Jonathan Adams

INTHEFRAY: Use Your Rebate to Stimulate Social Justice

Originally published at IntheFray.

Stimulate Social Justice
Ten ideas for putting your tax rebate check to good use.

by Andrew Blackwell

1. Feed the grassroots.
Send your money directly to the people who need it by using the online system at GlobalGiving.com, which pairs “average Joe” donors with grassroots charity projects around the world. It’s eBay meets foreign aid, with projects searchable by topic, country, and a host of other criteria. GlobalGiving has just launched a resource page and a relief fund to help victims of the Myanmar/Burma cyclone, which has left up to 1.9 million people homeless, injured, or vulnerable to disease and hunger. www.globalgiving.com

2. Offset yourself.
Worried about climate change? Whether you’re reducing your own carbon footprint, you can use the cash to buy carbon offsets, which fund projects designed to counteract atmospheric pollution and global warming. Carbon Catalog provides a long list of providers and information about transparency and verification. www.carboncatalog.org

3. Help the troops phone home.
Think “support the troops” has become a platitude? Do something real to help servicemembers serving abroad by paying for their calling cards so they can keep in touch with their families back home. If you don’t have a person in mind, look at the bottom of this page for ideas: thor.aafes.com/scs

4. Fight poverty.
While the government has decided to give most people a tax rebate, families of few means will receive smaller checks, and sometimes nothing at all. You can make sure resources go to the people who need it most by making a donation to the Low Income Investment Fund, which helps low-income communities develop in a sensible way and avoid the poverty trap. www.liifund.org

5. Fight racism.
Want to do something concrete about racial injustice in the United States? The Applied Research Center advances racial equality through research, advocacy, and journalism. Their work helps to change both policies and minds. www.arc.org

Click here for the other half of the list.

Posted at 1:09 PM, May 19, 2008 in Economy | Permalink | View Comments