Blog Birthdays and Simple Gifts

I have been preoccupied with personal and family issues, so I almost forgot that this blog will be three years old on September 16th. Another blog that is even more dear to my heart ('Genealogists for Families') will celebrate its first birthday on September 27th.

In "It's My Blogiversary, and I Want Presents", Shelley asked for 'presents' in the form of corrections on Trove. I was happy to do that. Now it is my turn to ask, and what I would like you to do is...

Spread the word about the 'Genealogists for Families' project!

If you are not familiar with it, read about how the project started. After just one year, our genealogy team on Kiva has made a huge difference to the lives of thousands of families around the world. Your gift could be any one of these simple tasks:

• Mention 'Genealogists for Families' to your family history group, seminar audience, etc.
• Spread the word via your online social networks (our Twitter hashtag is #KivaGFF).
• Raise funds by doing paid online surveys.
• Put a link to 'Genealogists for Families' (http://genfamilies.blogspot.com/p/background.html or http://www.kiva.org/team/genealogists) in:
• Your email signature.
• Your stationery or flyers.
• Your profile on Blogger, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.
• Your blog posts (see these examples).
• A stand-alone page on your blog (Pauleen's page is a good example).
• Your business cards or genealogy conference 'contact cards' (I design my own cards at Vistaprint).

On behalf of everyone who will benefit if you encourage more people to join 'Genealogists for Families'... Thank you!

A Very Special Letter

Some of you will already be familiar with my main Web site. Its 100+ pages include free advice on sources and problem-solving techniques for family history research, plus 53,000 names from Archives records and other sources (headstones, certificates, church memorials etc) that I have indexed.

It takes a lot of time and money to create, maintain and expand the Web site, and sometimes I wonder whether it is all worthwhile. Just when I was feeling despondent, this very special letter arrived.

Dear Judy,

I've spent quite a lot of time on your site over the past few days and I would like to thank you for being so generous with your knowledge. You've been a great help. As a beginner, it's not easy to work it all out. Please accept my small donation [$25] to your collection for charity.

Warm regards,

Robyn S. [for privacy I won't show her surname]

Isn't that beautiful?! Robyn could not have imagined how much her letter would mean to me.

If you have heard about the Genealogists for Families project, you will know that $25 is the exact sum needed to make a loan through Kiva, a non-profit microlending organisation. The borrower I chose to support with Robyn's donation is Vilma in the Philippines. She is 39 years old, separated, and has nine children. Her shop sells canned goods, snacks and beverages. Next year when Vilma repays the money, I will lend it to someone else. That will happen over and over again, and Robyn's $25 will do much more good than a one-time donation!

Right now our 'Genealogists for Families' Kiva lending team has 91 members in 9 countries, and we are helping 147 small family businesses all over the world. The numbers are growing rapidly, and our small loans are making a big difference to families in low income areas. Please join us!