Walking4Water is a non-profit organization committed to raising awareness and funds for clean water in developing countries. The team is set to embark on a two year, 7,000 mile mission across the country to achieve their goal. The intrepid threesome plan to become the first U.S. citizens to walk this far across Africa. And, they have set up a way for you to follow them as they make the trek.

“4,000 children will die today from water-related diseases,’ said Russell. “We feel committed and compelled to help those who are in most desperate need of the most basic necessity of life. We’re raising awareness and funds, and trying to prove that ‘impossible’ doesn’t exist.”

The journey is equivalent to the distance of walking from New York City to California, and back to Chicago. The team will begin walking on January 27 in Cape Town, South Africa and continue through several countries including:

• South Africa
• Mozambique
• Tanzania
• Kenya
• Ethiopia
• Sudan
• Egypt

Russell and the volunteers will walk six days a week, for about eight hours a day. The team plans to camp or stay with people that they meet along the way, joining with other grassroots organizations already working to create sustainable water solutions in Africa.

The Walk4Water team can be tracked on their website with a GPS map for supporters to follow their journey. Their U.S. volunteer team will update their social media channels and website to include recent news, accept donations, and offer options for those at home to get involved in the mission.

Russell founded the non-profit organization, Walk4Water, while she was still in college at North Park University in Chicago.

“Walk4Water was birthed out of an idea, backed by compassion for people, a passion for justice, and the decision to take a risk, knowing it is worth it,” said Russell.

To follow the walk across Africa, or learn more about how you can get involved, visit Walk4Water’s website: www.walking4water.org, Facebook: Walking4Water, or Twitter: @TeamWalk4Water

Bono, who’s also recognized for his messianic mission to save the world from ourselves, owns 1.5 percent of the shares in Facebook via an investment firm he works through. Whenever Facebook shares start trading on the stock exchange, those stocks are expected to be worth a little less than $1 billion. He’ll surpass Sir Paul McCartney to become the richest rockstar in the world (I hesitate to say “richest musician” because there are other genres than rock ‘n roll out there).

Despite the Dr. Evil levels of wealth that the great sunglassed one will find himself, don’t be surprised if Bono uses his new riches for his many humanitarian projects. NME expects that some of this money will go toward several of Bono’s charity projects. That’s probably a safe bet, so let’s hope that the money finds its way to some good causes for people who need a hand.

Personally, I think Bono should just buy a Laputa-like floating island and go start over with this whole human race thing.

Today, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates announced a contribution of $750 million to the fund. Gates issued a legally binding promissory note that covers his future contributions up until 2016. The Global Fun explains it further:

The Global Fund must have enough cash in the bank to cover all signed grants, regardless of the pay-out date. A promissory note also counts as cash in the bank, immediately increasing the amount of funds available for grants.

If the Foundation had renewed its $500 million 2006-2011 cash commitment, $100 million per year for five years would have been made available to the Global Fund. With a promissory note, $750 million is available immediately for the Global Fund to continue its lifesaving programs.

The Gates Foundation had previously put $650 million into the fund.

“These are tough economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world’s poorest. The Global Fund is one of the most effective ways we invest our money every year,” said Gates.

Bill Gates, working with his wife through the Gates Foundation, is one of the most charitable people in the world, having given nearly half his net worth to charity. As of 2007, Bill and Melinda Gates have given $28 billion to charity. In fact, check out this infographic to learn more about why Bill Gates is better than Batman.

Gates was quoted last year as saying:

I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, there’s a certain freedom, meaningful freedom, that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that, I have to tell you, it’s the same hamburger. Dick’s (a fast food chain) has not raised their prices enough.

But being ambitious is good. You just have to pick what you enjoy doing.

Bill Gates continues to give a lot of his hamburger away, and organizations like the Global Fund couldn’t be more thrilled.

This donation comes during the 10th anniversary celebration of the Fund itself. They’ve put out this short video, highlighting the past decade:

[Lead Image Courtesy some Good Guy Gates meme I saw on reddit awhile back and have probably mangled]

I contacted Newmark about some of the details of this donation drive and why he feels its an important cause (other than the obvious reasons). As for his primary motivator for the #perfectgift campaign, Newmark explained, “People everywhere need a hand and I want to help. One great way to do that is to support very effective, boots-on-the-ground groups like the Red Cross.” The cause couldn’t have a more noble mission as the money will go towards purchasing comfort kits for members of the military.

