1. Room to Read – Because Female Literacy is NOT an Option. Give the priceless gift of education in the honor of your Valentine this February. Should you wish to send a card along with your donation, following your transaction you will be able to see options for sending a card via email or you can choose to print a PDF card yourself which you can personalize.
2. Support the United Nations World Food Programme to help a mother feed her child. Create an interactive card for your loved one on the U.N. World Food Programme’s Wall Against Hunger. When you click on the link, you will find a flash Wall of photos uploaded by supporters of the World Food Programme’s mission: delivering the world from hunger. Feed a child in honour of someone you love. Put their photo on the Wall – then send them an original email greeting. Get started here.
3. Sponsor a Women for Women International female survivors of war. Your Valentine will receive a a handmade card made by a woman in their program in Rwanda.
4. Don’t forget our planet, the mother of everything, by donating to Sierra Club to support wilderness areas like the Giant Sequoia National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Everglades National Park and the Arctic National Refuge.
5. Buy a real gift on behalf of your Valentine for women and children in need through Oxfam America Unwrapped and fund virtual gifts like a pair of school uniforms for $20, or planting 50 trees for $30.
6. Give to GlobalGiving’s “Mom Knows Best” projects like Education for 900 Rural Girls in Burkina Faso or Fast Tracking Education for Women and Older Girls in Afghanistan in the honor of your Valentine.
7. Purchase a Kiva.org gift certificate so your Valentine can choose a woman entrepreneur to whom she would like to give a loan.

Still looking for ideas? Habitat for Humanity in Charlotte, North Carolina, is offering to send your sweetheart a beautiful card with a donation given in his or her name. You can still order them here! Can you believe that you both can get fresh roses just for donating blood? American Red Cross is holding a promotion to trade clean blood for red roses – your blood can save the lives of women and children… find out more here. If all else fails, and you don’t think your Valentine will dig the above charities, you can buy a Good Card here, and your sweetheart will be able to donate to the charity of his or her choice.

Happy St. Valentine’s Day!

“We crossed our target of training 400 new health activists in 2009 by November. Over 1,000 women have attended training sessions in 2009 and 412 have been designated as health activists” – Dr. Shiban Ganju

The Solutions newsletter provides a comprehensive monthly overview of the organization’s accomplishments in the fight against maternal mortality in Uttar Pradesh, India, as well as interesting related articles from various contributors who have come together for this wonderful cause. Every day, over 160 women die in India from pregnancy and complications of child birth. Save-A-Mother programs educate women about pregnancy, nutrition, immunization, delivery and care of the child. Please take a minute to watch the footage from the latest visit to Sultanpur:

There is no reason for a woman to have to bury 7 children in her lifetime; there is no reason for a boy to lose his mother to infection that could have been easily prevented with proper hygiene. Please visit Save-A-Mother.org for more information on how you can help decrease (and eliminate!) maternal mortality rates in some of the most affected areas in the world.