full. Volunteers are clearly eager to help feed the homeless, a founding principle of the Sikh faith.”

The Sikh institution of ‘Langar’ was started by the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak. It is the only free kitchen of its kind in the world, collectively serving millions around the globe each year, regardless of gender, social standing, caste, color, religious affiliation, or beliefs. Through this ideal of equality, the tradition of ‘Langar’ expresses the ethics of sharing, community, inclusiveness, and oneness of all humankind.

Working to address homeless hunger, Sikhcess has taken ‘Langar’ (or ‘Free Kitchen’) to those on the streets. On November 17, 2007, Sikhcess launched its first large-scale ‘Feed the Homeless’ campaign with great success. Volunteers throughout North America successfully distributed nearly 50,000 individual food packages to the homeless and needy in just one night - the largest campaign of its kind.

“There are homeless and hungry people across the world, many of whom consume well below the daily food requirement to live. Sikhcess™ is working with Sikh communities around the globe to help alleviate their suffering through the simple act of delivering a nourishing meal. We will do everything we can to help donors and volunteers make that happen,” says Mr. Singh.

Inquiries for donations of food and supplies for distribution to the homeless should be directed to Donations@Sikhcess.com or to Mr. Amit Singh at 248-990-1245.

About the Sikhcess™ ‘Feed the Homeless’ Campaign:

The ‘Feed the Homeless’ campaign began in January 2007 in Vancouver, Canada. The campaign’s initial goal was to distribute 15,000 food packages to Vancouver’s homeless population within 12 months. The entire Sikh community rallied behind the program in Vancouver, and within only 9 short months, more than 20,000 packages were delivered. Now 70,000 food packages have been distributed throughout the United States and Canada.

Through the efforts of this campaign, food packages have been delivered to homeless communities in Vancouver, Toronto, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Boston, Newark, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Fairfax, Houston, Atlanta, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Miami.

Every month, the homeless and needy receive thousands of food packages generously donated by the entire Sikh community. In exchange, Sikhcess™ volunteers receive countless hugs, smiles and a heart-felt “thank you”, many times over. Sikhcess™ thanks all those who contribute to the ‘Feed the Homeless’ campaign with their charitable support of time, effort, food, and kitchen facilities.

Sikhcess™ does not accept financial donations of any kind. Inquiries for donations of food and supplies to the homeless should be directed to Info@Sikhcess.com or to Mr. Amit Singh at 248-990-1245.

Contact: Sandy Sangha
Media@Sikhcess.com
630.479.3022

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Contact Information
Sikhcess
Jatinder Singh
604-866-5432
info@sikhcess.com
www.sikhcess.com

Foundation Provides New Shoes for Needy Children

2008-01-02T10:53:00.000-08:00

Barefoot Kids Foundation and Payless ShoeSource Inc. have teamed-up to provide $25. Footwear Shopping Cards for America's Kids in Need.

San Diego, CA, December 15, 2007

This Non-Profit organization exclusively provides new footwear to Kids in Need through their National Distribution Network currently in 20 cities throughout the USA. Childcare organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Salvation Army and Court Appointed Special Advocates provide Payless ShoeSource shopping cards to underprivileged Kids.

The National Center for Children in Poverty reports that 17% or 12.7 Million of our children live below the poverty level. Footwear is often not on the list after the bills, food & medical care are paid. Many of America’s Kids are in desperate need of new footwear.

Everyone can relate to the pride you get when you buy new footwear. Remember those early years when you were fitted for new shoes and sneakers, it was a great moment. You couldn’t wait to show them off. Share this thrill with a Kid in Need.

More Kids will participate in physical activity, and be healthier when wearing proper fitting footwear. They need to feel comfortable and need to fit in with their peers. The distraction of foot pain during class may affect the Kids ability to focus on learning. Studies published in Medical Journals conclude that proper footwear can improve your health. Kids in America need your help.

Their free donation program is now available by making online purchases with participating retailers. Each purchase you make generates a donation from their retail supporters. Go to www.barefootkids.org. Supporters and buy Airline, Hotel, Car Rental, Flowers, Electronics, Office Supplies, Event Tickets, Gifts and everything that eBay and Amazon.com offers. To make a free Donation, just Point, Click and Buy.

Barefoot Kids Foundation has different ways for you to donate. Individuals and Corporate donors can use Credit or Debit Cards on their secure PayPal website: www.barefootkids.org. Donate or send a check payable to: Barefoot Kids Foundation, 7040 Avenida Encinas, Suite 104, Carlsbad, California 92011-4653. Everyone can contribute and improve the life of America’s Kids in Need.

For additional information contact Dan or Lorett Ross at (800) 285-3993 or visit www.barefootkids.org.

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Contact Information
Barefoot Kids Foundation
Dan Ross
800-285-3993
donation@barefootkids.org
barefootkids.org
danross@barefootkids.org

ECHODONATIONS.ORG TO GIVE $13,000 OF SOFTWARE TO NONPROFITS

2007-12-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

National nonprofit to assist 20 new and early stage nonprofits with increasing donor loyalty while raising funds
online.

CINCINNATI, OH, December 17, 2007 – echoDonations.org, the first-ever online Charitable Mutual FundTM that rewards donors and nonprofits with Lifetime Cash RewardsTM, is donating $13,000 in online software and support to 20 nonprofits to boost their survival and growth rates.

The software is the patent pending Charity Loyalty RewardsTM - an online software package enabling donors of all ages and
economic means to give donations to their favorite charities and earn an interest-bearing return on their gifts. It's built upon the concept of Charitable Mutual FundsTM which have been in use for years exclusively by large nonprofits for their wealthiest donors. Using the power of the internet, echoDonations.org enables any person to participate with donations as little as $25.

“Nonprofit executives face significant and daunting challenges in starting and growing their organizations. The failure rate is
high,” said Christopher Hytry Derrington, Board Member of nonprofitSherpa.org, echoDonations.org’s parent organization whose mission is helping fellow nonprofits adopt new technology and innovation. “In this season of giving, it is appropriate that we begin a yearl y tradition of helping others by providing the tools and support they need to build donor loyalt y while increasing annual and endowment funds.”

Interested nonprofits interested in receiving the free online software and support should contact cs@echoDonations.org by
January 31, 2008. Eligible nonprofits must have less than $1,000,000 in revenue and be less than two years in existence.

About echodonations.orgTM
echoDonations.orgTM, the nation’s leading online charitable mutual fund, is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping charities start or grow their online fundraising programs by offering loyalty building financial incentives for donors to give more. More information is available at www.echoDonations.org.

CONTACTS:
echoDonations.org, Christopher Hytry Derrington, (513.276.4332, ext 102). chris@echodonations.org .

Last-Minute Gift Ideas For Socially Conscious Giving

2007-12-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

Nonprofit's Web Site Offers Socially Responsible Gift Packages Making It Easy to Feel Good about Your Gift All Year Long

San Francisco December 13, 2007 -- More and more, Americans are using the holidays as an opportunity for socially responsible gift giving. UniversalGiving (http://www.universalgiving.org) makes it easy to do this, with Gift Packages available through their web site that reflect specific international causes the giver wishes to support.

"We want make it easier than ever for people to purchase gifts that make a positive, long-term impact on the world," said UniversalGiving's Founder and CEO, Pamela Hawley."

UniversalGiving offers a large selection of international Gift Packages addressing causes such as education, poverty, disaster relief, health, and human rights. Examples of UniversalGiving's Gift Packages include: gift cards made by orphan children ($20), helping someone start a small farming business in Tanzania ($40), sponsoring a chimpanzee ($90), sponsoring a school in Uganda ($100), and sponsoring a deaf child's education in Vietnam ($600).

"UniversalGiving is an instrumental partner to Sports Gift and our mission to provide sports to impoverished children," says Keven Baxter, President of Sports Gift. "UniversalGiving has made a direct and significant impact on our ability to provide the gift of sports to thousands of children living in poverty around the world."

Greater Impact Per Dollar
In contrast to many other charitable organizations - and for-profit companies that try to profit from these kinds of donations - approximately 97 percent* of Gift Package funding and other donations to UniversalGiving go to the project and organization the giver has chosen to support. No part of the funding or donation is directed towards UniversalGiving's operational costs. Further, UniversalGiving performs due diligence on all its non-governmental organization (NGO) partners using its rigorous, trademarked Quality Model (http://www.universalgiving.org/quality) to assure that only trustworthy, high-integrity organizations become part of the UniversalGiving family.

As Andre Vanier of Palo Alto, Calif., a purchaser of UniversalGiving Gift Packages, explains, "Through UniversalGiving, I identified two extremely worthwhile nonprofit organizations to support. UniversalGiving's evaluation model helps provide the assurance that these Gift Packages will be put to good use."

About UniversalGiving
Based in San Francisco, UniversalGiving is an award-winning, nonprofit marketplace that enables people to volunteer their time, buy gifts, and donate to top-performing organizations and projects all over the world. Visitors simply choose a region (such as Africa) and an issue (such as education or the environment) and receive a list of quality ways to give and volunteer. UniversalGiving operational costs are covered by individual investors, foundation grants and fee-based services it provides to corporations. As a result, the UniversalGiving service is free to the volunteers, donators, and NGOs, and the Gift Package donations go directly to on-the-ground services serving local communities.

Since November 2003, more than $1 million and 5,000 volunteers have been matched through the UniversalGiving website. UniversalGiving is a 501c3 nonprofit organization with an organizational vision to "create a world where giving and volunteering are a natural part of everyday life."

To learn more, visit UniversalGiving on the Web at www.universalgiving.org.

Editors' note: UniversalGiving does not use any of the gift money for operational costs such as personnel or technology. PayPal, a for-profit company, manages the financial processing and does charge of 3.2 percent charge for each transaction processed.

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Atlantic Partners, Inc. Announces Release of Their "Green Mail" Calculator

2007-12-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

Atlantic Partners, Inc. announced today its release of the "Green Mail Calculator"; a tool designed to enable organizations to better understand the impact their mailing practices have on the environment.

Washington, DC December 17, 2007 -- Atlantic Partners, Inc, the document management consulting organization, announced today its release of the "Green Mail Calculator"©; a tool designed to enable organizations to better understand the impact their mailing practices have on the environment. This tool is the first of several the organization has scheduled to release and freely distribute, that focus on sustainability initiatives within document management.

"We explain to our clients, 'you don't know what you don't know'", stated company President, Joseph Ferreri "And the impact an organizations document management processes have on the environment is one of those areas that go over looked". "You would be hard pressed to walk into any office today and not find the gratuitous paper recycle bin next to a copier, and there's nothing wrong with that"., said Ferreri, "But there are many other ways an organization can positively impact not just the environment, but also their bottom line, through development of better processes and employee education related to the creation and distribution of paper."

"The paperless office isn't arriving any time soon." explains company Vice President, John Erickson. "And an organizations mail management process is one of those paper intense functions that cannot be avoided." "In 2005 alone", explains Erickson, "the United States Postal Service noted that 10 billion (yes, billion) pieces of mail were designated as 'undeliverable as addressed'. Simply put, that's a lot of wasted paper, time, fuel, and electricity that went into the creation and attempted delivery of a lot of mail. We want this tool to help bring visibility to the issue."

