New Site!

Please go to the new site, ChangeYouCanAfford.com. This site is no longer going to be updated or kept current. All posts and information will be on the new site.

Come join us on the new site!


Hey all. Just so you know this will now be the only place for these blog posts.

As we transition Change You Can Afford into a charity, that site will be dedicated to the charity and no longer host the blogging archives.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Do you use Google Chrome?

If you do, then you need to download Chrome for a Cause add-on. For a short time, Dec 15 to Dec 19, google is going to donate to a few different charities based on your Internet usage. The five different charities are The Nature Conservancy, charity: water, Doctors Without Borders, Un Techo para mi Pais, and Room to Read. Which are all wonderful organizations, if you aren't familiar with them you should read more about them. Every day you get to decide who to donate to out of the five and I have to say, it would be really hard for me to choose one, but thankfully you can do it everyday as you surf the Internet.

Unfortunately, my comp is one version too old for me to be able to use Chrome... So I cannot do this, which means you have to do it for me. So download Chrome and go about your daily life as usual while getting Google to donate to wonderful charities. It takes absolutely no extra effort on your part, except for the tough choice of who to donate to, I say choose a different one every day, cycle through them all.

According to a TechCrunch article here is "how much you have to browse to donate to the various charities: 10 tabs = 1 tree planted, 10 tabs = 1 book published and donated, 25 tabs = 1 vaccination treatment provided, 100 tabs = 1 square foot of shelter built, 200 tabs = 1 person’s clean water for a year." So like the article says "just browse the web, and donate to charity."

So here is the add-on go and download it now!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Save Darfur Store.

Today I want to talk about an issue which has yet to come up on the blog and that is the devastating war, genocide, and human rights violations occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan. This is one of the areas on the globe where life is extremely difficult and as many as hundreds of thousands have been affected by the strife.

There is no simple way to explain the current situation in Darfur quickly, for more info here is the wikipedia article on the Darfur conflict and some background from Save Darfur on the crisis. Here I learned about this conflict many years ago when I started learning about human trafficking and modern day slavery. The United Human Rights council considers it a genocide, which is a monumental accusation but one that many agree with. The president has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and for "directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur."

Basically this is a region in extreme upheaval that is very dangerous for those who live their. And helping support those working for them would be a wonderful Christmas present to those affected by this war. One way of this is just through donating to Save Darfur and other organization that do this kind of work.

Another way is to purchase some of your Christmas present through their store. I think I want to purchase the decal that says "Stop the Genocide," because it is important for me to that people use that word and acknowledge the reality of the desperate situation of the people in Sudan.

So think about buy merchandise for people as another way to support your favorite charities while doing your Christmas shopping. Have a wonderful day everyone and remember all the good things in your life.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Work Gift Exchanges

One of our readers shared a way in which they donated to charity with absolutely no effort on there part. I thought I would share it with y'all.

Many offices and workplaces do some sort of a gift exchange. When it happens at your work and people are wondering what is on your wish list, just ask them to donate to your favorite charity in your name. this is a great way to avoid that extra chocolate or sweets that pile up around the holidays and impact a great cause at the same time. And you can choose whatever charity is your favorite; whether you are passionate about human rights, food justice, HIV/AIDS care, access to safe water, women's rights, or any other cause.

The reader who sent me this story asked for her coworker to donate to Heifer International. I've written about them before, they are a great organization in which you "purchase" animals which are donated to families globally which gives those families a livelihood instead of just aid. They really are an amazing organizations which focus on helping entire communities to become self-sufficient. I have loved their work for years.

For twenty dollars you can purchase a flock of chicks, ducks or geese for a family. And $120 purchases a Christmas Basket that will "renew hope and start fresh for a family in need when you give a Christmas Basket. Sheep provide valuable wool and are a vital source of income in impoverished communities. Wool can provide warmth in chilly temperatures and can be sold at market for additional income." And all families that receive a Heifer gift pass on some of their offspring to their community, so a single purchase becomes part of a cycle helping more and more families. 


So choose your favorite charity and know that your Christmas gifts is helping to impact lives.