March 29 - Free Wheelchair Mission...

Free Wheelchair Mission is an international, humanitarian, faith-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing wheelchairs for people with disabilities living in poverty in developing countries.  Working in partnership with a network of like-minded organizations, Free Wheelchair Mission has sent wheelchairs to hundreds of thousands of people around the world, providing not only the gift of mobility, but those of dignity, independence, and hope.  Take a minute to watch this short video... let it inspire you to help.





In the United States, the majority of disabled citizens will find access to a wheelchair and a life of independence. Public and private health care, government organizations, charitable groups and a variety of social services provide a safety net that grant coverage for many Americans.

However, in developing nations where poverty and economic isolation are the norm, the physically disabled must crawl on the ground or wait to be carried by loved ones to reach their most basic of needs. They are subjected to danger, disease and hopelessness. Their families strain to care for their loved one within an already overburdened existence. For most of these people, a wheelchair is a dream far beyond their wildest imagination.


Read the stories of how Free Wheelchair Mission is making a difference.


Get Involved:

Ways to Get involved and help lift someone up ! 

Donate to Free Wheelchair Mission

Send an E-card and help spread the word about FWM.


How about it?  Is this a cause you can get behind and help             make a difference?

Share

Source: Free Wheelchair Mission

February 19 - Ball For All

Ball for All was started in 2004, by former Peace Corps volunteers Brad and Jenny Kremer. As volunteers in small villages, they saw the power soccer had in bringing joy to the children. They also saw a lot of development money being wasted and as a result, they wanted to create an organization that would help children more directly.  Ball For All is a 501(c)3 non-profit that believes in the power of sport to transform lives. Ball for All empowers Peace Corps volunteers living in African communities to start sport teams for girls to build Africa's next generation of female leaders.


Brad Kremer wrote this about his Peace Corps experience:
"When I lived in southeastern Senegal, these boys came to my family’s compound every single day to play soccer after they had finished their daily chores. Usually they played with a “ball” made of tattered plastic bags wrapped with knotted strips of fabric, grass, and reeds. One day I bought them a cheap rubber ball for about $2 in the local market. That one ball – such a small gift – gave dozens of children many hours of joy. Kids played with that ball for over 2 years, until it literally split in half from overuse. This has served as the inspiration to start Ball for All."


In 2005, Brad went to Senegal looking to set up programs for Ball for All and by chance, met Jeff Chatellier at the Peace Corps office where Jeff told him about a girls’ soccer team he started in his village. Brad asked if Jeff could accompany him to the village. Despite Jeff not wanting to ride 10 hours in a cramped and hot car on poor roads, he agreed as he felt connecting his girls’ soccer team with Ball for All would keep his efforts going. 


Through contacts from the village where Jeff lived and worked in as a volunteer, Brad and Jenny Kremer expanded the sports program in the Toubacouta school district. The following year, Jeff took over the reigns of Ball for All and continues to run the organization on a volunteer basis.  Girls playing sports in Africa is not a common sight. Ball for All wants to change this. Ball For All connects African communities to donors across the world who believe all girls deserve the right to play.



Get Involved:

Donate to Ball For All.

Other ways to help Ball For All.

Share

Find One Way Every Day on Facebook.
Help me spread the word about One Way Every Day. LIKE me on Facebook!



Source:  http://www.ballforall.org/

February 10 - Hope North

In northern Uganda, tens of thousands of children have been abducted and forced to serve as soldiers in a brutal civil war that has razed villages and torn apart countless families.  But there is hope! 


Hope North is a 40-acre campus in northern Uganda where refugees, orphans and former child soldiers find a place to call home. It is a living and learning community with an accredited secondary school, vocational training center and full time Ugandan staff of fifteen.   In this safe, vibrant cultural setting resident students are rebuilding their lives through education and vocational training.  Hope North operates an accredited school and offers vocational training in carpentry, food production, tailoring, and programs in arts, music, dance and sports.


In northern Uganda, tens of thousands of children have been abducted to serve as soldiers in a brutal civil war. The war has made orphans and refugees of many others, with 1.6 million Ugandans forced into overcrowded camps. Doctors Without Borders named the conflict in northern Uganda one of the top ten most underreported humanitarian tragedies.


