When I sat down to sign up for Members Unite, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew it was a great idea…you get to donate a little money each month (I know I can give up one Starbucks coffee a month if it means sending that five dollars to a good cause instead), then look through the projects and vote for your favorites. The project that gets the most votes each month is chosen, and the money ($5000) from all of the members goes to that one project. I could send $5 to a charity, but how much more could we do as a group and send 5 thousand dollars? Awesome, right?

So, I looked over the website with my two oldest. They’re getting to the ages (4 and 6) when they start to ask questions and understand that everybody is living with different circumstances (not always good ones). I was excited to be able to take the opportunity to read about the projects with them and help them think about the bigger picture a little bit.

During the first week (of March in this case), there are nine projects to rate (from one to five stars), ranging from providing doors to Habitat for Humanity homes, dogs to soldiers returning home from duty, balloons to people in Central Park, milk to malnourished infants in Guatamala and so much more. I would be happy to give my money to any of these projects but my votes will help guide the money towards the projects that my kids and I feel the most strongly about.

I had a inkling about which projects my kids would rate the highest before we sat down and talked about each one. They both voted for “Create an Immortal Digital Wall of Happiness”, a “random acts of kindness” project that would involve the purchase and delivery of 1,000 helium balloons to people in Central Park, and take a photo of their reactions to build a “digital wall” of smiles on the website. I can just imagine how big my kids’ smiles would be if they got to witness that!

Then they each chose a second project to give five stars to: Henry picked the Habitat for Humanity project, “Make Low-Income Houses a Home”, and Ivy decided on the project that would bring veterans and shelter dogs together (my personal favorite as well), “Give the Healing Power of Man’s Best Friend to Wounded Vets”. I rated the rest, and thank goodness that the projects are whittled down as the month goes on, because right now, I just can’t choose between them.

In the past two months, Members Unite has sent money for much-needed medical supplies to the South of Sudan and mid-morning snacks to 178 students for an entire year through the San Francisco Food Bank.

As the weeks go on, it will be fun to check in on the site with my kids and see how our favorite projects are doing. And next month, it’ll start all over with new projects to choose from.

If you would like to join Members Unite and share the donation load with the rest of us members, please let me know in the comments or shoot me an email at gretafunk at notenoughpatience dot com. I’m honored to get to use my voice typing fingers to help raise money for one of these causes (and more to come!).

For a limited time, Members Unite is offering my community a 50% off discount on the annual membership fee of $25! Use code “WELOVEMOMS” when you sign up!

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