I just heard about this awesome organization called Kiva (kiva.org) which allows you to lend small amounts of money to entrepreneurs in third world countries. Pick one person to help, watch their progress, get paid back, loan them more if they need it. This is such an improvement over donating to a mega-charity that collects money and distributes it later with the country's corrupt government stealing the majority of it. It's so much more special to directly read someone's story and give them your money and support. The loans have a 97% payback rate, with term periods of about a year, and you can give as little as $25 using a credit card or paypal. Just..beautiful.

Today I lent a hundred dollars to Suzanna Muchanga in the country of Mozambique, where the average income is 73 USD a year. Essentially by her country's standards I lent her over $40,000, except to me it was nothing. What an amazing way to touch people's lives.