The voting is completed and our next project will be the Kits for Kids program through Phelisanong.

The Kits for KIDS program aims to pair sponsors with orphans and disabled children in Lesotho. Funds are used to provide blankets, soap, candles, firewood, school clothing, and other essentials to help children live in comfort. Sponsored children have access to the Phelisanong health clinic and are given the support they need to enroll in primary school.

Sponsors sign on for a commitment, renewable annually, of $1 per day. Children are encouraged to communicate with their sponsors and send back photos, artwork, and letters whenever possible.

***Vote now for our next project

***SchoolBOX

***Donate your old eyeglasses

***Kiva Update

The poll is up on the site for our next project.  The candidates are as follows:

Kits for Kids - Phelisanong

The Kits for KIDS program aims to pair sponsors with orphans and disabled children in Lesotho. Funds are used to provide blankets, soap, candles, firewood, school clothing, and other essentials to help children live in comfort. Sponsored children have access to the Phelianong health clinic and are given the support they need to enroll in primary school.

Sponsors sign on for a commitment, renewable annually, of $1 per day. Children are encouraged to communicate with their sponsors and send a back photos, artwork, and letters whenever possible.

Learn more at:  www.phelisanong.com

World Food Programme - Fill the Cup Campaign

There are now 1 billion people online.  There are also 1 billion people dealing with chronic hunger.  Bring one of life’s bare essentials to the world’s most deprived men, women and children.

It takes just 25 cents to fill one of the Red Cups that WFP uses to give hungry kids regular school meals. This food will not only feed bodies but also minds and transform lives.
 
It takes just one dollar to fill four cups with nutritious meals. Working together, we can build a world without hunger.

You can learn more at: http://www.wfp.org/node/222

Modest Needs

Modest Needs is an award-winning public charity with a simple but critical mission: we work to stop the cycle of poverty BEFORE it starts for the low-income workers whom conventional philanthropy has forgotten.

We do this by empowering compassionate members of the general public to safely and securely help hard-working, low-income households to afford the kinds of short-term emergency expenses that we've all encountered before: the unexpected car repair, the unanticipated visit to the doctor, or the unusually large heating bill, for example.

Since 2002, by working together in this very 'modest' way, Modest Needs' donors have stopped 8,793 low-income individuals and families from entering the vicious cycle of poverty and a lifetime of dependence on the public welfare system for their survival.

Learn more at:  www.modestneeds.org

SchoolBOX

We have concluded raising funds for the SchoolBOX project.  ODN has raised enough money to purchase almost 400 educational packages for the children of Nicaragua.  We are very proud to think that so many children might attend school because of our efforts, and can't thank you enough for your support in this.

Donate your old eyeglasses

We’ll be collecting prescription sunglasses to send to those without access to proper eye care.  We’ll be sending all the glasses we collect to Third World Eye Care Society Canada.  If you have an old pair of prescription glasses gathering dust, give us a call for local pick up (Ottawa area), or you can mail them to:

One Dollar Nation
11-300 Earl Grey Drive, Suite 114
Kanata, Ontario K2T 1C1
Canada

1-866-628-9386

This is an incredibly easy way to make someone’s life better.  Dig through your drawers, call your friends and gather up the gift of sight.  As an added bonus, the first person to donate five pairs can select who our next Kiva recipients will be. 

About Third World Eye Care Society Canada:

TWECS is a 100% volunteer registered Canadian charity whose mission is to collect old unused eyeglasses and distribute these eyeglasses in conjunction with eye exams given by properly trained individuals. The distribution of eyeglasses shall be in developing countries where, because of poverty or lack of availability of eye care services, individuals are unable to obtain eyeglasses and primary eye care.

Kiva Update

The six loans we made via Kiva have all been completely repaid.  We’re proud of the entrepreneurs that we supported, and wish them all the best in their endeavors.  While the amounts may have been small, the benefit was massive.  Below is an update concerning one of our borrowers in Peru:

Luz used her loan to purchase groceries to sell at her store. She says that her business has improved since she received this loan. She enjoys attending various training sessions. Luz's village bank is currently working on women empowerment and discussing how to eliminate domestic abuse and violence. Luz hopes to continue improving and expanding her businesses. Luz’s attached picture was taken on February 11, 2010.

The best part about this is  that we get to loan out the repaid funds again.   As mentioned, the first person to gather five pairs of prescription glasses and get them to us will get to select our next Kiva recipients.  

**SchoolBOX project

**Project Submissions

**Coming Soon

SchoolBOX project

We have concluded raising funds for the SchoolBOX project.  We don't have the final tally yet, but expect to purchase over 350 educational packages for the children of Nicaragua.  We are very proud to think that so many children might attend school because of our efforts, and can't thank you enough for your support in this.  Keep an eye on this page, we'll be posting more details soon.

Project Submissions

With the conclusion of the SchoolBOX project, we are now accepting submissions for our next project.  Several worthy groups have already been nominated, so get your suggestions in soon.  We will be accepting nominations until June 10th, at which time we will post the poll in our forums.  You can suggest a project via email, the forums, or our facebook page.

