Yesterday I opened my talk on booking award tickets at the Chicago frequent flyer seminar by giving away raffle tickets. Sharon was collecting for three charities, and there are plenty of donated giveaway items. I bought several tickets, even though I didn’t really want to win.

I asked the group of over well over 300 (it was standing room only in the back) who had already purchased raffle tickets and selected from those folks to give away my raffle tickets. It was a way to reward those that were already doing something to support charities, and encourage others to do so.

It gave me an opportunity to begin my talk which is all about getting the greatest value, return, and luxury for miles with a bit of a discussion of my overall philosophy, which is that we are incredibly lucky people. I’m an incredibly lucky person. I’ve been able to experience the world, in a way that my income wouldn’t otherwise ever support, and in tremendous comfort. And at the very least when a group of us get together, a group that has been so fortunate in the same way, and to learn how to do that even better, it’s important to remember that not everyone is as fortunate. We can do something, even if only modestly and symbolically but that as a group of about 500 people in one location even small things add up quickly, to help others even as we help ourselves.

And it’s that sentiment that makes me so proud of the Kiva Lending Team on Milepoint. One of the things that pleases me the most about the community that’s being built on Milepoint is that core to the effort of getting frequent flyers together there is doing something for the communities we visit and participate in even as we learn to improve our own travel experiences.

Here’s Randy Petersen and Tommy Danielsen presenting over $20,000 to the Captain Jason Dahl Scholarship Fund which was raised on the Star MegaDO 3, raised in part and added to in part by Milepoint itself and by Milepoint members. Thousands of dollars have been donated to Susan G. Komen as well. I understand that the Oneworld MegaDO will take place aboard an American 757 in Komen livery. Milepoint encouraged Milepoint members to join the Kiva lending team by matching initial funds.

It’s really gratifying, then, to see that last month the Milepoint lending team was #1 on Kiva, and the total funds loaned by this group represents a new all-time record for monthly donations by any of the 20,000+ teams on Kiva.

Kudos to all the members of that group, of which I am a very small part.