Okello Sam, the founder of Hope North,  is a well-known Ugandan dance and theater artist whose family was directly affected by the war in the north. He and his brother Godfrey were abducted, and Godfrey was eventually killed by rebels.    Hope North was created to give education, vocational training, community and hope to some of these young victims, while preserving their Acholi heritage. Read more about the situation in Uganda.



Get Involved:

GIVE HOPE!  Donate to Hope North.

Share

Find One Way Every Day on Facebook.
Help me spread the word about One Way Every Day. LIKE me on Facebook!



Source:  http://www.hopenorth.org/

December 21 - Spare Change for Real Change!

EVERY  SIX  SECONDS  A  CHILD  DIES  FROM MALNUTRITION.

Old Need. New Strategy.  

Tragically, five million children die from malnutrition every year.  Malnutrition is considered to be a child's most difficult challenge. Most grain-based relief foods, designed to fight hunger, are often deficient of the basic nutrients required to keep children healthy. Children suffering from malnutrition need more natural, nutrient-dense foods to best support their nutritional needs. Recent advancements in hydroponically grown vegetables are an example of how new science can provide new sources of standardized, plant-sourced nutrients that can help meet this need. Using this technology, for the exclusive use by MannaRelief, Mannatech, Inc.  has created a ready-to-use, nutrient packed complex called PhytoBlend powder. PhytoBlend powder provides children with natural vitamins and plant-sourced minerals in nutritionally effective amounts and will be the most nutritionally sound food these children will eat all day.

The Spare Change for Real Change campaign allows anyone to make a difference for just $0.16 a day.  Just $0.16 a day?  That's right! $0.16 a day may not seem like much, but for a child that might only get 2-3 servings of fruits and vegetables a year, $0.16 can be a life-saver. Pennies a day provides a child with the most advanced nutritional support that their body could possibly receive. 



The goal is to connect one million sponsors to one million malnourished children. Be one of the million that changes a life.

 

 
 
Get Involved:
 
 
Sponsor a child through MannaRelief.  (only .16 cents a day)

Other donation options.

Shop the MannaRelief online store.  ( I like the iPhone skins - only 5 Bucks! )

Share

Find One Way Every Day on Facebook.
Help me spread the word about One Way Every Day. LIKE me on Facebook!




Source:  http://www.mannarelief.org/

December 7 - Give A Gift... Change A Life!

We all know the Christmas song "The Twelve days of Christmas."  You know... the crazy song about someone receiving all kinds of crazy gifts for Christmas from their true love.  Well, I have taken the liberty to rewrite the words a little bit... Hope you like it! You know the tune, feel free to sing along.  Maybe you can be that caring stranger! 

One the First Day of Christmas a caring stranger gave to me...  Clothing and Medicines!
Give clothing and medicines.  (Cost $60.)  The lack of simple things — clothing and medicines — can have deadly consequences. For millions of boys and girls in the world's poorest countries, insufficient clothing and lack of basic medical care puts them at risk of life-threatening illnesses and infections.  Your gift will help children avoid illness through protective shoes and clothing. And it will help treat illnesses by stocking clinics with medicine and supplies. You can help prevent thousands of children from suffering needlessly, and care for the ones whose lives are at risk right now.


On the Second Day of Christmas a caring stranger gave to me...  Seeds for 2 Families!
Give seeds for two families.  (Cost $34.)  Impoverished farming families in countries like Thailand, Lesotho, and Zambia struggle to raise enough food for their children. The seeds they use may be of poor quality, or they may not be able to afford seeds at all. Your gift will offer two families a life-changing solution: fast-growing hybrid or drought-resistant seeds for a bounty of nutritious crops such as maize, rice, cassava, carrots, cabbage, green beans, peas, and onions. Surplus crops can be sold to supplement family income!

