Thursday, February 04, 2010

Pepsi is an advertiser for ABC News ...which I watch to start my day. This year, Pepsi announces , that it will NOT be sponsoring an expensive ad during the Super Bowl. Instead, they are sponsoring a project, "Refresh Everything". The money that would be spent on the ad, will instead be given out as grants to improve our world.

Quickly I wrote down the website and visited it. Please do so yourself. There may be something you could do through a grant. The website lists categories for the grants: fine arts, health, community, etc. The website is Refresheverything.com.

There is another website I love. It is called Kiva.com. I proposed granting Kiva $5,000 to distribute as mini grants to women around the world, currently living in poverty, who would like to start up a business. Each applicant is screened by Kiva, so the money has a high probability of being effective for a business start up and a high percentage of applicants repay the loan. This is not a program that drops money into Somalia, for example, where it is never seen again. I trust Kiva's screening process. They have a successful track record. They charge very little interest when the probability of repayment is high. The interest rate is a little higher if the loan is a little riskier. In fact, their repayment rate is higher than from a US bank. The goal is not to get a lot of interest. The goal is to empower people.

I also know that these capable women make a dramatic improvement in their family's situation. The children go to school. They have the required uniform. They get health care. There is money to buy seed for the farm or a goat if that is the goal.

Frustration and discouragement has consequences. Young men commit crimes. They join extremist organizations because they are desperate. Wars and terrorism feed on this fertile ground. Desperate people are frantic and looking for changes in their lives.

We can make a difference by helping people directly...so that they can help themselves....which will result in a more prosperous business and community.....which will directly improve peace prospect for that country and for the world.

I hope I am chosen for a grant.

You can do this, too. Go to Refresheverything.com. Go to Kiva.com

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