The Green Mail Calculator© is available for free distribution at Green Mail.

ABOUT Atlantic Partners, Inc.
Atlantic Partners provides document management, and business continuity consulting nationwide, to healthcare organizations, associations, corporations, educational institutions, law firms, and government entities. Its broad based approach to the connection between people and technology through better processes, provides organizations with solutions that better enable them to manage their costs and business processes. For more information visit us at, visit us at Atlantic Partners, Inc.

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HaroldSays Announces the Launch of The Be Positive Do Something Positive Day Web Site, www.BePositiveDay.com

2007-12-16T19:42:00.000-08:00

Harold Cameron, The Chief of Helping People, for HaroldSays announces the launch of a new website, www.BePositiveDay.com, to promote the Be Positive Do Something Positive Day, to be celebrated March 1, 2008.

Scranton, PA, December 10, 2007

Harold Cameron, The Chief of Helping People of HaroldSays has launched a website to promote The Be Positive Do Something Positive Day on March 1, 2008. The Be Positive Do Something Positive Day is a day for people all over the world to celebrate by "Being" positive and then by "Doing" something positive on that day for another person, non-profit organization, or charitable cause. The end result, if only for one day, will be to make our world a more positive and better place to be and to live in. It is Harold’s plan to use the Be Positive Do Something Positive Day as the initial event to raise awareness as to the many benefits of each of us “Being” and “Doing” something positive. From The Be Positive Day he hopes to build a Be Positive Initiative where every day people all over the world are thinking, “Being,” positive and then acting, “Doing,” something positive to make our world a more positive, safer, and better place to live.

Harold is asking for everyone’s non-financial support, (endorsement), of The Be Positive Day. So far, The Lackawanna County Commissioners in Lackawanna County, PA are going to issue a Proclamation declaring March 1, 2008 as The Be Positive Do Something Positive Day in and for Lackawanna County. Also, Mayor Christopher A. Doherty, the Mayor of Scranton PA is issuing a Proclamation for the City of Scranton, PA declaring March 1, 2008 as the first Be Positive Do Something Positive Day, in and for Scranton PA. The NEPA Miners Football Team in Scranton, PA. has taken a position of support for The Be Positive Day. A PA Congressman has taken a position of support for the day and has contacted The Office of Proclamations at the White House asking President Bush to issue a national proclamation declaring March 1, 2008 as the first Be Positive Do Something Positive Day, in and for America. Several other individuals and political figures have also contacted the President’s office on Harold’s behalf asking for a Presidential Proclamation. Other national and state political leaders are in contact with Harold regarding their position on The Be Positive Do Something Positive Day and how they will support, (endorse) the day.

Harold also has an informational video posted at YouTube concerning The Be Positive Day.

In order for each of us to properly celebrate The Be Positive Do Something Positive Day, Harold asks each of us to begin with ourselves by "Being" positive and the "Doing" something positive for ourselves-(ideally when we first begin our day). Harold suggests that individuals begin their day with a meditation or prayer, or some form of positive self-affirmation to get their minds and hearts focused on the positive. Next, for The Be Positive Do Something Positive Day to be a success, each of us must then "Be" positive and "Do" something positive in our homes for our families. Our positive act does not need to be huge or monumental, but rather, can be something as seemingly small as cooking dinner for our family and then sitting down together and eating it as a family.

Finally, for The Be Positive Do Something Day to be a "positively" world changing success worldwide, we all need to "Be" positive and then "Do" something positive for another person, non-profit organization, or charitable cause. For example, if you are a student, you could do something positive for a fellow student or you could encourage your class as a group to conduct a food drive to collect food for the local food pantry or do a book drive where you collect books for young children and then as students you each read the book to an individual student. After you have read the book to the child you would then give that book to the child as a gift. If you are an employee of a company or organization, you could do something positive for one of your co-workers or you could organize a group of your co-workers to volunteer to help a non-profit organization such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, Stand Up For Kids, The American Red Cross, a member organization of your local United Way, a soup kitchen or a shelter for the homeless in your area, or for some other organization on that day. If you do not know what organization or charitable cause to support a few web based sources Harold recommends for volunteer opportunities include Americorps, Boardnet USA, Guidestar.org, Grassroots.org, Network For Good, Idealist.org, Mentor, Opportunity Knocks.org, or Points of Light. Links to these and other organizations can be found at the Be Positive Day website in the handbook section of the site.

Harold is also asking members of the media to promote it prior to and on that day to post a positive news headline in their newspaper, or have the first news story reported on their radio or TV station be a positive story. The most important thing that we all can do is something; something positive for ourselves and for someone else that will contribute towards making our world a more positive, safer, and better place to live in.

Harold invites all of us to join him and join together on March 1, 2008 and make it the most positive day our world has ever experienced or celebrated. HaroldSays, "Making our world a more positive place, one day at a time."

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Contact Information
HaroldSays
Harold Cameron
570-341-6796
media@bepositiveday.com
http://www.bepositiveday.com
326 Spruce Street
#307
Scranton, PA 18503

Avoid Snail Mail: Send Christmas e-Cards to Help Give Kids a Break

2007-12-16T19:37:00.000-08:00

The Family Holiday Association has launched their Christmas e-card service, and is asking individuals and companies to use the cards to help give underprivileged children what for most will be their first ever holiday break away from home.

London, United Kingdom, December 12, 2007

The Family Holiday Association (FHA) is calling on companies and individuals to send e-cards instead of paper cards this Christmas to help raise funds for underprivileged families in need of a break away.

Available at www.giveabreak.org.uk, the cards can be customised with a choice of festive designs, and users can personalise their cards with a message and hyperlinked logo or photo.

"We really hope companies get behind our e-card campaign – it’s a great way of spreading "green" Christmas cheer while helping to give young families struggling with difficult circumstances a few days by the sea," said John McDonald, FHA director.

Supporters are asked to make a donation based on the number of cards they wish to send.

For more information, visit www.giveabreak.org.uk, or contact Jacqulyn on 020 7323 7292.

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About the Family Holiday Association

For over 30 years, the Family Holiday Association has been working to provide short breaks for the most needy families in our community. The FHA helps families in desperate circumstances: those dealing with disability, bereavement, poverty, mental health problems, inadequate housing, or abuse.

The FHA is registered charity no. 800262.

Contact Information:
Family Holiday Association
Jacqulyn Bell
020 7323 7290
jacqulyn@fhaonline.org.uk
www.giveabreak.org.uk

A New Mom Finds a Creative Way to Give to Charity This Season

2007-12-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

The New Mom's Best Babysitting & Parenting eBook was created to provide moms with helpful tips and raise money for charity. Available on lulu.com, the 71-page downloadable book is full of tips, forms, advice and quotes to help mothers transition into parenthood. A portion of the proceeds will go to The International Rescue Committee, Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Drive Kids to be Fit.

Los Angeles, CA, December 07, 2007

A portion of the proceeds from The New Mom's Best Babysitting & Parenting eBook, created by Los Angeles area mother, Lia Prewitt, will go to The International Rescue Committee, Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Drive Kids to be Fit this holiday season. The downloadable manual includes everything from helpful tips to what local celebrities are buying for their babies. "What I like about the format is that you can download it and then read or print what you need. This is a plus for busy moms," says Dr. Annette Miles, a physician and mother of two.

The New Mom's Best Babysitting & Parenting eBook is being sold on lulu.com and promises to include something for everyone. By purchasing a copy, readers get helpful information while donating to charity at the same time. "I wanted to create an opportunity to support these causes while providing a fun product," says Prewitt. The goal is to get useful and inspirational content out to busy, new mothers while raising money for non-profits that help children in the US as well as around the world. "These are strong organizations that do great work for children and families," says Prewitt. The book can be purchased by going to: http://stores.lulu.com/newmomezine

Founded in 1901, Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles for more than a century and it is acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for its leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Drive Kids to be Fit is a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting childhood obesity. Most recently, actress Vanessa Williams recorded a PSA in support of their programs. Drive Kids to be Fit is associated with the National Institute of Health's We Can! Program. The International Rescue Committee serves refugees and communities victimized by oppression or violent conflict worldwide.

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Contact Information
Aspire Publishing
Lia Martin
818-345-8570
lmartin45@socal.rr.com
stores.lulu.com/newmomezine

Give One Get One.

2007-12-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

From now through December 31, 2007, One Laptop Per Child is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. This is the first time the revolutionary XO laptop has been made available to the general public. For a donation of $399, one XO laptop will be sent to empower a child in a developing nation and one will be sent to the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. $200 of your donation is tax-deductible (your $399 donation minus the fair market value of the XO laptop you will be receiving).

For all U.S. donors who participate in the Give One Get One program, T-Mobile is offering one year of complimentary HotSpot access.

If you participate in Give One Get One today, you will receive your XO laptop(s) in early 2008. Your donated laptop will reach a child in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti, Mongolia or Rwanda in the same early 2008 timeframe.

echoDonations.org Makes Donations More Rewarding

2007-12-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

The latest innovation in online giving hit the web this week with the launch of echoDonations.org™, the first and only online donation processing website that rewards donors with Lifetime Cash Rewards™.

Cincinnati, OH, December 01, 2007

With donations as low as $25--donors are able to begin earning Lifetime Cash Rewards™ for themselves and their favorite charities. The benefit to nonprofits is exponential by way of the annual cash received and through the increased donor loyalty gained from receiving their rewards. echoDonations.org™ has taken a 40-year-old donation trust method, merged it with the latest in lean processing Web technology, and added social media marketing to pioneer the new generation of online giving.

“No longer is earning cash rewards income and tax breaks from donations exclusively reserved for the wealthy,” said Christopher Hytry Derrington, Board Member of nonprofitsherpa.org, an organization dedicated to helping nonprofits through technology and innovation. “Now donors of all ages and financial means can donate and earn cash rewards to share with their favorite nonprofits. Donors have the grass root power to change the world…$25 at a time.”

echoDonations.org™ leverages Web 2.0 technology to provide lean & secure donation processing and management. All donations, large and small, that come through echoDonations.org™ are combined in a single charitable mutual fund, which is invested and monitored for performance in the market. It is the power of this complete fund that builds investment return--which becomes Lifetime Cash Rewards™ for donors and charities while building an endowment for the charity.

The back-office tools required to run the web-based mutual fund of echoDonations.org™ were donated by Alta Financial Technologies, Inc., a Cincinnati based financial services technology company. “We like working with new organizations; especially one that is passionate about their cause” said Alta’s CTO Bert Bullock. ”We’re honored to have the opportunity to donate the use of the charitable mutual fund software.”

echoDonations.org™, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a charitable mutual fund sponsored by nonprofitSherpa.org. echoDonations.org™ is dedicated to strengthening nonprofit organizations by financially incentivizing donors to give more to their favorite nonprofits by offering Lifetime Cash Rewards™ for both the donor and nonprofit organization while at the same time building the nonprofits’ endowment. More information is available at www.echoDonations.org.

Alta Financial Technologies, Inc. is a financial services technology company whose patent-pending back-office products and services enables the creation of web based, paperless, mutual funds targeting specific demographics.

