Donate your used boat or vehicle to a nonprofit organization. Kill two birds with one stone.

First is the dove of peace and serenity hatched from the knowledge that you have given back to the world in your own way. Second, and probably the more practical bird, is scoring a tax cut.

Done improperly, the boat or car donation process might be the death of you. See these tips to forestall any roadblock or iceberg in the way of your (probably) well-intentioned deed:

Car Donation Tips #1

Some charities are not prepared to accommodate such donations, let alone worthy of your prized asset. Research until you land a reputable organization. The Better Business Bureau website and Charity Navigator keep tabs on charities’ history.

Car Donation Tips #2

For you to be eligible for a tax deduction, your chosen charity should be a 501(c)(3) organization approved by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS’ Publication 78 includes a list of qualified charities car donations or boat donations can go to. Your church, temple, mosque or synagogue would likely fall under this list.

Car Donation Tips #3

Do not eat the bait of intermediary companies telling you to make your donation through them. A middleman has a profit motive, i.e. to keep as much as 90 percent of your donation’s value for themselves, with barely anything else for your chosen charity.

These organizations tellingly make hard-line marketing campaigns on print, TV, etc. To be certain, inquire directly with your favored charity whether or not they welcome used boats or cars as donations. Stay away from the middlemen as much as possible.

Car Donation Tips #4

Maybe you are too busy to handle these affairs. If you insist on going through a go-between organization, ask if most of your donation would proceed to your designated charity. When the middleman only sets aside a flat fee to your charity, your donation may be disqualified from a tax cut.

Car Donation Tips #5

Charities pay for the transport of your car or boat donation if you do not deliver the goods yourself. Save them the hassle and outflow.

Car Donation Tips #6

Lest you want to incur traffic-violation-related tickets on behalf of your boat or car charity, donate with consideration. This means formally transferring ownership of the vessel or vehicle to the nonprofit. Fill in the blanks denoting the new owner in the necessary documents. Also notify your state’s vehicle licensor about the re-titling.

Car Donation Tips #7

Before the IRS grants you a tax cut, it will need proof of what your boat or car donation to charities is really worth. Since most charities eventually sell such donations for cash, they would have to show an official receipt to the IRS displaying the amount of money it gets from the sale.

Car Donation Tips #8

For other charities, car donations and boat donations are meant to be used for what they are. In such a case, or when the vessel or vehicle is valued less than $500, you can just show the IRS its fair market value as dictated by leading valuation companies.

Car Donation Tips #9

Carefully document your donation if your vessel or vehicle is worth more than $500. Fill up IRS Form 8283 and attach it to your tax return, along with an evidence of the donation, e.g. certificate of the re-titled car or boat. Your papers should include external appraisal if the boat or car is valued at more than $5,000. Filing these documents will ensure the charity capitalizes on your erstwhile asset and you earn the optimum tax cut in return.

• Car Donation For Charities
• BlogCatalog Community Organ Donation Awareness Campaign
• Public School Teachers & Students BlogCatalog Community Fundraising Challenge Event
• 10 Ways You’Re Ripped Off By Car Dealers
• Worst And Evil Ingredients In Food
• 5 Tips To Better Balance Between Your Job And Your Life
• How To Be Better At Time Management
• 10 Things To Do To Unclutter Your Kitchen
• Self-Love In A Time Of Self-Sacrifice
• How To Recover From Common Social And Conversation Blunders

Many parents keep their newborn baby’s umbilical cord for posterity. Little do they know they can make a difference to other people by donating this cast-out body part.

Also known as the placenta, the umbilical cord contains blood rich in stem cells. These cells can be transplanted, like bone marrow, to sufferers of leukemia, among other fatal conditions. Globally, over 14,000 cord blood transplants from unrelated donors have been performed on patients.

In theory, stem cells are the kind of cells that scientists hope could one day be used to treat an assortment of conditions, such as diabetes, heart failure, and Alzheimer’s disease. By banking your child’s cord blood, or storing it for future use, you could save lives.

