Thursday, July 05, 2007

Be a mensch – click on the right banner

On the right side of my blog are banner ads run from by an Israeli based webs ad firm. I really am not sure what I make for every click. The small amount of time it would take to find out is more effort than I cared to spend on the issue.

At least once a month, I would get these strange emails from Web Ads stuck in my spam filter requesting I send them my remittance details. Getting paid for clicks seemed like such a surreal thing and kind of weirded me out. Mostly, I just chose to ignore the emails as I usually found find them "stuck" in my spam filter. Eventually, my code challenged self figured out how to set the filters so I could separate the Web Ads emails from the invitations to enlarge my penis or the emails offering me cheap Viagra.

I was a little at a loss as to what I was to do with the "money”. It was never my intention or desire to run any kind of web based ads on my blog and there were only two reasons I agreed to host a Web-Ads banner on my blog – 1) The company asked very nicely - in direct kind of pointed way. And 2); it was an Israeli firm.

When CUPE (Canada) voted for divestment from Israeli firms - I decided I need to be a pit more proactive about my own shopping. One of the easiest Israeli products to buy in Canada is wine. Now I am not much of a drinker and there really is a kind of limit to how many bottles of Israeli wine I can justify buying to keep in the house. As it is now, I keep expecting my visitors to start make snaky remarks about my "drinking" habits or calling the cops to report me as a bootlegger.

So what to do with my, ah, new found wealth? I didn’t discuss it with the family which is what I usually do when I find myself on receiving end of any unexpected largess. Instead, I kept it to myself and slept on it. I woke up with an idea and sent off an email to Web Ads suggesting that I would rather have any monies I would normally receive be donated to various charities in Israel every quarter. I supplied a list of the charities I would like to support but I wasn’t sure Web Ads would agree; it could potentially play all kinds of havoc with their internal accounting system.

To get to the point, Web Ads agreed to donate all my “earnings” from clicks to a different charity every quarter. The first charity is an organization called Standing Together.
Standing Together is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Israeli soldiers on active duty. Being totally funded by donations from Jews throughout the world, Standing Together acts as a bridge between Israel and other Jewish communities, creating a feeling of unity and support.

Standing Together ’s activities over the last three years have brought much happiness to thousands of Israeli soldiers, who never imagined that a Jew overseas was concerned for their welfare. Now is the time for you to join us and become a part of the Standing Together family, so that we can truly Stand Together.

But that is not all they do:
Representatives all over Israel are collecting orders for Challot from Sderot this Shabbat. We are coordinating purchases from local business in Sderot in danger of closing because many residents have fled. For 25 Shekel you can order 2 challot, and 1/2 Kilo of rugelach. Visit our online form at to order.

So here’s the deal. You can click on the flash ad and check out Web Ads advertiser and learn more about Israeli or Jewish business ventures while making a few shekels for a good cause at the same time.

Or if you are in a hurry to do a good deed; you can always click here and donate directly.

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