This one's not really easy, unless you happen to have more disposable income than thedailygood. War Child Canada, a prominent Canadian charity, has an ongoing drive to raise money for several things:

• Rebuilding schools in Congo: it costs $30,000 to rebuild one school, but you can donate as much as you'd like.


• Keep the Beat: these funds go toward a variety of endeavors to improve the lives of those in war-torn countries. $200 "can pay for shelter, health care and education for a child who has lost both parents to AIDS in Ethiopia, Ghana, and Sierra Leone," according to the site.


• Walk for Darfur

You can also make a monthly commitment, or a donation to War Child Canada in general. The way we see it, every little bit helps...your dollar can go a lot farther there than you might think.

There are lots of things to contribute to and learn more about here.

This is one I did quite some time ago. Merk pharmaceutical company has offered to donate one dollar to the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, up to $100,000, for every bracelet ordered off the site. The money goes to "cervical cancer awareness and screening programs among medically underserved women," according to the site.

The best part? It's totally free for you. Just go, give them your info, and they send you the bracelet (mine took about a month to arrive, if I recall correctly).

Go check out make the commitment.

this morning, i stepped outside in my inappropriate shoes to take out some trash, when i noticed an elderly neighbor making very little progress in de-icing her car from the storm that had just come. about twenty minutes later, we had finally made her car roadworthy after lots of hard work and some entertaining conversation.

today i implore you do hold a door open, help carry some groceries, or perform another small gesture for someone with whom you cross paths.

there's a youngster in my native area who needs some help. all it takes on your part is a little creativity and $.41.

here's the e-mail/bulletin that's been circulating:

Fillmore School has a little boy in Kindergarten who has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. The boy, Hunter Winship, has a wish that we need your help with. He wants to be in the Guinness book of records for receiving the most paper airplanes. Read the note below for more information.

A note from Hunter's mom:
My son Hunter has been diagnosed with a rare form of non hotchkins
lymphoma called Burkitts cancer. It only affects about 300 children a
year. Usually between the ages of 2 and 11 and its usually boys but
can effect girls also. Burkitts is one of the fastest growing tumors
that we know of. He went into the hospital on a Friday and the tumor
was about the size of a tennis ball. By Monday it was a little bigger
than a cantaloupe. He was started on cemo and it shut down his kidneys
and then his liver started failing. On Wednesday, He told me that he
could not see very good and then he quit breathing. He had tubes
placed down his throat, nose, arms, and toes. He has swelling of the
brain due to high blood pressure. Hunter went into the hospital
weighing 40 pounds and now weighs about 70 because of fluid build up.
He is now stable and is in the intensive care unit at Buffalo
Children's Hospital in Buffalo, NY. Hunter is only five years old. I
would just like everyone to know, that Hunter has been set up with the
Guinness book of world records to try to receive the most paper
airplanes. Please forward this on to everyone that you know .
All you have to do is make a paper airplane and write the state or the
country you are from on the wing of your plane and send it to:

Hunter Winship (The Airplane Cancer Goal)
11227 North Hill Road
Freedom, NY 14065
United States of America

Cheryl Winship called to let us know that Hunter's airplane project will be featured on Buffalo's Channel 4 tomorrow morning (Feb. 1st) between 6:30 and 7 am, and then again tomorrow night on the 5 o'clock news.

Update as of 1/31/08:
She also wanted us to know that he is out of the intensive care unit, in his own room, and looking better.

i think this one is fun and simple. here's a little help to get you started.