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Contact Information
echoDonations.org
Chris Hytry Derrington
513-276-4332
pressreleases@echodonations.org
www.echodonations.org

African Cookbook to Aid Refugees

2007-12-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

The 'Recipes of Africa' cookbook brings together recipes from each country in Africa to support the Sierra Leonian and Liberian refuges of Senegal.

Macclesfield, United Kingdom, November 24, 2007

The Sierra Leonian and Liberian refugees of Sénégal are, in many ways, Africa's forgotten refugees. As part of their respecitive contries' diasporas they are effectively stateless and as refugees they have no status and very few rights in Sénégal. Indeed, they have no right to work there and many are women and children surviving hand to mouth on the poverty line.

In an attempt to help the Celtnet site has produced a cookbook of African recipes from each and every country on he Continent of Africa. These are a mix of local dishes and more complex and elaborate 'touristy' fare. All in all the book comes in at over 800 pages and there are over 1000 recipes. You also get some information about the various countries and regions of Africa.

The cuisines of Africa are, like its peoples and landscapes, extremely diverse and reflect the Arabic, European and Native influences on the land and its peoples. Indeed, African food can be surprising in its diversity and shows just how little we know about this land. In many ways Africa is the lost culinary continent and its cuisines deserve to be more widely disseminated. The 'Recipes of Africa' is there for an attempt at both educating people about the foods of Africa whilst at the same time generating a source of revenue for the 'Help Stefan' charity campaign.

The eBook itself, http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/ebooks.php, is part of the large Celtnet recipes site: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes and is offered for only $10. It represents the first time that such an extensive collection of recipes from all over Africa has been collected into one volume and all proceeds will go to the site's 'Help Stefan' charity campaign.

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Contact Information
Celtnet
Dyfed Lloyd Evans
+441625575044
dyfed.lloydevans@btinternet.com
http://www.celtnet.org.uk/auctions/cb_ads.php

Kiva.org Gift Certificates Pay It Forward... and Back Again

2007-11-26T10:27:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- 11/13/07 -- This year, give someone the opportunity to truly change the life of a person living in poverty in the developing world. Kiva.org, the world's first microlending website, lets individuals purchase gift certificates for friends and family, allowing them to make a loan directly to a developing world entrepreneur.

"A Kiva.org gift certificate is much more than a gift -- it's the start of a very positive cycle of loaning to a deserving entrepreneur, getting paid back and loaning again," said Matt Flannery, CEO and Co-Founder of Kiva.org. "We have seen so many lives changed by what we might consider a tiny loan in this country." President Clinton, who features Kiva.org in his new book, "Giving," said, "Through Kiva.org, people around the world can become micro-bankers to developing world entrepreneurs, who have their own ideas, so we can give them a chance to raise their kids with dignity, send their kids to school, and in troubled places like Afghanistan we can marginally increase the chance that peace can prevail, because people will see there is a positive alternative to conflict."

How it works

Kiva.org gift certificates are easily purchased on www.kiva.org in multiples of $25. Once received, the gift recipients go to www.kiva.org, redeem their gift online and then choose an entrepreneur to lend to, such as Damaso Clares of Bolivia, who needs $600 to buy a dairy cow, or Judith Mumbo of Kenya who needs $175 to purchase a machine for her candle-making business. Lenders then choose the amount they would like to contribute to the loan, starting at $25. Throughout the course of the loan (typically 12 months) lenders receive email updates on repayments made and the progress of the business. When the loan is repaid, the funds are returned in full to the lenders -- the ultimate recycling of money!

Why Lend

Kiva Lenders are attracted to the personal connection they feel with the entrepreneur whose business they have invested in, and the feeling of mutual respect and dignity encouraged through lending rather than donating. Ann, a lender from Seattle, said: "This was my opportunity to invest in someone else's dream. It's rewarding to know that you don't have to give much to make a huge difference in someone's life."

Lenders even find themselves "addicted" to the Kiva.org website, watching their portfolio of investments grow as loans are repaid, reloaned and new loans added. Kiva Lender Steve, of Illinois, compares his Kiva portfolio to his personal banking investment portfolio: "Conventional investment wisdom is to have a diversified portfolio of investments; this was the first time I considered emotional rewards as something I could expect besides the occasional dividend. It certainly is habit-forming." More testimonials can be found on the Kiva.org website.

Since its launch in Q4 2005, more than $14 million has been loaned by 140,000 Kiva Lenders to 22,000 entrepreneurs in 37 countries through Kiva.org. The organization has been covered by "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "The Today Show," The New York Times, PBS, ABC World News, CNN, Time, BusinessWeek, and the BBC, among others.

About Kiva.org

Kiva.org (www.kiva.org) is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to an entrepreneur in the developing world. Founded in 2004 by Matt and Jessica Flannery, Kiva.org's mission is to connect people, through lending, to alleviate poverty. Kiva.org currently connects lenders in more than 50 countries with entrepreneurs in 37 developing countries, through 65 microfinance partners. Kiva.org is headquartered in San Francisco.

CONTACT:
Fiona Ramsey
Kiva.org
(415) 358-7515
Email Contact

MicroPlace Launches Investment Website to Address Global Poverty

2007-11-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

New service allows U.S. consumers to invest in microfinance with as little as $100
San Jose, California, October 24, 2007

MicroPlace, a wholly-owned subsidiary of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY), today announced the launch of a new website (www.microplace.com) that provides an easy way for everyday people to invest in the world's working poor by leveraging the power of microfinance, a proven solution to alleviate global poverty.

With the launch of MicroPlace.com, for the first time, consumers in the U.S. can use the internet to make microfinance investments that can provide a financial return while also addressing global poverty. Additionally, MicroPlace's unique business model was designed to create a self-sustaining marketplace to serve as an efficient and scalable way for capital to flow into the microfinance industry.

"In the past, microfinance investing has generally been pursued by large financial institutions or high- net-worth individuals, and has been less accessible for most people," said Tracey Pettengill Turner, Founder and General Manager of MicroPlace. "MicroPlace now offers an easy way for the everyday investor to participate in microfinance; the opportunity to receive a return on their investment; and empower the world's working poor to lift themselves from poverty."

Through MicroPlace's secure platform, everyday people can purchase investments – for as little as $100 – from microfinance security issuers. MicroPlace also enables investors to direct the impact of their investment to a specific country and microfinance institution in the developing world. The microfinance institutions use the funds to make small loans to the working poor, who in turn use the loans to start or expand small businesses and lift themselves out of poverty.

At launch, MicroPlace will offer the ability to direct investments to Africa, Eurasia, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Individuals can visit www.microplace.com to research investment opportunities, make investments, and learn more about microfinance and global poverty. Investments can be purchased using PayPal or a checking account at a U.S. bank. As a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA (formerly NASD), MicroPlace is currently the only broker-dealer specializing in microfinance securities for retail investors.

Working with an industry-leading security issuer

MicroPlace has selected Calvert Social Investment Foundation – a leader in community investment that manages investments for over 2,500 individuals and institutions seeking to support communities around the world through their portfolios – as the first issuer to sell investments on MicroPlace. Calvert Foundation will use the funds generated from the sale of securities on MicroPlace to invest in the specific fund selected by individual investors. Calvert Foundation will also be responsible for making interest and principal payments to investors.

"Calvert Foundation has been working hard for over 10 years to mobilize individual investor capital to support microfinance," said Shari Berenbach, executive director of Calvert Foundation. "Working with MicroPlace gives us the opportunity to offer microfinance investments for as little as $100 for the first time. We believe this will enable more individuals to invest in microfinance and help grow the industry as a whole to significantly improve the lives of the working poor around the world."

Understanding the demand and power of microfinance

Microfinance is the provision of financial services to the working poor, primarily in developing countries. Widely recognized as an effective tool against poverty, the most common microfinance service is the provision of small loans – often as low as $50 – to assist the working poor in their efforts to lift themselves from poverty through their own hard work and entrepreneurial spirit.

Today, 1.3 billion of the world's working poor live below the international poverty line, earning less than U.S. $2 a day¹. Since the inception of microfinance in 1974, more than 100 million people – the majority of them women² - have borrowed microfinance loans with historic repayment rates averaging 97 percent³. It is estimated that about 500 million people run microbusinesses, yet fewer than 10 million of these people – or about 2.5 percent – are able to obtain loans from banks or traditional lending institutions4. To satisfy this demand, the microfinance industry will need substantial amounts of additional investment capital. By providing access to everyday investors in the U.S., MicroPlace has opened up a substantial new channel to acquire the investment capital the industry needs to grow.

About MicroPlace

MicroPlace (www.microplace.com), founded in 2006, is an investment marketplace whose mission is to alleviate global poverty by enabling everyday people to invest in the world's working poor. As a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA (formerly NASD), MicroPlace is currently the only broker-dealer specializing in microfinance securities for retail investors. MicroPlace is a wholly-owned subsidiary of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY).

Editor's Note

Oikocredit (www.oikocredit.org), one of the world's largest financiers of the microfinance sector worldwide, became an issuer on MicroPlace on the day of the MicroPlace.com launch. "It was fitting to have Oikocredit as part of our launch because it is such an innovative pioneer in the field of microfinance" says MicroPlace Founder Tracey Pettengill Turner. "Because they are so well respected in the industry, we are proud to offer their investments on the MicroPlace platform." Oikocredit is a worldwide cooperative financial institution offering loans, capital and technical support to more than 300 microfinance institutions, cooperatives and small and medium sized enterprises in developing countries around the world. Oikocredit has an ever-growing number of listings on MicroPlace, enabling investors to choose from among many different investment opportunities. Oikocredit will be responsible for making interest and principal payments to investors.

"At Oikocredit, we've always believed in the power of the everyday investor to transform lives through microfinance investing," said Terry Provance, Executive Director of Oikocredit USA. "The capital we can raise through MicroPlace will enable us to dramatically expand our reach to more of the world's working poor."

Contacts:

Catherine England
eBay Inc. on behalf of MicroPlace
cengland@ebay.com
408.376.8315

Holly Patience
Social Planets on behalf of MicroPlace
holly@socialplanets.com
206.619.1094

1 Source: International Labour Organization's Global Employment Trends Brief
www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/global.htm
2 Source: Microcredit Summit Campaign Report
www.microcreditsummit.org/pubs/reports/socr/2006/SOCR06.pdf
3 Source: www.gdrc.org/icm/data/d-snapshot.html
4 Source: www.ruralpovertyportal.org/english/topics/rural_finance/statistics.htm

Attention All Non-Profits; Logobee Announces Third Logo Design Makeover Giveaway

2007-11-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

LogoBee is having its third annual logo design Makeover Giveaway. This is where non-profit organizations submit their information to LogoBee and a group of them will be selected to receive a logo and stationery design package donated by LogoBee.

Montreal, Canada, November 08, 2007

LogoBee.com, one of the internet’s most respected online graphic design firms, is happy to announce another Logo Design Makeover Giveaway this year. For the event, LogoBee donates its professional logo design services to select non-profit and charity organizations that need a fresh or new logo.

