It’s the Holiday season! Everywhere the air smells like pine and festivities. People are busy baking and buying presents for their loved ones. But in this time it’s really important to remember that there are many people out there who do not enjoy the privileges that we have. The Project for Awesome, a yearly charity event run by the Foundation to Decrease World Suck, just ended this past Saturday. But if you’re interested in donating to charities there are plenty more out there that could really use your generous donation this holiday season!

Compassion International

Compassion International is a charitable organization which seeks to help break away from the cycle of poverty through one-to-one child sponsorship. It costs $38 a month but ensures that the child you sponsor will have access to

“educational opportunities and help; health care, hygiene training and supplementary food if necessary; a caring and safe Christian environment to grow in self-confidence and social skills; personal attention, guidance and love”

It is a great opportunity to be able to impact a child’s life and ensure them a brighter future.

Charity: Water

I live in California, we’re going through a drought right now. And still people in my neighborhood have access to running water in their homes and you can get free drinking water in most restaurants if you ask for it. This isn’t the case in many places around the world. Many people do not have easy access to potable drinking water and must walk miles to reach ponds or lakes which may have contaminated still-standing water. Watch the video below to find out more about the problem and how we can be the solution.

If you have it in your heart to donate to ensure that people get clean water go to

https://donate.charitywater.org/donate

United Nations World Food Program and Free Rice

This is an organization that delivers food to people in impoverished countries such as Bangladesh, Uganda, and Nepal. This is one of the easiest ways to donate to charity at no out of pocket costs to you. UNWFP hosts a site called freerice.com in which you can “earn” grains of rice for donation by playing trivia quizzes. These trivia quizzes span topics from SAT preparation to Literature to Math and Chemistry. Each correctly answered question earns ten grains of rice. It may not sound like much but over time it can really add up. I played for about half an hour and I earned 1930 grains for charity! It’s a great way to study and do something good at the same time.

Another way to help out is just to donate. You can do so at https://www.wfp.org/get-involved/donate . Currently the WFP is taking donations to help provide food for families under quarantine for Ebola in West Africa.

Amazon Smile 

If you already use Amazon.com then you can go to http://smile.amazon.com/ to use Amazon Smile. It’s the same service you would get through Amazon.com but when you purchase eligible products Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase to the charity of your choice. It may not seem like a lot but every little bit counts. You can choose from any of the charities I listed above or pick one of your own! There are many charitable organizations out there trying to make the world a better place to live in one step at a time. So I hope that you have a happy holiday and maybe when you have time, consider donating this holiday season.