A Dime a Day

A dime a day. Does it sound like too much or too little? It adds up to about three dollars a month, less than the cost of a Starbucks espresso or a Burger King Whopper.

It is the coin of compassion that Help Every Day deducts from your credit card monthly to support its projects.

If you’re not sure how to go about helping other people and you don’t have much money to do so, then Help Every Day is a great option.

They’ve done projects around the world: improving water collection in Tanzania, developing literacy and vocational skills among poor adolescent girls in India, providing bikes for new health care professionals in Tanzania, financing difficult deliveries of babies in Sierra Leone, caring for orphaned Kenyan babies, providing training for older orphans in Kenya.

Their current project is helping the indigenous Quechua communities in Peru. By financing a project over a six month period, Help Every Day will assist these threatened communities with economic development and preservation of their unique, traditional weaving culture.

Help Every Day will finance a new Mosqoy program called "Kallpa K'oj" (meaning "giving back energy" in Quechua). It is a volunteer service program for Mosqoy's current students, who are promising but disadvantaged youth from rural indigenous Peruvian Andean communities.

I’ve seen several similar companies come and go, using automatic deductions of money for charity, but this one seems different. The projects are small, around $2,000 or less, and localized so they aren’t going to blow up into major financial drains. They’re helping others in meaningful ways. If you want an easy way to help others that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, check it out.

I also want to hear your stories. How have you helped others this week, month or year? Email me at anne@annesanders.net with your story and I may feature it in my blog or on my website. On my website I have an Inspiration in Action section about people making a difference. You may be one of them. You don’t have to start a nonprofit to help others, you just have to care and do something.

This quote is attributed to President Theodore Roosevelt. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Then tell me about it! Have a great weekend.