We've Moved!

Shorter url and new design improvements—we've moved permanently to www.thespud.org. Please visit us there!

PSA to all fans of The Spud

Our site—thespud.org—is undergoing a facelift. Please check back on June 1 for the debut of our new design improvements! In the meantime, we're also at thespudorg.blogspot.com.

Project #19 Update

Thanks to the 4 new people who liked us on Facebook + 1 new Twitter follower, we donated $5 to Against Malaria. That's the cost of one bed net!

Project #19: Help Buy Nets to Prevent Malaria

Malaria kills an estimated one to three million people each year, about 70 percent of them children (that's about one child every 30 seconds). But malaria is preventable and treatable. One simple solution: bed nets treated with insecticide. The nets protect against malaria-carrying mosquitoes at night, and kill mosquitoes on contact. The cost of each bed net? Just $5 through Against Malaria.100 percent of donations goes towards buying and distributing bed nets to countries most affected by the disease. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $100 donated through The Spud's Against Malaria page by Friday. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new person who "likes" us on Facebook or follows us on Twitter (up to $250) by then. We're on Facebook here, and on Twitter here. Photo credit: Against Malaria

Project #18 Update

Thanks to the 31 new people who "like" us on Facebook and 5 new Twitter followers, we donated $36 to Trickle Up! Your support will help the extreme poor take their first steps out of poverty!

Project #18: Help Provide Seed Capital Grants for Those Making Less Than $1.25 a Day

On a trip to the Caribbean over 30 years ago, Glen and Mildred Robbins gave ten people grants of $100 each to launch their own microenterprises—marking the start of their simple, direct, bottom-up approach to poverty alleviation. The nonprofit they started, Trickle Up, has since helped those making less than $1.25 a day—the extreme poor who aren't able to secure microloans—start or expand 150,000 small-scale businesses in Africa, Asia and Central America like Talam Maiga who started a food stand in Mali and Sormaya Gurung who now raises pigs in Nepal. How it works: Trickle Up provides the business training, then disperses seed capital in two installments, to help locals launch their business, and at a later date to help them grow their business. Help Trickle Up reach its goal of starting or expanding 10,000 businesses this year. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $100 in donations. Donate in any amount directly to Trickle Up by Friday, then forward your donation confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new person who likes our Facebook fan page or who follows us on Twitter (up to $250). Find us on Facebook here, and on Twitter here. Photo credit: Trickle Up.

Project #17 Update

Thanks to our 6 new Facebook fans and 1 new Twitter follower, we donated $7 to ShelterBox USA! Your support will help provide emergency relief equipment to disaster-stricken areas. Here, a fantastic Time magazine piece on ShelterBox. 

Project #17: Help Provide Emergency Relief Equipment

ShelterBox's supersimple mission: To deploy boxes filled with emergency relief equipment—from a tent that sleeps 10 to a water purification kit and cook stove—to disaster-ravaged areas. Since former Royal Navy search and rescue diver Tom Henderson created ShelterBox a decade ago, the non-profit has responded to over 100 disasters in 90 countries, from the January 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, India (its first deployment of 143 boxes) to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti (15,000 boxes). Help them respond to the next disaster by replenishing their stock of life-saving equipment. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $100 in donations. Donate in any amount directly to ShelterBox USA by Friday, then forward your donation confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new person who "likes" (a.k.a "fans") our Facebook fan page or who follows us on Twitter. We're on Facebook here, and on Twitter here. The Spud thanks Laura Lin for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed. Photo credit: ShelterBox USA

Project #16 Update

Thanks to our 11 new Facebook fans and 1 new Twitter follower, we donated $12 to Green Empowerment. Your support will help implement renewable energy programs in rural communities around the world like Alto Peru!

