If so, you should participate in Blog Action Day 2010 on October 15th.  

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15th.  Bloggers all over the world come together and make blog posts about an important issue that impacts us all.  The aim is to raise awareness and spur a global discussion.

Every year a new theme to blog about is chosen. Blog action day was started in 2007 with the first theme being the environment.  In 2008 the theme was poverty.  In 2009 the issue was climate change.  

This year the issue is water. Did you know that almost one billion people on the planet are living without access to clean safe drinking water?  Safe water out of a tap is something that we take for granted in the United States.

Blog Action Day is sponsored by Change.org.  Change.org is a website that connects people with opportunities to raise awareness about important causes.  Over 1000 nonprofit organizations benefit from the work that Change.org does.

Besides clean drinking water there are many more aspects to the issue of water that you can find out more about at BlogActionDay.Change.org. You can register your blog and read about the topics that you want to blog about on October 15th.  There are also opportunities to fundraise and donate money to water-related charities on the website.  

I will be blogging about water on October 15th. I hope some of you will too.

Article by Amy Passmore of DIYFundraising.com.  Visit DIYFundraising for fundraising tips and resources for small nonprofit organizations.  Place the free DIYFundraising widget on your website and start receiving donations online.

When you visit http://nokidhungry.org and sign the pledge, the ConAgra Foods Foundation will donate $5 to No Kid Hungry.  So far, about 4,000 people have signed the pledge and they are aiming for 5,000 signatures so that they will receive $25,000.

The No Kid Hungry pledge is part of a a national effort to mobilize individuals in the fight to end childhood hunger by the year 2015.

The No Kid Hungry campaign was started to ensure that no child in America would ever have to face hunger. Right now, over 17  million kids in the United States – that’s nearly one in four— will face hunger this year. We all know that the lack of nutrition can have a real, lasting impact on a child’s development.

When the No Kid Hungry Pledge launched, they set a goal: Reach 5,000 signers and earn $25,000 for children at risk for hunger before the matching program ends on September 30.

So, visit http://nokidhungry.org and take just a few moments to sign the pledge.  From there you can share your pledge with your Facebook and Twitter followers or send an email to your friends and ask them to sign the pledge. Thanks for your help!

Article by Amy Passmore of DIYFundraising.com.  Visit DIYFundraising for fundraising tips and resources for small nonprofit organizations.  Place a free fundraising widget on your website and start receiving donations online.

A tasty meal you don’t have to cook, I say.

How about enjoying your favorite meal in a restaurant while giving back to others in need.  

Dine Out between now and September 25th and join thousands of people across the country who are eating out to help put an end to childhood hunger.

This week is Share Our Strength’s Great American Dine Out event.  Restaurants throughout the nation are offering great promotions and featuring special dishes to help raise money to support Share Our Strength’s initiative to end childhood hunger in America.

You and your family can help by eating out at a participating restaurant.  Tell your friends and co-workers about this opportunity too.

To find a participating restaurant in your town you can go to www.strength.org and find a list. The more often you Dine Out, the more money you will help raise for Share Our Strength!

Here are some of the extra promotions:

TGI Fridays – With a $5 donation, receive a coupon book worth $15
 
Boston Market – Donate $1.00 and receive a free side dish on your next order

P.F. Changs – For every lettuce wrap ordered 50 cents will be donated to Share our Strength, up to $50,000.

Are you looking for creative ideas for diy-it-yourself fundraisers?  Vist our DIYFundraising.com for tips and resources for schools, youth groups, churches, and other small non-profit fundraising ideas. 

Participants in the Empty Bowls projects work within their community to create their own event.  As long as the money raised goes to help fight hunger the fundraiser can be called an Empty Bowls fundraiser.

The way it works is that one-of-a-kind ceramic bowls are created and sold at a dinner or banquet.  The bowls are displayed, empty, and attendees choose their bowls then fill the bowls and enjoy the food.  They get to keep the bowls and take them home as a reminder of those who are hungry in their community.

The bowls are usually made by art students or ceramic artists.  It just depends on how the fundraiser is organized.  The food is usually something simple like soup or chili.  Food can be donated by restaurants or made by the organizers.  There are usually other foods to go along with the soups, such as homemade breads, desserts and beverages.

 It does require several months to bring it all together.  Handmade bowls will have to be created.  Check with local schools and ceramic guilds and artists to see if they would like to help with your fund-raiser.   Some fun ideas for getting the bowls created is that one group builds them and another group has painting parties.

You can sell tickets to the event for $15 or $20 or whatever price you set.  That is for the bowl and the food.  You can get local “celebrities” to create a bowl and raise more more money by raffling the special bowls off.

