Ten Ways to Make a Real Difference for Ten US Dollars or Less

As an American who lives with her family on the economic edge, by US standards, I sometimes struggle, especially during the winter holidays with all their talk and customs of giving, to keep things in global perspective and remember that our economic constraint is unimaginable luxury for someone else. I have a computer, for one, and steady electricity and Internet access, and I sit before my screen fully and well nourished with an unleaky roof, sealed against the cold, over my head. I even have access, however battled-for, to the health care that keeps me alive. And so I am able to research this question that is no doubt close to many people's hearts, even in the wealthiest countries: how to make a difference when you're already squeezed financially?

I found at least 10 ways that people who can afford a ten-dollar bill or less can take part in charitable giving or social action(as the terms are generally understood).

--For $10.00, you can donate one print copy of the new, state-of-the-art Family Planning: A Global Handbook for Providers to a health care worker in the Two-Thirds World.

--For $10, you can give hundreds or even thousands of organic, open-pollinated seeds that will help empower people in poor countries to sustainably grow their own food security. If you have even a small garden space of your own, you can do this for practically free.

--For $6.00, you may be able to offset one metric half ton of carbon dioxide emissions.

--Check Alternative Gifts International to see the many ways that small US sums make big differences.

--$3.50 gains one months of Tibetan preschool education for a Tibetan refugee child in exile.

--For as little as $2.49 to $3.24 apiece, you can further reduce global warming by purchase of energy-saving Certified "CarbonfreeTM" Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs, which are manufactured through a carbon-neutral process.

--$1.00 can plant one tree to reforest the devastasted nation of Haiti.

--For free, you can learn and pass along these many ways an "ordinary" person can help to prevent and heal child abuse.

--For free, you can sign up and respond to action alert campaigns to save all life on Earth.

--For free, you can learn the whys and how of going veg, one of the most powerful ways you can serve life on Earth, from this Vegetarian Starter Kit.