#followfriday - Steemies you need to follow

I'm finding Steem is rather a nice place to be at the moment. It appears a downturn in price brings many benefits.

The fact we can now see that so many people are here because they want to be part of a community and not simply to grab free cash is refreshing and nice, and there are still rewards available. Thats not to say I'm not sad for all the people whom have seen the value of their Fiat investment slashed. I am, and I worry about them, but in the long term, the ones who invested out of belief in the technology and its potential to improve the lives of the many and not just the few will be rewarded and justified.

So, let's get to it. This weeks theme will be charitable communities. People who are using Steem to make a real world difference and who need all our support to put the principles of this blockchain's core aims into practical application. Over on my alt account ( @gentmartin ) I have been using @dlike to try and increase their visibility and now I will to try to gather some of them together here in one place.

First up is @adollaraday . Run by @pennsif , and is where I discovered many of these great projects and people these last couple of weeks.

A Dollar a Day is a charitable giving project based on daily donations of 1SBD a day

This incredible umbrella project has donated thousands of dollars to worthy causes all over the world in the last year since its inception. They accept all forms of help, great and small in the form of donations, delegations, upvotes, curation trails and they are even a home for your unwanted Steem Monsters! No doubt feeling the pinch of this market downturn, could we please all find a way to help, every little helps.

@aalagenesis is a young woman who runs a project with help from @deveerei called @creativestreet which brings art and crafts to the street kids and urban poor of Manila. An issue very close to my heart.
With support from local professional artists, they run classes for free which bring some much needed colour into the kids lives.
They are trying to get the money together to buy some art packs to giveaway so again, I'm sure that whatever you can do to help would be seriously appreciated.
Check out their latest post, The Growing Heart of Volunteerism

Photo lifted from @creativestreet courtesy of @deveerei

If you think schemes like this are of little value then look closely at this picture I borrowed from their site. Kids who often have no idea where their next meal is coming from, smiling. Priceless.

Next up a huge and already well followed project called @cleanplanet . If you haven't heard of this yet, its run by @yann0975 and is rewarding people who upload videos and pictures of themselves walking down a street, wherever they may be, picking up litter. Simple, effective and of huge benefit to the planet and for your own sense of well being.
Pop over to their post here about their Wednesday child city walk and be amazed. Again I'm sure your support in whatever form will be sincerely appreciated.

@bettervision is a project that aims to bring better vision to deprived communities in Ghana and is the brainchild of @nattybongo . So in his own words:-

@bettervision is a project initiated by @nattybongo and friends to give back to the society the knowledge and skill acquired through the Optometric Studies in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.It is an outreach system where we visit the less privileged communities to offer free eye screening services and education to the people within the community

Go check out his latest post with some sound advice entitled Santase Community Outreach #Drug and Spectacle Dispensing

A picture of @nattybongo in action I borrowed from his post

You see? Steem isn't such a bad old chain after all! So come on, look down the back of your virtual sofas and if you have a few Steem or a spare bit of delegation left, do something worthwhile with it please. 25cents worth of Steem isn't going to upset our world, but for some of these people struggling, it could change theirs!

Thanks for dropping by. Your Upvotes and Resteems are gratefully received but your comments and engagement are truly appreciated. Let's keep up the debate. Thank you

@nathen007

Life's not all about the hustle. It's all about the humanity