When I ask people what they most like about Huntington the most often answer I get is the people; they are friendly, helpful, and generous – and I agree. It is with this in mind that my wife and I decided to form a lending team based around Huntington at Kiva.org.

Kiva is a micro-lending web site. Micro-lending, to those who aren’t familiar with the concept, is a way to provide financing to people who can’t get financing through traditional financial systems. For example, a farmer in Azerbaijan may need some cash to buy a cow – but the large banks there won’t make a loan out for that small of an amount of money. At the same time the farmer may not be able to afford a larger loan and thus can’t use the normal banking system. That’s where mico-finance steps in. It enables that farmer to borrow the money he needs to buy his cow at a reasonable interest rate as compared to local money-lenders (which often charge in excess of 100% interest).

We just started our team this morning so we have only made a single $25 loan so far. However, you too can join and make loans to resourceful people all over the world who are working hard to take care of themselves, their families, and their communities.

I encourage you to check out the site and see what micro-finance and Kiva are all about. If it interests you then please join our team and then make a loan. You don’t make any money from lending out the money but you’ll certainly make a difference in many small communities throughout the world.