3rd Loan on Kiva goes to...

My Kiva loan was just re-paid for the 2nd time. Time to re-lend to another great project! 

The most important part of donate is DO.
Living Philanthropic #Giveeveryday
Every Today is the day. #giveeveryday
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Every Today is the day. #giveeveryday

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Source: hillbilly312

Life is full of chances to do good. #giveeveryday #dogood
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Life is full of chances to do good. #giveeveryday #dogood

Let’s win $25K for Waterkeeper!

Living Philanthropic’s featured charity for May is the Waterkeeper Alliance. Waterkeeper Alliance helps communities stand up for clean water and believe that clean water is a basic human right for everyone. 

To celebrate Earth Day, Groupon is giving $25K to the green charity that raises the most funds on Crowdrise. I would love to be able to get this needed support for Waterkeeper. If you would like to help, please join the team, spread the word, or make a donation. The contest ends on May 15th, 2012. 

Also, if you donate $10 or more to Waterkeeper on Crowdrise before May 8th, you will be entered to win an Eco bike from New Amsterdam Bikes!

Join the team and show your support here: http://www.crowdrise.com/lp-waterkeeper

826CHI update & a martian jellyfish!

Thanks to a donation from Ticketmaster, we’ve raised $2,040 for 826CHI, Living Philanthropic’s Featured Charity for April. I truly admire the work that they do to make reading and writing fun for kids. If you would like to help 826CHI do more excellent work, consider joining the team and pledging your support: http://www.crowdrise.com/LP-826CHI

And now story time courtesy of the 2nd Grade Class at Wicker Elementary in Chicago!

The Story of Lary Snakefish, the Martian Jellyfish

Once upon a time lived a Martian jellyfish named Lary Snakefish. He had dragon wings and was orange with blue and yellow polka dots. He lived in a seaweed house in Jellyfish Ocean on Mars. Lary was no ordinary jellyfish. All the jellyfish on Mars had dragon wings, but Lary had the special ability to breathe fire.

Every morning, Lary would wake up feeling super grouchy because he hated waking up in the morning. He would go and drink some of his favorite jell-o coffee with a side of cranberry juice. Then he would put on his jellyfish hat and gracefully float to work.

Lary worked at the library. His favorite thing to do in the whole wide world was to read. He liked to read books about dragons, baking, dolphins, and Power Rangers. The only problem was that everyone in the library hated when Lary worked because he breathed fire, so he would sometimes burn the books.

One day, the head librarian, Mrs. Seahorse, who was surprisingly an elephant, came up to Lary and said, “Lary, you keep burning all of the books. I’m going to have to fire you.”

Lary replied, “I understand. I’m so sorry. Could I pay for the books?”

“Yes, but the books are really really expensive! You burned 100 books so you will need to pay a trillion dollars!” said Mrs. Seahorse.

Since Lary no longer had a job, because he got fired from being a librarian, he had no idea how he was going to earn a trillion Martian dollars.

“Oh no!” said Lary, “What am I going to do?” 

Read more stories at 826CHI’s Writing Gallery: http://www.826chi.org/writing_gallery