One the Third Day of Christmas a caring stranger gave to me... A Goat and Two Chickens!    Give a goat and two chickens.  (Cost $100.)  Goats nourish hungry children and families with healthy milk, cheese, and yogurt. Chickens provide fresh eggs that are rich in protein and nutrients, and extra eggs and chicks can be sold to pay for basics. A dairy goat can give up to 16 cups of milk a day. Goat milk is easier to digest than cow’s milk and is an excellent source of calcium, protein, and other essential nutrients that growing children need. Goats are practical animals — flourishing in harsh climates while producing valuable manure to fertilize crops and vegetable gardens. Chickens are equally easy to raise, and will naturally multiply to impact generations of children. Each family that receives chickens is asked to give back hatched chicks to help another family in need. Chicks require little money, space, or food to thrive and grow — making them an ideal business venture for a single mom or vulnerable family.


One the Fourth Day of Christmas a caring stranger gave to me... Four Soccer Balls!
Give four soccer balls.  (Cost $32.)  Your gift of a soccer ball can replace a makeshift banana leaf ball or rounded wad of trash for an energetic boy or girl. And with a generous match from Baden™ Sports, your gift gives four new soccer balls instead of two! Children around the world love soccer more than any other sport. Yet many children in poverty have never played with a real toy — let alone an actual soccer ball. That’s because when basics like food and health care are scarce, there’s no money left over for simple pleasures. Instead, these children kick around plastic bags and old clothes tied with strings or old cords.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas a caring stranger gave to me... 5 Fruit Trees!      Donate 5 fruit trees.  (Cost $30.)  Apple trees, orange trees, mango trees, and other healthy fruit trees provide the vitamins and nutrients growing kids need. Donate 5 fruit trees today to bless a family in poverty with a fresh start in fruit tree farming. A fruit tree orchard can produce enough fruit for vital income in just two to three years. Tree seedlings from the fully-grown fruit trees can then be used to help another family lift themselves out of poverty. Besides continually multiplying, your green gift is also good for the environment. Planting fruit trees prevents deforestation — a major cause of soil erosion that leads to poor farmland and devastating floods


You get the picture!   I don't have to go on to 12...although there are many more than 12 great ways you can send a gift to help those in need this Christmas!   There are over 100 unique gifts to choose from in the Gift Catalog.



Get Involved:

Check out World Vision's Gift Catalog to determine how you would like to make a difference! 

Other ways to donate to World Vision.

Share

Find One Way Every Day on Facebook.
Help me spread the word about One Way Every Day. LIKE me on Facebook!




Source:  World Vision.  

November 30 - 100cameras.

100cameras identifies children living in unjust conditions and gives them cameras to document their lives. Their photo narratives are used to raise awareness and capital to meet physical needs and empower sustainable growth within their community.  Through photography, 100cameras provides children with a creative platform to share their lives from their own perspective.



100cameras begins by identifying underserved communities locally and abroad that are home to orphans, at-risk children, children without rights and children who lack access to basic healthcare or education. After identifying these communities, 100cameras partners with organizations that are already providing sustainable solutions within their targeted area.


The 100cameras staff then takes donated cameras to the project location in order to implement a photography course among the children. The curriculum provides each child with a camera and includes a series of introductory lessons about basic camera fundamentals with a specific emphasis on documentation. Both the course and the resources give children the opportunity to express the realities of their every day through images. This partnership is empowering to both the children and communities involved.


100cameras teaches a child how to capture and tell their story. This encourages a better self view, resulting in higher levels of confidence and ownership in their identity. Through their own photography, the children become self-advocators. Their pictures are the voices that speak awareness.


100cameras is committed to share their perspective with a global community. Upon completion of a project, 100cameras has the unique position to carry these photographs across borders to bridge communities together. Specifically, this is accomplished through online print sales, web campaigns and a series of photo exhibition events. When someone purchases one of the children's photos, 100 percent of that money is given back to the partner organization in that child's community.

How It Works.
it's simple, really.
we give a camera to jackson.
jackson snaps a photo.
then you buy his photo.
your money goes to jackson.
and jackson is empowered.

 

 

Get Involved:

Donate to 100cameras.

Check out the prints available for purchase.

Adopt a camera to be given to a child.

Share

Find One Way Every Day on Facebook.
Help me spread the word about One Way Every Day. LIKE me on Facebook!




