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!