Mom and her twin sister (Mom is the one on the left)

June 16th was my first blogiversary. I started Expat Educator in honor of my mother, an amazing teacher who passed away a few days prior to the initial post.

Like many teachers, Mom was a believer in giving back to the community. The purpose of this post is to challenge readers to give back to the community during the free hours they have this summer.

Donating Time

Many of you, like me, may be tutoring for extra money. Consider taking on a student pro bono. A former student, Carlo, who spent a great deal of time in Ronald McDonald house was blessed by visits and lessons from stars such as Maroon 5.

So you’re not famous, but you have the opportunity to become famous in the life of a child (or an elderly person) by showing up to read. Perhaps there is a student from your school who could use and extra reading boost but can’t afford tutoring.

Visit the Red Cross

Mom was the recipient of a bone marrow donation given by an anonymous donor somewhere overseas. Our family was incredibly honored by the selfless act of someone we will never know.

Recently, an urgent email was sent to members of my school community (which also circulated my hubby’s work community) requesting people be tested as a possible bone marrow match.

The Red Cross nurses take about two teaspoons of blood which are sent to the laboratory. Important information is logged into a database so that you can be notified if/when you match someone in need of a transplant.

It is important to note that the donation process is a whole lot less invasive than the process 20 years ago. The newer method is explained well at marrow.org.

Even if you don’t want to be on the bone marrow donor registry, you can give blood.

Monetary Donations

Individuals can donate to child-related projects such as Kids Are Heroes (KAH). When you support this organization, you encourage kids who are selflessly giving their time in order to make the world a better place. Bloggers can write a post about Kids are Heroes for a “free” $10 brick on the KAH blogger wall.

Earlier this year, I wrote a post on Alternatives to Student Gifts. You can use the summer to identify a cause that you can ask students to support in lieu of giving you Christmas gifts. One of my favorite causes is Ember, an organization started by High School students that helps fund girls’ education in rural China.

A Word of Thanks

Many of you donated time to vote for Expat Educator as Teacher Blog of the Year. I’m honored to be shortlisted. One big lesson I’ve learned from a year of blogging (and a year of communicating with fellow bloggers) is that all bloggers appreciate words and gestures of support.

Mine is only one of many great education blogs. Each educational blogger gives back to the community. Please consider looking through my blogroll, reading the work of fellow education bloggers, and sending them some comment love.

In what other ways might you give back to the community this summer?