Resource:  http://www.100cameras.org/

November 21 - A Bed for Every Head!

210 million!  There are more orphaned and abandoned children in the world now than ever before. Today, 5,760 children will become orphans.

Sweet Sleep believes that a bed is atangible expression of God’s love and that every child deserves a clean, comfortable place to sleep.  Sweet Sleep’s vision is to passionately and tirelessly pursue the goal of providing “a bed for every head.”

Sweet Sleep is a faith-based nonprofit organization which exists to share God's love by providing beds to the world's orphaned and abandoned children. According to recent estimates, there are more than 210 million orphans worldwide. Every day, 5,760 more children become orphans.

Orphaned and abandoned children in Third World countries suffer from lack of sufficient or healthy places to sleep. From children in war-torn Sudan sleeping in trees to protect themselves from deadly hyenas to the orphans of Eastern Europe sleeping on dilapidated 50-year-old metal cots with broken springs sagging to the floor - millions of forgotten children around the world have no place to dream tonight.

These children often sleep on old, broken and soiled beds or have no beds at all – forcing them to sleep on paper-thin mats or cold, hard floors, making them susceptible to crawling, biting insects and disease. In these conditions, it is nearly impossible to get a good night’s sleep and the effects are staggering:

• 1 in 5 of all childhood deaths is caused from malaria. 90% of these children are in Africa alone.
• A sagging or misshapen mattress may add tension to a child’s joints because their bodies rest on the mattress for hours at a time. Even if a child sleeps well on a bad mattress, these injuries to their bodies only make them weaker.
• Old mattresses or scraps of foam are breeding grounds for bed bugs and allergens that contribute to startling increases in respiratory diseases, including asthma, rhinitis, eczema and bed bug bites.
• When children continuously do not get enough sleep it affects their health, makes them tired during the day, hinders their ability to do well at school and leaves them more prone to disease.

Sweet Sleep’s provision of mosquito nets to orphanages is literally life-changing to children who live in fear of death by malaria. With your help, we are able to get sweet orphaned and abandoned children around the world into healthy, comfortable new Sweet Sleep beds.  Since 2003, Sweet Sleep has worked closely with indigenous staff, and U.S. churches and businesses to provide beds and bedding to thousands of these orphaned and abandoned children.




Check out the Sweet Sleep's  Nickels for Nets  program:

Nickels for Nets is a challenging, educational and fun program to get kids involve with Sweet Sleep's mission to provide life-saving mosquito nets for orphaned and abandoned children in Africa and Haiti.



Get Involved:

Donate to Sweet Sleep.

Volunteer opportunites with Sweet Sleep.

Participate in a Sweet Sleep Mission Journey.

Shop Sweet Sleep's online store.

Share

Find One Way Every Day on Facebook.
Help me spread the word about One Way Every Day. LIKE me on Facebook!



Resource:  http://www.sweetsleep.org/

September 28 (Day 211) Building Bridges...Transforming Lives

Flash flooding affects everyone, young and old. Footbridges provide access for children to attend school and return home safely; the sick are able to reach a hospital or clinic for life saving medical attention; villagers can  attend their weekly market centers so their commerce is not interrupted.

Bridging the Gap is dedicated to saving lives and improving the quality of life for marginalized communities across sub-Saharan Africa by constructing pedestrian footbridges to overcome the dangers posed by impassable rivers and ravines that threaten their safety, limit their access to education and healthcare, and restrict economic opportunity.

The approach to building bridges works best by building community Initiative, Participation, and Ownership.

• Community Initiative is the first step for a successful footbridge project.
• Community Participation is imperative for true and lasting empowerment.
• Community Ownership rewards the hard work of everyone involved.

Using materials that are accessible in Kenya, Bridging The Gap  works with community leaders to involve the local men and women in gathering sand and rock for the bridge footings and in raising their portion of the cost to build their footbridge. Then, utilizing local labor and volunteers, BTG provides technical expertise and financial assistance to design and construct a safe and secure pedestrian footbridge. At the completion of the project it’s time to celebrate! Speeches are given, a meal is shared; the bridge is formally commissioned to the receiving and grateful community.


