TweetGiving: Changing the world through GRATITUDE

TweetsGiving is a global celebration that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude. TweetsGiving encourages participants to express their thanks using online tools and at live events. In honor of the people and things that make them grateful, guests will be invited to give to a common cause at events held across the globe. You can read more about the story here.

This is a great opportunity to connect your local group with the global network around making a difference and sharing around the world.  Last year, TweetsGiving raised enough funds ($10,000+) to build a classroom in Tanzania.  This year, funds and participation will raise the technology infrastructure in the classroom as well as the knowledge and usage by the students there.

Epic Change just returned from the school in Tanzania and you can see videos and more from the classroom where kids are learning how to use social tools online to connect with each other and the world.

Check out the events page to find a Tweetsgiving near you, show your gratitude online and maybe go the extra step and donate to help Epic Change bring technology goodness to these kids in Tanzania. Do it. It will make you feel good. Promise.

Social Causes: Tweets For Boobs.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and my dear pal, Josh Strebel, has rolled up his social cause loving sleeves and launched the Tweets For Boobs website to support the efforts of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

The goal is to raise $10,000 for breast cancer research.

First off, the site is pure genius, and a great example of utilizing social media for fundraising. The integration with Twitter, Facebook, etc. is well done and I love how easy it is to pledge.

All you have to do is include #tweetsforboobs in a tweet through the month of October and with every tweet you are making a $1 pledge for donation.

Follow @tweetsforboobs and at the end of the month, we’ll give you your pledge total so you can make a donation to Susan G. Komen Foundation for your total pledge amount.

They have raised just over $1,000 over the last two weeks. We’d like to lend our support for this cause, and would love to see everyone in the Social Media Club community tweet just once using the #tweetsforboobs hashtag. Commit to $1. Let’s rally together and help make a difference. Do it for the boobs people.

Tyson Foods Steps up to the Hunger Challenge. Again.

The San Francisco Food Bank, Tyson Foods and Social Media Club San Francisco are working together to increase awareness around the issue of hunger during the 2009 Hunger Challenge taking place this week:  September 20-26.

Tyson has graciously offered to donate truck loads of food based on our ability to use Social Media tools to  spread the word in support of our local food banks. 

From Tyson’s blog:

There’s a list of hunger facts below.  All Tweetable.  Tweet  or retweet any of them with the hashtag  #HChal and Tyson Foods will make a 100 pound donation (up to a total of 100,000 pounds) to the San Francisco Food Bank. Blog about this effort and we’ll donate 500 pounds.  Or comment to this post with your own verifiable fact (not opinion)  about hunger and we’ll donate 100 pounds.   That’s all you have to do. Let’s see how far and fast we can spread these facts out there in Twittervillle. If you’d like to make reference to this post, here’s a shortened URL:  http://bit.ly/sBE9x

Tweetable Facts About Hunger

• More than 35 mil. people in the U.S. are on food stamps–up 3 million since Jan.  #HChal
• App. 40% of families now on food stamps have “earned income”–up from just 25% 2 years ago.  #HChal
• For every $1 donated @SFFoodBank can distribute $9 worth of groceries. #HChal #hungeraction
• In San Francisco, 150K people are unsure where their next meal is coming from. #HChal #hungeraction
• 1 in 4 San Francisco children lack reg.access to food they need to learn, grow, & have a healthy start in life. #HChal
• 1 in 5 San Francisco adults can’t count on daily meals they need to lead healthy, productive lives. #HChal
• 1 in 4 San Francisco seniors lack the nourishment need to control chronic health problems. #HChal
• .@SFFoodBank distributed over 33.5 million pounds of food in the past year–nearly 8% more than the year before. #HChal
• 60% of the clients @SFFoodBank served last year come from working families.  #HChal
• In CA, the average food stamp recipient gets $4 a day to spend on food.  #HChal #hungeraction
• In CA, a single person can get food stamps only if their yearly gross income is $14,079 or less. #HChal
• 5.3 mil. Californians are living below the federal poverty line ($21,834 for a family of 4) #HChal
• The number of households participating in @SFFoodbank’s grocery pantry program is up 24% over last year. #HChal

Bonus Challenge:

Social Media Club would like to up the anty and asks everyone to donate $5 this month. Forget the latte for one day, and help feed a family of four. If you do not have the $5 to donate, the food banks could always use food – their most-needed foods include rice and pasta, canned fruits and vegetables, tuna or other canned meats, soups and stews, peanut butter, and cereal. You can find a local drop off center near you.

I hope you will help us reach that goal of donating 100,000 pounds of food. Would be awesome to raise $10,000 this month too. Can we do it?