How To Do Good

           A lot of Tarreyn Land is about beautifying your environment, your personal life, and your relationships. Today’s How-To is about enhancing all these things by helping other people! Here’s How To Do Good!

            All the time I hear people say that they want to contribute more or volunteer, but don’t know how. Remove yourself from this group by reading on! Below is a list of a ton of ways to give back to your community, those in need, and the planet! These acts of kindness will help others and amp up your karma!

MONETARY DONATIONS:

           Want to help but don't have a ton of time? Here are some quick and really neat ways to donate some money to different kinds of causes.

Protect the Rainforest

            By donating $25 dollars to rainforestalliance.org, you can protect an entire half acre of rain forest in South and Central America!!

Help prevent disease!

            By donating $50 to Doctors Without Borders, you can vaccinate 50 people around the world against deadly diseases such as meningitis, measles or polio! Visit doctorswithoutborders.org.

Help Victims

            For only $30, you can provide a month’s worth of care for a woman or child who has been rescued from sexual slavery. Shared Hope International's website allows you to make donations.

Keep Kids Healthy

            Free The Children has a super cool matching-funds program that allows you to make a $10 donation to and turn it into $100 worth of medical supplies for kids all over the world! freethechildren.org

Help Someone Attend College

            Scholarship America is a terrific program that helps aspiring students pay for college. Donate and help someone achieve their dream at scholarshipamerica.org.

Across The Board
            Interested in looking into more places or kinds of things you can donate to? Check out Just Give, where they have over a thousand charity recommendations organized by cause!

HANDS-ON:

Wanna do a little more hands-on volunteer work? These projects are for you!

Donate Blood

            By donating blood one pint of blood, you can save up to 3 lives! If you have a fear of needles or need a little swaying, here is a list of 56 facts about blood. And to donate, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733 2767).

Get By With A Little Help From Your Friends

            Get in some friendly bonding time AND help others! The Volunteer Family is a way to find group volunteer projects! thevolunteerfamily.com.

Spring Cleaning!

It’s time to clean out your closet! These THREE sites all allow you to donate these old objects!

old glasses (neweyesfortheneedy.org)

shoes (shareyoursoles.org)

wedding dresses! (makingmemories.org)

Do Something!

            Looking for local volunteer work? You can find projects that help people in your city at dosomething.org. Also, you can check Volunteer Match where they find a great volunteer opportunity near you AND you can recruit other volunteers!

Mentor An At-Risk Teen – Online!       

            For as little as one hour a week (on your own schedule), you could change the life of an at-risk teenager through I Could Be’s online mentoring program! icouldbe.org.

The Great Outdoors

            The U.S. National Park Service says about their volunteer program “There are over 400 national parks, and even more ways that you can help!” Volunteer at a national park by visiting their website!

Aid Abroad!
           Wanna get REALLY hard core about helping?! Want to travel and provide aid across the globe? Here are some sites that can point you in the right direction! Global Crossroad, Volunteer Abroad, and uVolunteer

OTHER:

Here are some other unique ways to help

Create Sweet Dreams

            In America, 1 in 50 children will face homelessness over their lifetime. Project Night Night is a program that donates bed-time packages to homeless children all over the country. Their website tells you how you can donate and/or volunteer and get involved. Just visit projectnightnight.org

Shop AND Help!

            This is a website that lets you online shop AND help charity organizations! Choose from thousands of organizations or add your favorite cause to their list. Then, Search the Internet just like you normally would — Fifty percent of the revenue generated from the sponsored search advertisers is shared with the charity, school or nonprofit organization of your choosing. Next time you’re lookin to do some spending, check this out! 

Put that non-iphone to good use!

            At the National Coalition Against Violence, you can donate your old cell phones to victims of domestic violence for emergencies (go to ncadv.org and click “donate”).

Help A Hospitalized Child

            The charity organization Child’s Play is a great program that is dedicated to improving the lives of hospital-bound children with fun stuff for kids. On their website you can find a wish list for a hospital in your area send a DVD or video game. 

Get Shoes, Give Shoes
            Most of you have probably heard of TOMS, but if you haven't - its an awesome shoe company that for every pair of shoes purchased, they donate a new pair to a child in need! (And the shoes are suupperr comfy and cute! AND they just started an optical care line where when you buy sunglasses, they get eye glasses to someone in need!)

            Don't you already feel like getting out there and doing some good?! I found a lot of these projects and organizations through Glamour Magazine’s 31 Days of giving, and it led to some fantastic discoveries. If you’re interested in their whole list, you can find it here on their website.

           ALSO – remember: “Best is Good, but Better is Best.” Not everyone can be Mother Teresa. If you don’t have the time or resources to do any of this stuff, remember that even the smallest acts of kindness can make a huge difference to someone. Call your grandma just to say hi. Hold the door open for someone behind you. Do the dishes. Tell your friends and family you love them. SMILE.

Every small act of compassion and thoughtfulness resonates.