Coming Soon

We've received some updates on the loans we made through Kiva and will be sending these with our next email.  

We're organizing a couple of special projects locally this summer.  We're still in the planning phase, but should have things finalized within the next month.  We will likely be asking for some help with these, so if you're in the Ottawa area drop us a line if you'd like to take part.

**Next Project

**Haiti Relief

**PayPal Changes

Our Next Project

The voting was close, but SchoolBOX came out on top.  We'll be purchasing school supplies for children in Nicaragua.  Learn more below and at their site.


SchoolBOX

In Nicaragua many children don’t attend school for lack of the most basic of supplies. A notebook can literally stand in the way of a child receiving or not receiving a basic education.  SchoolBox provides an educational package with sufficient materials (notebooks, pencils, eraser, pencil sharpener, ruler) for a student to study for an entire semester.  It is simple, cost effective and it works!

www.schoolbox.ca

Haiti Relief Efforts

We've received a lot of requests concerning the relief efforts in Haiti.  We encourage all of you to do whatever you can to help.  This is a tragedy of epic proportions and your help is certainly needed.  Having said that, our mandate is to vote on projects suggested by our membership.  There are many great organizations on the ground in Haiti already, and we ask all of you to support the ones you are comfortable with.  A couple that we recommend are:

Direct Relief International  www.directrelief.org

Canadian Red Cross www.redcross.ca

In addition to your financial support for Haiti, we'd like to ask all of our citizens to bring in a pair of shoes to your local SoftMoc location.  They are collecting donations of shoes and delivering them to the survivors.  You can drop off up to five pairs at any SoftMoc location until January 29th.  

PayPal/Donation Changes

It's been a long, long time coming.  After months and months of technical difficulties with PayPal, you can finally donate without leaving our site.  This makes joining One Dollar Nation much easier, and removes the need for a PayPal account.  We're very excited about this, it should have been this way from the start.  Now would be a great time to invite all of your friends, family and colleagues to join us.  It's never been easier.  Special thanks to John at PayPal for getting this sorted out.

**Facebook Migration

**Voting open for our next project

Facebook Migration

We're moving from our group on facebook to our page at www.facebook.com/onedollarnation   This will allow us to add more content and interact more with our supporters.  We appreciate your taking the time to become a fan and look forward to hearing from you.  Our apologies for the inconvenience.  

Voting open for our next project

We've closed out the Ryan's Well project and will have details soon.  The poll is now live in our forums for our next project.  The candidates, as suggested by you, are as follows:   

 

School Box

In Nicaragua many children don’t attend school for lack of the most basic of supplies. A notebook can literally stand in the way of a child receiving or not receiving a basic education.  SchoolBox provides an educational package with sufficient materials (notebooks, pencils, eraser, pencil sharpener, ruler) for a student to study for an entire semester.  It is simple, cost effective and it works!

http://www.schoolbox.ca


Mobile Library Program

The Mobile Library Program provides library facilities and books to disadvantaged communities in, and around Jakarta, Indonesia.  Particularly in poorer areas, libraries are nonexistent even at the school level. This makes it very difficult for under-privileged children to practice and learn the joys of reading since most would not be able to afford to buy books from the store.  A token annual membership fee allows the children to learn to appreciate the library and books and develop a sense of ownership in the program.

http://www.yayasan-emmanuel.org//default.php?page_id=1


School Lunch Program

A lunch program ensures that children do not go hungry while at school.  $500 provides a six month lunch program for a school.  The Free The Children team implements the Adopt a Village program in rural and marginalized areas in Kenya, China, India, Sierra Leone, Ecuador and Sri Lanka. Designed to meet the basic needs of developing communities and eliminate the obstacles preventing children from accessing education, Adopt a Village is made up of four pillars crucial to lifting communities from poverty: education, alternative income, health care, and water and sanitation.

http://www.freethechildren.com/whatwedo/international/

**Ryan's Well

**Facebook Page

**Credit Card Renewals

**Next Project

Ryan's Well

**ODN at Mischief Ottawa

**Kathy Waters run total

ODN at Mischief Ottawa

Mischief is holding an event at Suite 34 in Ottawa to support One Dollar Nation.  An informal collective of creative people in the communications industry, Mischief will be holding their first event in Ottawa on Wednesday, August 5th at Suite 34.  Keith will be speaking about ODN and our current project - Ryan's Well. 

For directions, see here.

You can view more details about the event on the facebook page.

From Mischief's page:

Join us on Wednesday August 5th, when Suite 34 will be transformed into the Liquid Lounge to raise awareness for One Dollar Nation, a project where we all decide how to change things for the better.  We're getting together for cocktails, and fun, with the hope that putting enough creative people in one room just might spark an idea that can save a life.  Make sure to come by for some good conversation, a performance by Alyssa Munaretto and the always excellent hospitality of Suite 34.

