Teens Use Lunch Money to Save the World!

NEW HOPE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Teens on myYearbook.com are cleaning up 2 million pounds of carbon dioxide (C02) from the atmosphere, have saved 3 million square feet of rainforest, sent 22,000 books to Africa, and bought 40,000 pounds of rice for the hungry – and that’s in just the last six months.

“Some might question the value of books compared to other issues Africa is facing right now”

Teens on myYearbook donate the virtual currency “Lunch Money” to their favorite charities in myYearbook’s popular Causes application. myYearbook users earn Lunch Money either by completing activities on myYearbook or by buying Lunch Money credits. Lunch Money on myYearbook can be used to buy virtual gifts for friends or for the recently launched Causes program. myYearbook turns the virtual contributions from users into concrete, real-world items by making monthly donations to an array of charities on behalf of its members.

“While giving a few grains of rice may seem small, when multiplied by the tens of millions of myYearbook members, we are able to have a real impact on the world stage,” notes Catherine Cook, myYearbook’s teen founder. “By donating their Lunch Money, our members not only express their support for real-world Causes, they can see those small contributions add up to make a big difference.”

“What myYearbook is doing is making a large impact on the world we live in,” says Ivan Chan, Marketing and Communications Director of Carbonfund.org, the leading nonprofit carbon offset and climate solutions organization and one of the charities myYearbook supports. “Causes members are offsetting two million pounds of CO2, an impressive figure that means more today than ever before in the fight on global warming.”

Over 20,000 new people join myYearbook.com every day and, since the launch of Causes in October 2008, the Lunch Money donations are really adding up. “This month marks a milestone for Causes,” says Geoff Cook, the company's CEO and Catherine Cook's older brother. “By the end of May, myYearbook will have donated over $150,000 to worthy charities.”

“Some might question the value of books compared to other issues Africa is facing right now,” says Patrick Plonski, the BFA executive director for Books For Africa. “But the way to prevent problems in the future is by providing education now. myYearbook members have donated the equivalent of 22,000 books to people hungry to learn. This is why Causes is important. They’re not only helping people help others, but they’re helping people help themselves. myYearbook is empowering people.”

To learn more about how myYearbook members are helping save the planet, visit http://causes.myyearbook.com.

About myYearbook.com

Founded by brother-and-sister teen entrepreneur duo Dave and Catherine Cook, myYearbook.com is one of the 20 largest sites in the United States as measured by time spent and page views, according to comScore Media Metrix. myYearbook has grown from a single high school to more than 10 million members. The average myYearbook member visits the site 10 times per month and spends 17 minutes per visit, making myYearbook one of the most engaging social media destinations on the internet.