Most non-profit groups do not have the time or graphic design expertise to deal with this important aspect of marketing on their own. LogoBee offering their services free of charge presents these organizations with a fantastic opportunity.

Due to the overwhelming response in past Makeover Giveaways, LogoBee has donated its graphic design services to 25 non-profit organizations; 15 of these were chosen in the 2006 event. Last year the organizations that were selected included PEPY Ride, Florida Atlantic Research & Development Association, MEDICO, International Primate Protection League, Voluntary Committee of Lawyers and Women Helping Women. This year LogoBee will again be donating up to ten logo design packages, valued at $425 each. These packages include business card and stationery layouts that incorporate the new logo.

Contest Details:

LogoBee’s Makeover Giveaway is open to any and all non-profit and charitable organizations in North America. No existing logo design is required; however the applicant should be able to express how a new logo will contribute to the efforts and success of their organization. The applicant should also provide a brief summary of their organization/charity and their mission statement. Deadline for entries is December 4th, 2007 at 11:59 pm (EST). Please submit an entry at http://www.logobee.com/contact/contest-premier-form.htm to register.

About LogoBee.com:

LogoBee offers complete customer satisfaction and a variety of packages that include business card, brochure and stationery design; they also offer top-quality web design services to businesses everywhere. For more information or to view their logo design gallery, please visit their website at http://www.logobee.com

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Contact Information
LogoBee, Inc.
Adam Seguin
1-888-905-6462
sales@logobee.com
www.logobee.com

The Miracle Worker Foundation Launches "Rebuild Fund" to Re-Inhabit Devastated Gulf Regions

2007-11-19T12:39:00.000-08:00

Foundation effort includes a unique housing program that allows victims to own their homes in 10 years

Irvine, CA, November 15, 2007

In the aftermath of Katrina's massive destruction, the Miracle Worker Foundation (MWF) and several other housing developers in the Mississippi and Louisiana areas are teaming up to help finance the redevelopment of devastated Gulf Region communities and provide affordable housing to hurricane victims who wish to return to their communities.

Along with their respective partners - the Miracle Worker Foundation (MWF) is focusing on efforts to build new homes and support the restoration of the critical commercial and neighborhood infrastructure that is desperately needed throughout all areas devastated by Katrina. The foundation’s philanthropic effort has been orchestrated by its founders, Geno Brunton and Shannon Marie and is called the ‘Rebuild Fund’, which will be orchestrated in concert with local developers and through local community-based development organizations, focused on the revitalization of their neighborhoods.

"We have focused our resources on making sure displaced residents have homes to come back to," explained Geno Brunton, MWF’s Chief Executive, “and will do so with the inclusion of local businesses. With over two years passed since the devastation of these areas and no real progress made by local or federal government efforts, it seems like it’s up to the private sector to provide substantive progress in helping families realize some sense and semblance of normalcy in their lives”. Mr. Brunton is also chairman and CEO of The Brunton Corporation.

The Miracle Worker Foundation has committed to procure a combined amount of over $10 billion over the next 5 years in support for the development of affordable housing on a nationwide basis to all disaster afflicted areas. The Foundation will focus on helping residents return to their communities and own their homes. "Given the enormity of this disaster, it just makes sense that we create partnerships with those capable of assisting us in realizing our goals. So we invite all other organizations that see our vision, to partner with us on the ‘Rebuild Fund’," says Shannon Marie, President of the Foundation.

This initiative also includes a low-income housing investment program that will be managed MWF. The Miracle Worker Foundation will initially invest more than $1 billion in the disaster struck areas of Mississippi and Louisiana with affordable housing efforts that support the development of 10,000 homes for residents that is vital to rebuilding devastated neighborhoods.

About Miracle Worker Foundation
The Miracle Worker Foundation was founded to assist America's families with their struggle out of the effects of disaster by providing homes that they can eventually own, while providing opportunities to companies looking to regenerate commerce in disaster-struck areas. Working with a select group of partner organizations nationwide and through its own efforts, The Miracle Worker Foundation has put in place vital relationships to leverage close to $5 billion in investments and donations to help build planned communities totaling almost 500,000 affordable homes. For more information, please call 949-225-4782.

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Contact Information
The Miracle Worker Foundation
Michelle Kujawa
949-225-4782
genob7@gmail.com

VISIONARIES WANTED: 2008 Echoing Green Fellowship

2007-11-18T06:32:00.000-08:00

* Do you have an incredible, new idea that could change your community, country, or world?
* Are you an entrepreneur who won't rest until your idea has been brought to life? Or a leader who has recently started an organization to do just that?

If so, apply for an Echoing Green Fellowship. You could receive up to $90,000 in seed funding and support to launch a new organization that turns your innovative idea for social change into action.

Follow in the footsteps of the founders of Teach For America, City Year, and over 400 other social change organizations and apply online by December 3, 2007.

Watch the video: http://www.echoinggreen.org/video

Find out whether you qualify: http://www.echoinggreen.org/shouldyouapply

Apply online: https://apply.echoinggreen.org

Questions? Contact us at apply@echoinggreen.org.

National Adoption Month, 2007

2007-11-17T07:17:00.000-08:00

A Proclamation By the President of the United States of America

During National Adoption Month, we recognize the adoptive and foster families who have shared their homes and hearts with children in need, and we encourage more Americans to consider adopting young people of all ages.

Families who adopt show the generous spirit of our Nation. Every child desires a permanent home, and when parents adopt a child to love as their own, lives are forever changed. For parents, the decision to adopt a child is among life's greatest and happiest turning points. On November 17, families across the country will celebrate National Adoption Day by finalizing their adoptions, and each one of these homes will be richer for the addition of new family members.

My Administration is committed to promoting adoption of children of all ages. We are working to bring together more children with loving, adoptive parents through the Collaboration to AdoptUsKids at adoptuskids.org and by providing States with financial assistance through the Adoption Incentives Program. The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program helps improve care and services to children and families and ensure more young people in America have a caring, secure, and permanent home. Together, these efforts are building a brighter future for our youth.

During National Adoption Month, we honor adoptive and foster parents as they raise children of conviction and character. By accepting the gift of these children, parents are helping shape lives and contributing to the strength of our great Nation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2007 as National Adoption Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities to honor adoptive families and to participate in efforts to find permanent homes for waiting children.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.

GEORGE W. BUSH

# # #

Nothing But Nets Helps Deliver 200,000 Anti-Malaria Nets to Children in The Republic of Congo

2007-11-11T09:59:00.000-08:00

Washington, DC (October 15, 2007) - Nothing But Nets, a global, grassroots campaign to prevent malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa, announced today it will fund the distribution and delivery of over 200,000 insecticide-treated bed nets to children under five and pregnant women in Congo-Brazzaville from October 15-19, 2007. Purchased with over $1 million in donations from individual donors, these nets will be distributed as part of an integrated health campaign organized and implemented by the Congo’s Ministry of Health and the Measles Initiative -- a partnership of the American Red Cross, the United Nations Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF.

“By working together, we can help make a difference and protect children and their families from malaria. Thank you to our tens of thousands of supporters that each donated $10 or more to send nets and save lives,” said Kathy Calvin, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the United Nations Foundation, creator of Nothing But Nets.

According to UNICEF, only about five percent of pregnant women and children under five sleep beneath insecticide-treated bed nets in Congo. This month, a total of 500,000 insecticide-treated nets will be delivered by the Measles Initiative throughout Congo, in an effort to reach nearly every child under five with a net. In addition to the insecticide treated nets, children will also receive measles and polio vaccines, as well as Vitamin A and de-worming medicines as part of the integrated health campaign.

To date, Nothing But Nets has distributed close to 200,000 insecticide-treated nets in Nigeria, Chad, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. By the end of 2007, nearly half a million insecticide-treated nets will be distributed to Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, and Mali. A new, interactive map offering more information about past and future distributions can be found at www.NothingButNets.net.

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About Nothing But Nets
Nothing But Nets is a global, grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. Inspired by Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, tens of thousands of people have joined the Campaign that was created by the United Nations Foundation in 2006. Founding campaign partners include the National Basketball Association’s NBA Cares, The People of the United Methodist Church, and Sports Illustrated. It only costs $10 to provide an insecticide-treated bed net that can prevent this deadly disease. Visit www.NothingButNets.net to send a net and save a life.

Press Contacts:
Amy DiElsi, United Nations Foundation
(o) 202.419.3230, (e) adielsi@unfoundation.org

The founder of Cirque du Soleil Guy Laliberté launches a global foundation to deal with access to water issues

2007-11-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

October 29, 2007
Foundation lauch

Montreal, Monday, October 29, 2007 — Guy Laliberté announced today, in the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of Oxfam International, and Gordon Nixon, President and Chief Executive Officer of RBC, the official launch of the ONE DROP Foundation to fight poverty in the world by giving everyone access to water. “No one can remain indifferent when we know that at least every eight seconds, a child dies from a disease caused by drinking contaminated water,” said Guy Laliberté. “With the creation of ONE DROP, we want to mobilize people everywhere in the world to find sustainable solutions to the problem of access to water, and to adopt better practices for the use of this precious resource.”

Access to water is one of the planet’s most pressing issues. Over a billion people do not have access to water in sufficient quantity or adequate quality. Almost half of the world’s population drinks untreated water.

Inspired by the creative experience of Cirque du Soleil and its international program for street kids, Cirque du Monde, the ONE DROP Foundation makes use of the circus arts, folklore, popular theatre, music, dance and the visual arts to promote education, community involvement and public awareness of water issues. Technical projects in developing countries will improve access to water, ensure food security and promote gender equality in communities. The Foundation will unveil its program for developed countries in 2008.

The operating costs of ONE DROP will be covered by a $100 million contribution from Guy Laliberté over 25 years. Field activities will be financed by donations from the employees of Cirque du Soleil and from the public, as well as through funding commitments by Canadian and international partners.

Oxfam International, through Oxfam-Québec, has been associated with ONE DROP since 2005 in a three-year pilot project in Nicaragua. A leader in development aid, Oxfam brings expertise in selecting and implementing field projects.

“Water is central to many health and agricultural issues and to the development of communities throughout the world,” said Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of Oxfam International. “Our involvement with the ONE DROP Foundation is based on a common desire to support sustainable development with concrete actions and in collaboration with local partners.”

RBC announced a $10 million commitment over ten years to support ONE DROP projects in Canada and around the world. The leading financial services company in Canada, RBC employs approximately 70,000 people in 34 countries. This is the largest donation ever given to a single organization in RBC’s 138-year history.

“ONE DROP is the first grant recipient of our new RBC Blue Water Project, a program to support charitable organizations dedicated to improving water access, conservation, protection and education,” said Gordon Nixon, President and Chief Executive Officer of RBC. “We are proud to be associated with the ONE DROP Foundation to support projects that will ensure a better quality of life for communities in Canada and around the world.”

Active in the fields of climate change, biodiversity and water, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is the first international organization to sign a collaboration agreement with ONE DROP.

“Water issues transcend the boundaries of countries and affect the whole of humanity,” said H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. “This is a major challenge of this century and it is essential that organizations throughout the world come together in a global movement of solidarity to ensure the preservation and better management of a resource that is both irreplaceable and fundamental to life.”