Public cord blood banking

Cord blood banking is a precious investment, especially if you choose to do it with a public bank. The American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) both exhort parents to opt for public cord blood banking. This option offers stem cells to any patient in need of them.

Public cord blood donation also serves another purpose, i.e. create a larger, wider variety of cord blood units. In this respect, the AMA and AAP encourage minorities to bank cord blood publicly to make matching easier. African-Americans, Asians, American Indians, Alaska and Hawaii natives, Hispanics, and Pacific islanders are all encouraged to donate. Those of multiracial profiles are encouraged too.

If you decide to bank cord blood for public use, the tissue in question will be examined for infections and congenital defects.

By all accounts, public cord blood banking is free. But know that ceding cord blood to a public bank makes it fair game to everyone else. You are no longer its chief beneficiary; anyone can claim it for his or her use at anytime.

Private cord blood banking

Banking cord blood privately or for your own use has drawbacks. Along with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the AMA and AAP do not endorse private cord blood banking as an insurance of sorts.

There is a very slim chance your child would use the privately banked cord blood. An autologous cord blood transplant – a transplant of stem cells sourced from your own cord blood – cannot plausibly treat sickle cell disease, thalassemia, and other genetic conditions widely viewed to respond to these procedures. The reason is that the mutant causes of these conditions have been in your cord blood from the outset. For the same reason, an autologous transplant barely does any good to leukemia and similar conditions.

Due to these impediments, no more than 150 autologous transplants have been undertaken in the past 20 years.

Nevertheless, private cord blood banking is recommended for future autologous transplants of adoptive children. The cord blood of a baby conceived via artificial insemination or IVF is also a candidate for private banking.

Your cord blood may work on your full sibling who has a genetic or malignant disorder like aplastic and sickle-cell anemia; Krabbe’s disease; leukemia; lymphoma; and severe combined immune deficiency. Still, he or she merely has a 25 percent chance of genetically matching your blood. In that case, your sibling is better off with a transplant from a non-relative.

On the whole, it is advisable to bank your baby’s placenta privately if your bloodline has a record of the foregoing conditions. Remember,  however, that 70 percent of those looking to get transplants should seek them from non-relatives first.

Probably the foremost reason why medical organizations discourage private banking is that it costs too much. Any benefit you derive from your cord blood is offset by the exorbitant price tag.  More effective treatments may be affordable, in comparison.

• BlogCatalog Community Organ Donation Awareness Campaign
• Car Donation For Charities
• 9 Tips In Donating Boats Or Cars To Charity
• Public School Teachers & Students BlogCatalog Community Fundraising Challenge Event
• Recommended Blood Glucose Numbers
• Hår Vokse – Hair Regrowth And Hair Loss Solution For Men And Women
• Feng Shui Your Rooms With Fresh Flowers
• Essential Vitamins For Your Unborn
• 10 Most Common Cancer Symptoms In Women
• Helping Your Baby Learn And Grow

Coming just in time for Earth Day, Earthjustice is releasing a new viral campaign to educate the public about congressional measures that will put a strain on the environment and several species of endangered animals. Earthjustice, the renown non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the Earth and its resources, is using social media to personify three animals that have been threatened by a number of anti-wildlife legislation tactics: the gray wolf, the salmon, and the polar bear. Earthjustice launched the Save Our Skins campaign to reach out to the public via popular social media channels, such as Twitter and Youtube, and ask them to pressure Congress by getting in touch with representatives capable of bringing change.

Among the many contentious issues surrounding the passage of Congress’ current budget bill are a series of anti-wildlife proposals that would strip Endangered Species protections for the gray wolf, expand offshore oil drilling in the Arctic that could harm the polar bear habitat, and take away water intended to restore rapidly declining salmon runs. Sadly, all three of these species are already struggling to survive: Polar bears live in some of the harshest conditions on Earth and are now being hit by climate change; salmon must fight their way past dams and irrigation pumps just as more and more of their water is siphoned off for human use; and wolves were slaughtered to the brink of extinction until recovery efforts in the 1990s pulled them back from the edge. Species like these three are amazing, iconic species that represent the very best of America’s great untamed wilderness. To lose these animals is to lose an essential part of America’s greatness.