Project #16: Help set up a Medical Clinic in Peru with Renewable Energy

Peru's Province of San Pablo has one of the lowest electrification rates in the country: 13.6%. Thanks to Green Empowerment, a non-profit based out of Portland, Oregon, 13 households in the province's Alto Peru community have been set up with renewable energy from small-scale wind turbines. Green Empowerment's next goal: to install 8 solar panels to provide renewable energy for the community's health clinic and three nearby homes. The cost: $21,173. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $100 in donations. Donate in any amount directly to Green Empowerment by Friday, then forward your donation confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan and Twitter follower we receive by then up to $250. Become a fan here; follow us here. The Spud thanks Thomas Chadefaux for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed. Photo credit: Green Empowerment.

Project #15 Update

Thanks to our 15 new Facebook fans and 2 new Twitter followers, we donated $17 to GRID Alternatives! Your support will help low-income families in California receive solar electric units!

Project #15: Help set up Solar Electric Units for Low-Income Families

GRID Alternatives empowers low-income families by installing solar electric systems on their homes. This achieves good in two distinctly different, worthy ways: It helps reduce each family's electric bills by approximately 75 percent, and prevents greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere. The California nonprofit's over 300 solar electric installations to date translates to roughly 30,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions averted over the next three decades—that's equivalent to planting some 20,000 trees. Its goal this year: to set up 300 more low-income families across the state with solar electric units.

Every year, GRID Alternatives organizes a solar installation block party and fundraiser called Solarthon, happening June 12th in Greater LA, July 31st in the Bay Area, and October 2nd in the Central Valley.  To learn more about the event and about becoming an individual or corporate sponsor, please visit solarthon.org.

Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $100 in donations. Donate in any amount directly to GRID Alternatives by Friday, then forward your donation confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan and Twitter follower we receive by then up to $250. Become a fan here; follow us here. The Spud thanks Ratha Tep for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed. Photo credit: GRID Alternatives

Project #14 Update

Thanks to our 10 new Facebook fans, we donated $10 to Half the Sky. Your support will help orphans in China!

Project #14: Help Nurture Orphans in China

In 1998, Jenny and Richard Bowen, adoptive parents of a toddler from China, joined with other adoptive parents to form Half the Sky. Its mission: to provide nurturing care for China's orphans. Half the Sky has since touched the lives of over 15,000 children, helping set up preschools around the country to finding permanent homes for medically- and developmentally challenged orphans. Its newest initiative, the China Care Program, provides medical treatment and care for medically fragile orphans—from premature babies to those born with birth defects—until they're healthy enough to return to an orphanage. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $100 in donations. Donate in any amount directly to Half the Sky by Friday, then forward your donation confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan or Twitter follower we receive by then up to $100. Become a fan here; follow us here. The Spud thanks Thomas Chadefaux for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed. Photo credit: Half the Sky

Project #13: Help Provide Free Flights to Medical Care

What started as a group of 10 volunteer pilots in 1996 who donated their aircraft, fuel and time to provide free flights for patients who otherwise would have a hard time getting to medical care has since grown to a dedicated group of 1000 pilots. Angel Flight Northeast currently averages about 100 missions a week, flying patients whose medical conditions prevent them from taking public transportation, live in areas too remote to access any, or simply because the transport needed would be too costly. The best part: the group hasn't yet turned down a flight request. Peer-to-Peer Match: Donations are used to fund 24-hour-a-day flight coordination, 360 days a year. The Spud will match the first $100 in donations; donate in any amount directly to Angel Flight Northeast by Friday and forward your donation confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations. Additionally, we'll donate $50 if we receive 100 new Twitter followers through Friday. Follow us here. The Spud thanks Ratha Tep for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed. Photo credit: Angel Flight Northeast

Project #12: Help Build 3 Bridges in El Salvador

Bridges to Prosperity started with a single photo in National Geographic. Builder Ken Frantz was so moved by an image taken of Ethiopian villagers trying to cross the broken Sebara Dildi bridge that he decided to repair it. Starting with that first bridge in 2001 over the Blue Nile, Frantz's nonprofit, Bridges to Prosperity, has constructed over 40 footbridges in seven countries, helping connect isolated communities to markets, health clinics and schools. Its next project: to construct three bridges that were damaged during a tropical depression earlier this year in El Salvador. The cost to build each bridge is $15,000 and 100 percent of donations goes towards training and construction. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $100 in donations. Donate in any amount directly to Bridges to Prosperity by Friday and forward your donation confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations. Additionally, we'll donate $50 if we receive 100 new Twitter followers by then. Follow us here. The Spud thanks Mary Ellen Ward for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed.

