I read a thread over on Fark last week asking whether people were ashamed to be Americans after seeing incidents like the WalMart trampling on Black Friday. Americans get criticized a lot for being such super consumers this time of year. While we do love to shop, Americans also like to give. Don't forget about the outpouring of generousity after 9/11, last year's tsunami or Hurricane Katrina.

Since a lot of people concentrate their giving around the holiday season, I thought I'd post some links to good causes and encourage any of you to mention your favorite charities and folks that are doing good work in the comments.

Here are some of mine:

• For those of you in the Madison area, just check out The Isthmus' Community Wish List. What's neat about this list is that it gives you tons of specific items that different groups need. So instead of writing a check, you can, for example, give playing cards to a Hospice center, a mini paper shredder to the Rape Crisis Center or donate your graphic design services to the Aldo Leopold Center.
• If you've gotten into Johnny Cash after watching "Walk the Line", then you might want to consider a donation to SOS Children's Villages. The Cash family designated the organization as his memorial charity. The organization helps orphaned children, so, as you can imagine, Christmas is a particularly difficult time of year for them.
• You can support the troops in a personal way by adopting a soldier via Soldier's Angel. If you do adopt a soldier, you're supposed to send a card or letter once a week and at least two care packages a month.
• My Mom has always been a big support of Catholic Relief Services. It seems like not only are they, like the Red Cross, around when there's a disaster, but they also have a presence and are helping people in their everyday lives. My Mom sponsors an elderly lady in Ghana (or Gabon) through the charity, so it's yet another way you can get more personal in your giving.
• Last year we promoted Operation Iraqi Children on the site. This organization sends school kits to kids in Iraq. According to the Report Card on their site, their last shipment (in November) included over 4,000 kits full of basic things like scissors, colored pencils (crayons melt in Iraq's heat) and notebooks, so they are still going strong and doing great work

Like I said, please feel free to use the comments to spread the word about other organizations that are doing good work and need help this time of year. Thanks.