Sweet Tooth Haven

Don't Vote

The celebrities encourage you not to vote...unless you care.

Help Out Public School Teachers

Most public school teachers (including me) who teach in areas of high-poverty spend hundreds of dollars a year buying materials for their classrooms.  Help me raise money to buy Weekly Readers for my second grade class, or find another proposal that matches your interest.  DonorsChoose accepts written proposals from teachers then allows the public to fund the proposal.  All donations are tax deductible and everyone who donates to a project receives a thank you from the class.

To read my proposal and help purchase Weekly Readers for my class, click here or on the link in the sidebar. 
OR
Go to DonorsChoose.org to find proposals submitted by other teachers.  You can search by subject, or find a teacher in your area that needs a project funding.

****UPDATE 9/6/2008****

My proposal has been funded.  Thanks for your support, but there are tons of other great projects that need donations.  Click on the link to Donors Choose and find one that inspires you.

Grow Veggies on the White House Lawn

This video was created by Roger Doiron, founder of Kitchen Gardeners International, as part of the Eat the View campaign.  KGI promotes kitchen gardens and home-cooking around the world. They want the next president to convert part of the 18 acre White House grass lawn into a working garden.  The White House kitchen could use the food and the rest donated to a local food pantry. It's been done before and now would be an excellent time to set an example. 

Watch the video:  This Lawn is Our Lawn

Don't forget to sign the petition to help get some veggies growing on that lawn.  Who needs all that grass anyway?

 

Be a Budget Hero

See if you can balance the budget better than the current administration.  It's not hard to do!  Shrink government, cut defense spending, repeal the tax cuts, or spend some money on education. 

Maasai Warriors in the London Marathon

Today's Geo Quiz from PRI's The World was about six Maasai warriors who have traveled from their village in Northern Tanzania to run the London Marathon.  This was the first I heard about it, and was drawn into the interview and the reason for the warriors to be running the marathon in their tribal gear with spears, shields, and all.

The Maasai warriors are trying to raise awareness and money to bring water resources to their village.  Their village has been suffering from severe drought leaving them without enough drinking water for themselves or their cattle upon which their life depends.

Help the Maasai Warriors bring water to their village, or learn more about them:

• Maasai Marathon site - Make your donation! Watch their YouTube video.
• Greenforce information site (the nonprofit that is managing the donations)
• Geo-Quiz from PRI - Learn about where the Maasai live and listen to interview Will Grant does with the warriors.  It's on the geo quiz answer page.

 

Unusable Hair

Since 1995 my hair has been shoulder-length or shorter, usually shorter.  Before that it was always down the middle of my back.  Recently I started thinking about growing out my hair and donating it to an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients. 

Turns out they don't want my hair.  Hair that is more than 5% gray or chemically treated (dyed) is unusable due to the processing involved.  Well, my hair has been going gray since I was 17 and now its beyond 5% (I won't tell you how much) and yes, I dye it. 

That doesn't mean you can't donate yours!  Just make sure you read through the requirements, lots of hair ends up in the trash! Here are some organizations to get you started:
Pantene Beautiful Lengths
Locks of Love
Wigs for Kids

Stop the Junk Mail!!

My mailbox is always cluttered with unwanted catalogs, ads, and other junk that goes directly in the recycle bin.  Even though I do recycle all that paper, it would be so much more efficient if the darn things were never sent in the first place.  Today I decided to take action!  After a bit of research I found some sites that can help remove your name from those pesky mailing lists.

1.  Catalog Choice - Select which catalogs you don't want to receive.  You still get the ones you want.
2.  Direct Mail's National Do Not Mail List - Stop the snail mail spam.
3.  Opt Out Prescreen - Stop getting pre-approved credit card applications.  Isn't everyone worried about identity theft these days?  Choose the permanent or 5-year (for the commitment-phobe) plan.

OLPC Give One, Get One Extented!

So I just found out that One Laptop Per Child's Give One, Get One program has been extended until December 31!  Hooray!  If you missed out on the two-week window, now's your chance.  You will  not only donate a  laptop to a child in a developing country, but they will mail one to you as well.  This is the only time the laptops will be available to the general public.  Get a tax deduction for the donated laptop.

Link to previous post about One Laptop Per Child

Oxfam Unwrapped

While getting presents is nice, most people I know (myself included) don't really need anything.  Help fight poverty around the world.  Oxfam's Unwrapped program lets you make a donation on behalf of yourself or another recipient.  Gifts range from school supplies to sheep, trees to  toilets, worms to crocodiles! A great idea for that socially conscious friend or family member, or just the person who has everything.

You (or the person of your choice)  will receive a card to represent the donation.  The money will purchase the item or animal you chose, but could go toward something else if there is a greater need in another area. 

Prices range from $18 for books to $10,000 for a house on stilts, so you can find something no matter what your budget. 

Get busy saving the world, or just learn more about the project:
Oxfam America Unwrapped
How it works (US  site)
Oxfam Unwrapped UK site

One Laptop Per Child - Give 1 Get 1

One Laptop Per Child is a foundation that has been working to produce a rugged, $100 laptop for children in developing countries.  Right now the cost for each laptop is $188.  You can donate one to a child in need for $200.  The laptop runs on an open source operating system, has a camera, microphone and 2 antennas that look like rabbit ears.  The battery life is incredibly long. 

For a 2 week time period starting November 12, 2007 you can purchase 2 laptops for $399.  One will be sent to a child in a developing country and one sent to you for your child. (Therefore give 1, get 1).  Half the price will be tax-deductible (for the donated machine).  Even if you don't have a kid, this might be a fun gadget to mess around with. 

Sign up for an email reminder for Give 1, Get 1

More Information:
One Laptop Per Child hardware specs
OLPC wiki