Update on Kathy's run

With donations still coming in, Kathy's 10k run for One Dollar Nation has already generated $980 CDN.   Her efforts translate into a handpump for a well through Ryan's Well.  Thanks to everyone who has supported Kathy in achieving her goal, and of course our deepest thanks to Kathy herself.  Your hard work will reward an entire village for years to come.

She did it!  Kathy ran 11.05km

After 4 months of training on behalf of ODN, Kathy reached her goal of running 10km.  We've already received several donations as a result of her efforts, and many more are on their way.  She's worked extremely hard at this over the last several months, and we can't thank her enough for her dedication.  While she tends to downplay the significance of what she's done, it's a huge accomplishment and we really appreciate all the hard work she's put in.  You can learn more about her challenge at www.kwat10k.blogspot. com

In her own words: 

Well, I did it. I ran 11.05 km. After months of training, I reached my goal. It wasn't easy, but I got it done.

**Next Project
**Special Thanks

**Next Project

There will be no vote to choose a project this time around.  Given that we had a virtual tie on the last vote, we’ve decided to turn our attention to Ryan’s Well.  Regular voting will resume upon completion of this project.  

The mission of Ryan's Well is to BUILD, EDUCATE and MOTIVATE.  Our BUILD program supports water, sanitation and hygiene education projects in partnership with local non-governmental and community based organizations in developing countries.

The Ryan’s Well Foundation grew out of the commitment of one boy, Ryan Hreljac, who learned of the great need for clean and safe water in developing countries. At age seven, Ryan's first well was built in 1999 at Angolo Primary School in a Northern Ugandan village. This well continues to serve the students of Angolo Primary and the surrounding community with safe water. Ryan continues to engage youth around the globe and inspire countless people of all ages to take action in the quest to provide clean water, improved sanitation and health and hygiene education to those who need it most.

You can learn more about Ryan’s Well at:  http://www.ryanswell.ca

**Special Thanks

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Christina Cocca and the students at Miraleste Intermediate School in Palos Verdes, CA.  I spoke with some students there via webconference several months back, and was certainly impressed by their interest and enthusiasm.  They set up a “One Dollar Nation Station” at their school 3 times over the last few months to collect dollars.  The week of the collection, they would add facts about hunger and other world issues to their daily announcements and encouraged students to donate.  They managed to raise $318, which will be used to support Ryan’s Well as part of our current project.  I think it’s only fitting that they support an organization that was started by another student.  Thank you to everyone at Miraleste, and to Christina for putting this in motion.  Your efforts will save lives and offer a better life to many.

**LifeStraw project completed

**Site Changes

**Update from Kathy

**Next Project

LifeStraw Project Completed

Late last week, we purchased approximately 300 LifeStraw portable water purifiers through Rotary International.  These devices are an incredibly easy way to provide safe drinking water to people without access to clean water sources.  The LifeStraw is portable, and can provide up to a year’s worth of safe water to the recipient.  They will be distributed to children of the Masai tribe in Tanzania through Rotary International.  They have distribution infrastructure in place, and expect them to hit Tanzania in approximately 8 weeks. 

Thanks to all of our citizens who made this possible.  With 4500 children dying daily from water related diseases, this is a project that will have an immediate and dramatic impact on the lives of the recipients.  To learn more about the LifeStraw and to find out why Forbes called it “one of the ten things that will change the way we live”, follow these links:

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4418/

http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw.htm

Martin Brody from Rotary International sent us the following note:

Thank you so very much for helping us make a difference.  As I mentioned our objective is to provide children in Tanzania and Kenya with Lifestraws as a temporary solution while we try to raise money to implement wells which will be sustainable.

We hope to have film put up on our web site sometime in september - so stay in touch and I will keep you posted.

Thank you for your support

Martin D. Brody

Site Changes

*PayPal

Visitors will no longer be required to create a PayPal account in order to donate, nor will they have to leave our site to do so.  Transactions will now be processed securely directly on our site, unless you choose to use your PayPal account to donate.  This has been our goal from the beginning, and we’re glad to finally see it available to us.  We want to make the process of joining ODN as quick and easy as possible, and this is a big step in that direction.  We expect the changes to go live sometime next week.

*Comments

Commenting has now been enabled on the news and blog section of the site.  Instead of going to the forums, you can now post directly on these pages.  You'll see the link to add a comment below this post.

*Media

We have added a media section to the site.  We’ll be posting downloadable content and resources for the press in the near future.

*Twitter

If you're so inclined, you can now follow us on Twitter here .

Kathy is running 10km for ODN

Kathy has been training hard in order to reach her goal of running 10km in support of ODN.  She sent along her latest update and she’s up to 9km!  She’s been working incredibly hard at this, and I’m simply in awe of her discipline.  You can follow her progress at www.kwat10k.blogspot.com 

Next Project

We’ll be waiting until all the changes on the site are completed before working on this, so expect and update next weekend.  As always though, send your suggestions to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or post in our forums.