Friday, October 07, 2011

BuzzFoto Blind Item

This low-key couple, both actors (one in television and one in film) have been spending one day a week doing Kiva loans together for people all over the world. Our source says they want to keep it low key and private because it’s something that brings them closer together, but each week they take turns picking out a different person to loan to.


16 comments:

  1. That's awesome! Good for them for honestly trying to help others and not making it into a PR stunt.

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  2. Not to sound like a complete ignoramus but what are Kiva loans?

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  3. Little Miss, here's a link: http://www.kiva.org/

    They're small loans to help people all over the world get small businesses up and running.

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  4. Yep, Mary beat me to it. It's a way to give (lend) a helping hand to people who want their own business but don't have the immediate funds. The applicants are screened and chosen by the lenders.

    That's sweet for that couple to do. I would rule out Bacon and Sedgewick though, since they were burned by Madoff.

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  5. i like Bacon/Sedgzwick guess

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  6. With kiva you can make very small loans that together with other peoples' loans, have a big impact for someone trying to launch/grow a business.

    You are not donating, you are lending. When you get paid back, you can take your money or just reinvest it with another borrower. I've been turning over the same $50 for about 5 years now.

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  7. Diane Krueger and Joshua Jackson?

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  8. What's the origin of the word Kiva? I can't believe I've never heard of that before.

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  9. They are also called Micro-Loans (Micro-financing), I believe. This idea won Muhammad Yunus the Nobel Prize a couple of years back.

    His idea was to lend small amounts of money mainly to females, so they could start a business, support their family, etc. He said the loans had a success rate of over 90%.

    It's a good way to donate because the money is for a good cause, and it gets recycled over again and again.

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061013-nobel-peace.html

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  10. I like the Bacon Sedgwick guess.

    Or Blunt Kasinski?

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  11. I have never heard of this, but I am going to do the same. Thanks for posting this, Enty!

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  12. I've never heard of this either, but it's an awesome thing to do!

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  13. William Macy and Felicity Huffman.

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  14. This is such an awesome project! "Kiva" in this context means "unity" in Swahili [i just knew the term as one for a sweathouse used by southwestern natives until i googled it].

    If you've done any reading on this subject, you're aware of how much good even small amounts of money given/loaned/provided to women in emerging economies can produce. This assumes they are being assisted by knowledgeable people who aren't trying to take advantage of them.

    The women already have a strong work ethic and use the money to make things and further enrich their families and neighbors. Statistically, it's been shown that if you give the same amount of money to men in the same communities, they spend it on themselves -- Drinking, etc. -- Spending it on things that don't bring benefits back to their families.

    Women pull themselves and their families up financially -- Giving the women themselves higher power and status in cultures in which they are typically devalued.

    I've been out of work for far too long, but this is something to which even i can contribute.

    Who knew reading a gossip site could make such a difference??!? I'm all over this!

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