Top 5 Ways to Give Back Without Ever Leaving Your Desk

In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday- and all the hard work that goes into preparing for it- we’ve come up with 5 websites that can quickly and easily help you give back to the community without ever leaving your computer chair.

1. www.freerice.com
   FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program. For every trivia question that you answer correctly on the website, 10 grains of rice is donated to hungry people around the world. While that may seem like a relatively small amount, it’s important to remember that while you are playing, so are thousands of other people. In 2008 alone, 43,942,622,700 grains of rice were donated by sponsors who advertise on the site. Trivia questions range from vocabulary to math and art history, so test out your skills for a good cause!
2. www.blackle.com
   “Blackle” is essentially the same as Google, but with a black background. Why does this make a difference? Because a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen. Blackle is powered by Google and will give you the same exact results, although it does not allow for image searches. By setting www.blackle.com as your home page, you can save a little bit of energy every time your browser loads.
3. www.oxfam.org
   Oxfam International is a group of organizations that work together to eradicate poverty and combat injustice. You can do your part by simply entering your name, address, and email to sign petitions that urge world leaders to listen to the voices of people around the world on topics like the crisis in Darfur and natural disaster relief. You can also opt to save your information so that you only need to enter your email upon future visits, and it won’t cause you to get any junk mail. This is a very quick and simple step to take that could make a difference in the lives of many.
4. www.firstgiving.com
   Firstgiving allows you to create your own fundraising page to raise money for any nonprofit organization. You can email your webpage to friends, family and colleagues, who donate by credit or debit card in an easy, secure online transaction. Firstgiving will send all the donations to the registered non-profit of your choice, minus a small transaction fee that covers the cost of support, secure hosting and money transfers.
5. Donate to a local charity or organization
   Here are a few websites of Philadelphia-based charities and non-profits that accept credit card donations online:
   • Philabundance: www.philabundance.org
   • Project H.O.M.E.: www.projecthome.org/donate
   • Variety: The Children’s Charity: www.varietyphila.org/donate
   • Greater Philadelphia Cares: www.philacares.com/donate.htm
   • Career Wardrobe: www.careerwardrobe.org/donate.php
   • Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger: www.hungercoalition.org
   • Fox Chase Cancer Center: www.fccc.edu/giving/donatenow/index.html
   • The Philadelphia Zoo: www.philadelphiazoo.org/_zoo/fcart/adopt.php
   • Philadelphia Museum of Art: www.philamuseum.org/giving/options