I have previously contributed to Kiva, but recently found out they have a lending team called Runners Who Love to Lend. In deciding how to link Half Training Schedule with Kiva, I discovered this team. I have now arranged that a portion of every sale from the Half Training Schedule site will go to Kiva.

First, let me explain a little about Kiva: their mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. The beauty of it, to my mind, is that we do not give people money through Kiva, we lend it. Loans can be as small as $25, and many of these start-up businesses are only looking for a few hundred dollars as seed money. You can read all about Kiva on their web site at www.kiva.org.

The loan period is generally 6-12 months, at the end of which time the money is returned to the lender. As you can probably guess, this lender plans to recycle it into another loan! In this way, the same dollar can be used over and over to alleviate poverty in the third world.

You can lend as an individual (as I did) or as a member of a team, such as Runners Who Love to Lend. Either way, the repayment goes back to the original lender.

I contribute to a number of charities, but this is the only one I know of where the same donation can keep on giving, year after year. I encourage you, if you are at all interested, to consider a contribution, either through me, through Runners Who Love to Lend, or directly. Know that even a small amount can make a big difference to somebody's life.