The fundraiser runs throughout the month of December, but as of the middle of this month Newmark says they’ve tracked 1,741 tweets and 200 Facebook comments so far about the #perfectgift. Roughly equating $2K raised so far, that’s not a bad sum at all.

To help get out the word about the campaign and to explain a little more about the donations, Newmark headed over to the American Red Cross to chat with Gail McGovern, president and CEO of American Red Cross, about #perfectgift:

As I said, the campaign is active throughout the rest of the month so there is still time to contribute to #perfectgift on Twitter and Facebook. Seriously, it couldn’t be easier: just tweet or comment what you think the perfect gift is, tag it with #perfectgift, and another dollar goes to the American Red Cross.

Take Google, for instance. While this may come across as bragging, drawing attention to the charitable work you contribute serves a number of purposes, and that’s not even including the actual good being done. While discussing the amount of money you’ve contributed my come across as crass or arrogance, or even a simple public relations move, when you’re dealing with a vocal minority claiming “Google is evil” or Google only cares about their bottom line,” then such announcements are understandable.

Thanks to a Google+ post from Jason Mayes, we are now aware of the impact the Google Gives Back program had. Contributing more than $100 million to organizations around the world. Over at the Google Gives Back page, there’s a video compilation of the program’s effectiveness, showing where and how Google’s resources helped others:

At Google, philanthropy is a core value. This year we gave more than $100 million to various organizations around the world — including $40 million in grants that celebrate the giving season by supporting four causes that we consider particularly important: science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education; girls’ education; empowerment through technology; and fighting human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

The page then offers specific breakdowns, discussing how Google is trying to assist with each issue discussed in their disclaimer, complete with video:

STEM education:

Girl’s education:

Technological empowerment:

Combating modern day slavery and human trafficking:

Pertinent information about one of the companies that will help shape our future or shameless plugs? For those who may think these videos are crass promotional attempts, let me know when Apple’s charitable side does as much as Google’s.

Today – and today only – a special sale aims to raise money for charity: water by donating the proceeds from the sale of several apps to the non-profit organization. Apps for Water is a special fundraiser sponsored by Gaucho Software, a developer of Mac and iOS apps. Today only all proceeds from sales of the apps go to charity: water. The sale includes nearly 220 apps from dozens of developers. The apps come in all shapes and sizes and span Apple’s platforms – there are Mac apps and iPhone apps and iPad apps. They range in price from $0.99 to $63.99.

Do some good with your app purchases today, and tell us about it in the comments.

Now’s your chance to show your appreciation.

Craig Newmark, the eponymous founder of craigslist, has chosen a unique way to observe his birthday this year. Instead of the self-congratulatory ritual of celebrating one more year he didn’t die (like the rest of us do), Newmark has decided to ask for something considerably different this year:

Folks, yesterday was my 59th birthday, and I decided to celebrate by asking for a unique kind of gift – a tweet on Twitter about what someone considers the perfect gift this holiday season. Each time someone responds and tweets using the hashtag #perfectgift, I am giving a $1 contribution to the American Red Cross, up to $10,000 to purchase military comfort kits for our troops. It’s amazing because 91% of every gift goes to people in need.

Newmark, who has a little over 45,000 followers on Twitter, says that following the aforementioned hashtag will help him keep track of how many support his humanitarian cause and, subsequently, how much money he will donate to the American Red Cross. He also hopes that the 585K followers of American Red Cross, who retweeted his original post, will help spread the word and get more people involved in his campaign. The promotion is also active on Facebook but actual donations will only be calculated through Twitter.

I implore anyone reading this to head over to Twitter and tweet a quick post about what you think the perfect gift is in order to contribute to Newmark’s campaign (I posted that my perfect gift is a world with no pepper spray). It only takes a minute and, like the clickable awesomeness that is craigslist, doesn’t cost you anything. You’ve got through the end of December to do your part. Just think of this as an easy way to say thanks to Newmark for all of those Missed Connections that have kept you entertained over the years.

For just $35, you can have your site permanently inked into Mr. Vaillancourt’s skin, as well as linked to from his fast-growing list of sponsors on his personal site, back2thelight.com. Major sponsors (the ones that get the large tattoos in the prime real estate seen above) have to shell out $500.

