For the past year I’ve been writing a personal finance blog at www.biblemoneymatters.com talking about my faith and finances, and writing daily articles about how to get out of debt, save, give and prosper.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to enter a competition for personal finance writers at FreeMoneyFinance.com. 64 bloggers submitted one of their best articles about personal finance in hopes of being voted the champion. The final four articles to remain standing in the competition would all receive a donation to the charity of their choice.

Choosing a charity was an easy task for me. Growing up my father worked for many years at a Downtown Minneapolis food shelf. Through his work there I was able to see first hand the impact that local food shelves, and food banks like Second Harvest Heartland, can have on a community. Not only are they able to feed people who are hungry and in need, but they’re able to give hope to the those in need when they’re going through tough times.

A friend of mine worked at Second Harvest Heartland, and through him I knew of the good work that they were doing. After doing some research on the Second Harvest website I found that for each $1 donated, they are able to distribute more than $9 worth of groceries to those in need. In addition, 96% of each dollar of revenue goes directly to the programs, so I knew my donation would be put to good use. Second Harvest’s mission was one I wanted to support, so I chose them as my charity.

Since I was competing with 64 other very good bloggers, I wasn’t expecting to make it very far. To my surprise, after four rounds of voting I was still standing and on my way to the final four. Because I had made it to the finals, I knew that I would at least be able to make a $100 donation to Second Harvest, which was exciting. Then after winning a hard-fought semi-final matchup, I moved on to a the championship round where the winner would receive a $500 donation to their charity. And after several days of roller coaster voting, I was able to pull out a victory by a tiniest of margins, two votes. With those two votes it was ensured that Second Harvest Heartland would receive a $500 donation to help feed families in need.

The $500 donation we were able to make through this contest may not seem like much, but with Second Harvest Heartland’s help that $500 will help distribute more than $4500 worth of groceries. Our small donation will make a huge impact!

My desire is that others will be inspired by this small victory and be moved to donate as well. You may not feel like you’re giving very much, but every little bit helps! Your $5 donation will provide 20 meals to the hungry! That’s an amazing impact from such a small donation. If you’re thinking about donating today, just do it, you’ll receive far more in return than you’ll ever give.

Peter Anderson
www.biblemoneymatters.com

It’s not just the economy that causes people to need hunger relief. There are plenty of other reasons our neighbors find themselves in dire situations – health issues, unforeseen personal emergencies, natural disasters … And now, as those in Fargo, North Dakota and the surrounding Red River Valley towns are enduring the worst flooding in their history, all of us at Second Harvest Heartland are proud to do what we can to help make this difficult time a bit easier for those affected – some of whom are losing everything.

On Friday, at the request of the Emergency Response Team, we sent a truck filled with 30,000 pounds of bottled water and granola bars to the Fargo area for volunteers working on the ground there. And this past Monday, we filled a semi-trailer with approximately 30,000 pounds of ready-to-eat food items for victims of the flood. Our ability to respond to this immediate request for food is due to the fact that we are part of an emergency relief system that is at-the-ready to respond when crises strike. In addition, we thank you – our dedicated supporters – for providing the support it takes to allow us to help out our neighbors in such a crisis.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who are facing the devastation of flooding in Fargo and Moorhead and all of those who are doing what they can to help.

Check out the image slideshow below, or view the set on Flickr.

(Thanks to Kent Flemmer Photography for the photos.)