Help is just a click away (updated)

          There's an amazing group of interrelated websites,called "click-for-free sites," where with a click of a button,you can take action for free to provide food for the world's hungry, healthcare for needy children, mammograms for needy women, protection for part of the rain forest and help for abandoned animals. These activism sites give Internet users the daily opportunity to quickly make a difference in the well being of others. A cyber-outreach to humanity!          

          THEHUNGERSITE   Dedicated to the fight against world hunger. On September 8, 2003, people who clicked gave the value of 135,618 cups of staple food to the world's hungry. Funding goes to two leading hunger-relief organizations: Mercy Corps and America's Second Harvest. Mercy Corps' programs currently reach over 5 million people in more than 30 countries, while America's Second Harvest serves 23 million hungry Americans each year. An example of the kind of work funded by the site: According to the United Nations, approximately 40 percent of children in developing countries - about 600 million children - have to struggle to survive, eat and learn on less than $1 per day. With the support of The Hunger Site and its caring visitors, Mercy Corps is working to improve the well-being of children in countries around the world.          
In drought-stricken Eritrea, Mercy Corps is helping to feed 54,000 school children every school day. In this small East African country, Mercy Corps works closely with parent-teacher associations to increase the level of parental participation in schools and help communities to increase educational opportunities for children.Within hours of the December 2004 Tsunami, They have been providing relief to the victims and remained there to help.Ever Since Hurricane Katrina hit, Mercy Corps continues to respond to needs along the Gulf Coast. And to earthquake survivors in remote, mountainous areas of northern Pakistan.
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/charity/hungersite.asp


http://www.thechildhealthsite.com Funds basic but critical health services for children in developing countries. Funding goes to Mercy Corps, Helen Keller Worldwide, Prosthetics Outreach Foundation and Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Each click helps prevent life-threatening disease, restore vision to blind children and enable child amputees to walk. Visitors to the site since its launch in October 2002,have helped many children in need. In 2004, visitor clicks funded basic, critical health services for more than 461,000 children around the world.
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com
Making early detection and survival of breast cancer possible for women in need. Funding goes to the nonprofit National Breast Cancer Foundation, which uses the money to provide access to lifesaving mammography to low-income, homeless, inner-city women.

One example of the good work made possible by the site: On August 13, 2003, The National Breast Cancer Foundation gave a $10,000 gift to the Council of Community Clinics to provide funding for free mammograms for low-income and uninsured women in San Diego. The site also helped fund 1,624 mammograms to women in need.

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Over 10 million animals are abused and abandoned each year. Because of The Animal Rescue Site and people who care,In 2004, visitor clicks funded 31,576,589 bowls of food for animals sheltering in sanctuaries! that's almost 10 million more bowls of food than we gave together in 2003!
Funding from the site provides food and care to abandoned animals. Funding goes to The Fund for Animals and North Shore Animal League America. These charities use the money to feed and care for the animals living in their shelters and sanctuaries.

Clicks and purchases on the site support the running of world-class facilities for animals in need, like the Fund for Animals' Rabbit Sanctuary. In 1978, Caroline Gilbert donated her 30-acre farm in Simpsonville, SC, to The Fund for Animals, for the establishment of a sanctuary for domestic rabbits. The unique "home for life" policy ensures a permanent home for approximately 100 rabbits, all fugitives from local shelters, commercial breeders, laboratories and unfit homes. Health care is provided in the light and airy "bunny health care building" where some of the sanctuary's old-timers are living out their lives in peace.


http://www.theliteracysite.com

The Literacy Site provides free books to needy children. Launched in November 2004, it funds First book.First Book is an award winning national nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books.First book has provided nearly 30 million new books to children in need, in hundreds of communities nationwide.



http://www.ecologyfund.com Where 1,140,530,249 sq. feet of land were preserved in 2002. 1,765,951,138 sq. feet of land were preserved in 2005. You can also see your own personal totals of land saved each day! You can do this for free!

http://www.therainforestsite.com Where clicking saves an area of endangered rainforest land in Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and other locations worldwide. A portion of funding goes to preserve old-growth forest in the state of Washington, USA.
An example of work supported by the site: World Parks' protection of the San Rafael section of rainforest in Paraguay. The Atlantic forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina is one of the most biologically diverse and simultaneously threatened regions on earth. Only 7.8 percent of the original forest remains, much of which is fragmented and degraded. With 136,000 acres of forest, San Rafael is the largest unprotected block of Atlantic forest remaining in Paraguay, and the nation's number one conservation priority.
San Rafael is a spectacular region that is home to over 310 bird species, 11 that are globally threatened, 17 that are near threatened and to mammals such as the jaguar and Brazilian tapir. Further, the area is essential to the cultural survival of the Mbya Guarani indigenous peoples and contains archeological sites dating from pre-Colombian times.
The sites have corporate sponsors and advertisers such as Toms of Maine, L.L. Bean and other well-known companies. They are helping to make a difference by supporting these good causes. The more visitors to the sites, the more clicks on the give button, the more funding that is generated. Every click makes a difference, and together millions of clicks have an incredible impact!
In addition, visitors can generate funding by shopping in the sites' stores, registering to receive site newsletters, shopping in each site's shopping village and using the search box on the site's home pages. The breakdown of the combined giving varies day to day, but all the information can be found on the sites. See the "Daily Results" pages for more information. The "Common Questions" are chock full of helpful information.


