If it’s after Thanksgiving, then it’s time for the annual travel bloggers’ fundraiser Passports with Purpose, which kicked off today for its fourth year.

The goal for 2011 is to raise $80,000 during the next few weeks for construction and initial support of two libraries in Zambia through Room to Read, a nonprofit organization focused on literacy and gender equality in education. As Pam Mandel, one of the co-founders of Passports with Purpose, said, “We love reading. We love writing. We love libraries. We can totally get behind Room to Read.”

More than 100 travel bloggers from around the world are participating with donated prizes such as hotel stays, tours, travel gear, services, electronics and gift cards, each valued between $100 and $5,000.

For each $10 tax-deductible donation on the Passports with Purpose site, a person can enter to win a prize of their choice. Donations for multiple prizes and multiple $10 increments are acceptable, as are direct donations without entering for a prize. Bidding ends on Dec. 16, 2011, with a winner for each prize randomly selected on Dec. 23. All proceeds go directly to Room to Read.

Examples of some of the prizes include:

• Two-night stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa, from No Vacation Required
• Three-night Marquis Los Cabos stay with one dinner for two, a bottle of Marquis wine and private shopping tour of Luxury Avenue with $1,000 peso gift card, from What a Trip (a blog by Uptake’s Lodging Blog editor Nancy D. Brown)
• 110,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points good for five nights at any Hyatt worldwide, from Loyalty Travel “Celebrity Chef Gourmet Cooking Experience” for two at the Freestyle Escape Outdoor Kitchen in Queensland, Australia, from Roaming Tales
• Kindle Fire, from Vacation Gals
• 15-day 1st class adult Eurail Global Flexi Pass, from BootsnAll

The travel bloggers will use their websites and social media outlets to promote the charity auction. The groundwork for establishing the two libraries already has begun. The libraries will be located next to the Masulwe Basic School and Chilileka Basic School. Hundreds of children will soon have access to a dedicated library staffed by a trained librarian and filled with colorful, age-appropriate books in their own language. Through Room to Read’s Challenge Grant model, the communities are co-investing by contributing to the libraries through volunteer labor and donated materials, resulting in the library’s long-term sustainability.

Passports with Purpose was started in 2008 by Mandel along with Debbie Dubrow, Michelle Duffy and Beth Whitman, the bloggers behind Nerd’s Eye View, Delicious Baby, WanderMom, and Wanderlust and Lipstick, respectively, in order to leverage the online travel-writing community to raise money and do long-lasting good for people and places around the world.

Each year the group chooses a partner organization, and so far, each year the initial goal set for the fundraiser has been surpassed. In prior years, Passports with Purpose donations have benefited Heifer International and helped build the Passports School with American Assistance for Cambodia and a village in Tamil Nadu, India, for 25 Dalit families with Land for Tillers’ Freedom.

Additional partners for Passports with Purpose 2011 include platinum sponsor Round the World with Us, a family of travelers committed to raising awareness of global issues and helping people better understand other cultures; silver sponsor Travellerspoint, a large travel community that claims to have members representing every country in the world; and bronze sponsor HomeAway, the large online marketplace for vacation rentals.

For more information or to donate, visit www.passportswithpurpose.org.

Photo: Passports with Purpose

Related post:
Passports with Purpose Win Trip to Canada, Mexico and Beyond

"Passports With Purpose" supports Heifer International

Online travel bloggers want to give back some joy this holiday season and they made it really easy to support a great cause, Heifer International.  Heifer International is one of my favorite causes ever. Through this non-profit, for just a few dollars, you and I can transform lives and remove them from the worst poverty.  Here is a quick overview from Heifer International–take a few moments to soak in what they want to accomplish, because what they want to do is a good, good thing:

One goat can end hunger for a family

Heifer envisions…
A world of communities living together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet. (just sit for a minute and think about that statement, it is a thing of great beauty)

Heifer International supports hundreds of communities worldwide

Heifer’s mission is…
To work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth.   I can embrace this mission with every part of me–the best of humanity in one sentence)

Give a little bit to help in a big way

Heifer’s strategy is…
To “pass on the gift.” As people share their animals’ offspring with others – along with their knowledge, resources, and skills – an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.  (an expanding network of hope…just feels good reading that)

A donation means passing happiness onto hundreds of people across communities

Heifer’s History
This simple idea of giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief caught on and has continued for over 60 years. Today, millions of families in 128 countries have been given the gifts of self-reliance and hope.

So how can you help? Just pull out your credit card and participate in your favorite travel bloggers’ new fundraiser:

What: Passports with Purpose – a fundraiser to benefit Heifer International.
Who: The brainchild of Debbie Dubrow of DeliciousBaby, Pam Mandel of Nerd’s Eye View, Michelle Duffy of WanderMom and Beth Whitman of Wanderlust and Lipstick. And an amazing ensemble of TravelBloggers!
When: December 1st- December 29th
How:

• Browse through the list of prizes
• Choose which ones you’d like to win for you or someone else
• Click on the FirstGiving link
• Buy one or more $10 raffle tickets for each prize you want by December 29th (11:59 pm PST)

I suggest you pull out your credit card (yes, do it now, so you don’t forget, I already reminded you once) and go wild!  Give them away as Hannukah, Kwanzaa and Christmas presents.  It is a  great corporate gift (do you really want that scarf with a company logo or do you want to feed a family this year). How about a stocking stuffer? Or just participate to feel really, really good about something you did this holiday season.

Go ahead, enter, either way you win.

UpTake donated a $100 American Express gift certificate to the event.  You can have a little splurge, have a little more fun on your next trip or finish up  your holiday shopping.  Good luck.

Please pass this on…

All photos courtesy of Heifer International.