So I stumbled upon the website
http://www.kiva.org and it seems to be a very unique and practical idea. It uses microfinancing to help struggling businesses around the world. Basically, you make a small loan, 25-50 dollars or so, other people do so too, then eventually the business has the loan fully capitalized and it can successfully purchase its supplies or make the needed changes in order to continue operations
I ran across this one, and next time I get paid I am going to contribute.
Check it out, it is a pretty cool thing.