According to his site, more than half the money he raises for the project will go towards charitable organizations to help in places like Haiti and Somalia.

Those who know me will agree that I’m a spontaneous guy, a man of real conviction and passion who’s not afraid of getting involved in unconventional projects. I want to break a world record and become the man with “the most Websites tattooed on his body.” But more importantly, I want to help others. That’s why I’m going to donate more than half the money raised through the project for Haïti.

Vaillancourt already has over 15,000 URLs tattooed all over his body, and he claims that over 16,000 more have already reserved a spot. Apparently, the first 50,000 URLs will be inked traditionally, as black text. The second half will be tattooed in fluorescent ink so that he can be “very noticeable in nightclubs.”

Each 100 URLs take about an hour to tattoo, so the entire 100,000 will end up costing Vaillancourt between 10,000 and 12,000 hours of his life. The entire project will hopefully generate a total of around $3.5 million.

While “over half” the money will go to charity, the rest will go to paying old debts and helping him raise his son, he says. With almost 150,000 likes on his Facebook page, it looks like Vaillancourt is generating enough publicity to make his goal a reality.

Along with this, all rewards are now delivered by email in less than 24 hours. They have also made the checkout process easier by eliminating half of the steps between signing in and checking out.

“Based on member requests, we’ve also added three great new brands—Redbox, Groupon and Tango Card—and we’re adding Boys and Girls Clubs of America as a charity you can donate your credits to,” says Bing Product Marketing Manager Alex Danskin. “We’re still offering our most popular rewards and 100 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 and $5 Amazon Gift Cards* are both being cut in price.”

The current list of rewards is as follows:

100 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360
Xbox Live 1 month gold membership
$2.50 and $5 Amazon gift cards
Hulu Plus 1 month subscriptions
Redbox free one-day DVD rentals
$5 Groupon gift cards
$5 Tango cards
$5 Chegg Textbook rental gift codes
$5 Cramster coupon codes
Bing Rewards monthly sweepstakes
$5 DonorsChoose.org gift cards
$1 to Kids in Need
$1 to Teach for America
$1 to Boys and Girls Clubs of America

“The addition of the Tango Card to our redemption center gives our members extra flexibility,” says Danskin. “Recipients can select from top brands like iTunes, Target, Home Depot, Starbucks and Nike, just to name a few. They can also donate any portion of their card to charities, or redeem any unused balance for cash. Plus, Tango Card offers free apps to manage gift cards from a mobile device. So users can check gift card balances in one place and use gift cards from their mobile devices in-store or online.”

The Tango Card app can be downloaded here.

You can already see evidence of our fascination with celebrities by performing a quick eBay search. Whether it’s something basic like a guitar pick autographed by Eric Clapton or something a little more extreme like a T-shirt worn by a Jonas brother – eBay has become a destination for people looking to buy and sell items that have been touched by celebrity in some way.

And celebrity.ebay.com is tapping into that potential for a good cause.

The new site, which launched on Monday, provides a platform for celebrity items or celebrity experiences to be auctioned – with the proceeds going to the particular celeb’s charity of choice.

For instance, one current auction with 9 days remaining is for the chance to hang out with Brad Pitt for a night. Right now, the current bid is $10,000. All of the money generated from the auction will go to Pitt’s cause, the Make It Right Foundation – a program that builds homes for New Orleans residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Another example is with Katy Perry, whose sequined red dress will go up for auction on November 9th. All proceeds for that will benefit the American Red Cross.

As of launch day, there are 13 celebrities involved in the project inlcuding NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson, famous actor Robert Duvall, boxer Vladimir Klitschko and NFL athlete Troy Polamalu.

As you can see, each celeb has their own page that includes information on their charity, as well as any current auctions taking place. The page also suggests other eBay searches based on the celebs’ interests and links to associated eBay items.

So even though eBay isn’t taking a portion of the proceeds, they will benefit from the new initiative.

“We know that our customers have been coming to eBay specifically to look for and connect with their favorite charities and celebrities,” says eBay CMO Richelle Parham. “For many years, the eBay platform has been the choice for celebrities who are looking to raise funds for their charities.”

Celeb-crazy fans will pay an unbelievable amount of money to own items that bring them closer to the culture – no matter what the cause. So why not benefit the less fortunate is the process?