Can you hear the teeth rotting?

In honor of Halloween, the awesomely-fun-yet-dentally-nightmarish holiday, how about making a gift to the Children's Dental Health Project, an organization dedicated to bringing high quality oral healthcare to every child in America. Thanks to CDHP's and its partners' efforts, as many as 10 million kids have gotten dental insurance; many of these kids are from poor families who otherwise could never afford oral health care.

How about donating a dollar for every piece of candy you give to a kid tonight? You can donate to CDHP HERE.

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

TSF's night out!

One of my favorite non-profits (OK, full disclosure - I'm on the steering committee!), the Tranquil Space Foundation, had it's 5th annual fundraiser earlier this month. We shared stories from some of our grantees and raised funds to support programs for women and girls. Check out photos and videos from the TSF celebration HERE.

Can this cup change America? (more than it already has...)

Have you heard? Starbucks is teaming up with the Opportunity Finance Network in the Create Jobs for U.S.A. program. The program "will provide capital grants to select Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). The CDFIs will provide financing to underserved community businesses which include small business loans, community center financing, housing project financing and microfinance."

You can donate at your local Starbucks or online starting on November 1. And no, I am not getting any free mochas from Starbucks for writing about this! I just like the idea of a big American company helping small American businesses. Microfinance right here at home.

(of course, Kiva does this, as well, but most of their work is outside of the US... Do you know of other ways that Everyday Joe's like you and me can make donations to support small businesses? In addition to "buying American"?)

Trees!

Ah, autumn. Time of crisp air, changing colors, and falling leaves... (I snapped this photo today in Rock Creek Park). What a great time to think about volunteering to help preserve and protect the trees you love!

A few organizations that I like are the Audubon Naturalist Society (with a sanctuary just a short bike ride from from my home) and the Sierra Club (with whom I volunteered in Vieques, Puerto Rico a few years ago).

What are your favorite tree-hugging charities?