SafeBlog

Safelist gets a great reception wherever we present it: people are really excited about the next generation of online classifieds. We’ve had online safety and children’s advocacy groups approach us and we’ve built some lasting partnerships. We are starting to realize how much our platform can offer, not just in traditional business value, but to the communities we serve.

Safelist is in a unique position: we work directly with existing, real-world communities to build trusted marketplaces online. Although our users are anonymous to one another, all of our users are verified and all transactions are linked to a real person. This kind of built-in accountability and narrow geographic focus makes the Safelist platform uniquely suited to support community fundraisers.

We are building a powerful set of features into the new Safelist, which we will launch in the first week of March, that will make it easy for Safelist members to post items and services and donate some or all of the proceeds to the school of their choice. Families can participate in peer-to-peer trading with their neighbors without fear, and, because they are tied to each transaction, we can offer receipts for tax deduction.

It’s a totally turn-key fundraiser for school PTAs, won’t get in the way of existing fundraisers, and offers a chance for supporters to give effectively without writing another check. As always, Safelist registration is free and easy. Better yet, 100% of the donation goes straight to the school!

We’ ae rolling it out at our first schools in Santa Barbara, California as soon as the new features are ready, and we look forward to getting the rest of California and the nation involved as soon as we can! It’s a great opportunity for us to spread the word about Safelist and help schools.

If you need to raise funds for your school contact us now!

With the July 4th weekend behind us, summer vacation is now in full swing. It’s the time for cookouts, beach days, and lounging by the pool.

But are you looking for activities for your kids that are both fun and enriching? Below are a few safe and exciting pastimes that children and sometimes the whole family can enjoy:

1. Music Lessons: The sooner your child starts learning to play a musical instrument, the easier it will be. Plus, research has revealed a strong correlation between quality music learning programs and academic achievement. Check out our giveaway of music lessons below!
2. Summer camp: Nothing beats childhood memories gained from spending the summer at camp. You can choose a short sleep-away camp or day-camp for the whole summer. Either way, they are a great opportunity to make friends and to learn in nature’s classroom.
3. Art classes: Do you have a creative child? With public schools cutting down their art programs, now is a great time to enroll your child in a summer art class and help draw out a youngster’s inner Picasso. Whether it’s drawing, watercolors, or even crafts, the options are endless!
4. Science projects: Have a child with an inquisitive and analytical mind? Science kits are a fantastic way to keep your little Einstein occupied. If your community has a science fair, try entering so that they have a goal to reach for by the end of the summer.
5. Swimming: What better time to get your feet wet than summer vacation? Swimming is a lifelong skill that everyone should have, especially if you live near the coast. Enrolling your child in lessons at the YMCA will ensure that they don’t have to be a fish out of water at pool parties and beach days.
6. Babysitting: Do you have an adolescent at home that is old enough to watch younger children? He or she can make some extra money and stay busy by babysitting for friends and neighbors. It’s a good way to get them started on learning the value of money and becoming independent.
7. Visit the Library: Summer is the time to re-discover the joy of reading! Keep your kids’ minds active by visiting the local public library. Not only is it an escape from the heat, but reading opens up whole new worlds that will spark a child’s interest once the classroom opens in the Fall.

Enter our Summer Giveaway!

We are having a summer vacation contest that includes: a gift certificate for 4 thirty-minute music lessons with TakeLessons AND a $50 Best Buy card. The winner will redeem the lessons through the Music Lessons section of Safelist.com.*

You can enter in two ways**:

1. Follow Safelist on Twitter and tweet the following: “Win from @Safelist: 4 music lessons with @TakeLessons AND a $50 Best Buy gift card. http://bit.ly/piUYGe #winmusiclessons”
2. For an optional additional entry: Comment on this blog post and let us know how you plan to use your prize.

*Winner must be a registered member of Safelist.com to redeem the prize upon winning.

**There is a maximum of two entries per person – one on Twitter and one here on SafeBlog. The second entry counts only when the first entry is completed.

Submit your entries by 5 pm PDT on Sunday July 24 for a chance to win. We will announce the winner Monday morning, July 25 in the comment section below. We will also notify the winner via Twitter direct message.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and check back here soon for safety tips for your summer plans!

Here at SafeBlog and Safelist, we are 100% committed to public service.

As a business, we are constantly striving to build a classifieds marketplace that is not only better than any other on the Internet, but also safer. However, our ultimate goal is to help keep our communities, both real and virtual, safe for everyone. One of the ways we hope to achieve our goal is by enabling Safelist.com to disseminate timely AMBER Alerts to the users of our platform.

AMBER is an Alert Notification System created by the Child Alert Foundation in 1996, the same year that a 9-year old girl named Amber was kidnapped and murdered in Texas. It now stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. When the appropriate police organization makes the decision to publish an alert, the U.S. Emergency Alert System issues it via radio, television, highway signs, and other media. There have been a total of 540 successful recoveries to date.

To help find a missing child, it is hypercritical to start the search efforts immediately. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, of the children abducted by strangers and murdered, 75% are killed within the first three hours. Therefore it is absolutely imperative that no time is wasted.

In order to quickly spread the word of a child’s kidnapping during those early moments when every minute is crucial, we have launched a feature on the Safelist website which will instantly notify you of an active AMBER Alert in your area.

Whenever you see the AMBER Alert icon (prominently displayed near the top of all Safelist pages) turn red, it means that there is an active AMBER Alert on a missing child in your area. Upon clicking the button, you will see detailed information about the alert, including the name of the missing child, a description and picture, and also any available information on the suspect. Since the alerts are hyper-targeted by zip codes, you will only be notified when an  alert is specifically relevant to your area. To guarantee the widest possible dissemination of these alerts, we will also be posting the information on Twitter and on our Facebook page as well.

No alert:

Active AMBER alert in your area:

In order for us to ensure safe communities for all our families, we need everyone’s help, and especially yours.  One way you can contribute is by quickly spreading the news of an active AMBER Alert amongst your friends and family. You may also follow us on Twitter @Safelist and on our Facebook fanpage to make sure that you are quickly notified of an alert in your area.

By working together, we will make certain that the all important initialminutes and hours immediately after a child’s kidnapping are not wasted, because that time could mean the difference between life and death of someone’s precious child.

You can learn more about AMBER Alert at their website (http://www.amberalert.gov/).

We want to take a moment and introduce ourselves and give you a glimpse into why we’re here, what you can expect from SafeBlog, and how you can get involved.

At SafeList, we recognize the need for a resource about online security and safer online commerce. We are here to provide useful information, news, and insight into these topics. The ultimate goal is to have a forum for you, our readers, to start a conversation and share knowledge on this increasing area of concern in the digital age. We’ll be taking a look at the problems that can sometimes result from the anonymous nature of the web, and present ways on how to tackle them.

You’ll be seeing posts from Lauren, our chief blogger, and also from Brittany, who will pop in with her take from time to time. We also hope to bring to you valuable online safety tips and other relevant information from expert guest bloggers. Additionally, we welcome, in fact, strongly encourage contributions from you, our readers. Suggested topics may range from how to protect yourself from threats and attacks online, to safeguarding your personal information, to shopping safely online. This is all to help enable you to enjoy the benefits of an increasingly web-driven world while staying protected from potential threats.

We want to hear from you! Let us know, in the comments section, what is important to you: questions, criticisms, and feedback.  If you want to learn more, make that known as well. We’ll also be continuing the conversation on our social channels, so be sure to check us out on our Facebook fanpage, Twitter @SafeList, and YouTube.

To learn more about SafeList, check out our homepage, where you can find listings on everything from jobs and apartments to services and items for sale in a verified marketplace that is also safer.

We look forward to engaging with you and hearing what you have to say!