The fundraiser can be held in a variety of places.  In school or church cafeterias.  It can be held in banquet facilities or restaurants.  You can hold the fundraiser at the location that will be receiving the money raised, such as a soup kitchen or a shelter.  

During the event you can have entertainment such as local singers or bands.  Raffles, and silent auctions can also help to raise more money.  Ask that attendees bring in canned foods and give them one raffle ticket for each can they donate.

What kind of food can be served?  

There are many options.  In the summer you can serve ice cream sundaes.  In the fall or winter you could serve soup, spaghetti, or chili.  Consider the your regional food specialties, such as German food or Mexican food.  You could also serve fruits that are being harvested such as bowls filled with strawberry shortcake.   If local restaurants are donating their food then they can serve their specialties.  The food possibilities are endless.  

If your organization is looking for a way to raise money to help feed the hungry in your community consider holding an Empty Bowls fundraiser.  It can be a good learning experience for everyone who helps.  For example, high school students can create the bowls as a service learning project. 

Many communities hold the fundraiser once a year because they raise quite a bit of money for local food banks and pantries.  The website www.emptybowls.net has more information.  I have also posted an article on DIYFundraising with examples of Empty Bowls fundraisers so you can get ideas for your own fundraiser.

August is Cataract Awareness Month.

If you or someone you know has cataracts you may be interested in the following information.  Because I am in the fundraising business I am knowledgeable about the awareness intiatives of various nonprofit organizations.

What what are cataracts?

A cataract is a clouding in the lens of the eye, and varies in degree from slight to complete obstruction of the passage of light to the lens. It’s a common condition in older people, and when it’s caused by age, nearsightedness may be an early first symptom, as the power of the lens increases as the cataracts start to form. As the cataract grows and thickens, it will cause the lens of the eye to appear yellowish or opaque and will impair vision and perception of colors, especially blue. It can eventually lead to blindness if not treated. While it affects both eyes, one eye usually has it worse than the other. The good news is that the condition is usually treatable through surgery and the prognosis is good if it’s caught early.

When cataracts develop in older people, it’s called senile cataracts, and it first shows up as a slight opacity in the lens. The lens later swells and then shrinks, causing permanent loss of vision. The cataract itself, meanwhile, emits a milky white liquid that can cause inflammation of the lens and can even rupture the lens, causing severe pain. It can cause glaucoma if untreated, as well, and even dislocation of the lens. However, the dislocation of the lens is a mixed blessing. It can hurt, but in ancient times it was regarded as a miracle, because the moving of the lens often brought it out from behind the cataract and partially restored sight.

As a cataract thickens and becomes opaque in appearance, clear vision is reduced. It becomes more difficult to see contrasts in colors and visual sharpness fades. There may be a residual glare from the light being scattered by the cataract into the eye. While total blindness is rare unless the cataract goes totally untreated for a long period of time, the cataract can compromise vision in a variety of ways.

Although most common in the aged, anyone can get cataracts, even children. They can develop due to exposure to ultra-violet light and radiation, from allergies, as side effects of certain diseases, or from trauma. Sometimes, cataracts are genetic. However, in most cases the can be removed with surgery, fully restoring sight. The cataracts sometimes come back and require surgery again. However, in the modern, developed world, a life of normal or near normal sight is entirely possible with the very effective treatments that are available.

Article by:  Amy Passmore of http://www.diyfundraising.com

It’s that time of year again.  Time for Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale.  You can help by joining with volunteers and bakers all over the United States to help put an end to childhood hunger in America by the year 2015.

Last year over seven thousand volunteers helped to raise more than $1.2 million dollars by holding fundraising bakesales.  The money went towards providing thousands of children facing hunger with healthy meals.

The goal this year is to raise $2 million dollars.  And on April 16 -18th you can participate in the first annual Great American National Challenge.  On this weekend Share Our Strength is holding a challenge to see how many bake sales can be held in one weekend throughout the US.  

Anyone person, group, club, school, business can organize a bake sale.  Do you like to bake brownies or cookies?  Even if you don’t bake you can help to organize a great fundraising bake sale.

Are you a food blogger?  Food bloggers are invited to host and blog about their own bake sales on April 17th.

When you sign up for a bake sale and make a $10 donation you will receive an official bake sale poster, information booklet, 6 Great American Bake Sale balloons and recipes from Domino Sugar and C&H Sugar, Family Circle and Food Network and more.

You can find all the information you need by visiting the Strength.org website.  Sign up for your own bake sale or find one in you community to participate in. Visit: http://gabs.strength.org/

Article by Amy Passmore of http://www.diyfundraising.com.
Visit DIYFundraising.com for fundraising tips for small nonprofit organizations.

