Giving is more important than ever

So here we are in the midst of an honest-to-God global financial crisis. Stocks have lost 20 percent in the past seven days, and are down roughly 40 percent for the year. This is bad, no question.

But it's only going to mean that there's going to be even more demand for charitable giving, and this is where Five Dollar Heroes comes in. Sure, people are going to cut back on the big gifts and efforts as they tighten their belts. But I think people can still come up with five bucks a week. How, you ask?

• Bring your lunch to work.
• Skip the latte one day a week, or switch to drip coffee for the week.
• Store brands are your friends when food shopping.
• Save on your electric bill (and the planet) by shutting off all unnecessary electronics at home.

There are plenty of other ideas, of course, and if you have one, e-mail me and I'll post it on the blog. But hey, the whole idea is that we can all find a way to scrape up five extra bucks and give it to folks who really need it. So find that extra fiver, and give it up!