Where to put your money

I'm not a huge fan of blindly donating money for any cause. Not because I don't think you should, but because there are a lot, and I do mean A LOT, of organizations of all different shapes and sizes for causes great and small which can make it downright confusing to both find information on how legitimate an organization is far as actually doing any charity and spending the money you give them AND because on occasion, the need to help overrides planning the means to help. That is, you would want to help, but you're not sure how and a bunch of other people also had that same want and lack of how, so they came up with a charity that sounded like it was addressing an issue, but instead ends up creating a situation where the help actually holds back improvement on the problem it's supposed to be helping with.
It happens. Mostly by accident.
And we're easily attracted by methods of helping that involve NOT donating our time directly. I'm not pointing any fingers but let's just say that there are a whole lot of companies that make a big profit out of selling pink consumer goods.

However, sometimes there are organizations that do benefit mostly out of people donating money to them AND wearing lil bracelets to make the cause more known. I got my lil bracelet in the mail today. I've felt unreasonably proud wearing it all day.
Why do I like This Star Wont Go Out foundation? Mostly because it acknowledges how connected we are on a different level to most any other organization I've come across. Our lives are not singularly our own. Our mere existence affects SO many other people on a daily basis without any particular effort and TSWGO foundation was created just for that. You can read more about the organization here and in case you want to donate by getting a bracelet yourself, you can get one here. 100% of the proceeds (minus shipping costs) go directly to the foundation.

And now that you're on a roll doing good with your moneys, you should also check out KIVA. I might have linked to them before, but I'll link here again because they're just the sort of thing that actually helps build a healthy infrastructure without neverending monetary dependency to "wealthy, donating countries". KIVA provides small businesses with community funded microloans. What that means is if you're a person in a poor country and you'd want to set up a business or expand on an existing on, you can apply for a loan through KIVA. The loans are always comparatively small. The loan application goes up on the KIVA website where you, the person who wants to support equal distribution of wealth across the globe, can contribute towards funding their loan. That is, you can lend them money. The operative word being "lend". 98% of all loans made to small businesses and individuals through KIVA are paid back in full. To find out more about KIVA and/or contribute, click here.

And now I have to get back to doodling. Amma write about the Helsinki Night of Arts later.
Oh and apparently we're going to have one more Restaurant Day this year. It might just turn out to be a very good year. :)

This thing is happening here right now. Acorns. Damn trees.