The ONE DROP Foundation is based at the Cirque du Soleil International Headquarters in Montreal (Canada). To know more, please visit http://www.onedrop.org/

For information, please contact:

Cirque du Soleil
Renée-Claude Ménard
Public Relations Director
514-723-7646, ext. 7366

Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
Isabelle Peters
Media and Communications
+377 98 98 43 27
+377 (0)6 78 63 51 68

RBC Financial Group
Beja Rodeck, Director
Global Media Relations
416-974-5506

Raymond Chouinard
Director, Media Relations (Quebec)
514-874-6556

Oxfam-Québec/ Oxfam International
Justine Lesage
Media Relations
514-513-0013

Donations Needed for Victims of California Wildfires

2007-11-06T06:57:00.000-08:00

Fresno, CA, October 27, 2007

www.uanditrade.com is making it simple to donate goods to the families of the California Wildfires.

UandITrade connects parents across the nation so that they can trade items their children have outgrown like clothes, books and toys.

UandITrade founders have recently created a special option on their website for people to post items they would like to donate to the fire victims. The families who have suffered losses simply login and request items based on their needs. Once an item is selected, the donator will mail it out and a good deed is done. The donated items should be new or used and in good condition.

If everyone posts at least 2 or 3 items, families who lost everything will get a faster start getting back on their feet. UandITrade knows that many people don’t feel comfortable asking for help, and the site will allow them to receive help anonymously and easily. The more items posted, the more family members will be helped.

UandITrade encourages you to help these displaced families.

Full details of the program are available @ www.uanditrade.com. Simply click on the link “California Fires Donations Group.”

The service is free, and UandITrade is not profiting from this service. Their goal is to help these families as soon as possible.

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If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Co-Founder Matthew Wilbourn, please call Matthew at 559-312-5569 or email Matthew at matt@uanditrade.com.

Contact: Matthew Wilbourn
Tel.: 559-312-5569
Email: matt@uanditrade.com

“Wugging” on the web could generate cash windfall for UK charities

2007-11-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

Wugging (web use giving) could create a massive windfall for good causes without costing web users a penny, according to research released today by Everyclick.com.
A new survey by YouGov reveals that lack of time is the main reason people give for not raising money for charity (45 per cent), but nearly a third said they would be encouraged to raise more money for charity if this could be integrated in to their daily life.

Wugging allows anyone on the web to raise money for charity simply by doing something they do every day – using a search engine. On average in the UK there are 22.8m web searches per day; 949,000 per hour; 15,800 per minute and 264 per second1. If just 10 per cent of those web users in the UK switched to Everyclick.com for their search, it
would generate £172,000 for UK charities per day2, without costing them a penny or taking a moment more of their time.

Polly Gowers, co-founder of Everyclick.com, believes wugging has the potential to become a major new source of income for charities.
She says: “Wugging is win:win – web users generate money for causes they care about without it costing them anything in terms of time or money, and charities get a valuable source of funding. If you’re a web user who cares about good causes, it’s time to become a wugger!”

Everyclick.com works like any other search engine, allowing users to search for information, news and images but users can specify which of the UK’s 170,000 charities they would like to support through their clicks. Everyclick.com then makes monthly payments to every registered charity. 12 per cent of the British public questioned by YouGov currently give to charities online, but only 1 per cent do this on a daily basis.

Commenting on this Polly says: “Our research reveals people genuinely wish they could do more for charity yet only one in ten (12 per cent) are giving online. 91 per cent3 of Internet users make use of a search engine, if we could encourage all these individuals to become wuggers, by using Everyclick.com, funding for registered charities of all sizes would increase dramatically, all through the click of a mouse.”

Launched in June 2005 Everyclick.com is now the eighth largest search engine and one of the busiest charity websites in the UK. The site has more than 1,350,000 unique uses, has yielded over 8 million page impressions and has over 67,000 registered uses.

- Ends -
Notes to Editors:
For media enquiries, photography or interview requests please contact
everyclick@geronimocommunications.com or call 020 7299 8751.

Everyclick.com
* Everyclick.com is a search engine that has been purpose built to automatically donate 50% of
its revenue to charity
* Launched in June 2005, it has to date 67,220 registered uses and 955 corporate uses
* Everyclick.com is a Hitwise Top 10 Award winner, winner of the Netimperative “Best Start Up
of the Year” Award and is ranked as the eighth most visited search engine in the UK
* Polly Gowers, CEO winner of Triodos Bank sponsored “Entrepreneur of the Year” at the Women in Ethical Business Awards 2007
* The site is free to join and free to use, there is no cost to the use or the charity
* All search results are powered by Ask.com
* A special agreement with Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) everyclick.com enables uses to support any of the UK’s 170, 000 charities. The money is allocated by intelligent software and is distributed to charities every month by CAF
Research
* All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc
* Total sample size was 2,141 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 17th and 20th
August 2007. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

1 Internet Statistics Compendium - E-consultancy January 2007
2 Internet Statistics Compendium - E-consultancy January 2007 states that the paid search market was
worth a total of £1.26 billion in 2006. 10% of this market is £126,000,000 yielding £63,000,000 annually therefore £172,000 daily for charities through Everyclick.com
3 Office for National Statistics

The Charles Bronfman Prize Announces Call for Nominations Prize Seeks Young Humanitarians from All Fields

2007-11-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

New York -- The Charles Bronfman Prize has launched its 2008 award cycle, marking the start of this year’s international quest for extraordinary, young humanitarians. The Prize celebrates the vision and talent of an individual or team under 50 years of age whose humanitarian work has contributed significantly to the betterment of the world. Its goal is to bring public recognition to dynamic individuals whose Jewish values infuse their humanitarian accomplishments and provide inspiration to the next generations.

Nominations guidelines and forms for the $100,000 award are available at www.TheCharlesBronfmanPrize.com. Nominations for the 2008 Prize will be accepted through November 30, 2007.

Ellen Bronfman Hauptman and Andrew Hauptman together with Stephen Bronfman and Claudine Blondin Bronfman established the Prize to honor their father.

The Prize Founders are encouraging submissions. “Our father has spent a lifetime developing, implementing and supporting initiatives that help to strengthen the unity of the Jewish people,” they said, adding “the Prize reflects his values and dedication to young people, and aims to carry on his legacy of commitment to Jewish life and community.”

In identifying the kinds of nominees being sought, Charles Bronfman pointed to past Prize recipients Jay Feinberg, Dr. Alon Tal, and Dr. Amitai Ziv, calling them “next generation leaders whose vision for change in their respective fields is bettering the world in exciting and meaningful ways. Each has created a mechanism for acting on their vision and delivering measurable results. Their leadership, innovation, and impact are the best indicators of the kinds of nominees we are now seeking for the 2008 Prize cycle, and the work we hope that this Prize can draw attention to.”

The Founders noted, “The Prize has been an early identifier of young visionaries who are changing the world around them. We have been privileged to see the amazing body of work that our recipients have achieved, and we are honored to pay tribute to them through this Prize.”

The 2008 Prize will be awarded in the spring of 2008.

www.TheCharlesBronfmanPrize.com

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You can make a difference: Raise money for your favorite cause

2007-11-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace make it easier than ever to share what you’re passionate about and expand your pool of supporters. And with PayPal, you can collect donations from your friends and family for the charities and causes you believe in.

Jump-start your grassroots campaign.
MySpace and Facebook badges let you raise money using your PayPal account. It’s easy to get started:

1. Choose your cause.
2. Copy or build the badge of your choice.
3. Send a broadcast message to your friends.

On MySpace, you can use the new PayPal fundraising badge to raise money right from your personal page. The site offers a selection of popular nonprofit groups as well as presidential candidates. Your friends can copy your MySpace badge to their websites and blogs, which gives your cause even more exposure.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace make it easier than ever to share what you’re passionate about and expand your pool of supporters. And with PayPal, you can collect donations from your friends and family for the charities and causes you believe in.

On Facebook, PayPal offers a badge that you can personalize with your own colors and background. Put the badge on your profile page, and track its progress on the “giving tree” page. See which of your friends has copied the badge to their Facebook page – and who’s helped you raise the most money!

Use your social network to collect money for various causes:

* A nonprofit group dear to your heart
* A walk-a-thon raising money for cancer, Alzheimer’s or other causes
* New books for your local school, place of worship or community center
* Uniforms for your sports team
* Gifts for children who would otherwise go without

Make your fundraising more successful

Tell how the money will be used.
People feel more comfortable giving – and often give more – when they get details about the cause they’re supporting.

Spread the word about your effort by email, broadcast message and more.
Your MySpace and Facebook networks are a great place to start – encourage them to share your message with others.

Keep your MySpace/Facebook page updated.
Keep the momentum going by letting people know how much money you’ve raised so far.
Social networking makes giving more fun. Start your drive today. Learn more about raising money online using MySpace and Facebook.

MSF Warns More Food Will Not Save Malnourished Children

2007-10-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

Group Calls for Increased and Expanded Use of New, Innovative Nutritional Products

New York, October 10, 2007 – The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today called for increased and expanded use of nutrient dense ready-to-use food (RUF) to reduce the five million annual deaths worldwide related to malnutrition in children under five years of age. Current food aid, which focuses on fighting hunger—not on treating malnutrition—is not doing enough to address the needs of young children most at risk, MSF warned.

"It's not only about how much food children get, it's what's in the food that counts," said Dr. Christophe Fournier, president of MSF's International Council. "Without the right amounts of vitamins and essential nutrients in their diet, young kids become vulnerable to disease that they would normally be able to fight off easily. Calls for increased food aid ignore the special needs of young children who are at the greatest risk of dying."

RUFs, which come in individually wrapped rations, contain all the necessary nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that a young child needs. This dense therapeutic food, which has milk powder, sugars, and vegetable fats, can be produced and stored locally and transported easily, and requires no refrigeration, making it ideal for use in hot climates. It allows a child to recover from being malnourished and catch up on lost growth. Being easy-to-use, mothers—not doctors and nurses—are the main caregivers, meaning far more children at risk can be reached.

"In Somalia we are giving acutely malnourished kids packets of ready-to-use food and we see them gain weight and begin thriving within a couple of weeks," said Dr Gustavo Fernandez, MSF head of mission in Somalia. "RUFs are practical to use in places like Somalia where security is very bad. General food distribution is also needed, but it is not going to be very effective to treat kids under three years old."

Severe acute malnutrition in early childhood is common in large areas of the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, and South Asia -- the world's "malnutrition hotspots." The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 20 million young children suffering from severe acute malnutrition at any given moment and MSF estimates that only three percent of them will receive RUF in 2007.

Therapeutic RUF for only severely malnourished children, as current WHO, World Food Program, and UNICEF guidelines recommend, is too restrictive. Given its nutritional benefits, RUF has the potential to address malnutrition at earlier stages and is far more effective than fortified blended flour, which is normally distributed. MSF is piloting a program using a modified RUF as a supplement to prevent children from becoming acutely malnourished.

