One of the charities that I participate in is asking for help in winning a $5 Million donation from American Express. If you are an American Express cardholder & are interested in helping a charity that helps public school classrooms achieve specific projects, please consider casting your vote in this direction.

By all means, if you have a charity that you already support in this contest, support them.

This organization is pretty cool, in that you can choose exactly what your donation is spent on. (Mine went to a 7th grade classroom in inner-city Chicago. They want to do a documentary on healthy eating choices. I figure it'll help the students that are involved in making the movie & any students that watch it and choose a healthier lifestyle because of it.)

Here's the email I recieved:

Dear Friend,

DonorsChoose.org just made the Top 5 finals of the American Express Members Project. We�re in a close race.

If you voted last week, it will only take you 30 seconds to vote this time. If it�s your first time voting, 2 minutes is needed. Please vote now for our submission:

"Teachers Ask. You Choose. Students Learn."
http://www.membersproject.com/Education/5630 http://www.membersproject.com/Education/5630

If we win, all the award proceeds�up to $5 million�will go to classroom projects on our site. Hundreds of thousands of public school students stand to benefit.

Please refer to these simple instructions if you get stuck.

We�re in the final homestretch, and the outcome will likely be decided by fewer than a hundred votes. Your vote now is essential.

On behalf of all the schoolchildren whom your vote will impact, thank you for helping at this critical moment!

Sincerely,
Charles Best and the DonorsChoose Team

P.S. Please reply �Yes� so that I can thank you for voting.

P.P.S. The project edging us out for the #1 spot is a real Goliath, as you can see from this New York Times article:

�Procter & Gamble is traveling incognito in the American Express Member�s Project... [P&G employee] Mr. Allgood entered the science and theory behind the Children�s Safe Drinking Water program. But he said that the Member Project�s rules precluded him from naming it, or mentioning Pur or Procter.� (NYT, July 24, 2007)