Mother's Day Fundraising

Mother's Day is approaching. Katie, the brilliant author of Scentzilla and Seldom Nice Nowadays, had a fantastic idea of a mass-blog fundraising campaign that would take place upon Mother's Day (May 14th). For this purpose she created a site, Benevolent Blogging, that is currently located at this address, but as soon as the domain registration takes effect, you will be able to find it via benevolentblogging.com. This is how it works: For each comment left on the calendar date of Mother's Day, each blogger will agree to donate a specified amount to a chosen charity. The charities that were selected as preferred charities are FINCA International and Orphan Foundation of America. FINCA International provides loans to low-income microentrepreneurs, focusing especially on women. From FINCA's website - “Of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty worldwide, women account for 70 percent. In the developing world, and even in the United States, a woman's chances of receiving credit are markedly lower than a man's, and yet, in an increasing number of families, the woman provides a substantial portion--or all--of the family's income." FINCA operates on a global level, with active programs in Latin America, Eurasia, Central Asia, and Africa. This organization receives CharityNavigator.org's highest rating of four stars, which you can view by clicking here. Because FINCA uses loans rather than grants, every donation adds to an ever-growing pool of funds to help these burgeoning businesswomen. The loans are set at market rates, which means they are not prohibitive or unreasonably hard to pay back. Many clients take pride in repaying their loans, and feel glad to know that their repayments will mean one more woman not unlike themselves will be able to successfully care for her children and her family. Orphan Foundation of America "has served thousands of foster teens all across the United States. From teaching youth how to balance a checkbook, write a resume, and apply for that first big job, to testifying before Congress and State Legislatures, OFA has long been a vocal champion of foster teens... Each year OFA and its scholarship partners award more funding and provide a stronger safety net for those pursuing post-secondary education." OFA also received a four star rating from CharityNavigator, which can be viewed by clicking here. In addition to financial donations, OFA also has opportunities for knitters to donate the products of their artistry. There is additionally the option for women to join the Pink Panel, run by The Benchmarking Company, who will donate $5.00 to a scholarship fund run by the OFA each time a woman joins or fills out a beauty survey. For more information, please read Katie's post on Scentzilla and join us on Mother’s Day as a blogger and as a commenter.