SYDNEY AND FRANK ON KIVA

My sister Sydney and her husband Frank, artists in Bisbee, Arizona, have joined Kiva. Frank, a photographer, was able to join on a loan to a fellow photographer in Paraguay who needed $600 to invest in a DVD burner. That is the kind of connection that makes Kiva lending so addictive.

Sydney commented that they decided to join Kiva now because the organization will be mentioned on Oprah TODAY... big, big, big publicity. Even the brief mention on the Today show yesterday brought a slew of new lenders; borrowers needs are being funded in record time.

Now there is even BIGGER news about publicity - I lifted this quote from the posting of a Kiva staff member on Kiva Friends:

"Kiva.org is mentioned in President Clinton's new book "Giving" which is released today. Premal Shah will be attending the book release press event in Harlem, along with 3 Kiva Lenders. 2 Kiva stories are included on the website for the book (which I can't find right now, did they take it down?) written by 2 Kiva lenders - Glenda being one of them! (My note: Glenda is one of the very active Kiva Friends.)

"So, this is going to be a HUGE week for Kiva. We'll probably run out of businesses, but the good news is that we'll have SO many new lenders!! Yesterday we received $100k in loan funds as a result of the Today Show - and that was WITH the $25 cap on (lenders were only able to lend $25 at a time).

"Tonight, make a toast to Kiva - our lenders (that's you!), our entrepreneurs, our partners, our volunteers and our staff, who all work so hard together as one big team to make a difference in the world, one loan at a time."

We Kiva addicts who meet and share with each other on Kiva Friends are abuzz! Finally, as one Kiva Friend said, "Now, when I mention Kiva, other people will know what I am talking about!"

I have added links to Syd's and Frank's lender pages to the left side of our blog.