To get the word out, Save Our Skins is more than just a petition; it’s a chance for the soapbox to be given to the animals themselves. As part of the campaign, each creature will share their daily adventures and trials on a personal Twitter account. Recognizing the importance of making the campaign appealing and sharable, the social media-savvy animals combine wit with real facts and emotion to state their case; from the swaggering, Chuck Norris-like gray wolf who likes to see steam coming out of his nostrils on a cold day, to the neurotic and painfully naïve salmon who is unaware of the fact that people appreciate salmon mostly as a delicious entrée. The result is a quirky cast of characters with a message that hits close to home.

Save Our Skins serves to iterate just how little the wolf, salmon, and polar bear ask for — they just want a chance to live. All three are resilient creatures who did not survive this long just to have politicians put their existence up for a vote. Please help us get the word out about this vital issue by sending a letter to Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell. Earthjustice aims to send 37,000 letters telling Congress that we oppose these attacks on the ESA, and we need you to help us reach our goal! These animals deserve to be on this earth as much as the rest of us: extinction is not an option.

Take Action!

You can make your voice heard by sending a letter to Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell! Click here to send a pre-written letter or to write your own message.

Stay Connected!

Be sure to follow all the animals on Twitter, and click here to tweet:

• Follow the Wolf on Twitter
• Follow the Salmon on Twitter
• Follow the Polar Bear on Twitter

Check out Earthjustice on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

About Earthjustice

Earthjustice is a nonprofit environmental law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places and wildlife of this earth and defending the right of all people to a healthy environment.

• How To Have A Greener Christmas
• Earth Hour – Cast Your Vote
• Tips To Have Enviromental Friendly Christmas
• Preparedness 101 – Zombie Apocalypse
• How The World Can End In The Next Few Hours
• Stop Polluting The Earth – Plant Trees!
• Planet In Peril
• BlogCatalog DonorsChoose Fundraising Event Shoutout
• 9 Tips In Donating Boats Or Cars To Charity
• Investing In Cord Blood – Public or Private

Mind sharing to charity by shedding off some weight?

Yes! It is possible to get rid of your flabby abs and shed those extra pounds on your body while at the same time help children from disadvantaged communities in New York City by joining the Fresh Air Fund-Racer Team’s event dubbed as “New York City Half-Marathon“.

After the success of last year’s NYC Half-Marathon as Presented by Nike, Fund-Racers are once again summoned on August 16^th 2009 to gather-up on the track and get ready on their marks for yet another fun and fruitful activity for the children of Fresh Air Fund.

The Fund-Racer Team is also calling out to companies who would be glad to sponsors this summer’s major event and help carry out the campaign for free and fun summer vacations to New York City’s less fortunate children.

Apart from raising funds, this fun-run also promotes healthy lifestyle awareness to all its participants. We all have heard the story behind running and how it has earned its popularity as a fun fitness activity that derives health benefits from as little as three 20-minute running workouts a week. So for those who are looking to lose a few pounds, running would be your best feat because it is the most effective form of exercise that will help you achieve your ideal body weight. Aside from the health benefits running imparts, there are also many psychological benefits to a regular running program, which includes the confidence and character that running builds, the stress relief, and the attitude boost. Oh, and let’s not forget the runner’s high, that you get while striding ahead, beating past the air, refreshing the mind and the heart completely.

Running maybe painful, tedious and exhausting but undeniably, it is the key to staying in shape, building muscle, strengthening your bones and is an excellent all over body workout. Knowing that our bodies are in great shape sure is a fulfilling achievement, and it would even be greater to see a smile on the innocent faces of those children who’ll benefit from our participation in the Half-Marathon Fund-Racer event.

So what else are you waiting for? Sign up now and gear on your running shoes as we all race towards the finishing line of healthy lifestyle and providing happiness to the younglings of our generation.

To support this fantastic event of Fresh Air Fund, confirm your registration today and visit http://freshair.kintera.org. Start spreading the word to your community, family and friends and encourage them to join the Fund-Racer Team.