March is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Month. This disease is also known as CFS, and can be a very debilitating disorder for those who have it. It is characterized by severe physical fatigue tht is persistent and unrelated to any other illness or condition. It is not relieved by rest, and must last for at least six months to receive the CFS diagnosis. So far, no one knows exactly what causes CFS, but there is some indication it’s a post-viral condition, as many people develop symptoms after being exposed to a virus or having a viral illness.

While fatigue is a common symptom of a lot of conditions, CFS is pretty rare. It involves many different parts of the body and can include such symptoms as joint pain, muscle aches, cognitive difficulties, swollen glands, hypersensitivity to sounds and smells, digestive problems, and poor immune system function. Usually, the persistent fatigue needs to be accompanied by at least two other symptoms for six months or more for a doctor to reluctantly give a CFS diagnosis. Most doctors are still reticent about classifying this as a real disease, though for those who have it, it couldn’t be more real.

CFS is thought to occur in about four out of every 1,000 adults in the United states, usually affecting people in their 40′s and 50′s and affecting more women than men. It is rare in children and teenagers. It’s also notoriously difficult to recover from, with full recovery happening only five to ten percent of the time.

March is Chronic Fatigue Awareness Month.  If you suspect you have CFS see your doctor.  You can also help help raise money and awareness for CFS.

Article by Amy Passmore of www.DIYFundraising.com.  Visit www.DIYFundraising.com for fundraising ideas for small nonprofit organizations.

People with Marfan Syndrome are usually tall like Abraham Lincoln, with long limbs and thin fingers. However, the condition affects more than just a person’s appearance. It can also cause defects of the heart, lungs, spinal cord, skeleton, and hard palate. It can also cause dislocated lenses in the eyes and aortic root dilation. Usually, if a person has long limbs combined with at least two other common complications of the condition, they will be diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome.

There are several structural abnormalities that can occur with this disease, including scoliosis, osteoarthritis, overly flexible joints, protruding sternums, and weak spines.  Nearsightedness is common, as well. Some patients have heart valve problems, such as heart murmurs that may or may not be serious. Some require treatment, some do not. It varies from person to person in severity. With some people it’s mild, and in others, it can be quite severe and debilitating.

Since it’s a genetic condition, it can’t be prevented. All you can do is test for it before birth, so you’ll know what to expect. Then, find out how severe the condition is in your child and get him or her the appropriate treatment. Most people with Marfan Syndrome are able to live normal lives of normal length, though it CAN shorten a person’s lifespan if it is particularly severe. But if someone with the condition can become president, like Abraham Lincoln, then you know there’s hope.

The National Marfan Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness and conducting research on Marfan Syndrome.   For more information visit www.marfan.org or call 800-8-MARFAN.

Visit www.diyfundraising.com for more information about fundraising for nonprofit organizations.

In order to vote you will need to register for Facebook.com and go to the Target Facebook page at www.facebook.com/target. You can vote once per day, every day, throughout the contest to help decide how the money will be distributed between the ten charities. The final allocations for the charities will be announced on May 26th.

The ten charities are:

American Red Cross

Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Feeding America

HandsOn Network/Points of Light Institute

Kids In Need Foundation

Operation Gratitude

Parent Teacher Association

National Park Foundation

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®

The Salvation Army

Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of the company’s income to support education, social services, the arts, and volunteerism. Today, that 5 percent adds up to Target giving more than $3 million a week to charities and nonprofit organizations.

Article by Amy Passmore of DIY Fundraising.

Visit www.diyfundraising.com for do-it-yourself fundraising ideas for nonprofit organizations, clubs, schools and groups.

This is the 15th year of the food drive. Since 1993 more than three-quarters of a billion pounds of food have been collected and distributed to food banks throughout the United States. 35 million people are estimated to be at risk of hunger in the United States, including 12 million children. When you donate food the letter carriers will pick it up on their delivery routes and it will ultimately be delivered to one of the foodbanks or shelters in your community.

Donate Food

The food that is suggested for donations are cans of meat, soup, fish, pasta, vegetable, cereal and rice. Do not donate food with expired dates or in glass containers. In addition to donating food you can also donate money online through the partner website, FeedingAmerica.org.

Help Spread the Word and Stamp out Hunger

There are other ways you can help with Stamp Out Hunger. If you visit http://www.helpstampouthunger.com you can print out flyers to distribute to your neighbors or post on bulletin boards. You can also send an email to your

friends directly from the website asking your friends to help out. If you are a member of Facebook you will a link on the site to join the Stamp Out Hunger group.

Go check our your shelves now and see if you have some food you can donate! Put it by your front door so you won’t forget to put it by your mailbox this Saturday.

Article by Amy Passmore of DIY Fundraising. Visit www.diyfundraising.com for do-it-yourself fundraising ideas for nonprofit organizations, clubs, schools and groups.