Weekly Charity: One Laptop Per Child

We're starting to see news articles about charities having to cut back due to the recession -- most recently it's been the One Laptop Per Child program, which, according to The Associated Press, has cut its staff in half.

The program is a good one, and deserves support. One Laptop Per Child provides low-cost, rugged laptop computers to children around the world who need them most. This gives kids in poor nations an opportunity to learn technology skills and link up with the broader world.

Right now, a laptop costs $199, though the group hopes to lower that to $100 in time. Thankfully, you can help by donating less that $199; perhaps if enough people donate $5 this week by clicking here, we'll have funded one more laptop that can bring one more child into a brighter future.

So check 'em out and give!

Marine Corps Toys for Tots

'Tis the season, my fellow Heroes! The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is going up outside my office, and the bins for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots are already in place. And this is a very worthy charity, folks.

Toys for Tots is a program of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Like the Army Reserve and National Guard, these citizen soldiers are the same folks being called up to Iraq or Afghanistan. Each year, the reservists in communities around the country gather toys and distribute them via other charities to kids who might not otherwise have a present for Christmas.

So surf on over to check out the Toys for Toys program, and then click here to make a $5 donation along with me to help support their good work. And if you see those bins around town...even a simple gift would really make a difference to a kid.

Finally, for those concerned about the ever-earlier arrival of Christmas, don't count this post as evidence! Even the Marines need time to collect and distribute all these toys to the kids who need them. (Amphibious assault vehicles are much slower than reindeer.)

Free Cakes for Kids!

First off, welcome to my new friends from BlogCatalog! Nice to see you drop by! Now go spam everyone you know and tell them to come here, too.....!

Now then. This week's charity comes courtesy of my sharp-eyed spouse, who saw an article on this in People and suggested it to me. Foster parent Toni Poulos of Trenton, Ga., made a birthday cake for one of her foster kids -- and it turned out the eight-year-old had never had a birthday cake before. Toni rightly figured that other kids didn't have a cake, either, and that someone should do something about it.

So she did. And others joined her. Today, Free Cakes for Kids is a network of dozens of home bakers who do what they can to bring a little happiness to the lives of kids around the country. They bake for the poor, the hospitalized, really anyone who needs one. Check out their site here, and you'll see that this little band of bakers are making a big difference.

And then click here to donate $5 to the cause -- in this case, that'll likely pay for the cake mix and icing!

UNICEF for Halloween!

Sorry about the delay in posting...busy weekend! But it's not for lack of inspiration. My daughter already has her little UNICEF collection box for trick or treating! So this week, in a show of solidarity, I'm featuring UNICEF on here, too.

For those who might not remember collecting for UNICEF as a kid, this is the United Nations Chidren's Fund, which helps underprivileged children around the world. These are kids who are suffering from hunger, disease, war, you name it. Sort of makes the Wall Street meltdown seem tame by comparison, doesn't it?

So refresh your memory and check out UNICEF U.S.A.'s Web site, and then click here to put your five bucks down! And hey...if you're taking your kids around on Friday, it's a great way to help educate them about helping others.

Creative Arts Workshops for Kids

Sometimes, you've got to change the world one neighborhood at a time. So this week, Five Dollar Heroes is going local to help kids and teens in New York City to learn about leadership and community through art.

The Creative Arts Workshops for Kids provides after-school, weekend and summer programs for kids and teens in Harlem and Washington Heights. The kids work on a variety of art projects, all designed to benefit the community. For their part, the kids gain leadership and public-speaking skills, along with a great venue to express themselves.

Check out the great work of the Creative Arts Workshops for Kids by clicking here. The gallery page is downright cool; these artists have real skill that deserves to be supported. And finally, click here to donate your five bucks for the week. Use the big DONATE button, which will take you to PayPal. Put in 5.00 in the amount field on the top of that page, and you're good to go.

One final note: This charity is indeed local to me, and perhaps to one or two regular readers. It's a great charity, too, and no matter where you're from, your $5 will be well spent. Of course, if you have some other local charity in mind, feel free to donate there, too. And drop me a line about it -- I'm always on the lookout for a good cause!

Hole in the Wall Camps

Paul Newman readily confessed that he exploited his celebrity. Indeed, it was on every bottle of salad dressing, pasta sauce, salsa and popcorn his company produced: Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good.

The talented actor, director, producer and, yes, salad dressing impresario, died Friday at the age of 83. His Newman's Own Foundation got all the proceeds from his food business and, over the course of Newman's life, donated $250 million to various charities. Newman, of course, was rich, but he wasn't Bill Gates rich; the foundation probably gave away more than Newman earned over his entire career.

One of Newman's favorite charities was the Hole in the Wall Camps, which he helped start in 1988. These camps allow chronically ill children a chance to have a normal, fun camp experience. Over the past 20 years, more than 119,000 severely ill kids have been able to leave the hospitals, hospices and confining bedrooms and know what it's like to spend some time in the sun.

So in tribute to one of the great philanthropists of the past 30 years, Five Dollar Heroes is naming the Hole in the Wall Camps as the weekly charity. So check out what the camps do, and please, donate by clicking here. And yes, it's another $10 minimum. And yes, once again I think I need to rename the blog...!

Finally, if you're of an athletic bent, consider joining Team Hole in the Wall for your next race, and run on behalf of a local camp!

Save the Children

This week's charity comes courtesy of another reader (Thanks, Terri!) who noted the work that Save the Children was doing in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. I surfed on over to Save the Children's site and was immediately impressed.

Save the Children really does immense amount of work to help children through such an incredible variety of difficulties. Here in the U.S., they have literacy programs and aid for poorer kids, along with disaster relief. Abroad, they're fighting to give kids a better life no matter the circumstances -- poverty, war, disease, you name it.

They're also good with their money, too -- 90 percent of what they collect goes right to kids in need, with only 10 percent going to administrative costs and fundraising. (In nonprofit terms, that's really impressive.) Plus, they won't spam you unless you want more e-mail from them.

Really, this is just a wonderful organization, and I'm proud to slap my $5 down for them. I hope you join me. To learn more about Save the Children, click here. And to donate to the Global Action Fund, click here. You can also make memorial and gift donations, too.