For more details, please contact Kate Brinkerhoff through runners@freshair.org or call (800) 367-0003 ext 8890.

• BlogCatalog DonorsChoose Fundraising Event Shoutout
• Heart Problems During A Marathon
• Public School Teachers & Students BlogCatalog Community Fundraising Challenge Event
• Car Donation For Charities
• The Running Chemistry
• The Pros And Cons Of Running
• Running For Your Life
• Top 10 Sports To Keep Your Body Fit
• Summer Colds vs Winter Colds
• 9 Superfoods For Weight Loss And Maintenance

To help charities in operating their programs, hundreds of charities have begun to adopt car donation programs. This is a way where charities raise funds or to provide themselves with a no-cost vehicles. However, the donation and the auctioning of the vehicles usually being done by a fund raising organization rather than doing this themselves which may also pose a problem to you.

An internet search proves that many fundraisers claim that the proceeds of the car sale can go to a list of favored charities group. And later from here, through the paperwork given, you can use the car donation as a charitable deduction for the IRS return.

IRS Advice On Car Donation

In recent years, the IRS has become alerted at the rapid increase of the car donation programs run by the fundraisers where the bulk of the proceeds end up being kept aside. Thus, for any car donation program, the IRS recommends contacting the people who runs the fundraisers and to confirm their involvement. They can be charity officials or may also be a private group who acts on behalf of the charity group.

After this background check, find out what is their plan with the car you donated. Find out whether the car will be repaired, auctioned or may even be given to the charity. If it is auctioned, what is the amount of portion that will be given to the fundraisers and also to the charity?

If you cannot find clear answers to the car donations programs, you may not have the rights to claim the deduction out of the car value. So it is crucial that you know where the money goes to.

Connecting yourself with a charity group through a legitimate car donation program is great gift you can give to your own self. However, to ensure that much of the money will be channeled to the charity is a responsibility that you should own. Research through many car donations programs and an IRS recognized charity group is a tedious task and it is very important since you do not want an unwarranted deduction during tax time!

• 9 Tips In Donating Boats Or Cars To Charity
• BlogCatalog DonorsChoose Fundraising Event Shoutout
• Public School Teachers & Students BlogCatalog Community Fundraising Challenge Event
• BlogCatalog Community Organ Donation Awareness Campaign
• Donate by Losing Weight: A Fun-Racing Event by Fresh Air Fund
• Investing In Cord Blood – Public or Private
• I Bought A Tree!

Patty Grasso, a recipient of a kidney and pancreas transplant lives by the philosophy, “Life is beautiful pass it on.” This is just one story among thousands of recipients of organ donations who have been given a second chance at life. Most recipients tell their story with a smile and a tear in their eye. A transplant recipient, like Patty Grasso is “so happy to be alive!”

According to the New York Organ Donor Network there are over ninety-six thousand men, women and children who are waiting for an organ for transplantation. These numbers are for just the United States and do not even begin to tell the global need for organs used in transplant surgery. These men, women and children wait every day to receive that phone call that says an organ has been located. Sadly, many do not live long enough to receive this call.

An organ donator gives others the gift of life. Today is a very special day in which everyone at BlogCatalog is asked to unite in order to raise awareness about organ donation. Anyone who is over the age of eighteen can become an organ donor. If you are under eighteen years of age your parent or guardian must give permission for.

One only has to sign a card in order to become an organ donor. In just a few seconds, with a simple familiar stroke of the pen you can save lives. If you want to learn more about organ donation visit OrganDonor .

One tissue donor can enhance the lives of over fifty people. An organ donor can donate a heart, liver, two kidneys, a pancreas and two lungs. An organ donor can save seven lives. Life is the greatest gift that we could ever give anyone. Imagine a forty-seven year old man with a wife and children, who dreams of dancing at his daughter’s wedding, but is on a waiting list for a kidney.

Organ donation not only saves lives but it makes dreams come true. Sign up to be an organ donor today and know that somewhere someone who is on a waiting list for an organ thanks you. Organ donation allows people to experience life once again.