"Instead of waiting for kids to get gravely ill we decided to act earlier," said Dr. Susan Shepherd, MSF medical coordinator, Maradi, Niger. "We are piloting a program that gives RUF to all children under three in at-risk communities so that they get the nutrients that are missing in their normal diet."

Through this early treatment or prevention approach in Niger, MSF is providing mothers with small containers of RUF as a supplement to their normal diet. Early results from this ongoing project, which is reaching more than 62,000 children, indicate that RUF is significantly more effective than the traditional approach of supplying fortified flours and cooking oil to mothers of young children.

MSF is calling for donors and UN agencies to urgently speed up the introduction and expansion of RUF. This is going to take a new allocation of funds to cover the cost of €750 million (approximately $1.05 billion) to reach the most vulnerable. But it will also take a realigning of food aid strategies with existing and newly developed products that have the nutrition needed to cure malnourished children.

MSF has been treating malnutrition with therapeutic RUF since the first products became available in the late 1990s, and in 2006 treated more than 150,000 children with acute malnutrition in 22 countries.

Young People Making A Difference with the Do Something Good For You! Del Monte Grant

2007-10-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

Do Something and Del Monte Foods are encouraging anyone under age 26 with an idea or program that promotes healthy living in their school or community to submit their projects for a chance to win the $2,500 Del Monte Do Something Good For You! Grant.

Do Something operates on six strategic principles:
All programs for people age 25 and under:
1. Led by young people. Adult participation is never required
2. Allow participants the freedom to choose their own course of action
3. Have Measurable impact
4. Are Free
5. Use innovative communications and technologies
6. Publicly celebrate high achievement

We want to get the word out about this great opportunity for young people to make a difference, and we thought So What Can I Do would be an ideal outlet. Applications are being accepted until November 9th!

Below is a link to the Do Something Good For You! PSA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8oBvNvg7Gc

Visit http://www.dosomething.org/node/36048 for more info on the grant.

Finalists Chosen for the $35,000 Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation

2007-10-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

CLAREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University today announced 11 finalists for this year’s $35,000 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation.

The Institute, which works to advance the ideas and ideals of the late Peter F. Drucker, the father of modern management, will honor the winner and two runners-up on Nov. 19 in New York at a gala dinner co-hosted by the Leader to Leader Institute. More than 340 organizations applied for the award.

The dinner will be preceded by an all-day conference, “Creating the Future of Nonprofits: Opportunity and Innovation in the Social Sector.” (For more on the conference, including a list of speakers and a link to register for the event, please go to www.DRUCKERinstitute.com.)

The Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation has been given annually since 1991 to recognize existing programs that have made a real difference in the lives of the people they serve. Consideration is based on Drucker’s definition of innovation — change that creates a new dimension of performance. Cash prizes are designed to celebrate, inspire and further the work of innovative nonprofit organizations in the United States.

In addition to the $35,000 first prize, the second-place winner will receive $7,500 and the third-place winner will receive $5,000. (A list of previous winners is available at www.cgu.edu/pages/4126.asp.)

The judges for this year’s awards are: Ira A. Jackson, dean of the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management; Geneva Johnson, secretary of the Leader to Leader Institute’s Board of Governors and former president and CEO of Family Service America; Jeffrey M. Johnson, Yucaipa Cos. executive, chairman of the board of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and former publisher of the Los Angeles Times; Richard Polanco, chairman of the California Latino Caucus Institute and former California Senate Majority Leader; C. William Pollard, former chairman and CEO of ServiceMaster Co.; and Rick Wartzman, director of the Drucker Institute. The administrator of the award is Kerry Boyle, executive director of the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management.

This year’s finalists are:

BerkShares, Great Barrington, MA. This is a local currency project of the E.F. Schumacher Society and the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce. In circulation since 2006, BerkShares create consumer awareness, support local businesses and facilitate the development of new productive capabilities to fulfill the needs of the community.

Friendship Volunteer Center, Sarasota, FL. The Disaster Volunteer Initiative seeks to implement a countrywide coordinated response to disasters by establishing relationships and creating partnerships among non-traditional groups of volunteers from neighborhoods, civic organizations, faith-based groups, businesses and government agencies.

Elderly/Disabled Housing Program, St. Augustine, FL. This initiative offers homeowners living in dilapidated housing the opportunity to have their house demolished and a new home built on the same lot. Financial counseling through grant funding is offered, in addition to family support and advisement.

The “Made in NY” Production Assistant Training Program, Brooklyn, NY. This program enables unemployed or low-income New Yorkers to start careers in TV and film production through four weeks of free skills training followed by two years of job placement and career advancement services.

Wake Up and Walk Tour, Madeira Beach, FL. This effort involves an epic 10,000-plus mile walk of the United States’ perimeter by Executive Director Andrew Mandell, “Mr. Diabetes.” Mandell gets up close and personal with the public about diabetes to create awareness of the warning signs, risk factors, complications, preventability and financial costs.

DIGNITY Programs, Phoenix, AZ. This project was pioneered through Catholic Charities by a survivor of prostitution to help women safely and successfully break free from prostitution and rebuild their lives through community action, street outreach services, support/education groups and alternatives to incarceration.

ForSight Imaging, York, PA. This program serves people who are blind, providing them with a job and career path that seeks to broaden the range of industry positions available to them, from manufacturing to technology. It empowers blind employees to reach their full potential as knowledge workers instead of factory workers.

Disabled and Alone/Life Services for the Handicapped Inc., New York, NY. This program supports families concerned with the future needs of their disabled loved ones through membership in Life Services. Each member family is assigned a Personal Advocate who provides support during emergencies, offers guidance and advocacy, and develops a personal relationship with the family and disabled person.

Career Technology Program, Baltimore, MD. Focused on providing at-risk students at the Baltimore Talent Development High School with in-demand technology skills that lead to industry certification, the program utilizes a visual curriculum and offers the opportunity to take an adult certification course and receive college credit.

Rx Partnership, Richmond, VA. The partnership solicits free medication from pharmaceutical companies and arranges their distribution directly to affiliate free clinics and federally qualified health centers throughout Virginia.

Housing Foreclosure Prevention, Cleveland, OH. This consumer-action led agency provides foreclosure-prevention counseling, while effectively preventing and addressing predatory lending through public education, individual loan resolution assistance, grassroots enforcement of Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) responsibilities, negotiation of CRA agreements with banks, creation of quality loan products in low-income neighborhoods and advocacy for increased regulation of predatory lenders.

About the Drucker Institute

The Drucker Institute is a think tank and action tank whose purpose is to advance the ideas and ideals of Peter F. Drucker, the father of modern management. The Institute hosts conferences, undertakes research that builds on Drucker’s writings, produces material that applies Drucker’s work to current events, and offers a curriculum that distills Drucker’s decades of leading-edge thinking. The Institute also houses Drucker’s archives, which are in the process of being digitized for easy online access. The Drucker Institute is a campus-wide resource of Claremont Graduate University and is closely aligned with the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, where Peter Drucker taught for 35 years and which continues to produce effective managers and ethical leaders for business, government and civil society.

About the Leader to Leader Institute

The Leader to Leader Institute furthers its mission — to strengthen the leadership of the social sector — by providing social sector leaders with essential leadership wisdom, inspiration and resources to lead for innovation and to build vibrant social sector organizations. Specifically, Leader to Leader helps social sector organizations achieve excellence in performance and community building by providing guidance in managing for the mission; making innovation a part of all strategy; developing productive partnerships, collaborations and alliances; facilitating dispersed leadership; promoting and building richly diverse, inclusive organizations and communities; and using self-assessment resources for establishing mission, goals and objectives.

Contacts

The Drucker Institute
Rick Wartzman, Director, 909-607-9212

Marqui to Donate Subscription of Web Marketing Solution to Selected Nonprofit Organization

2007-10-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

The Marqui solution helps non-profit organizations manage and increase the effectiveness of their online communications. Every year they host a lottery where one deserving nonprofit will receive Marqui's services free of cost.

Vancouver, Canada, October 12, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Marqui Inc., a leading provider of ondemand marketing automation and website content management software, announced today that they will be donating a subscription of their solution to a non-profit organization as part of their annual non-profit lottery. The award will enable the successful organization to make better use of their limited funds to build awareness and support for their causes without the burden and cost of managing their website or online communications.

“We are very pleased to be running this contest once again this year. We understand that many non-profit organizations have to rely on the generous donations of their supporters and operate with a limited staff and volunteers. The Marqui solution can help these organizations maximize the effectiveness of their online communications and website management,” said Rick Patri, Vice President, Client Solutions, Marqui. “The Web is such a pervasive medium, and Marqui provides non-profit organizations with easy-to-use tools to reach and build awareness with a worldwide audience.”

Non-profit clients such as the David Suzuki Foundation, the Canadian Liver Foundation, Coastal First Nations, and the Shriners of North America use the Marqui solution to:
• Control online brand and messaging
• Increase advocacy and outreach efforts
• Measure and optimize campaigns

To Apply

The award will be granted based on the organization's need and planned usage of Marqui’s ondemand software applications. All NPO/NGO's are invited to apply. Deadline for submission is November 30, 2007. Full award criteria and submission forms are available at www.marqui.com/donate

Marqui offers a comprehensive suite of on-demand software applications that automate and simplify a broad range of marketing activities; including web content management, email campaigns, search engine optimization (SEO), lead generation and CRM integration, analytics and program measurement. By combining all of these capabilities into one Web-based suite, Marqui enables customers to streamline marketing initiatives and improve program effectiveness without the issues or costs associated with installing multiple single-purpose products.

The Marqui suite of products – including Blog Management, Campaign and Email Management, Content Management, Marketing Analytics, and Approvals and Workflow – can be deployed incrementally or all at once based on business needs and objectives.

Further details on the Marqui marketing software suite can be found at:
http://www.marqui.com/solution/

About Marqui
Marqui enables customers to stand out from the crowd by providing innovative web marketing technology that helps align Sales and Marketing teams and execute closed-loop marketing activities. Marqui’s on-demand platform empowers customers to control their online brand and messaging, generate leads and revenue, and evaluate and optimize online campaigns. More than 250+ organizations have leveraged Marqui to successfully grow their brand and online campaigns through effective web content management, SEO, site search, CRM, and analytics.

Marqui's growing customer list includes: the Phoenix Suns, Ford Motor Company, Honda, Merck, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Lakeland College, Roper Bioscience, CruiseWest, Grouse Mountain, BC Ferries, the David Suzuki Foundation, YMCA, and the United Way. Marqui is a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner. For more information please visit them at www.marqui.com .

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Contact Information
Marqui Inc
Angela St. Amour
604 630 1039
astamour@highroad.com
www.marqui.com

Enable America Promotes Disability Mentoring Day 2007

2007-10-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

Disability Mentoring Day offers an opportunity for people with disabilities to get hands-on, real-life employment exposure by bringing together job-seekers with businesses to open doors, provide mentorship and explore career opportunities. Enable America is proud to be a part of this annual event aimed at gaining awareness of the low employment rates among people with disabilites as well as help them make connections to securing a job.

Tampa, FL, October 13, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Enable America is proud to be a part of Disability Mentoring Day on October 17, 2007 nationwide.

