@UniversalGiving
Filed under: Easy Ways to Give, Fun Ways to Give, Give to Children, Giving, Inspiring Young People, Leadership, Poverty, Social Change | Tags: change, children, commitment, community, environment, generosity, geography, giving in hard times, Inspiring Stories, service, take action
By Karis Ingram
I wasn’t always the most athletic kid growing up, but I did love to play. I remember not being able to wait for break in school, so that I could play handball, kickball or double dutch. Once the recess bell rang, I would race my friends to the playground to get first dibs on a ball. I lived for playing and having fun – it was my life. Playing sports and games helped me improve my health habits, and helped me develop socially, physically, and mentally. I can’t imagine what my childhood would have been like if I had to sit in a classroom all day long without being able to play.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where some kids don’t have this outlet. Many kids around the world do not have access to clean, safe playgrounds or the equipment necessary to play the games that I so looked forward to as a child. Because of this, too many children are not getting the proper exercise and play necessary for child development.
Fortunately, there are ordinary people, like you and me, who seek to change this. Like Trevor Slavick, founder of Little Feet Foundation, is working to create opportunities for kids around the world to have access to soccer balls and healthy play programs. Using the One for One business model, Little Feet Sports matches your purchase of a soccer ball by sending an additional ball to a child in need. For example, if I buy a soccer to try to become the next Mia Hamm (highly unlikely!), Little Feet will send a ball to an underprivileged child in need around the world.
Talk about giving back! This is such an amazing idea, why didn’t I think of it first?
In its first few years, Little Feet Foundation has already donated soccer balls to over 20 countries. They’ve also recently branched out from an online store and have added the sale of Little Feet soccer balls at the national chain store, Sports Chalet. You can now pick up a life changing soccer ball at a California Sport Chalet near you!
Aside from their work providing soccer balls, and developing sustainable soccer programs, Little Feet is also seeking to help local economies worldwide. With the discovery that coffee farmers are only paid less than a penny from a $2 cup of coffee, Little Feet created a unique and sustainable way to help the kids and local farmers. If you want to help Little Feet reach their goal of building 8 soccer fields and soccer programs by 2014, you can do so by purchasing Little Feet Coffee. Buying Little Feet coffee will help local farmers receive better prices for their hard work, while also funding soccer programs and fields!
By purchasing a Little Feet Soccer Ball or Little Feet Coffee, you can do your part too and help kids in need race their friends to their local soccer field in hopes of becoming the next David Beckham. Check out Little Feet’s website and buy a ball for a friend, one for yourself, or your whole family!
Filed under: Social Change, Volunteering | Tags: awareness, change, climate change, commitment, community, environment, future, geography, hope, International Volunteer Day, International Volunteering, take action, United Nations, Volunteering
By Cheryl Mahoney
Have you ever thought about traveling thousands of miles from your home? Have you thought about doing it because you want to help someone? To change the world? To make a difference? If so, then you’ve thought about voluntourism, or international volunteering. And if you’ve already volunteered internationally–then you probably know how amazing an experience it can be.
Whether you’ve volunteered internationally before or are considering it or maybe haven’t even encountered the idea, this Saturday is a perfect time to do some thinking on the subject. This Saturday, December 5th, is International Volunteer Day.
International Volunteer Day was established in 1985 by the United Nations General Assembly, making it truly an international day. You can find out more at the United Nations Volunteers‘ site, or by visiting the World Volunteer Web.
The big campaign of the day this year is Volunteering for our Planet, an initiative of the UN Worldwide Campaign on Climate Change. The UN Volunteers are looking to gather up a count of registered volunteering hours on environmental issues, in order to send a message to the delegates meeting at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The timing is convenient, because the Copenhagen Conference starts December 7th. I don’t know how the delegates will feel, but I’m already impressed. Right now, the UN Volunteers are listing over 860,000 registered volunteer hours, all of which occurred in the last six months. That’s more than 36,000 days, or 1,100 months, or 98 years. So that’s almost a century’s worth of volunteering time put in towards protecting the environment. Wow!
But that doesn’t mean, of course, that the job is done–far from it. In fact, I recently watched a powerful video about the effects of climate change in Bangladesh, bringing a human face to the crisis. Be warned–this might break your heart. And it shows that we all need to take action.
International Volunteer Day is still almost a week away. You might not have time to plan a trip that will take you thousands of miles from home, but I bet you can still find another way to help–for the environment, or for whatever other cause tugs at your heart.
Filed under: Inspirational Thoughts, Social Change | Tags: change, children, geography, travel
By Cheryl Mahoney
Just a brief post today. I’ve been meaning to update on a story I shared last May, about 11-year-old Zach Bonner who was in the midst of a more than 1200 mile walk to the White House, in an effort to raise awareness of childhood homelessness.
