Hold the Ice: How You Can Really Help.

By now, you’ve already seen and heard of the #IceBucketChallenge for ALS. It’s a viral campaign that picked up a lot of steam and there’s no arguing that it’s created a lot of awareness.

I’m all about awareness. I know that in today’s world, something going viral makes a lot of difference.

What I’m against is wasting clean water after the point has already been made.

I’ve been watching conversations, observing different people in my networks and they all have one thing in common: They want to raise awareness. They care about making a difference.

Here’s where the divide happens.

I’ve seen comments, on numerous conversation threads, where people have expressed that they didn’t even know that the #IceBucketChallenge had anything do to with ALS. Although numbers indicate that a lot of people are, in fact, donating money, the water being dumped shouldn’t be necessary.

Out of all the celebrities who took the #IceBucketChallenge, my favorite is Charlie Sheen. Instead of dumping water on his head, he dumped out the $10,000 he’s donating to the ALS Association. “Ice melts – money makes a difference,” he said.

I’ve also seen a lot of people take the challenge by making a donation to different charities, like Charity Water, UNICEF Tap Project, and the Thirst Project.  Do you have another cause that’s near and dear to your heart? If you’re tagged with the #IceBucketChallenge next, hold the ice and just make a donation. I promise it’ll still make an effective difference without wasting clean water.

Oh and in case you need a visual:

 

Screen Shot 2014-08-22 at 9.38.19 AM

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Image credit: California Department of Water Resources

 

It’s time to make a change

The following is a post sponsored by Yahoo! Every time someone clicks here to make Yahoo! their homepage, they’re showing their support for Girls For A Change.

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.


Bullying.

Eating disorders.

Teen Moms.

It’s not easy for a young girl to be empowered these days. If they don’t have the guidance, they can get lost.

Which is why it’s great that there are organizations like Girls For A Change (GFC) around whose mission is to empower girls to create social change.

And boy, do we need some social change.

Some of us, in our 20s, are having trouble finding our voice, and feel in limbo at times. Some of us experience QLCs. Some of us just barely make the right decisions for our own lives, let alone extend our energy for making an impact on the world around us.

Which is why it’s important that the next generation of girls need to have that guidance from an early start.

“We envision a world where girls with strong voices become active leaders and passionately engaged citizens, impacting not only their own neighborhoods but also their nations as girls become informed and participating citizens in their civic, political and cultural communities. By connecting them with adult women trained to serve as volunteer coaches, girls develop trusted relationships with powerful role models for civic engagement while women become strong advocates for girls and their neighborhoods.”

GFC has a few programs, including Girl Action Teams, Change Your World Trainings, New Girls Network and the GFC Action Network.

You can help make a difference for the girls who are learning how to create social change.

“Girls For A Change is committed to giving all girls the opportunity to fly, the opportunity to invent, and the opportunity to experience the spark that comes with seeing your own idea take form and make a difference. A gift to Girls For A Change supports a high leverage model of social change at the hands of middle and high school girls with broad, lasting impact.”

All you have to do is change your browser’s homepage to Yahoo! by July 1 and Yahoo! will donate $10 to GFC. Easy enough, right? So go for it.