Project #11: Help Cambodian Girls Stay in School

Illiterate, uneducated girls are among the most vulnerable when it comes to human trafficking. They're lured with false promises of jobs, then forced into sex slavery. American Assistance for Cambodia/Japan Relief for Cambodia's Girls Be Ambitious program aims to prevent rural girls in Cambodia from being trafficked by recruiting girls to attend school. The biggest obstacles: rural girls often have to stay at home to take care of younger siblings or to help their parents in the field. The Girls Be Ambitious program aims to change that by giving families a financial incentive of $10 if their daughters achieve perfect school attendance each month. It places a serious emphasis on education, gives girls a sense of self-worth—and provides enough for parents to hire substitutes to fill their daughters' chores. Peer-to-Peer Match: $120 helps keep a girl in school for one year; The Spud will match the first $120 donation received by Friday. Donate directly via PayPal to Girls Be Ambitious founder Bernard Krisher at bernie@media.mit.edu; then email Krisher and cc thespudorg@gmail.com referencing the match. The Spud thanks Thomas Chadefaux for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed. Photo credit: American Assistance for Cambodia/Japan Relief for Cambodia

Project #10 Update

We're amazed by the incredible outpouring of support for TCF-USA! And we're honored by our huge number of new Facebook fans. Because of all of you, we just completed our $250 donation to help educate two children in Pakistan for an entire year!

Project #10: Help Build Schools in Pakistan

In Pakistan's poorest communities, public schools might lack necessities like electricity and running water. In 1995, a group of Pakistanis formed The Citizens Foundation (TCF) to provide a better education alternative across the country. To date, they operate 600 well-equipped schools—some with libraries, labs, playgrounds—and are on track to complete 50 more by the start of the new school year in April. Also applaudable: TCF students are all taught by women, and nearly half of the 80,000 children enrolled in its schools are girls. Peer-to-Peer Match: $120 will help educate one child for one year; The Spud will match the first $250 in donations to TCF-USA. Donate in any amount directly to TCF-USA by Friday and forward your gift confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll then match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan we receive by then (up to the first 250 fans). To become a fan, click here. The Spud thanks Zeeshan Suhail, Kristin Donnelly, Samantha Tringali, Jade Huang, and Thomas Chadefaux for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed. Photo credit: The Citizens Foundation, USA.

Project #9 Update

Thanks to our 14 new Facebook fans, we donated $14 to Vitamin Angels. Your support means 56 more children will get vitamin A!  

Project #9: Help Provide Vitamin A to Kids

Many basic foods in the U.S. are fortified with vitamins and minerals, making vitamin A something we take for granted. But an estimated 190 million children around the world suffer from vitamin A deficiency, which weakens immune systems and makes it harder to recover from illnesses like malaria. A simple, cost-effective solution: One high-dose vitamin A capsule has been shown to reduce the risk of child mortality by 23 percent. Vitamin Angels' Operation 20/20 program currently works in 32 countries, reaching out to 10 million children and infants each year. In India alone, their goal is to reach 1 million children; the cost to get vitamin A to one child is 25 cents. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $250 in donations to Vitamin Angels. Donate in any amount directly to Vitamin Angels by Friday and forward your gift confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations within 24 hours. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan we receive by then. To become a fan, click here. The Spud thanks Ratha Tep for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed.

Photo credit: Vitamin Angels.

Project #8 Update

Thanks to our 7 new Facebook fans, we donated $7 to Camfed. Your support made a difference!

