Kiva Funds Every Loan on Its Site

Here’s something one doesn’t see every day. This morning I visited Kiva, the microloan site, to check on my loan partners — and saw the happy message that every loan request on the site has been funded! Kiva encounters this situation periodically, when their good press results in so many donors, they simply can’t find new applicants fast enough. Imagine a bank that had more money to loan than applicants — it’s a happy confluence of events.

Kiva is adamant that every dollar we give goes directly to fund the entrepreneurs’ loans. They do not deduct anything for overhead or processing (even PayPal donates its services for free). This does, though, mean that Kiva processes millions of dollars for microloans but often struggles to meet its own overhead including rent and staff salaries.

Today’s mitzvah: While we wait for more loan applications to appear on the site, consider contributing $5 to Kiva for their operating expenses. A PayPal link on the front page makes it easy. (You can also contribute to Kiva operating expenses here.)

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Praying without Ceasing: 129 Years & Going Strong

Tucked away in LaCrosse, WI, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration are keeping vigil. Yet this isn’t just any vigil. The order’s nuns have been praying without ceasing, 24 hours a day, since August 1, 1878. Day and night, even through difficult financial periods, at least two sisters are always at prayer — praying for all of us.

I hesitated to post on the sisters’ vigil since I know they are sometimes overwhelmed by internet prayer requests, which they receive quite gladly. Yet for me nothing better embodies the spirit of Christmas than these amazing women.

The sisters receive prayer requests on their web site. They also welcome donations — this is a cause for which I don
’t hesitate to suggest a contribution if you are able.

Today’s mitzvah: Send a thank-you to the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, and consider praying for them as they pray for us.

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Angel Mail with “Chemo Angels”

I was blog surfing yesterday enjoying entries for the Bloggers Unite “Acts of Kindness” day. Among the wonderful and inspiring posts, I stumbled on Skeet’s blog and a mention of a lovely group called Chemo Angels. The organization matches cancer patients with volunteer “angels” who send a card or a small gift ($5–$10 range) each month during chemotherapy treatment, just to keep the person’s spirits up. Is this cool or what? Everything is done through the mail, so location is unimportant. The organization has also started a Senior Angels program, with a longer time commitment but the same premise: a monthly card or small gift to let the recipient know they are remembered and appreciated.

Today’s mitzvah: Check out Chemo Angels/Senior Angels to see if this is the right volunteer opportunity for you, or if you know someone who might need an “angel.”

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Make It A “Good” Friday

In November 2001, a comedic hopeful named Danny Wallace placed an ad in a British free paper that read simply, “Join Me.” Interested parties were asked to send a passport-size photo to a P.O. box; Wallace provided no other information on who or what they were joining. The photos arrived not in a trickle but by the hundreds, and Wallace found himself the unexpected leader of a new “cult,” but with no idea what on earth to do with his eager recruits.

After a lot of thought “and a few pints,” Wallace decided to give his followers a simple assignment: "Make an old man happy.” Buy a “random old man a cup of tea [or] pay for his bus fare,” the specifics were up to the individuals. Soon Wallace’s Karma Army branched out beyond buying pints for pensioners and developed a special emphasis on “Good” Fridays, with the aim to “be nice, at least once a week, to someone else, for absolutely no personal gain whatsoever.” The only stipulation: “Whatever it is you decide to do, it has to be random, unexpected, and ... well ... kind.”

Wallace’s group, now dubbed Join Me, started as a publicity stunt but has morphed into many random, sometimes silly, acts of kindness. Good Fridays, indeed!

Today’s mitzvah: Make it a “Good Friday” and extend a lighthearted and unexpected kindness.

The Rice Game

How’s your vocabulary? Our favorite person in North Carolina and I both recently discovered a beautifully designed site called Free Rice that combines an addictive word game with donations to the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP).

I love this one. The Free Rice home page lists a word and four possible definitions. Choose the correct definition, and the site’s sponsors donate 20 grains of rice to the UNWFP. One can play all day — I’m not kidding about the addictive element! How much impact does 20 grains of rice/word really have? Look at the site totals: more than 372 million grains of rice yesterday — and counting.

Today’s mitzvah: Test your vocabulary (and help out a good cause) at the Free Rice web site.

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Welcome to “Daily Mitzvah!”

Hello and welcome to my first Daily Mitzvah blog post! My goal is to post a mitzvah (good deed) each day for one year. Why? So often we want to say thank you, or want to give back, or are just bored and need something quick, easy, and inspiring to transform our day. But not sure what to do, the impulse passes, and we’43 back to the daily grind.

Daily Mitzvah will feature things you can do, today, to make a small difference in a big world. The blog will feature free or low-cost ideas -- it's not about spending money. I hope you'll visit Daily Mitzvah whenever you need a lift!

Today I am all about Kiva, the terrific organization that allows individuals to help fund microloans to low-income entrepreneurs around the world. You'll see a changing photo of a Kiva entrepreneur on the right side of the blog each day. For as little as US $25, anyone can help fund a Kiva microloan. I am currently participating in microloans to two terrific female entrepreneurs: Mabel in Benin City, Nigeria, who sells soft drinks and pepper soup to neighbors and travelers; and Eang in rural Cambodia (above), who runs a small outdoor grocery in front of her home.

I first became interested in microcredit when Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. And now thanks to Kiva, anyone can get involved as a mirocredit lender.

Today's mitzvah: check out Kiva

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