Middle Path Finance

Cheap Charity: Plant a Row for the Hungry

The first warm winds of spring have finally arrived here in Ohio. It's a welcome reprieve from an unusually cold winter. For those of us with green tendencies, it also heralds a new season of outdoor work. Leaves need to be raked, soil needs to be tilled, and mulch needs to be spread. It will be at least another 6 weeks before the seedlings can safely be planted, officially kicking off our season of homegrown vegetables and fruits.But that doesn't mean our thoughts haven't turned to the fruits our gardens can bear. In these tough economic times, your garden could give back even more. If you, like me, are prone to growing edible goodies in your garden, an easy way to turn your efforts into a good deed for your community is to participate in Plant a Row for the Hungry. The program, a project of the Garden Writers Association, has resulted in at least 14 million pounds of homegrown produce being donated to food pantries nationwide. Food banks are in dire straits these days; just as donations have fallen, need has risen. Even in good times, many do not have the money to provide much fresh produce to the people they serve. Your local food bank would love to have some of your fresh veggies and fruits.

Participation is easy. Donate your extra garden-grown produce to your local food bank. If you'd like to multiply your return, ask your neighbors or your neighborhood assocation to participate as well.

Cheap Charity: Plant a row for the hungry

My first seed catalog of the year arrived the day after Christmas. I had barely recovered from the bacchanal of my mom's Christmas Eve ham and the avalanche of Christmas paper (even though I told mom to tone it down this year) had barely made it to the recycling bin or my sister's wrapping paper stash. She saves the big pieces for next year, the best way to recycle I suppose.

I don't know about you, but I heart seed catalogs. I can flip through them over and over again, glaring at the glossy, vibrant photos of ripe tomatoes, understated okras, and columnar apple trees. It's like garden porn. Really.

It's almost time to order plants and seeds, and even though your thoughts may not have yet turned to the summer garden, I ask you to think ahead.

If you like to grow things, consider planting an extra row of produce. When it's ripe on the vine and ready to pick, donate it to your local food bank. The Garden Writers of America cooked up a simple project that should appeal to a lot of gardeners. It's called Plant a Row for the Hungry.

You do just that. And with a little bit of dirt, a couple dollars of seeds, and some sunshine, you can provide a valuable commodity to your local food bank.

Food banks are often hard-pressed to get fresh veggies and fruits. They are more expensive than other foods and often aren't available when food banks do bulk buys from grocers and other suppliers.
Having these kinds of healthy options on hand is a great for the food bank and for those that use their services.

These are tough times economically. Food banks have seen demand go up at the same time that donations have gone down. You may not have $100 to donate to the food bank, but you may be able to grow $100 worth of tomatoes, green beans, or fruit in a small patch of your yard.

Cheap charity: World Community Grid

If you are reading this, you clearly own or have access to a computer. What if you could donate your computer- but only when you aren't using it-- to some of the world's most talented researchers, who would use it to solve some of the world's biggest problems. What if your computer could help researchers find drugs that can treat and cure HIV and dengue fever? Or help develop strains of rice that will help farmers in the developing world?

Well, you can do all of this. And it won't cost you anything, except maybe a couple of cents extra on your electricity bill every month.

The World Community Grid, developed and maintained by IBM, allows researchers to tap into and use your computer's processing power when you aren't using it. For instance, if you leave your computer on all the time, the program would tap in when you go to bed for the night.

All you have to do is download some software and choose to which organizations you would like to "donate" your computer

Donating your free computer time can drastically reduce the number of years it can take these organizations to meet their goals. Some estimate that because of World Community Grid, the time it will take for the Clean Energy Project to produce an affordable solar panel will be reduced from 22 to 2 years.

A little extra processing can go a long way.

Cheap charity: The Overseas Coupon Program

It's the holiday season, and many of us are finding that are hearts are bigger than our wallets. That's where cheap charity comes in. It's for those of us who want to do something nice but don't have a lot of money.

The month's cheap charity is the Overseas Coupon Program.

The program gives coupons to military families at home and abroad. The coupons can be used in the commissary on base, and helps military personnel- who frankly don't get paid much- save money and stretch their budgets.

Participation is very easy.

Go to the program Web site, and adopt a military base. Then all you have to do is drop all of the coupons you don't use from the Sunday inserts in an envelope, and mail them to the base. It's easy.

Why throw all the coupons for products you don't use into the recycling bin when you can send them to someone who could use them? The program also accepts expired coupons, but they must be less than 2 months past the expiration due date.

The only rub is that the program asks you to clip the coupons. That can take time. But considering the cost of doing good is a 42 cent stamp, spending a few minutes clipping coupons is a small price to put on a good deed.