Use Facebook to help the poor this holiday season, patients at Shriner's

SALT LAKE CITY — You can give money to combat hunger. You can donate food. Or you can "like" Wal-Mart on Facebook for a chance to feed the poor.

Facebook "likes" are at their charitable best this holiday season as the act of clicking is rewarded with monetary support for worthy causes. That's why the communities that get the most "likes" for Wal-Mart will end up with cash from the store chain to support local anti-hunger programs.

Or you can help someone else with on a social network site. For instance, a Salt Lake attorney has promised $10,000 to Shriners Hospital for "likes" on his Facebook page.

It's a natural, says that attorney, Jeffery C. Metler, "since a lot of people are using Facebook to communicate with one another. That makes it a great way to bring a lot of awareness to Shriners Children's Hospital."

Metler has offered $1 for every like on his law practice's Facebook page, up to $10,000. But he says he's going to give the money regardless of clicks, because he and Shriners have a lot in common.

His grandfather was a Shriner. And as a young boy Metler had perthes, which is a disease of the hip joint. The blood supply is temporarily cut off to the femur head, creating inflammation and agony in the hip ball and socket. His family had private insurance in those days, when he was a little boy confined to a combination of wheelchair, braces and crutches. But the experience gave him a heart for the children treated for orthopedic problems at no costs through Shriners, which until recently didn't even have a billing department. Shriners still provides free care to those without funds. And donations like Metler's will allow that free care to continue, he said.

Wal-Mart is using "likes" to determine what American community gets $1 million for anti-hunger efforts. Five runner-up cities will each get $100,000. At press time, Salt Lake City was in 10th place.

Social media's huge reach is why Facebook has a Causes section and why there's a Causes exchange, as well as individual websites, online. "We developed Causes because we know what it takes to be an activist and we know how much social networking can revolutionize grassroots organizing," wrote Susan Gordon of Causes.com on NTEN.org. "Our mission is to empower individuals to mobilize their friends for collective action, who then spread the word to their friends and eventually create movements that span local communities and even the globe." Between May 2007 and June 2009, she said that 60 million people had started using Causes and more than a quarter-million causes had been created "about every topic from halting global warming to supporting arts educations."

Social media is also a tool, experts say, for people who care about the same issues to find each other and work together.

Social media is also a place for groups and charities to advertise their events and fund-raisers. This week, for example, the teamgive page on Facebook is announcing a skating special. Families can skate (including skate rental) Mondays and Thursdays throughout December from 5 to 9 p.m. on Grizzlies ice at the Maverick Center (formerly the E Center) for a $5 donation to the organization to help fund neurological research.

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