Well, here’s the good news–he made it! Zach, with hundreds of people walking in support, marched up to the White House on July 9th.
I would’ve loved to be there, if only California wasn’t a bit far from Washington, D.C. Though apparently not too far for some people: Zach’s next plan is to walk from Tampa, FL to Los Angeles, CA. Mapquest tells me that that’s 2,532 miles. Lots of luck to him, and I’ll keep an eye out for news to keep you posted!
In the meantime, you can visit The Little Red Wagon Foundation‘s website, the nonprofit Zach founded, or read this article about Zach and other young philanthropists in The Washington Post.
Filed under: Fun Ways to Give, Giving | Tags: charity, geography, hope, take action, travel
By Sarah Keyston
When someone mentions the seven wonders of the world, I usually think along the lines of “Yeah, it’d be nice to see those some day”—you know, in a distant life-goal sort of way. But for Chi-chi Ekweozor, seeing the seven modern wonders is a goal to be accomplished in a week. Yes, you read that correctly. Chi-chi plans to see 7 wonders in 7 days, raising 777,000 pounds (she’s from Manchester, UK) for 7 charities.
In order to fully grasp the extent of her travels, take a second to imagine a globe. Imagine you are in the United Kingdom to begin your (mental) journey. You fly to Rome via Brussels to see the Colosseum. Before you know it, you’re back on a plane, traveling to Amman, Jordan via Beirut to see Petra. Next you travel to the Taj Mahal in India, where you make a brief stop before flying on to Beijing, where you dart up to the Great Wall for a visit (Keep in mind that it has only been 4 days… are you tired yet?).
Continuing on, you fly to Lima, Peru via Toronto to see Machu Picchu at Cuzco. Next it’s on to Brazil to see Christ the Redeemer (Is your head spinning? Mine is!) before a jaunt up to Mexico to see Chichén Itzá. Finally, it’s back to the UK via Chicago for a grand total of 7 wonders in 7 days.
I’m exhausted just thinking about that jet lag! Chi-chi admits, “I know it’s a massive physical challenge to see all seven wonders in seven days: I will be crossing multiple time zones in that time but I’m willing to do it if it raises money and awareness for the seven charities I’ve chosen.” There is nothing like hearing about an individual’s personal sacrifice on the behalf of others to inspire me to give!
You may be wondering just what motivated Chi-chi to venture on this trip. She was brought to tears while watching a British TV show, saying, “I saw an elderly man caring for his elderly wife who suffers from Alzheimer’s and the memories of what my Gran went through before she died came flooding back.” One of the seven charities that her trip is benefitting is a foundation started by her parents in honor of her grandmother—the Jessie Ekweozor Memorial Foundation will provide educational aid in Nigeria. The other charities are the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, Diabetes UK, British Red Cross, Open Doors, Young Minds, and Feed the Minds.
Chi-chi officially launches her campaign with a Charity Auction in the UK today, though most of her efforts are being made virtually. An Internet TV and social media consultant in the UK, Chi-chi is raising awareness for her cause largely through social media like Twitter (follow her: @7wondersin7days), Facebook, and her blog.
Filed under: Giving, Inspirational Thoughts | Tags: commitment, geography, hope
By Cheryl Mahoney
Just recently I shared the story of 11-year-old Zach and his walk from Tampa, FL to Washington D.C., to raise awareness of homeless children (I just checked zachtracker and he’s in Kentucky right now). Today I also found another story about someone walking for charity.
Richard Singer is planning to break the world record for walking across America–from City Hall in Los Angeles, CA, to City Hall in New York City. According to Mapquest, that’s 2,787 miles. Richard intends to walk it in 46 days, or 60.5 miles per day. The mind boggles–or at least, mine does.
And the point of it all? Richard is hoping for people to sponsor his walk and raise money for six charities he’s chosen to support. The goal is to raise a million dollars–a mere one dollar from one million people, out of 304 million Americans, as Singer puts it.
I looked at his site, and also found a press release with additional information. He’s been planning this since last July, and the walk is coming up this August. It seems clear that Richard’s goal is not only a monetary one, but also to inspire others to believe that anything is possible. Or as Richard put it: “We personally define what is realistic in our lives.” And clearly he has defined “walking across America” as realistic for him. I don’t feel compelled to walk across country myself, but it is an inspiring thought that challenges the idea of anything really being impossible. If anything is possible, what might we do?
Richard and I share a common belief on another point he makes as well: “One person with a vision and the help of other human beings can make a difference in this world.”
Whether our vision is to walk across country, or to walk across the street to help a neighbor, we can all make a difference. Sometimes we can’t do it alone, but together, anything is possible.
