When you hear the word “donate,” you probably think money, time, and effort. But for many college students, those things are severely lacking. But for the busiest (and laziest) of us, there is a way to donate without much effort, very little time and no money. Don’t believe me? There are several Web sites that allow you to be philanthropic without even leaving your computer chair.
Goodsearch.com – Good Search donates a penny to the charity of your choice every time you use the search engine. While a penny may not sound like much, it certainly adds up over time. I have been using GoodSearch for a year, and I have donated over 100 dollars to “Friends of the Congo.” The search engine also lists schools and churches, so if you want to donate to your elementary school or your hometown church, that option is available as well. The search engine can be set as a default on many browsers, so you can donate without even thinking about it. Also, it is powered by Yahoo, so you know its a quality search engine.
Goodshop.com – Good Shop is powered by the same company that owns Good Search. On this Web site, you will find coupons and discounts at over 1000 online stores that many use frequently, like Ebay, Amazon, and Target. Up to 30% of every purchase will go towards your favorite charity. I know I shop online all the time; it’s just easier. So it makes me feel good to buy something for cheaper than I would have gotten it elsewhere, while also helping out someone in need. I have even bought quite a few textbooks on this site.
Freerice.com – Free Rice will actually help you expand your vocabulary while feeding the hungry. It is an online vocabulary quiz that can be done in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Every time you get an answer right, the Web site donates ten grains of rice to the UN World Food Program to help eliminate hunger. So, you can actually study your Spanish while donating food to the hungry. I think that’s a win-win situation. If you don’t really need to study a foreign language and you’re done with English, its a pretty good procrastination tool as well.
Worldcommunitygrid.com – When you are not using your computer, it is basically a rather large paperweight. Why not allow it to be used for scientific research? Grid computing allows World Community Grid connects computers from all around the world and turns them into one large super computer for environmental, medical and hunger research. Even when you are using your computer, on average you only use about 10 percent of its computing power. That other 90 percent goes to waste. So whether it’s asleep or working, your computer can be working towards a greater good without any negative effect on you. Just in case you were worried, the site guarantees against viruses and pesky computer bugs.
Want to do a little more? Well, it might cost you a little bit of money. But you would be surprised to find out just how little.
Fill the Cup – The UN’s World Food Program started this program in 1999 to help make it easier and cheaper for people to make a difference. For only 25 cents you can fill a cup with either rice and beans or porridge to fill the stomach of a hungry school child in a third world country. It takes only $50 to feed a child for an enti-re year. When you consider the rapid rate in which people in third world countries die of hunger and malnutrition, 25 cents is a small price to pay to give a child a nutritious meal.
Friends of the World Food Program – Through this company, you can provide de-worming service to a class of 35 children for an entire year for only 25 dollars. If left untreated, worm infections can cause a number of problems in children including malnutrition and even learning problems. In the United States, we do not even consider the effect of worm infections. In fact, many of us may not even know what they are. But in countries in Africa and parts of Asia, worm infections are commonplace and destructive. You can help an entire class of children for less than it costs you to buy a pair of shoes.
Also remember that no charity sets a minimum donation amount. Many people refrain from donating because they feel like they cannot donate enough, but if everyone that felt that way were to donate as much as they could, that would be a lot of money. Even if you can only donate five, ten or $20, that money will not go wasted.
Jessica Huseman is a sophomore CCPA and Political Science double major. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].
