That's all it takes - just a little snow, some xmas tunes and I'm right in there, ready to get giving!
Speaking of, I'm really excited about Kiva.org. It's a site that facilitates microfinancing. If you're not familiar with it, it's the act of giving small loans (yes, loans which are in fact repaid 99% of the time) to entrepreneurs in third world countries who need a loan for their business - raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the business is going. The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.
Although I had never heard about it until yesterday, it's been featured on Oprah, has fans and backers like Bill Clinton, Nobel Peace Prize winners and more. It's gotten more press coverage than you can imagine... And yet I somehow missed it.
So in case you're hearing about it for the first time too - I encourage you to check it out and lend your third-world "neighbour" some dough. You have a better chance of getting it back from them than you do from your actual neighbour.
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