Easy things ...

Now, since I'm not rolling in the monies, and I figure that you probably aren't either (unless, maybe, you're Scrooge McDuck) ...

Here are some easy-peasy ways to help others without having to part with grocery/diaper/rent money ... and, even better, these are all through my lovely friend, Le Interweb:

FreeRice.com - Test your vocabulary. For each word you get correct, ten grains of rice are donated by advertisers (whose adverts are on the bottom of the screen) and distributed by the UN World Wood Program. There are 50 levels of vocabulary terms ... they say that most people don't get past level 48. I usually get stuck around level 43. So galling!!
Still, even if you get a question wrong, you can still play and donate. So far, I've donated 2,000 grains of rice. And I feel a little bit smarter to boot.

Using the same way to generate revenue, but no word games, is this family of sites:
The Hunger Site - donates the value of about one cup of food.
The Breast Cancer Site - donates a mammogram to a woman in need.
The Child Health Site - donates medical care for children in need. When I first found out about this group of sites, it was vitamin A shots that were covered through the donations.
The Literacy Site - Helps children "attain literacy." Again, when I first started clicking here, it would donate the cost of a book.
The Rainforest Site - Each click helps preserve a little over 10 square feet of rainforest.
The Animal Rescue Site - with a click, you help donate food to animals in shelters.

With the sites above, you also have the option ... if you feel like shopping, to buy products advertised on each page's store to help donate more funds towards that cause.
And they like people to only click once per day. But I'm not saying that you're limited. *shifty eyes*

So, yeah. I don't always feel like I, as just one person, make a huge difference in the world ... like my actions make much of an impact.
And, since I don't have tons of cold, hard cash lying around, waiting for a purpose ... I try to be proactive in less-expensive ways. Besides, in my case, I'm online SO MUCH that I might as well do something worthwhile with my time. Right??

And this is something that you can do without having to figure out how you're going to afford milk/gas/diapers while doing something for people outside your home.

Anyone know of any other great ways to help save the world without breaking the bank?
Any proactive ways to help people outside your immediate family?

For things a little closer to home, I would suggest voting responsibly (BRAG: I read through the voter's pamphlet. I still went with my gut, but I did try to work my way through some legal-ese AND saw who was in support of which side of the issues).

And Michael thinks that I'm amazing for emailing my congressperson. Um ... it's email. And usually, through MomsRising, I have a form letter that I can tweak. So it's totally and completely easy.
One time our representative voted against how I hoped he'd vote. The last time, he's strongly for the issue that I wrote about (strengthening school and public libraries. ^_^).

So ... yeah, that's it.