Vote for knitting charity on Facebook

Earlier this year, we meet the Friends of Colombian Orphans, an Austin-grown charity that uses machine knitting to give girls and women in Colombia a skill to improve their lives. Continuing in their mission, there is something you can do to help them raise money and their profile.

Chase Community Giving is holding a contest on Facebook to decide who will win up to $250,000. One charity will win that hefty prize, while four will take home $100,000 and 195 others will have $20,000 to add to their efforts. That's a lot of money for just one click.

Voting began on June 15th, and Friends of Colombian Orphans is still in the running to be one of those 195. With $20,000, Jane King says there are any number of things the charity could do: buy more machines, rent a space for the program, or increase their auction projects for fundraising.  Having exhausted all of her own friends and family, it's up to you to keep them in the running for funds they could put to good use.

To vote for this local charity, 'like' the Chase Community Giving Facebook page and type in 'Colombian Orphanages'. You can also vote for other charities and send a vote to a friend to spread the word. You can also use the 'Share with friends' button to make sure that everyone in your social network knows about it. If you're concerned about 'liking' the page, especially after the recent controversy over privacy settings, you can always 'unlike' it after voting.

The winning charities will be announced on July 13th. That gives you just 17 days to gather votes and help girls change their lives through knitting. This is a great opportunity to make a big difference without having to make a lot of effort. Make social networking about more than what you had for breakfast and vote now.