Have you heard about Blog Action Day? I heard about it in passing last year, but I didn’t give it much thought. But just this morning I stumbled upon a post about this year’s Blog Action Day, and saw that the subject is poverty. I quickly signed up.

As someone who has lived below the poverty line and is a resident of one of the poorer parts of this country, poverty is a subject that really hits home for me. But I’m not so blind as to not realize that a lot of people have it much, much worse than I ever did. Anyway, I felt compelled to put my two cents in on Blog Action Day this year.

I’m not exactly sure what I’ll write about yet, but I do know that I want to be a part of this important event. I believe that we bloggers can make a difference in the world, especially when we unite. So if you have a blog (or podcast or videocast), won’t you join me? It’s on October 15th, which gives us plenty of time to come up with something good.

This morning, Pumpkin brought me one of her old toys, a Fisher Price zoo that makes animal sounds, and informed me that it was making funny noises. I removed the drained batteries from it and asked if she wanted me to put some fresh ones in. She shook her head, and said she didn’t want it any more.

I took that as a sign that I need to go through her toys again and get rid of things she doesn’t play with. I couldn’t do it today, but I hope to get to it in a couple of weeks. I’m sure I’ll find lots of things in good condition that she has barely played with, and if so I’ll try to find someplace to donate them.

Donating stuff is a good thing. It lets us get rid of things we don’t need and gets them into the hands of those who need them but can’t afford them. But there are other ways that donations can help as well.

Take car and boat donations, for example. You can give them to Car Angel and Boat Angel, respectively. But this non-profit does something a little different: They sell the donated vehicles and boats and use the proceeds to make videos geared toward kids and teens. Like D.O.P.E., a documentary about the rise and fall of four skateboarders who got mixed up with drugs. Here’s the trailer:

Car Angel/Boat Angel has given away over 2.4 million videos, and it’s all made possible by donations. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

I’ve had a particularly hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. I haven’t had the money to buy gifts, and that has really put a damper on things. And I usually try to give a little something to charity around this time of year too, but so far that’s not looking very promising either.

If I weren’t so attached to the car I have that belonged to my dad, I’d consider donating it. There are lots of worthwhile causes that accept car donations. Car Angel is one of them. They use the funds they get from the donated vehicles to make and give away videos aimed at helping kids make good decisions in life. Their latest film has several big names on board, including Danny Trejo, POD and Arrested Development. Here’s a sneak peek:

If you’re involved with an organization that uses anti-drug movies, you can request free copies of their films.