Earth Day is Sunday, April 22. Do some good for planet earth. Pledge your support to Waterkeeper Alliance on the Living Philanthropic team page on crowdrise and help us get $25,000 from Groupon!  JOIN THE TEAM, MAKE A DONATION, SPREAD THE WORD. LET’S DO THIS! The team that raises the most money for their organization by May 15th, 2012 gets a $25K donation from Groupon! Go Earth Day! May 2012 Living Philanthropic Featured Charity   Today, water resources are declining in quality and quantity in virtually every part of the world: More than a billion people are living without access to safe drinking water; California faces the most serious water emergency in its history; Australia is in the midst of an epic, 12-year-long drought-the first industrialized nation to deal with water scarcity on this scale.  Waterkeeper Alliance provides a way for communities to stand up for their right to clean water and for the wise and equitable use of water resources, both locally and globally.  The vision of the Waterkeeper movement is for fishable, swimmable and drinkable waterways worldwide.  Our belief is that the best way to achieve this vision is through the Waterkeeper method of grassroots advocacy.  Waterkeeper Alliance aspires to protect every major watershed around the world. We also continue to reach out and collaborate with other leading national and international environmental and public health organizations to serve the needs of our global network. The growth of the Waterkeeper movement is a testament to the strength of our model. From the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, the Amazon to the Ganges, Waterkeeper Alliance has become a powerful voice for the world’s waters.     Take the Living Philanthropic Challenge Options:Pledge $1 a day for the month of May ($31) Take up a cause and give a tweet! Give once. Give Everyday. Thank you for being a living philanthropist! Want to be a guest blogger on Living Philanthropic?Join the team and donate on this page & submit your blog post about why you made a contribution here:  http://bit.ly/lp-blogger Living Philanthropic was founded in April 2010 as one man’s mission to give to charity everyday for a year. This mission is built on a belief that you don’t have to be rich in dollars to make a difference; you only need to be rich in spirit. After completing his 365 day mission, the spirit of giving everyday carries on through his friends and in his mission to continue his micro-philanthropy for a third year. For more information, please visit:www.livingphilanthropic.com
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Earth Day is Sunday, April 22. Do some good for planet earth. Pledge your support to Waterkeeper Alliance on the Living Philanthropic team page on crowdrise and help us get $25,000 from Groupon! 

JOIN THE TEAM, MAKE A DONATION, SPREAD THE WORD. LET’S DO THIS!

The team that raises the most money for their organization by May 15th, 2012 gets a $25K donation from Groupon! Go Earth Day!

May 2012 Living Philanthropic Featured Charity  

Today, water resources are declining in quality and quantity in virtually every part of the world: More than a billion people are living without access to safe drinking water; California faces the most serious water emergency in its history; Australia is in the midst of an epic, 12-year-long drought-the first industrialized nation to deal with water scarcity on this scale. 

Waterkeeper Alliance provides a way for communities to stand up for their right to clean water and for the wise and equitable use of water resources, both locally and globally.  The vision of the Waterkeeper movement is for fishable, swimmable and drinkable waterways worldwide.  Our belief is that the best way to achieve this vision is through the Waterkeeper method of grassroots advocacy. 

Waterkeeper Alliance aspires to protect every major watershed around the world. We also continue to reach out and collaborate with other leading national and international environmental and public health organizations to serve the needs of our global network.

The growth of the Waterkeeper movement is a testament to the strength of our model. 
From the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, the Amazon to the Ganges, Waterkeeper Alliance has become a powerful voice for the world’s waters.    

Take the Living Philanthropic Challenge Options:
Pledge $1 a day for the month of May ($31)

Take up a cause and give a tweet!

Give once. Give Everyday.

Thank you for being a living philanthropist!

Want to be a guest blogger on Living Philanthropic?
Join the team and donate on this page & submit your blog post about why you made a contribution here:  http://bit.ly/lp-blogger

Living Philanthropic was founded in April 2010 as one man’s mission to give to charity everyday for a year. This mission is built on a belief that you don’t have to be rich in dollars to make a difference; you only need to be rich in spirit. After completing his 365 day mission, the spirit of giving everyday carries on through his friends and in his mission to continue his micro-philanthropy for a third year. For more information, please visit:www.livingphilanthropic.com

Who wants to go to prom with me? @826chi

The 826CHI annual fundraiser will take place at the Stan Mansion, one of many places that exist in two places, on a street very close to the Logan Square blue line L stop and on the web. To thwart any possible confusion, the event will take place at this address: 2408 North Kedzie, Chicago, IL 60647, not this address: http://www.stanmansion.com.

They encourage folks to dress in second-hand formal finest and/or as a person, place or meme from the Internet.

Tickets are 20 bitcoin or $40 [$50 at the door] and can be purchased … through the very internet we’re celebrating. Ticket includes bottomless cups of Haymarket beer, Virtue Cider, snacks, access to a silent auction, music, and dancing, dancing, dancing. All proceeds from the evening go to support 826CHI’s free writing programs for thousands of Chicago students.

