Do a good deed
Here's a list of things you can do that will make a difference:
MyGoodDeed
Text from the web site: "MyGoodDeed was created in 2002 as a way to honor the
victims and heroes of 9/11 and preserve the spirit of unity and compassion that
existed in the nation following the terrorist attacks. We hope you’ll join people
and organizations everywhere who are pledging to keep the 9/11 spirit of unity
alive by performing good deeds on 9/11 and every day throughout the year."
There is a place on the front page to enter your good deeds. Go commit to something!
Giving Circles
For those of you who feel like your little $20 donation won't make an impact, consider
starting (or joining) a Giving Circle! The power of one $20 bill joined with many others
can make a big difference in someone's life. The Giving Circles web site will give
you lots of information on how to start one -- tips and inspiration. Gather your
friends and start one today!
Dining for Women
This is a great example of a giving circle. The women get together to do a monthly
potluck, then each of them donate about $30 (the price of the meal they would have
spent if they had gone out to eat at a restaurant). So, each month this money
goes to feed the hungry. Fabulous idea!
CASA: Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children
Sometimes children who are neglected or abused find themselves in need of special advocates
to support and represent them to make sure they get into a safe and nurturing environment.
Trained CASA volunteers speak out on behalf of children who are "in the system" to be sure
that judges who make decisions about these children's lives understand who they are and what
they need. I have a friend named Pat who spends a lot of time volunteering for CASA and
finds it a fulfilling and worthy cause to give her time to.
Care2's Daily Action Site
At a loss for what to do? Here's a daily suggestion that will help you make the world a better
place. Have at it!
Modest Needs
Talk about an awesome project... Modest Needs is a non-profit group that helps people out, as they can,
with unexpected emergency financial burdens of a small, one-time nature. That's about the best way I
can see to describe it in a short sentence. Check out the side and pass the word. This is a
wonderful way to touch a lot of lives.
BookCrossing
One might argue that I'm stretching the definition of "good deed" by including this web site into my
collection. However, I personally feel that anything that makes someone smile, or think or pause to
consider the wonders of the world... you've done a good deed if you manage that. And that's what
BookCrossers do. If you love to read and love to encourage others to read you'll love this site. It's
appealing to the scavengers in us! Happy Crossing!
Add to the Heart of America Quilt
These folks are collecting panels from schools to form a very large American flag. This is in
response to the events of September 11th. Click on the link to see the progress they are
making on their flag.
Day of the Child
December 1st is Day of the Child. This is a program to raise awareness about child abuse.
Operation Christmas Child
Fill shoeboxes with goodies for children in "desperate situations". This project is sponsored by Samaritan's Purse.
Help save Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village!
Bottle Village is a weird and wacky collection of buildings created by one woman
putting together a bunch of found objects. The Bottle Village was damaged in the
Northridge quake and is about to be shut down unless the caretakers can bring it
up to safety standards. Bottle Village is cool and should be saved.
Cheer up a sick child!
Send a card or a gift or any little happy thing to the child featured at this site.
Generally the featured children are terminally ill or have severe health disabilities.
The featured child changes often, so make this good deed a habit. There will always
be something to do.
Feed the hungry!
The Hunger Site was the first to start the trend of clicking on a button to get
sponsors to pay for feeing the hungry. Now there are others who are also providing
this service. Check out both. They are free! Press the button and sponsors for
the day donate money to buy food for hungry people somewhere in the world. It costs
you nothing to participate.
Click to care!
Free donations is a trendy thing... you click on a link and sponsors donate money to
various causes. Here is a list I've compiled so you can just do some daily clicking
to support worth causes. Most of these are "meta sites" that have collected a lot
of sites already. Instead of duplicating work, I'll just point you to them. Have fun!
These sites relate in some way to good deeds. Some of them talk about
kindness in general, some of them give actual ideas for you to try:
Boy Scouts and Good Deeds
An article on Boy Scouts and doing good deeds. This has ideas and philosophies.
Random Acts of Kindness
The "Kindness Movement" was inspired by Anne Herbert's phrase "Practice random
kindness and senseless acts of beauty." The Random Acts of Kindness foundation is a
non-profit organization in 1995 and they encourage the development of "Random
Acts of Kindness Weeks" (Nov 6-13) all over the world. Maybe you can start one
where you are.
The Generosity Game
Cool cards that help give you ideas of kind things you can do for people.
Use the cards or pass them on. You can order cards from this site, or print
some for free.
Connect for Kids
They have a list of 101 things you can do to help kids in your community. This site
also has examples of what real people have done around their cities and towns.
USA Weekend's Make a Difference Day
Sponsored by USA Today, Make a Difference Day is on the fourth Saturday of every October.
The site has information about the project and other ideas for anyone who wants to do a
short term volunteer project. Get your friends excited about making a difference! There
is a cool "idea generator" where you can pick some choices and you're given a list of
projects you can do based on the parameters you've set. Or you can browse. Do it!
Kids Who Want to Make a Difference
This is a list of web pages designed with projects that kids can do to help their
communities or other individuals. Wouldn't it be fun to do this as a family?
There is a saying that "charity begins at home", and what better way to teach
people to be kind than to show them how wonderful it can be to help others.
Youth Volunteerism
There are organizations for youths as well as for kids and adults. Check out the
ones listed here. (Adults, your section is further down the page.)
Volunteerism
For those of you looking to be active in your own community, you might consider
doing some volunteering. Here's a collection of links that will help you find
something to do in your area. If there's nothing here that is listed, try
calling the city or county social services.
Good Deeds for Planet Earth
Good deeds aren't just about people directly. If you love the outdoors, gardening and
environmental, these links might fill your good deed need.
Do you know of a good deed web page?
I'm looking for more deeds to add to my list. I want to hear about projects that are
personal, a place where one person can make a difference for another person. I don't
want just links to charities or links to people who are looking for donations. The
deeds must be personal and something that busy people and poor people can even work
on.
The main point I'm trying to get across here is that you don't have to have
lots of money to make a special difference in someone's life. Just give some of your
time, make a little effort. It's worth the trouble. Really.
Maintained by Wendy Russ,
wendy@wendy.com
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