Project #8: Help Train 7 Teachers in Ghana

Educating a girl in Africa makes a huge impact: She'll be three times less likely to get HIV/AIDS, earn 25 percent more income, and raise a smaller, healthier family, according to Camfed (the Campaign for Female Education). Educating a girl in Africa to become a teacher could have an even greater impact by inspiring more girls to attend school and assume positions of leadership. Camfed has raised $3,320 to train 7 young women from the Bunkprugu/Yunyoo district in Ghana to become teachers; only $1,720 more is needed. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $250 in donations to Camfed. Donate in any amount directly to Camfed by Friday and forward your gift confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations within 24 hours. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan we receive by then. To become a fan, click here. The Spud thanks Samantha Tringali for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed. Photo: Camfed sponsored Afishetu through high school and through the student-teacher program. Credit: Peter DiCampo/Camfed International.

Project #7 Update

Thanks to The Spud's 3 new Facebook fans, we made the minimum donation of $10 to 88bikes. Your support made a difference!

Project #7: Help Give a Child a Bike

88bikes has an astoundingly simple mission: To provide bikes to kids in developing countries. On a practical level, bikes provide a sustainable means of transportation. 88bikes founders Dan Austin, Nicolas Arauz, and Jared Austin believe bikes can provide another, perhaps even more vital benefit: joy. On their first mission three years ago, they gave 88 bikes to 88 kids at the Palm Tree Orphanage in Cambodia; most recently, they delivered 300 bikes to 300 children rescued from human trafficking in Ghana, India, Nepal, and Vietnam. Help fund their VILLAGES project, whose goal is to provide 500+ bikes for kids in Afghanistan, Tanzania, and other as yet undetermined locations this summer. Peer-to-Peer Match: $88 funds one bike; The Spud will match the first three bikes funded by Friday. Donate directly to 88bikes, then mention The Spud's matching program in an email to donations@88bikes.org. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan we receive by 11:59PM Friday. To become a fan, click here. The Spud thanks Laura Lin for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed.

Photo: A child in Vietnam on her new bike. Credit: Dan Austin.

Project #6 Update

Thanks to The Spud's 19 new Facebook fans, we donated $19 to Physicians for Peace. We really appreciate all your support!

Project #6: Help Provide Medical Care + Training

Physicians for Peace believes in sustainable medical missions. Since its inception in 1989, its healthcare volunteers—physicians, dentists, nurses—have made hundreds of trips to medically underserved regions to provide patient care and to train local medical staff on new procedures and techniques. Its next mission, taking place February 19 - March 3: Cardiac surgery and training in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $250 in donations. Donate in any amount directly to Physicians for Peace by Friday and forward your gift confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations, up to the first $250. The match will be completed within 24 hours and we'll forward you the matching gift confirmation. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan we receive by 11:59PM Friday. To become a fan, click here. The Spud thanks Nilesh Parikh for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed.

Photo: Physicians for Peace volunteers at Segou Hospital in Segou, Mali. Credit: Physicians for Peace.

Project #5 Update

Thanks to The Spud's 11 new Facebook fans, we donated $11 to Against Malaria. Thanks again for your support!

Project #5: Help Buy Nets to Prevent Malaria

Malaria kills an estimated one to three million people each year, about 70 percent of them children (that's about one child every 30 seconds). But malaria is preventable and treatable. One simple solution: bed nets treated with insecticide. The nets protect against malaria-carrying mosquitoes at night, and kill mosquitoes on contact. The cost of each bed net? Just $5 through Against Malaria. 100 percent of donations goes towards buying and distributing bed nets to countries most affected by the disease. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $500 donated to Against Malaria through 11:59 PM Friday. That means if you donate $5, we'll match your $5 donation for a $10 impact! Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan we receive by then as well. Make donations through The Spud's Against Malaria page and become a Facebook fan of The Spud here. The Spud thanks Lisa Kim Holbrook for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed.

Photo credit: Against Malaria

Project #4 Update

Thanks to The Spud's 12 new Facebook fans, we donated $12 to Orphans of Rwanda. Thanks again for all of your support!