Disability Mentoring Day offers an opportunity for people with disabilities to get hands-on, real-life employment exposure by bringing together job-seekers with businesses to open doors, provide mentorship and explore career opportunities.

Disability Mentoring Day started as National Disability Mentoring Day in 1999 in the White House, as a program to increase the profile of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which is celebrated every October.

Enable America was founded in 2002 by attorney Richard Salem in Tampa as a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities find employment and live independently. It is the first organization dedicated solely to reducing unemployment among people with disabilities.

To better understand the issues facing the disability community, Representatives from Enable America traveled across the nation and conducted Town Hall Meetings in more than 20 cities in 17 states during a three year period. This listening tour gathered together members of the disability community, business people, educators, service providers, civic organizations and political leaders in cities such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Tampa, Chicago, San Diego and Los Angeles. Participants identified five key concerns among individuals with disabilities: employment, health care, affordable housing, transportation and benefits.

Enable America is committed to raising awareness of employment-related disability issues on a local and national level.

Good things happen when people have jobs. Visit www.enableamerica.org for more information.

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Contact Information
Enable America
Dave Mikes
813-222-3227
dave.mikes@enableamerica.org
http://www.enableamerica.org

SO WHAT CAN I DO LAUNCHES NEWS AND PRESS CENTER

2007-10-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 12, 2007

CONTACT: Karama C. Neal, editor
sowhatcanido@gmail.com
http://swcidnews.blogspot.com
http://sowhatcanido.blogspot.com

Celebrating its third year promoting ethics in action, So What Can I Do launches a new News and Press Center. This exciting new companion weblog offers So What Can I do readers even more opportunities to make a positive difference in the world.

So What Can I Do News and Press Center collects and shares press releases and news items from organizations around the globe promoting ethics in action. “We hope to provide an even greater variety of news and opportunities for our audience,” said Karama C. Neal, editor. “The News and Press Center is an exciting and meaningful way to celebrate our third anniversary.”

Press releases or news items describing opportunities to contribute to the improvement of our world should be sent to sowhatcanido@gmail.com in order to be featured at the So What Can I do News and Press Center

So What Can I Do, the public service weblog promoting ethics in action, lists hundreds of ways we all can make a positive difference in our world. The blog has been profiled in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Positive Thinking Magazine, DarynKagan.com, Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference, as well as numerous other print and online publications.

# # #

Guster Creates OURthreads Charity Closet to Benefit DramaticNeed.org

2007-10-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Members of First Fashion Marketplace Put Closet Items Up for Auction to Benefit Charities of their Choice

Bloomington, IN – October 9, 2007 – OURthreads, the first online style community where members can buy, sell or trade items from their customized virtual closets, has added Boston-based band Guster as its first charity closet. OURthreads members have the opportunity to bid on items in lead singer and guitarist Ryan Miller’s celebrity charity closet, the proceeds of which will go to the organization of his choice, Dramatic Need.

Dramatic Need (www.DramaticNeed.org) is a non-profit organization that was created to give musicians, actors, artists, and dancers the chance to make a difference to the lives of African children affected by poverty, illness and neglect.

Whether it’s an international charitable organization or a small local association, OURthreads encourages members to create their own charity closets to benefit the organizations that mean the most to them.

“Members of the OURthreads community can not only connect to others through similar fashion interests – they can also connect on a humanitarian level,” says Pete Yonkman, co-founder of OURthreads. “Members can support one another and the charities that mean the most to them by quickly and easily adding items into their virtual charity closets and putting them up for auction.”

Green Clean Your Home, Office or School…All It Takes is 1 Small Step

2007-10-07T12:51:00.000-07:00

Organization teaches social responsibility by donating portion of sales proceeds on behalf of its customers

Parsippany, NJ, October 05, 2007

1 Small Step (www.1smallstep.org) is an organization that provides “Green” approved cleaning products, and coordinates contributions on behalf of its clients to local charities.

The company uses a “Consumerism with a cause” model to implement their program by realizing that people who already use harmful, toxic chemicals to clean their facilities, would like to “go green” but do not know where to start. Because of this, the companies founders decided to make donating to charity on behalf of their customers, their main goal. “Everything we do is centered around a “think global, act local” way of thinking. We want to promote the use of Environmentally safe cleaning products, and teach a social responsibility to the users of our products by donating to charities that affect them close to home,” says Glenn C. Breslauer, Co-founder of 1 Small Step.

The company offers a wide variety of Green Seal Certified cleaning products for Day Care / Pre-Schools, Assisted living facilities, Physical fitness centers, Medical practices, Restaurants and private homes. They even offer a Gift Bucket of their most popular cleaning products, which makes an ideal house-warming gift or fundraiser item for the person who would like to offer the gift of green.

About 1 Small Step
1 Small Step is an organization whose main goal is to provide a solid foundation of environmental responsibility by utilizing a Green method of cleaning, and a social awareness program which is designed to give back to charitable organizations that affect our communities.

For more information, please contact 1 Small Step at 973.457.5824
or online at: http://www.1smallstep.org

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Contact Information
1 Small Step.org
Glenn C. Breslauer
973-457-5824
glenn@1smallstep.org
www.1smallstep.org

Recognize an Extraordinary Farmer or Rancher With $10K Award

2007-10-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

CONTACT:
Jennifer Morrill 202-378-1255 or jmorrill@farmland.org

Washington, D.C., September 27, 2007—Nominations are now being accepted for American Farmland Trust’s (AFT) 2008 Steward of the Land Award. The annual $10,000 prize honors farmers or ranchers who best exemplify AFT’s mission of halting the loss of productive farmland and promoting farming practices that sustain a healthy environment.

Nomination forms can be completed online at www.farmland.org/programs/award, or can be printed, completed and hand mailed to: American Farmland Trust, 1200 18th Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036. You may also call 202-378-1255 for an application or with questions. Nomination materials will be accepted until close of business day on Monday, December 3, 2007.

Sandy and Rossie Fisher, beef producers from Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, were recognized as the 2007 Stewards of the Land for their lifelong commitment to farmland protection and environmental stewardship. The Fishers operate Brookview Farm where they raise grass-fed beef and organic eggs that they sell at their on-farm store and to local chefs and grocers. Their farm’s composting operation turns municipal yard waste into compost for use on their farm and for other customers.

“Sandy and Rossie, like all of AFT’s Steward of the Land Award winners, have shown by example how successful you can be in agriculture and still be in harmony with the land. They have been instrumental in raising farmland protection issues in many community forums, and they have helped initiate local and state farmland protection efforts,” said Ralph Grossi, President of AFT.

“The Fishers are the first Steward of the Land Award winners from the state of Virginia, and their sustainable farming practices present a model for the federal 2007 Farm Bill currently being debated in Congress,” Grossi continued. “They also have the ability to look down the road, and they understand how serious the issue of farmland loss is to the future of agriculture.

The Fishers helped found the Goochland Land Alliance in 2002, which educates landowners about conservation easements, and they were the second farm in Goochland County to put all their owned acreage into a conservation easement held by the Virginia Outdoor Foundation and the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Part of their property borders the James River, which is leased to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of a wetlands mitigation bank. The Fishers also participate in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) that involves keeping all surface water fenced from cattle, establishing watering systems, rotational grazing and 23 acres of buffer strips.

The Fishers intend to put their $10,000 award toward conservation causes.
Established in 1997, AFT’s Steward of the Land Award recognizes an American farmer or farm family who best demonstrates leadership in protecting farmland and caring for the environment. The award honors the memory of Peggy McGrath Rockefeller, an avid farmer and conservationist who helped found AFT.

American Farmland Trust is a national nonprofit organization working with communities and individuals to protect the best land, plan for agriculture and keep the land healthy. As the leading advocate for farm and ranch land conservation, AFT has ensured that more than a million acres stays bountiful and productive. AFT’s national office is located in Washington, DC. The phone number is 202-331-7300.

Give the Gift of Life During Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month

2007-09-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

National Headquarters
2025 E Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
www.redcross.org

Contact: Lesly Simmons
Phone: (202) 303-4467
Cell: (301) 642-7365
SimmonsL@usa.redcross.org

WASHINGTON, Thursday, September 13, 2007 — Sickle Cell Anemia affects more than 70,000 people in the United States, and most of them are African-American. September is Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Month, a perfect time to make an appointment to give blood in support of the thousands of people across the country suffering from this disease. One in every 12 African Americans carries the trait for sickle cell disease.

One of the most common treatments for Sickle Cell Anemia, which causes red blood cells to form an abnormal crescent shape, is regular blood transfusions to help reduce the risks of stroke, damage to major organs that can lead to severe infections, and other complications that can arise from the disease. Many patients need blood transfusions every few weeks to help keep the effects of the disease at bay, and transfusions from blood donors of the same ethnic background are even more beneficial because they have less chance of causing complications for the recipient.

“Giving blood is an easy way to help someone in need and feel good about doing it,” said Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet Member Patti LaBelle. “With so many people in our community suffering from sickle cell anemia, it’s also the right thing to do to help our neighbors and friends in need.”

Additionally, African Americans are more likely to have blood type O and B than other populations. These types are particularly in need, so scheduling a donation can also help alleviate blood shortages around the country.

To schedule an appointment to donate blood, call 1-800-GIVE LIFE, or visit http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif.

The American Red Cross helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Last year, almost a million volunteers and 35,000 employees helped victims of almost 75,000 disasters; taught lifesaving skills to millions; and helped U.S. service members separated from their families stay connected. Almost 4 million people gave blood through the Red Cross, the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The American Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.

Innovative Fund Raising Website Clicks! for Cystic Fibrosis is Launched

2007-09-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

Clicks! for the Cause, Inc. has officially announced the launch of their flagship venture, Clicks! for Cystic Fibrosis. The website, and associated tools, are now available to the Cystic Fibrosis community, friends, and family at http://www.clicksforcf.com

-- Innovating the way people give and support their favorite charity, Clicks! for Cystic Fibrosis has been made publicly available.

Clicks! for Cystic Fibrosis has created an easy way for individuals to ensure their favorite charity receives a portion of the profit from their online purchases. When an internet user wishes to make a purchase with any of over 400 leading online retailers (such as Barnes and Noble, WalMart, Dell, Linens N Things, Staples, and more), all they need to do is locate them within the Click! for Cystic Fibrosis retailer directory and use the link provided for that vendor.

"As someone involved in the technology industry, and the parent of a child with Cystic Fibrosis, I was looking for an innovative way to fundraise for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation," states Clicks for the Cause, Inc. Vice-President, James Stewart. "The goal was to give people an opportunity to shop online with their favorite online retailers, as they normally would, and support life-saving research at the same time."

Every retailer within the Clicks! for Cystic Fibrosis directory is listed with a percentage or dollar value clearly stated next to their name. This value represents the amount of their purchase that goes directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. By reviewing this information, shoppers can feel good in knowing the exact amount of their purchase that will go to life-extending Cystic Fibrosis research.

In addition to the Clicks! for Cystic Fibrosis website, several supporting tools have also been made publicly available. The Clicks! for Cystic Fibrosis toolbar integrates directly into Internet Explorer, saving users the time of having to access the website. Additionally, a custom Windows Vista Gadget and Firefox custom Search Engine have also been made available for use. "Our strategy is to make the Clicks! shopping experience as simple and effortless as possible," adds Mr. Stewart.

