As we approach the end of another year it is traditional in many cultures to look back and see what has been achieved in that time and to give thanks.

For many of us it is a time to take stock and to acknowledge that we may be more fortunate than others. One way to do this is to donate money to a charity.

Why don't you join me and other users of Joomla!™ to raise funds "all together" for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

I have chosen Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Doctors Without Borders, as they are an international, non-denominational, non-political humanitarian aid organisation that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 80 countries.

MSF are committed to two objectives: providing medical aid wherever needed, regardless of race, religion, politics or gender; and raising awareness of the plight of people they help. MSF has been setting up emergency medical aid missions around the world since 1971.

MSF works in rehabilitation of hospitals and dispensaries, vaccination programmes and water and sanitation projects. MSF also works in remote health care centres, slum areas and provides training of local personnel. All this is done with the objective of rebuilding health structures to acceptable levels.

You can find out more about their work at http://www.msf.org/ and http://www.youtube.com/msf

No matter how much you can afford to donate it will be greatly appreciated by those in need. But whilst deciding how much take  a little time perhaps and think of the number of Joomla! web sites you have built this year, the number of extensions or templates you have sold or even the time you have saved by using Joomla!

What MSF can do with our donations:

1. $35
   Two high-energy meals a day to 200 children
2. $50
   Vaccinations for 50 people against meningitis, measles, polio or other deadly epidemics
3. $70
   Two basic suture kits to repair minor shrapnel wounds
4. $100
   Infection-fighting antibiotics to treat nearly 40 wounded children
5. $250
   A sterilization kit for syringes and needles used in mobile vaccination campaigns
6. $500
   A medical kit containing basic drugs, supplies, equipment, and dressings to treat 1,500 patients for three months
7. $1000
   Emergency medical supplies to aid 5,000 disaster victims for an entire month
8. $5500
   An emergency health kit to care for 10,000 displaced people for three months

In the UK or want to use paypal

Donate using http://www.justgiving.com/joomla-users it is simple, fast and totally secure and you can donate by credit card or by paypal.

If you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

In the USA

If you are a US citizen and wish to make a tax deductable donation then you can do so at the special American version of this site http://www.firstgiving.com/joomla-users . This site only accepts credit cards and not paypal.

It would be really great if you could join with me to support MSF and say thank you all together. So if you belong to a JUG, write a blog, have a Joomla web site please consider adding a link on your site. JustGiving/FirstGiving have provided the following code that you can paste into a joomla custom html module that will provide a direct link from your site to the donation site. JustGiving code  here FirstGiving code  here .

So please sponsor Médecins Sans Frontières now!

Many thanks for your support.

Brian Teeman

Donating through JustGiving/FirstGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving/FirstGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity.

This fundraising campaign is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Joomla Project. It is not supported or warranted by the Joomla Project or Open Source Matters. Joomla! is the registered trademark of Open Source Matters, Inc in the United States and other countries.

It doesn't happen often, in fact I think it has only happened once before, but right now I am absolutely speechless and still scraping my jaw off the floor as I simultaneously scrape my head off the ceiling.

In fact it's such a rare event for me to be speechless that it's probably worth making a note in your diaries.

This blog has been shortlisted by ComputerWeekly.com for the award for the Open Source in Business category in the IT Blog Awards.

 

Finally, with the economic downturn affecting all businesses, many are turning to open source products to help minimise licensing costs. This is the category for blogs that share tips and information on making the switch from proprietary to open source.

I would like to publicly thank whoever it was that nominated me for this award I bet you never thought I would be shortlisted but I have been and I am immensely honoured and grateful. Whoever you are I owe you a beer, an Open Source beer of course.

The winners are announced on the 25th so I don't have too long to wait to find out the results but win or lose I am so honoured to even be short listed.

When I first started working in IT 20 years ago I never dreamed that my name would ever be associated, even in a small way, with ComputerWeekly.