• Investing In Cord Blood – Public or Private
• Car Donation For Charities
• Public School Teachers & Students BlogCatalog Community Fundraising Challenge Event
• 9 Tips In Donating Boats Or Cars To Charity
• How To Have A Greener Christmas
• Love Your Life – Say No To Suicide!
• BlogCatalog DonorsChoose Fundraising Event Shoutout
• Dieting And Lifestyle
• Gifts To Wow Dad
• Healthier New Year Resolution #7 – Be More Organized

I received an email from Mrs. Clayton a few days ago. I think she’s the one that submitted one of the proposal at DonorsChoose. Mine was funded under the A Picture Is Worth A Billion Words project.

“Dear Borzack,

Sincerely, Lauren Clayton.”

I’m very glad that I contributed. Thanks to Tony of BlogCatalog who introduced and organized this event. Even though we didn’t reach the 25K, DonorsChoose will still benefit from the exposure, thanks to all the following bloggers:

• Public School Teachers & Students BlogCatalog Community Fundraising Challenge Event
• Car Donation For Charities
• Do You Feed Your Blog With Healthy Blog Food?
• Donate by Losing Weight: A Fun-Racing Event by Fresh Air Fund
• Treat My Blog – An Experiment
• Importance Of Prevention – American Academy Of Physician Assistants Hosts Blog Party
• Bloggers Against Abuse Challenge – Stop Self-Abuse
• Autism And Your Child In School
• Is Tagging Healthy?
• Ways To Prepare Your Kids Back To School

I was contacted by Jeremiah via the contact form on the blogzine. He introduced to me his project dedicated to fighting climate change and poverty, called Tree Nation.

Via the website we can plant trees for ourselves or offer them to someone else. The trees will then be planted in a virtual map on the website AND in their real plantation in Niger. Eventually their goal is to plant 8 million trees in Africa in the shape of a huge heart!

I went to check out the website rightaway, and bought myself a tree! Click here to check out my tree. I name it Pokok Borzack, which in my native language Malay means Borzack’s Tree.

I’m calling out all green bloggers out there to support this cause.

Make our world green again!

• BlogCatalog DonorsChoose Fundraising Event Shoutout
• How To Have A Greener Christmas
• Gift Artists Going Green For Holiday – Gifts That Give & Grow
• Stop Polluting The Earth – Plant Trees!
• Awesome Christmas Video Greetings
• The Feng Shui Of House Plant
• Tips To Have Enviromental Friendly Christmas
• April 22 is Earth Day
• Earth Hour – Cast Your Vote
• Donate by Losing Weight: A Fun-Racing Event by Fresh Air Fund

One of the biggest topics is educational funding for public schools. There never seems to be enough to provide the ever-growing number of children what they need to learn properly. That is why organizations such as DonorsChoose.org has gotten together with teachers and various Internet channels such as BlogCatalog, in order to help raise money to cover expenses and materials students may need.

Raising money for schools is especially important when the areas the schools are in are hit by natural disasters. This means the schools that already started out behind in materials are now even more behind. By donating money, time and materials to these schools you can help provide for the education of our children where public funding may already be stretched to its limit.

Children should not have to share textbooks in class because there is not enough to go around or be unable to do homework assignments properly because there are no books to take home. This is an ever-growing problem that has promoted organizations like Donorschoose.org to work with teachers and the Internet community to let people know what students need in their school. This is also a great way to actually see where your donation is going and see the fruit of it.

Do your part. Donate today!.

• BlogCatalog DonorsChoose Fundraising Event Shoutout
• Car Donation For Charities
• BlogCatalog Community Organ Donation Awareness Campaign
• 9 Tips In Donating Boats Or Cars To Charity
• Donate by Losing Weight: A Fun-Racing Event by Fresh Air Fund
• Why Bullies Bully – A Look Into Bullying Behavior
• Investing In Cord Blood – Public or Private
• Healthier New Year Resolution #8 – Make It Last
• Successful People Who Were Expelled From College
• Be Medically Protected With Medical Insurance