

Tell HN: It's Christmas - IgorPartola

Some of you may celebrate Christmas, others may not. However, I want to ask you all to consider that it might be a good time to think about others who may be less fortunate than you. If you already have a favorite charity, please consider donating. If not, here are some that I personally consider decent:<p>- Doctors Without Borders (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/) does great work in over 60 countries by helping those who are threatened by violence, neglect or catastrophe due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, natural disasters, exclusion from healthcare, etc. They have consistently high ratings from watchdog organizations and at least as of 2006 had over 86% of their donations go directly towards helping those in need [1].<p>- Donors Choose (http://www.donorschoose.org/) is an American online charity where public school teachers post classroom project requests and donors decide which project to sponsor. 100% of your donation goes directly to the beneficiary (unless you specifically give something to DC) [2]<p>- Vitanna (http://www.vittana.org/) is my personal favorite: less of a charity and more of a micro-loan marketplace, where you get to choose students to whom you make loans at no interest to help them complete their education. Once the student pays you back, you can either re-lend the money, give it to Vitanna to cover overhead or simply cash out. I see it as investing in global education and therefore global wealth. Once again, 100% of what you give benefits the students directly [3].<p>If there is another charity you think is worth sharing, please post it in the comments so others may partake.<p>Lastly, if you cannot afford to donate or simply do not wish to at this time, I'd like to make another request. On this day, please spend a few minutes thinking about some of the problems facing our world: hunger, epidemics, natural disasters, armed conflicts, poverty, etc. Hacker News is an amazing community with some of the world's most innovative and talented entrepreneurs and engineers. Even a few minutes of our collective time and attention could result in solutions to some of these problems. That is why I would like to challenge you to spend just a few minutes of your day on thinking about how we could make our world a better place.<p>[1] http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/faq/#q2234<p>[2] http://www.donorschoose.org/help/user_agreement.html<p>[3] http://www.vittana.org/howitworks<p>Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any organizations mentioned in this post.
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shahed
Thank you for taking your time and writing such a beautiful post.

A lot of people should take a few minutes out of their day and help someone
they don't know. Whether it's leaving a few extra bucks at the grocery store
and telling the cashier to give it to someone who seems like they can use it,
or randomly paying a bill for someone in need.

These small things in life can have a big impact on peoples lives. It doesn't
have to be a big gift, we only ask to donate a few dollars or a unopened
presents that you don't need.

Please think about others who may be less fortunate than you.

With that said, I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Years.

Thank You.

