Helping Hearts, Blog of Anne Sanders

It has been a year ago today since I last posted. In looking over my life at the top five things that have given me a feeling of accomplishment, this blog has to be one of them. I've been thinking about how I want to be remembered. I would love for one of the things for which I am remembered to be this blog and my Facebook moniker of Volunteer and Charity Guru. So, I'm back! I'm still working fulltime and have other responsibilities, but I really missed talking about the awesome things anyone who wants to can do to help others. I never stopped doing things to help others, just writing about them here because I had a website and this blog and a busy life. So, I was walking with my son last week and, of course, mapping the miles with the Charity Miles app so money would be given to a charity for my exercise, when I found a new way to give. It's a new app called Donate a Photo which is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. You upload a photo that you've take...

Last week I asked you to think about which charities you might want to support in the new year. This week I have thirteen ways to do so. Not all of these ways allow you to choose the charity you benefit, but many of them do so get ready to give back! 1.        Open a savings account with ableBanking and get $25 given to the charity of your choice and a quarter percent of your average balance once a year as well. They are an online bank with no fees so you will be saving money, too! 2.       Give a dime a day to charity without thinking about it. Help Every Day takes what it calls a “coin of compassion” each day , charged monthly to your credit card, to support various charity projects around the world. You don’t miss it, but it’s helping other people. 3.       Like Carrie Underwood, James Taylor, Katy Perry or the Rolling Stones? Then buy your ticket to their concerts at Tickets for Charity ...

The most popular month historically to say “I do” is coming up in less than thirty days so I wanted to share some resources for happy nuptials not only for the lucky couple but also the charity of their choice.   Have you heard of charity wedding registries?  They are the hippest way to share your joy with those less fortunate.  A couple makes a charity registry when they choose a charity or more than one and ask their friends and family to make donations in lieu of wedding gifts.   There are several places that allow you to do them like JustGive.org and the Wedding Channel , but they are all supported through the I Do Foundation .  Working with nearly 50,000 couples a year, the I Do Foundation has granted more than $6 million to charity from its start in 2002 to 2009.      Besides charity registries, the I Do Foundation also allows you to give wedding favor cards showing that a donation has been made by the happy couple for their ...

This is National Volunteer Week, a week for recognition of volunteers in America.   I wasn’t going to say anything about it because I don’t believe volunteers do what they do for rewards and I have a bunch of ideas for blogs that I need to get written before summer comes. But then I found out about some cool programs for volunteers that you, my readers, might be interested in knowing about. The first is from the Points of Light Institute . Through Sunday, they have a contest for volunteers to tell their stories for the chance to win a cruise to Alaska . Called Celebrating People in Action, it’s a wonderful way to share a volunteering story and win a prize for a fabulous volunteer, either yourself or someone you know.   With L’Oreal Paris, Points of Light is also sponsoring the Women of Worth program , giving $10,000 to ten female honorees to donate to their charity of choice.   All honorees will go to New York City in December to be recognized and one will receive ...

As of yesterday I have been volunteering for the American Cancer Society (ACS) for one year.   It has been a great experience.   The people I volunteer for are so appreciative of my work.   I’ve had the chance to brush up on my clerical skills.   I enjoy getting out of the house, meeting new people and being involved in an organization that’s making a difference in the world.   The kicker is that because I have volunteered more than 40 hours in the past year (other studies say 100 hours), I also am in better health than if I hadn’t volunteered. You read that right, volunteering more than 40 hours a year makes you healthier. At least that’s true according to the Corporation for National and Community Service which reviewed two decades of research on the benefits of volunteering.   Here are a few of the results: ·          Volunteering enhances a person's social networks to buffer stress and reduce disease ...

I’m reading a book called Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.   It’s about women the world around being stolen, raped, trafficked and abused.   It’s also about their successes getting free from their captors, getting an education and turning their situations around. It’s a very inspiring book. The United Nations International Labour Organization reports that a t least 12.3 million people around the world are slaves.   Other nonprofit groups like Free the Slaves say that there are 27 million slaves in the world. Last Friday was the United Nations International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, marking the date in 1949 when the UN adopted a resolution for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others. The UN explains the different types of slavery like this. “Forced labour takes different forms, including debt bondage, trafficking and other forms of modern slavery. The victims are the most vulnerable...

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up quickly, I thought I’d provide a few shopping resources for the conscientious charitable shopper. Here is a list of places you can buy gifts that give in more than one way.   These gifts make the receiver smile, help someone in need and give you a good feeling inside.   Gifts That Give to Charities A number of companies now give a set amount or percentage of the sale to a charity when you purchase goods from them.   It’s an easy way to get a product that you would normally buy while also giving to a good cause. Gifts.com – has put together a list of gifts which give a portion of the proceeds to different charities including products from Ralph Lauren, LaCoste and Clarins Gifts that Give – designer products you can buy where 20 percent of proceeds go to charity Gifts That Give More from the Hunger Site – buy a wide variety of items from around the world and food goes to the hungry Shop For Good – items from well kno...