VBS That Keeps On Giving

I've been keeping my eye on the creative work that sparkhouse has been doing in the past several months. Some of my good friends work at the house. They are amazing writers and developers with a big imagination. Bethany recently sent me a note that got me excited.

I want to let you know one more exciting thing about ReNew Vacation Bible School!

We're partnering with Eugene Cho and One Day’s Wages to donate 5% of all ReNew VBS sales to Charity: Water. One Day's Wages is a grassroots movement dedicated to ending extreme global poverty; as people give one day's worth of wages (0.4% of their annual wages), their donations can have a dramatic impact. And Charity: Water is doing amazing work to bring clean drinking water to communities and schools in developing nations. (You can find out more about One Day's Wages' current Charity: Water project at http://www.onedayswages.org/charity-water.)

We want to give away as much as possible, so please let your friends and colleagues know about this opportunity to order a great Vacation Bible School resource—and give back! Like one of our recent emails said:

You empower kids to change the world.
We donate 5% of all ReNew VBS sales.
Together, we provide fresh drinking water for 3,000 people for 20 years.

If you have questions or want to know more, feel free to contact me or to check out the ReNew and sparkhouse social networking sites:

• ReNew Blog
• Facebook Page
• Twitter: @ReNewGreenVBS and @wearesparkhouse
• Ning

One Day's Wages is also setting up a page on their website that will have more info about our partnership and track the donations.

This is a simple way for a publishing group to invest in the spirit of the products they create. (In this case, ReNew is being pitched as "The Green VBS".) It's also an opportunity to make a difference in the world while selling curriculum. It makes me wonder what kinds of small-but-meaningful projects our households, businesses, schools, and churches could commit to...and, more importantly, how they might change the world in doing so.

Do you know of any inspired organizations that engage in this kind of partnership? Share them here!