The hanging footbridges are simple in design, with an average length of 120 feet and an average cost of about $6,000. They are built using basic materials and local tools so villagers can maintain them and make repairs when needed.  There is high demand for Bridging The Gap's  help. But because of limited financing, they are able to organize only five or six projects a year.

Please consider supporting this amazing project!  What an awesome way to make a difference in someone else's life! 



Get Involved:

Donate to Bridging the Gap.

Share

Find One Way Every Day on Facebook.
Help me spread the word about One Way Every Day. LIKE me on Facebook!


Source:  Bridging The Gap

August 26 (Day 179) deworm the world

I hope the title of today's post has not scared anyone away.  The issue is exactly as the title suggests - I hope you will read today's post and thoughtfully consider how you might help Deworm the World  make a difference. 

Four hundred million school-age children are infected with parasitic worms worldwide, which both damage their health and limit their access to education. These worms are detrimental to children’s health, their cognitive development, their education and a brighter future. Chronic illness caused by worm infections reduces literacy and thus adult productivity thereby impacting on the economic development of low and middle income countries.



This problem has a simple and inexpensive solution...

Mass deworming programs based in schools are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and cost just pennies per child. Studies prove deworming is the most cost-effective way of increasing education. Deworming in schools is easy: programs can be plugged into existing school infrastructure at low cost.
Deworming drugs are safe and can be delivered orally without the need for diagnosis. Under the direction of local health professionals, teachers can be easily trained to deliver the drugs on their own. School-aged children are most at risk of worm infections, so targeting through schools is a highly effective method for achieving widespread coverage of treatment.

Deworm the World is working to implement school-based deworming wherever it is needed worldwide, and we invite you to join us. A key barrier to the implementation of mass deworming programs is access and availability of medication. Feed The Children, a key partner in Deworm the World, has donated all of the over 40 million tablets used in programs in 2009.



Get Involved:

Donate to Deworm The World.




Source: Deworm The World.

June 18 (Day 110) Saving Lives... for pennies!

The Children's Safe Drinking Water program provides clean drinking water to people who really need it. Every day more than 4,000 children in developing countries die, simply because they don't have clean drinking water. With your help, we can make a difference.

Contaminated Drinking Water is a major problem: 

• More than one billion people do not have access to safe water. 
• Diarrhea caused by drinking contaminated water remains a leading cause of illness and death among infants and children in the developing world. 
• About 1.8 million children die every year due to diarrheal diseases. 
• More children die from diarrheal illnesses like cholera and dysentery than from HIV/AIDS or malaria combined. 
• P&G has collaborated with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) since 1995 to develop safe drinking water systems that people can easily use in their homes. 
• There is conclusive evidence that simple, low-cost interventions at the community level can dramatically improve the quality of household stored water and greatly reduce the risk of diarrheal disease and death. 
• It is well documented that simply providing safe, clean, drinkable water can reduce deadly diarrhea and other devastating diseases by about 50%.

The Children's Safe Drinking Water program is focused on reducing sickness and death resulting from drinking contaminated water. Working with organizations such as PSI, CARE, World Vision, Aquaya Institute, USAID, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the International Council of Nurses, Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs, Save the Children, Samaritan's Purse and Americares, P&G helps distribute PUR packets to people in developing countries and emergency relief situations across the globe.

To date, the Children's Safe Drinking Water program has delivered over 1.6 billion liters of clean drinking water. And we are committed to delivering four billion liters by 2012, more than doubling the efforts of our first four years.

Get involved with the work they are doing with charitable organizations and educational programs that support this effort to bring clean water to people in need around the globe. Together we can make a difference.

Watch a PUR tablet make unsanitary and potentially deadly water drinkable.

Wow... that is impressive!  Won't you please help to make this available to those who need it! 

Make a Donation.  
It costs only 10 cents to provide one packet that will clean up to 10 litres of water! A donation of $1 will provide a child with fresh drinking water for 50 days. A $7.50 donation you can give a child clean water for a year. And, a donation of $30 will provide an entire family clean water for a full year! 

Source:  www.csdw.org