"We are the change that we seek."

This quote is from one of Barack Obama's speeches, and I liked it so much that I gave the Obama campaign $15 a few weeks ago. That's not a lot, but it was the first presidential campaign contribution I ever made.

Obama's campaign has thrived on so-called "small dollar" donations, to the tune of $340 million from two million people. A little bit of money, coming from a lot of people, can make a huge difference.

That got me thinking. Could someone do the same thing to more broadly help charities and other worthy causes on a regular basis? I pondered the idea for a few weeks, and you're now reading the result.

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to pick a charity that operates locally, throughout the nation, or around the world. I'm going to give that charity $5, and post the link on this blog every Monday in the hopes that you'll match my Mr. Lincoln with a fiver of your own. I'll also post some ideas on charitable giving, upcoming events and opportunities to give of your time, and also some links to buy stuff that goes to support good works.

I'm hoping you, my friend, will do two things. One, match that five bucks each week. Skip the vente latte at Starbucks, for example, or pack a lunch. An "extra" five dollars shouldn't be that hard to find. Two, if you're going to take up this challenge, tell others about it. Drop this URL in an e-mail and send it to as many folks as you're comfortable with. The more people we get to join us, the more good we can do for the world.

So there you have it. Be the change you've always hoped for, and do it with the spare change in your pocket. Take five minutes each week, spend five bucks, and be a Five Dollar Hero. Hokey? Yeah, maybe...but with enough people behind us, we all might wear the title with pride some day.