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