Get Tickets here: http://www.826chi.org/prom/home.html? (Beware of flashing .gifs)

CONTEST: If you would like to win a chance to be my guest, I have an extra ticket and will give it to one lucky random person, who donates $20 or more to the team page. Winner will be notified on Thursday, April 19th at 10am CST. Airfare and Lodging not provided. Make a donation for chance to win here: http://www.crowdrise.com/lp-826chi

Vote for Living Philanthropic TV

Vote for Living Philanthropic to receive a $2,500 grant to produce a web series about giving back.

The Idea

The Living Philanthropic Project: a new web series highlighting the joys of giving back through volunteerism. The goal is to produce 12 episodes highlighting a different non-profit organization each week as the host interacts with the organization and tells their story.

The Specifics

The funds would go directly to renting the equipment and paying the crew to help film and produce 12 episodes of The Living Philanthropic Project. The videos would then be hosted on Vimeo & Youtube and provided for free usage to the organizations to help promote their cause.

Creating content can be challenging for some non-profits working on a limited budget. The Living Philanthropic Project hopes to provide high quality videos that help tell the story and inspire action through action. Please share a vote and a tweet or like if you believe in the power of volunteerism.

Vote for The Living Philanthropic Project here: http://jumo-organizations.maker.good.is/projects/livingphilanthropic

Year 2 of Living Philanthropic comes to a close, thank you for all the support and generosity. We made another impact this year, our running reported total has hit a grand total of $54,314!! Amazing! Let’s keep it going for Year 3! For Year 3, I am working on a few goals: Create the Living Philanthropic Foundation - with a mission to help raise awareness for non-profits through a series of programs A top secret project - more details soon Monthly Featured Charities - Moving projects to GiveBack so 100% of all funds raised go directly to the organizations. 100%! Pledge $1 a day to Charity. Will you join me? April 2012 Living Philanthropic Featured Charity 826CHI is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Their services are structured around the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.With this in mind, they provide drop-in tutoring, after-school workshops, field trips, in-school tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications.All of their programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in his or her individual voice. For more information, please visit: www.826chi.org Take the Living Philanthropic Challenge Options: Pledge $1 a day for the month of April ($30) Give once. Give Everyday. Make your contribution to the Team Page: https://www.giveback.org/pages/cause/cause.aspx?cid=30702 Want to be a guest blogger on Living Philanthropic? Join the team and donate on this page & submit your blog post about why you made a contribution here: http://bit.ly/lp-blogger Living Philanthropic was founded in April 2010 as one man’s mission to give to charity everyday for a year. This mission is built on a belief that you don’t have to be rich in dollars to make a difference; you only need to be rich in spirit. After completing his 365 day mission, the spirit of giving everyday carries on through his friends and in his mission to continue his micro-philanthropy for a third year.
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Year 2 of Living Philanthropic comes to a close, thank you for all the support and generosity. We made another impact this year, our running reported total has hit a grand total of $54,314!! Amazing! Let’s keep it going for Year 3!

For Year 3, I am working on a few goals:

  1. Create the Living Philanthropic Foundation - with a mission to help raise awareness for non-profits through a series of programs
  2. A top secret project - more details soon
  3. Monthly Featured Charities - Moving projects to GiveBack so 100% of all funds raised go directly to the organizations. 100%!
  4. Pledge $1 a day to Charity. Will you join me?

April 2012 Living Philanthropic Featured Charity

826CHI is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Their services are structured around the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.With this in mind, they provide drop-in tutoring, after-school workshops, field trips, in-school tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications.All of their programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in his or her individual voice. For more information, please visit: www.826chi.org

Take the Living Philanthropic Challenge Options:

Pledge $1 a day for the month of April ($30)

Give once. Give Everyday.

Make your contribution to the Team Page: https://www.giveback.org/pages/cause/cause.aspx?cid=30702

Want to be a guest blogger on Living Philanthropic?

Join the team and donate on this page & submit your blog post about why you made a contribution here: http://bit.ly/lp-blogger

Living Philanthropic was founded in April 2010 as one man’s mission to give to charity everyday for a year. This mission is built on a belief that you don’t have to be rich in dollars to make a difference; you only need to be rich in spirit. After completing his 365 day mission, the spirit of giving everyday carries on through his friends and in his mission to continue his micro-philanthropy for a third year.