About Clicks! For Cystic Fibrosis
Established in 2007, Clicks! for Cystic Fibrosis, and parent company Clicks! for the Cause, Inc. were created with one goal in mind – to maximize donations for key charitable organizations and help save lives.

More information about Clicks! for Cystic Fibrosis can be found on the web at http://www.clicksforcf.com.

Contact Info:
James Stewart
Vice President
Clicks! For The Cause, Inc.
Phone: 877-925-4257
Email: jstewart@clicksforthecause.com
Web: www.clicksforthecause.com

BLOGGERS TO UNITE ON BLOG ACTION DAY

2007-08-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
August 15, 2007

All Blogs Invited to Take Part in Joining Voices to Help Environment

An international initiative of bloggers known as "Blog Action Day" launched today, with the aim of uniting thousands of blogging voices, talking about one issue for one day. This year on Blog Action Day, which is slated for Oct. 15, 2007, bloggers will be discussing the environment.  Major blogs have signed up to participate, including Lifehacker, Dumb Little Man, Lifehack.org, Get Rich Slowly, Web Worker Daily, GigaOm, The Simple Dollar, Zen Habits, Freelance Switch, LifeClever, Unclutterer, Pronet Advertising, Wise Bread and many more. 

"For just one day, we'd like to unite as many of the millions of bloggers around the world and speak about one issue - the environment," said Collis Ta'eed, an Australian blogger from FreelanceSwitch.com, and a cofounder of Blog Action Day. "We want to display the potential and the power of the blogging community, which is a disparate community but one with an amazing size, breadth and diversity. By bringing everyone together for one day, we can see just how much can be achieved, and how much we can be heard." 

Blog Action Day is a non-profit initiative, and will be an annual event. As an alternative to blogging about the environment on Blog Action Day, bloggers can opt to participate by donating their blog's proceeds from Oct. 15 to one of several environmental organizations chosen for this purpose: Greenpeace International, The Nature Conservancy, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the Conservation Fund, and the Sierra Club.  Bloggers who would like to participate in Blog Action Day should visit BlogActionDay.org or email Collis Ta'eed at collis@eden.cc, so they can be listed on the Blog Action Day site. To participate, a blog just needs to write about the issue of the environment on Oct. 15, 2007, or donate its proceeds for the day to one of the chosen environmental organizations.
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Seeking Host Families for Youth For Understanding Exchange Students - Share Your Home, Change the World

2007-07-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

Released on = July 27, 2007, 9:30 am

Press Release Author = Youth For Understanding USA

Industry = Non Profit

Press Release Summary = Youth For Understanding USA is seeking volunteer host
families around the country to host one of more than 2000 international teengers
arriving in August.

Press Release Body = What do teens like Luiza from Brazil, Hannes from Germany,
Manami from Japan, Wasim from Pakistan, and Andrea from Mexico have in common?
They are about to join a group of 2000 teens from more than 60 countries who are
coming to America in August as Youth For Understanding (YFU) high school exchange
students! Many of them are still waiting to learn what loving American host
families will select them to be their new exchange sons or daughters.

These teens are hoping for experiences like enjoying a real American barbecue,
attending a Halloween costume party and a high school football game, joining a
school sport or music group, and sharing in the fun and responsibilities as real
members of their American host families.

It takes many caring people to make an exchange student’s dreams come true: it is
the host families and the volunteers who make this adventure possible. They are
essential links in the chain of friendship that goes back 55 years through 225,000
YFU students who have exchanged world-wide with Youth For Understanding.

Today Youth For Understanding is seeking host families for many bright, hopeful
teens like these who will carry on that tradition and form lifelong connections with
their host families and communities. Host families provide a place to live and
three meals a day plus the encouragement, advice and love to help their new family
member through a year in a new home. The students bring their own spending money
and health insurance plus the willingness to be a good family member, following
family rules and helping out with family responsibilities. YFU provides local
representatives who mentor the students and families to make sure it’s a good
experience for all involved.

Host families offer a typical family living experience — not a tourist/travel
opportunity. They are caring people who offer a slice of real life in America.
Families come in all shapes and sizes, ethnicities and ages, with and without
children of all ages. They share an interest in teens and other cultures. Some
families agree to host a student for the academic year while others agree to be a
welcome family who will get the student off to a good start for up to 12 weeks.

Call the local YFU District Office at 1-866-493-8872 for more information to see if
hosting might be right for you and your family. You can request profiles of
students with interests similar to your own. More information is available on the
Youth For Understanding web-site at www.yfu-usa.org where families and volunteers
can fill out an on-line application.

Despite the differences people face around the world, kids are kids, and these YFU
kids are hoping for acceptance, caring, friendship, and opportunities. They are
also counting on wonderful people—like your family--who make those dreams come true.

Please consider helping a child begin their adventure of a lifetime with a positive
start! Sometimes the best “gifts” are the least expected ones. YFU is looking for
the right recipients for these gifts.
##

Web Site = http://www.yfu-usa.org

Contact Details = Youth For Understanding USA
6400 Goldsboro Road, Suite 100
Bethesda, MD 20817
Reid Rago - Media Relations
rago@yfu.org
800.424.3691 x 189

You’re Invited to Visit Spring Lambing at Heifer Ranch

2007-03-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

Who: Participants in Lambing Season programs at Heifer Ranch
What: Observe spring lambing and visit with participants
When: March 23, 2007, 6 a.m. to noon.
Where: Heifer Ranch, Perryville, Arkansas

During Heifer Ranch’s spring lambing season, women from all over the U.S. are introduced to Heifer’s mission to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. Participants say they leave these events with a deeper understanding of the world, Heifer’s work and themselves.

One participant said that she had gained a new and better outlook on how a majority of the world lives, which is different from her own life experiences. “This trip allowed my mind to open up, expand and see the bigger picture which I sometimes forget.”

Since 1995, women have shared in the births of dozens of lambs each spring during the Women’s Lambing Season programs. This year the Ranch expects more than 70 participants and from 60 to 100 lambs.

The opportunity to watch the birth of lambs is a highlight of the program for many people. “Watching the little lambs come into this world, I was awestruck and my heart just melted. It was a very profound and moving experience,” said a woman who attended last year’s lambing.

Each of the Women’s Lambing Season programs includes a brief introduction to gestation, birth, and post-lambing care of ewes and lambs. Additionally, the women learn about gender equity, sustainable agriculture and Heifer’s livestock practices.
Registrants can also participate in classes on value-added products such as cheese-making and/or wool crafts and assist with Ranch garden and livestock chores.

Participants also enjoy working and learning from Ranch staff, “The humility and encouragement of all the facilitators for us to share and ask questions really struck me. It was one of the best forms of education that I’ve ever received.”

For more information on attending this Media Open Call, contact Beth Newman, Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator at Heifer Ranch, by calling 501-889-5124 or e-mailing beth.newman@heifer.org.

Heifer Ranch is one of Heifer’s three U.S. learning centers, focusing on world hunger solutions, organic gardening and sustainable agricultural practices. At Heifer Ranch, over 28,000 visitors a year become familiar with the root causes of poverty and hunger and Heifer’s work to help the poor achieve self-reliance. Since 1944, Heifer has helped more than 7 million families in more than 125 countries move toward greater self-reliance through the gift of livestock and training in environmentally sound agriculture. The impact of each initial gift is multiplied as recipients agree to “pass on the gift” by giving one or more of their animal’s offspring, or the equivalent, to another in need. For more information on Heifer’s work, visit the website at www.heifer.org, or call 1-800-696-1918 for a free catalog.

Media Contacts:

Beth Newman, Heifer Ranch
501-889-5124

Jennifer Pierce
Heifer International
501-907-2952

Christine Volkmer
Carpenters & Associates
214-520-3666

56-years later and still unique: Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF

2006-09-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF 2006 campaign finds inspiration in its roots
NEW YORK, 8 September 2006 — For the 56th consecutive year, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF will launch its time-honored Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign this fall. This year's campaign will focus on the great tradition and history of the program that was started by children in Philadelphia. The signature orange Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF box and other materials for this year's campaign are now available.

Boxes and free educational materials can be ordered by calling 1.800.4UNICEF or by logging on to www.unicefusa.org/trickortreat. Hi-resolution Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF images are available for media to download at www.unicefusa.org/files.

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, the original Kids Helping Kids® campaign, began as a door-to-door collection on Halloween that was inspired by reports of children suffering in Europe as a result of World War II. On Halloween, 56-years ago, five concerned Philadelphia children went door-to-door to collect money for kids overseas. These children donated the money they collected, $17, to UNICEF. It was their innovative and philanthropic spirit that created the nationwide program known as Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. Since 1950, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF supporters have collected over $132 million.

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF has empowered generations of children to save and improve the lives of children in their global community through education and fundraising for the world's leading children's organization, the United Nation's Children's Fund. In fact, this year's Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF spokesperson, Sarah Jessica Parker, also Trick-or-Treated for UNICEF as a child.

"The Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF program has undergone many changes throughout its existence, yet the values, commitment and passion that are at the root of the program have remained the same," said President of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, Charles J. Lyons. "With the support of parents, educators, and community leaders, American children have the potential to save the lives of their more vulnerable peers. Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF gives them the resources and the vehicle to achieve their goals."

Last year's campaign encouraged schools nationwide to compete with each other for the most money raised, resulting in over $5 million being generated that year. Three schools—Middlesex Middle School in Darien, CT, Olivenhein Pioneer Elementary School in Carlsbad, CA, and Lakehill Preparatory School in Dallas, TX—won last year's competition. The Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Challenge, sponsored by Procter & Gamble, will continue this year with an expanded category. Now, individual kids and groups of kids can participate in the competition. This year's winners will each have a $125,000 donation to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF made in their honor by Procter & Gamble, a photo appearance on the Cartoon Network and Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF t-shirts. To enter, children simply send in their Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF donations between October 1 and December 30, 2006 and they will automatically be entered into the challenge.

For the first time ever, 3,500 Hallmark Gold Crown® stores will offer the traditional orange Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF collection boxes throughout the months of September and October. Additionally, select Hallmark stores will sell UNICEF Halloween greeting cards. Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF partners Pier 1 Imports and Pier 1 Kids will also distribute the collection boxes at over 1,200 stores in the U.S. during the month of October. Cartoon Network will produce PSA spots featuring characters from the hit show Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, encouraging kids to participate in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. The spots will air throughout October on Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TNT, TBS, and CNN as well as through participating cable affiliates. For the tenth year in a row, donations to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF can be made through Coinstar® Centers self-service coin counting machines located in major supermarkets nationwide.

About UNICEF
Founded in 1946, UNICEF helps save, protect and improve the lives of children in 156 countries and territories through immunization, education, health care, nutrition, clean water and sanitation. UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority. For more information about UNICEF or to make a donation, please call 1.800.4UNICEF.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Kiní Schoop, U.S. Fund for UNICEF Media, 212.880.9132
Marci Greenberg, U.S. Fund for UNICEF Media, 212.880.9132