http://www.amnestyusa.org Amnesty International USA defends human rights for people all over the world. They brought the story of Amina Lawal to the world. A thirty year old woman, her husband had divorced and left her alone to care for their two young children in Nigeria. After he left, Amina had an affair and was charged with the crime of having a child out of wedlock. She was sentenced to be stoned to death,once the baby was born.
When Oprah Winfrey found out, she featured Amina’s story on her show and website http://www.oprah.com. Many outraged people went to the Amnesty USA site and signed the petition to save her life. Amina was vindicated and allowed to live as a free woman, from the pressure put on the officials.

Founded in London in 1961,Amnesty International is a Nobel prize-winning grassroots activist organization with over one million members worldwide. They also have some learning tools on the site. AI is both saving and changing lives for the better.The AIUSA’s bi-weekly email newsletter keeps people up to date with Amnesty’s work, breaking human rights news and opportunity to take action.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/imagine "John Lennon wrote Imagine (in 1971) with a very deep love for the human race and a concern for it’s future"- Yoko Ono. In the spirit of that song, The Imagine campaign was started in May 2003.And has been reaching out in over 40 countries to sow seeds of hope and challenge.
You can find out what's happening with these Imagine-related events on the site. There are free downloads like the lyrics screensavers. Send free e-cards; buy items like Imagine T-shirts and posters. See the music video and an interview with Yoko Ono. In the words of John Lennon ” Well, I tell them there's no problems-only solutions”.

The Dalai Lama of Tibet and his/our people, have been exiled and living in India since 1959. Since then, many of the peaceful Monks, Nuns and other Tibetans have been unjustly treated, tortured or killed..In 1995 the Chinese government kidnapped the 6 year old Panchen Lama. He has not been seen or heard of since then.
For more information on the plight of the Tibetan people and ways to help.Enter "free Tibet" in the search box at AmnestyUSA (see above)
or visit
http://www.freetibet.org
http://worldbridges.com/Tibet/links.html

http://www.environmentaldefense.com Help the fight against global warming and other important issues. Joanne Woodward is chairperson for The Global Warming Action Network. Along with her husband Actor Paul Newman, both are active in helping to further these good causes.For example, Antibiotics are losing their ability to save lives because overuse of these critical drugs has led to the growth antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Help keep antibiotics working by buying meat produced without the use of unnecessary antibiotics in feed.
While doing research on this topic, I learned that McDonald's Hamburgers is no longer buying beef that has antibiotics in it’s feed. (Some weren’t “loving it!”)On this site you can sign up to add your name to petitions that address these issues and more. They will be sent to The President, our Congress and Senators. Let the decision-makers know what you think! You can also find out about environmental justice in your neighborhood, view National data and more.
http://www.greenpeace.org
where you can take cyber-action to help save this planet. Started in 1971 by a small team of activists, in an old fishing boat. The founders of Greenpeace believed a few individuals could make a difference. This non-profit organization is in 40 countries now.Become a part of their cyber activist community. “Greenpeace exists because this fragile earth deserves a voice. It needs solutions. It needs action”.

http://www.gristmagazine.com “Gloom & doom with a sense of humor. A beacon in the smog!” So say the writers at Grist. An entertaining perception of what's really going on with our ecology. Get free environmental news by email. You can e-mail any nagging questions pertaining to the environment you might have to Ask Umbra. Get answers like: how to recycle battery's, conserving gas in cars and buying baby carrots, a waste or not.

http://www.aspca.org has a wealth of information about animals, resource numbers for poison control, pet tips for barking problems and more. Their e-mail newsletter also informs and entertains. There are ways to help animals in shelters, pet adoption info and more.

http://www.actioncat.com A fun site that supports animals rights. They have really cool animal e-cards to send! There are cat cards and other pets like dogs,hamsters,turtles.
Free to send. They also have links to sites that help animals.
( I will be updating this article soon,as I have found other worthy sites,that need promoting!)

Coming soon care2.com
An awesome site started in 1998 by Randy Paynter.It was created to bring activists,together with resources and education.With over 7 million people and growing each day,helping to make this world a much better place for all.Check out this Global warming link!
http://www.care2.com/globalwarming
you can find more info on the top!
Oh check out, Winklett(336)

Her item-- The Big bank of karma-Is a wonderful article of positive types of activism & ways, people can help, others!

A small investment in time yields, so much! In the summer of 2003 while surfing on-line, I found these sites,Called up the hunger site,and asked if they could help me( I thought about writing my first article.) Amber ( Who worked at The Hunger site) was very helpful,with questions, that I had.
I started clicking and have continued to be involved.)In a world with so many problems and so much need, it's really good to find some solutions that can help others on a daily basis. Pass it on....

This was published in The Flagpole,an alternative College newspaper in Athens,GA
This is the link to the original article!
http://flagpole.com/Weekly/Comment/HelpIsJustAClickAway.17Dec03

( a ten year update to this article will be forthcoming.)
© Copyright 2004 D Spiritwriter