TODAY'S TOURBUS TOPIC: MAKE A FREE DONATION

I'm feeling pretty good, because I just did something to provide a hungry person with 1.1 cups of food, helped to pay for a mammogram for a woman in need, and funded the preservation of 11.4 square feet of endangered rainforest. Read on to find out how I did all that in just three clicks - and without spending a penny!

Please support today's sponsors - Thrifty Ink and Yves Rocher. Let them know you appreciate their support of this free newsletter by visiting and checking out their great offers.

HOW TO MAKE A FREE DONATION

In today's TOURBUS, I'm going to point you to several websites where you can help to raise money for worthy causes just by clicking your mouse. In each case, there is no cost to you. That's because these sites have sponsors who agree to donate a few cents for each click.

For some, it's simply good advertising. For others, it's like funding shows on public television or making corporate donations to other worthy causes. It allows them to get their name in front of people, to be associated with a good cause, and to generate good will towards their company. Whatever their motivation, they're helping to feed hungry people, find cures for disease, and protect the environment.

---> THE BREAST CANCER SITE

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among U.S. women ages 40-55, and is second only to lung cancer in the number of resulting cancer deaths. During the year 2002, 186,000 women will be diagnosed and 43,300 women will die of breast cancer. Early detection is the key to survival.

At The Breast Cancer Site, every day is a new opportunity to make a difference in the fight to prevent breast cancer deaths. Your click on the "Fund Free Mammograms" button at the Breast Cancer Site helps fund mammography screenings for needy women who otherwise wouldn't receive the gift of early breast cancer detection.

http://www.theBreastCancerSite.com

---> THE HUNGER SITE

The Hunger Site was the world's first online activism site. It gives Internet users a daily opportunity to make a difference in the fight to end hunger. Just click on the "Give Free Food" button and you'll help to send food to hungry people in countries like Bosnia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Honduras, and Mozambique.

To date, more than 150 million visitors have clicked to give more than 14,000 metric tons of food (almost 250 million cups of food) to the world's hungry. The staple food is paid for by The Hunger Site sponsors and distributed by America's Second Harvest and Mercy Corps.

Long-time TOURBUS readers will remember that we've mentioned The Hunger Site several times, dating back to mid-1999. It was originally run by a dedicated individual, later taken over by a big company that lost interest and shut it down. The site is now in the capable hands of Tim Kunin and Greg Hesterberg who took over the site in August 2001.

http://www.theHungerSite.com

---> THE RAIN FOREST SITE

In the past decade alone, over 154 million hectares of tropical rainforest (three times the land area of France) have been destroyed due to society's seemingly insatiable demand for paper, wood and other industrial needs. Your click once a day will help to protect land that is the habitat of over fifty percent of the world's species of plants and animals.

http://www.theRainForestSite.com

---> FREEDONATION.COM

FreeDonation.com is a web site with the mission of making the world a better place. At FreeDonation.com, you can make donations free of charge to a variety of important causes such as AIDS and cancer research, food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, vaccines for children and more.

Unlike the sites mentioned earlier, FreeDonation.com allows you to click more than once a day. It appears the limit is TWENTY CLICKS a day per cause.

http://www.freedonation.com

---> QUICKDONATIONS.COM

If you've done your charitable clicking for the day and you wish there was something more you could do, there is! At QuickDonations you'll find links to over 50 sites where you can click to donate.

http://www.quickdonations.com

That's all for now, see you next time! -- Bob Rankin