Project #4: Help Rwandan Orphans Attend College

Fewer than 1 in 200 Rwandan adults have a college degree, and the majority of the ones that do are male and come from wealthy families. Orphans of Rwanda (ORI) seeks to alter this statistic. Each year, they seek the most talented orphans and vulnerable young people—male and female students who otherwise wouldn't be able to attend college—and award them full tuition, housing, healthcare, and language and computer skills training. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $100 in donations to Orphans of Rwanda. $50 can support housing for one student per month; $100 can support a student's healthcare costs for a year. Donate in any amount directly to Orphans of Rwanda by Thursday and forward your gift confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations, up to the first $100. The match will be completed within 24 hours and we'll forward you the matching gift confirmation. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan we receive by midnight Thursday. To become a fan, click here. The Spud thanks Thomas Chadefaux for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed.

Photo credit: Orphans of Rwanda

Project #3 Update

Thanks to The Spud's 50 new Facebook fans, we donated $50 to Trees for the Future (that translates to 500 new trees in the Philippines)!

Project #3: Help Plant Trees in the Philippines

Help plant trees in the Philippines—it's more urgent a situation than you think. Due to climate change, the South China Sea levels are higher than they were just 40 years ago. This puts its islands—particularly the roughly 7,000 islands that make up the Philippines—at greater risk to flooding and mudslides from typhoons such as the four (yes, four) that recently hit the country last October. One solution: Replant lost tree cover since trees help absorb water when tropical storms hit. (The Philippines was once covered by about 95 percent rain forest; a shocking 7 percent remain). One worthy organization tackling the problem is Trees for the Future; their goal is to plant 2.3 million trees in the Philippines this year alone. Peer-to-Peer Match: The Spud will match the first $100 in donations to Trees FTF's Philippines tree planting project. It only takes 10 cents to plant one tree. Donate in any amount directly to Trees FTF, indicate "Philippines" in the comments field, and forward your gift confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations, up to the first $100. The match will be completed within 24 hours and we'll forward you the matching gift confirmation. Additionally, we'll donate $1 for each new Facebook fan we receive by midnight Friday. To become a fan, click here. The Spud thanks Ratha Tep for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed.

Photo credit: Trees for the Future

Haiti Earthquake Challenge #3

Since the earthquake struck six days ago, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has treated some 3,000+ patients—performing over 400 surgeries—and has started building an inflatable hospital in an open field near the Port-au-Prince airport. Haiti Earthquake Challenge #3: The Spud will match an additional $100 in donations to MSF made by midnight Friday. That means if you donate $5, we'll match that amount—doubling your impact. Donate directly to MSF and forward your gift confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the donations in the order we receive the confirmations, up to the first $100. The match will be completed within 24 hours and we'll forward you the matching gift receipt. The Spud thanks Ambika Patni for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed.

Photos © Julie Remy

A Persistent and Urgent Question

“Life's most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” — Martin Luther King, Jr. The Spud thanks those who acted in MLK's spirit and donated to the Haiti earthquake relief efforts. 

Haiti Earthquake Challenge #2

Countless Haitians need immediate medical assistance from yesterday's massive earthquake. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) area medical facilities have been severely damaged, but MSF has set up clinics in tents and some 900 Haitians have already been treated. In the works: a 100-bed makeshift hospital, and an additional staff of 70 are expected to arrive in the coming days. Haiti Earthquake Challenge #2 To help MSF with their relief efforts, The Spud will match the first 25 $5 donations to their Haiti Earthquake Response. That means if you donate $5, we'll match that amount—doubling your impact. Donate directly to MSF and forward your gift confirmation to thespudorg@gmail.com. We'll match the $5 donations in the order we receive the confirmations, up to the first 25. The match will be completed within 24 hours and we'll forward you the matching gift receipt. The Spud thanks Annalise Nelson, Rick Thiounn, Thomas Chadefaux, Kai Chan, Nilesh Parikh, Lisa Kim Holbrook, Daniel Holbrook, and Rivka Golomb for sponsoring this challenge. UPDATE: This challenge has closed.

Photo credit: Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières