Virtual Goods News

Teen-oriented social network MyYearbook announced today that its users had donated a total of $250,000 to charities through the network's Causes online program. Through Causes, the site's teen users can donate to sixteen different charities by spending MyYearbook's Lunch Money virtual currency. Users can obtain Lunch Money by buying VIP subscriptions to the site, purchasing amounts of Lunch Money directly, accepting ad offers, or by playing games and engaging in other site promotions. 

The charities currently participating in MyYearbook's Causes program include the Global Fund, the Dan Marino Foundation, Child Help, the Human Rights Campaign, Alex's Lemonade Stand, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, the North Shore Animal League, the United Service Organization, the World Food Programme, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, Beyond Shelter, Action Against Hunger, Conservation International, CarbonFund.org, Books for Africa, and Save Darfur. 

By donating Lunch Money to a cause, users "buy" virtual charity items like grains of rice, teddy bears for needy children, or hours of time for researchers to work on curing illnesses. Each month MyYearbook writes a check for a charitable donation to a given