SHOPPING WITH A CAUSE
Blogger gives me a platform to share my thoughts without fee, so I want to pay that generosity forward. I have created The Moonbeams and Eco-Dreams store as an Amazon Affiliate and will donate all my profits to Kiva (15% on any item sold via store or contextual affiliate links). Store items mostly reflect this blog's themes. This store is not sponsored or endorsed by Kiva. It is my own brain child.
WHAT IS KIVA?
Kiva takes $25 dollar donations from people like you and me, bundles them with other people's $25 donations, then loans these funds to an entrepreneur in the developing world. Lack of collateral prevents these people from aquiring loans via traditional banks, so Kiva provides a unique opportunity for families to lift themselves out of poverty. Often these mere $25 loans enable a person to start businesses, feed their families, and send their children to school.
Once the loan is re-paid those funds are re-loaned to another entrepreneur and so on, magnifying the original contribution again and again. And Kiva borrowers have a 98.93% re-payment rate! , so the cycle of giving lives on beyond our original contributions.
HOW WILL I KNOW YOU ARE REALLY MAKING THE DONATION?
I will scan all affiliate checks I receive from Amazon and post them here (with my name blacked out, of course). Then I will provide a link to a web page for the entrepreneur whose loan we helped fill and you will see the store logo there. Whenever a purchase is made I will Tweet the amount that came in and the date. And whenever we reach $25 I will write a post about the loan we made.
Happy Shopping!
