BlenderNation supports charitable endeavors

I just blogged about Kiva, the microcredit charitable organization.

I learned about Kiva very unexpectedly through Blender Nation, a blog dedicated to the 3D animation software Blender.

I like it when various sites which are originally not necessarily charitable endeavors, take the time to have a thought for those who really need our help.

They wrote:

Woah! Three years have already passed since I began a small experiment in blogging :). Time for a birthday present!

Maybe you remember our previous fundraiser where we donated 1 classroom, 4000 hot meals, 2 goats, 1 alpaca and 3 animal care kits to a Third World country? That was great, but when tax time came it became hell for me because I had to sort out all the donations with my bookkeeper ;-)

Still, I want to do something similar again - use the size and enthusiasm of this community to do good for others. Just with less tax headache.

One of the best initiatives in this area are 'microcredits': people provide small, interest-free loans to people in third world countries, who use the money to start or expand their own business. I believe this is a *much* more successful approach than simply giving money.

An easy way to do this is through Kiva.org - a website where you can find an entrepreneur or activity, and lend them something. As they would say it, "connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty".

Loans start at $25 (paid through PayPal or creditcard) and are usually repaid within 3-12 months. After that, you can either loan it to someone else, or pull it out from Kiva. Just for the records: there is a *small* possibility that someone might not be able to repay a loan, but I have yet to encounter that.

If you want to know more about Kiva, you should read their 'About' page and the international press coverage they're getting.

I began using Kiva a little over a year ago and I'd like to invite you all to try it out, too. There's now a BlenderNation team that you can become a member of - when making a loan, you can assign it to the team so we can all see how well the group is doing.

Interested? Then here's what you should do:

1. Register on Kiva.
2. Log in, visit the BlenderNation team page and become a team member (do this before making your first loan!)
3. Find someone who you would like to lend $25 (or more) to.
4. Assign this loan to the BlenderNation team,
5. Enjoy the good feeling!

Thanks for reading, and I hope we'll see you around in the BlenderNation Kiva team!

*scurries off to buy a birthday cake*