It started as sort of a challenge. What can you do with $20 to truly make a difference? At first, it doesn’t seem like a lot of money. But as you will see, $20 can go a lot further than you ever imagined.
Here are our stories, we hope they inspire you to make one of your own.
Bill #IC07437838A
Give a girl in a developing country $20 and amazing things can happen. She makes it grow. She educates herself. She reinvests it to support her family. She raises the standard of living for herself, her family, her community and her country. It’s called the Girl Effect.
But too many girls are not given this chance. They’re forced into marriage at an impossibly young age, forbidden to go to school, and they become susceptible to contracting HIV. They have no control over the path they’ve been forced to take.
I decided to support this organization because I believe in empowering girls to make this world a better place, and because a little goes a very long way. Please visit their website and learn more.
Bill #IG32770297B
Bill #IB35983093A
As a first grader, Ryan Hreljac learned of the great need for clean and safe water in developing countries. He decided right then and there that every person in the world deserves access to this simple necessity.
What started as a charitable little kid on a mission to change the world with $70 he saved up from doing household chores has over the course of 10 years become known as Ryan’s Well Foundation. To date, Ryan’s Well Foundation has contributed a total of 518 water and sanitation projects in 16 countries, helping over 640,000 people.
I was so humbled by Ryan’s story I chose to donate my $20 to the Ryan’s Well Foundation, which is changing the world one drop of water at a time.
Bill #IE90980992C
I choose to donate to the Homeless Stand Down. This is a collaborative effort that last year cared for over 2,100 guests in 3 days of respect, respite, renewal, and reconnection. Our guests can visit a doctor, enjoy a warm meal, and are cared for mind, body, and spirit.
This year the dates for the Stand Down are February 7, February 28 and the big social service fair is set for Friday March 5, 2010 at the Cleveland Convention Center.
The 2010 Stand Down is expected to the biggest ever with the downturn in the economy and the lack of jobs. We need to collect winter clothing items, hygiene items, coats, and boots.
For more information and donations, please visit the InterAct website.
Bill #GL91014673A
Bill #GK38403016C
We came across a community group in Avon Lake that was putting together holiday food packages for 23 poor families in the Cleveland area. When we arrived, they were pretty much finished collecting food and were packing up the boxes of to be delivered to the families. We asked them is they were short on anything and they said they could use some NutriGrain bars. So off we went to BJ’s and we bought 192 NutriGrain bars for $42.96. Each of the 23 poor families received 8 NutriGrain bars with our Change for two Twenties. - Joe & Marie Kujawski
Bill #CJ20721271
By Mike Hudock
Bill #EB27358987D
As this was my my first change for 20 experience I thought long and hard on what to do until something felt right. In the end I chose to donate it to a person who has dramatically impacted my life from a young age, which has helped lead me to where I am today. Let me tell you about a man who has personally touched mine and everyone’s life that he meets: As I know him “Mr. B”
Mike Breidenstein is a teacher I had in 5th grade and also later in life when I entered high school. About two years ago this always healthy 40 something year old teacher was diagnosed with Colon Cancer and has been fighting the battle ever since. Sadly in the last few months Mr. B has taken a turn for the worse as the cancer has spread and is currently undergoing treatments at a special hospital in Indianapolis. As a loving husband, a father of two and a teacher Mr. B has touched many people’s lives and truly is a man that many cherish dearly. He is a born entrepreneur and is undoubtedly the hardest working man I have ever known, who balances his family his several business ventures and his teaching duties all with ease. Mr. B even currently tries to maintain his printing business as he fights for his life so that he can continue to support his family as the medical bills continue to pile up.
Personally as a senior in college my life has been impacted through the many years of schooling I have gone through and the teachers that I have had in my life. Mr. B was my first business teacher in high school and taught me all of the keys that I needed to know in order to succeed in life even at a young age. Mr. B is someone that I look back on and truly appreciate for his guidance and care he put into my personal life. He is without a question one of the most influential and important people I have had in my life. As I am sure you have heard the quote: “It is not what you take with you when you leave, but it is what you leave behind that really counts”. Mr. B will truly leave behind a legacy in every individual’s life that he has touched, and hundreds of students whose lives have been altered for the better with his knowledge and wisdom he imparted on us. Mr. B is not only a teacher to his students but a genuine friend. I know as I graduate this May that wherever I go and whatever I do it will be because of the role Mr. B played in my life.
I hope that this change for 20 will help the Breidenstein family out this holiday season as well as in the months ahead as Mr. B continues to fight the battle. I hope with all my heart that Mr. B can continue to make his mark on young peoples lives so that they might receive an ounce of his wisdom as they also begin to create their futures!
Rachel Coristin
Credit Card
I took a virtual trip to Cambodia to find a small business that needed a loan. A very small loan to help grow a fruit and vegetable business. Check out KIVA to loan the world a helping hand.
Bill #IK37956405A
Allison and I ventured to our favorite breakfast location, Yours Truly/Mayfield Village, to spread a little holiday cheer and extend a random gift of kindness to total strangers. After finishing our breakfast, I spied my target across the way from our booth… a military vet (based on his jacket) and his lovely wife. I conspired with our waiter to anonymously pay for their breakfast and for him to slip them a little note that read:
My target...
It’s amazing what a random act of kindness can do during this holiday season. Happy Holidays to you and yours. Please pay it forward.
-changefor20.com
I can only hope they do the same for someone else.
Bill # EL65054079G
Meet Ginger and Angel. They are the recipients of my Change for $20. Imagine sponsoring two cats for an entire year for just $20!
My connection to CJ Acres is through a former co-worker Lee Sackett. He and his wife Jennifer started CJ Acres out of a love for animals. Their story is best paraphrased by excerpts from a story in their local paper:
Each weekday morning before Jennifer Sackett leaves for her job in Jacksonville, she and her husband, Lee Sackett, feed all the animals on their farm and assess them to make sure they are healthy. They repeat the hour and a half routine when she returns home in the evening.
But the Sacketts are not running a working farm. They own CJ Acres Animal Rescue Farm, a shelter that rescues in-need farm animals and rehabilitates them for possible adoption…The animals at CJ Acres include horses, pigs, goats, chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs.
The Sacketts chose the name CJ Acres in memory of one of their first rescue dogs named CJ who did not live long, said Jennifer. Although Jennifer said she and Lee are “city born and raised,” their love of animals has brought them to a country farm caring for the neediest creatures. She said it is a way to give back.
“Everyone does what they need to do to make the world a better place, and ours is animals,” she said.
I couldn’t have said it better. Find out more about them at cj-acres.org. There are all kinds of ways to help out, even if you can’t spare a $20.
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