Short Version

Go here and give money to public schools who need it.

Longer Version

BtB, along with many other SBN websites and social media outlets, is participating in the 2009 Social Media Challenge, a competition to see which social media sites can raise the most money for public school classrooms who need it the most.  DonorsChoose.org is a non-profit group that solicits funding for specific projects suggested by public school teachers, and then distributes the needed supplies back to the schools.  Yeah, sounds pretty cool to me, too.

Here's the link to the BtB Giving Page, which I've pre-populated with projects in the Math & Science category (seemed appropriate for what most readers of this blog would support).  You don't have to fund an entire project, just give what you can.  You can also simply enter an amount to donate and it will be put towards the most urgent projects.

There's a bit of a friendly competition going on here, too.  BtB is competing against other SBN sites, but, more importantly I think, SBN is competing against other social media organizations.  I really don't know what to expect, but I'm hoping we can leave out mark.  Here are the current Social Media Challenge standings.  There are some groups who have already started raising money, but we're playing by the rules and launching our effort October 1st.

How You Can Help

Whatever money you can give would be obviously be greatly appreciated.  We all have different financial situations, but I think everyone reading this blog can do without their coffee upgrade for a week or hold off on buying their next jersey in order to help out the next generation of baseball fans.  Small sacrifices can go a long way.

But in addition to money, you can give your time, by sharing links to the BtB Giving Page (or any SBN blog's giving page if you think it would be more effective) on Facebook, on Twitter (trey the green TweetMeme button), over email, or by written letter.