Pssst! Spread the Word!!

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I have three great causes I'd like to do my small part in spreading the word about. Please read on!!

First: Help a PhD student!

Who: Adam at ah ok lah and Adam Ok Dot Net
What: needs A LOT of respondents to answer his survey thus providing vital and valuable information for his PhD research looking at consumers' perception of blogs.
Where: click on the link at the top of his My Research Methodology post
What's in it for you: for every survey completed, Adam donates 50p to Cancer Research UK. He also has a £100 cash prize and some amazon.com certificates to give away to lucky respondents.

Adam is one of my early blog buddies, and I really like that he's pursuing an advanced degree studying the blogosphere and its perceptions. You don't have to be a blogger to help -- you just need to have been reading blogs for more than a year. So please swing by and answer his questionnaire, k?

Next: Help purse-less students in Springfield!

Who: MochaMomma
What: Calling for your unused / no longer used small (8.5" x 11" max) purses (a.k.a. handbags), which will be sold cheap to female students who can't afford / find purses of a size that's allowed in her school.
Where: Read more about it at One Small Thing. One Small Purse (its GENIUS tinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/tinypurse)
What's in it for you: you get to reduce the clutter of unused purses/bags in your closet ~and~ do good at the same time!

If you've only read just a post or two of MochaMomma's blog, you will already know that she writes beautifully, and that she CARES. Her heart is THIS BIG! So while the plight of purse-less high school girls is not one I have experienced personally (the difference between Malaysian and US schools is really huge!), MochaMomma does a great job explaining why this is something that would make a difference to her female students.

... of course, if you know ~me~ you'll also know that I don't do purses/handbags, that I am the epitome of fashion and purses – NOT! The only semi-fashionable/decent one I ever had was a leather backpack styled thing which broke, is now fixed but waiting for me in Switzerland... so in the meantime, I’ve been making do with a 13-year old fanny pack... yes you read that right. Fanny pack. 13 years old. Oh yeah. That’s me!

So I'll be just donating some cash instead. Some are volunteering to make purses to be given/sold. Others want to just go out and buy some for this effort. There are plenty of ways to participate. I hope you do. :)

Finally: Help Heifer International!

Who: Fantastic fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss
What: Pat is giving people a chance to get their names into his second book The Wise Man's Fear while raising funds for his fave charity Heifer International.
Where: See his So You Want to Be a Hero? post for ALL the details
What's in it for you: Your name (or a name created by you) might appear in Pat's next book! And you do good by helping needy families worldwide obtain a goat, cow or other livestock.

Patrick Rothfuss is one of the newer generation of authors who not only has a blog, but interacts a lot with his readers and fans there, and on facebook. He even visited one of my pottery albums and left a message! He's also not shy about being silly (who else would have the cojones to wear such an item, let alone endorse a caption contest for this image??!). And I do like the principle of Heifer International, which I had never heard of until he ran his first fundraising effort for it last year -- I admit, I entered/donated just for the change to get at some of the swag offered, but don't mind not having won anything, the $$ went to a good cause.

And in case you're not keen on parting with your dough, but want a chance at getting your name in the book, there's also a "no purchase necessary" method of joining this raffle - read the post with all the details, k?

I thank you for your time, and hope you will at least consider following-up with one, two or all three featured bloggers and their causes. And no, I'm getting no kickbacks from this, I just want to do my part to spread the word... it is Blog Action Day after all, even if this doesn't talk about climate change.


Image Credits:

• Businessman by surely
• Bags by salsachica
• Pat Rothfuss in cat ears taken from Tobias Buckell's post.

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