Justin Ellis is on vacation. While he's gone, we will be publishing with the help of "guest bloggers."

Today's guest writer is Kathryn Hawkins who lives in Gray with her husband Jeff and an abundance of animal friends. She has written for publications including GOOD Magazine, Wildlife Conservation, and Chow.com, and is the editor of Razoo.com, a website for everyday philanthropy. You can learn more at kathrynhawkins.com.

Now that Christmas is over, you don't need to worry about rushing back to Target to duke it out over the store's last Wii Fit, but that doesn't mean it's time to stop thinking about giving. The Portland area is home to a wide variety of unique and inspiring nonprofit organizations and considering the dismal state of today's economy, they need your help to survive now more than ever.

Here are just a few of the greatest local groups. it's not too late to slip something in their stockings this holiday season.

Telling Room. You know Dave Eggers‚ 826 Valenica tutoring center for high schoolers in San Francisco? The Telling Room is kind of like that, but without the attached pirate shop. Founded by writer couple Mike Paterniti and Sara Corbett, the center offers creative writing workshops and tutoring sessions for students of all ages, helping kids get excited about literacy and learning.

Reverb. Founded by Guster guitarist Adam Gardner and his wife Lauren Sullivan, Reverb is focused on helping bands and their fans make the rock world greener. The group works with musicians like Jack Johnson and the Barenaked Ladies to help green their tours, and helps spread eco-friendly messages to the masses at their shows. To date, Reverb has reached more than 7 million music fans. Rock on!

Camp Sunshine. There's nothing worse than knowing your child is facing a life-threatening illness. But Camp Sunshine in Casco can help a family forget their problems, for a little while at least: this nonprofit offers families with chronically-ill children a free one-week respite at their beautiful lakeside camp, where they can have fun with other families sharing similar experiences. If you're moved by the organization's mission, you can do more than donate - Camp Sunshine is staffed almost entirely by volunteers, so fill out a form on their website if you'd like to give them your time this summer.

This doesn't come close to covering all the fantastic local charity organizations in the Portland area, To find more, just search for charity groups in Maine in Razoo.com's nonprofit database.

Want $10 to give to one of these, or any other nonprofit in the U.S.? Just send an email to give@razoo.com for a free donation certificate to give to any U.S.-based nonprofit through our online giving platform (valid while supplies last).

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