Each year I’ve participated in the Passports with Purpose charity drive, giving away some cool piece of travel gear generous readers can bid on. This year I’m proud to be aligned with the luggage company I always keep coming back to in my travels: Eagle Creek.

One lucky bidder will score a new Digi Hauler Backpack. Designed for today’s digital traveler (or if you prefer, “flashpacker”), the Digi Hauler features convertible carry options and maximum carry-on size with dedicated features for electronics, so your stuff stays in its place. The capacity is 2700 cubic inches, or 44 liters. It weighs in at less than two pounds and will work as a carry-on for most airlines: it’s 14 x 22 x 9 inches.

This versatile pack can be your one and only for a quick jaunt or business trip, carrying a full-size laptop along with all your clothes and cosmetics. Basically it’s the same capacity as one of those rollaboard suitcases, but at 1/4 the weight and the ability to pull out the straps and carry it as a backpack. I’ve been testing one of these out for Practical Travel Gear (review coming next week) and I can already tell it’s built to Eagle Creek specs and meant to last. They are confident enough to offer a lifetime warranty for a reason. It’s got lots of grab handles, great zippers with pulls, plenty of internal pockets, and reflective material.

For the winner, they will ship anywhere in the U.S. or Canada.

So go cough up ten bucks to bid on it. Not only are your odds about 100,000 times better than the Powerball lottery, but your donation goes to a very good cause regardless. In the past, Passports with Purpose has built a staffed school in Cambodia, two libraries in Zambia, and a whole damn village in India. This year they’re teaming up with Water.org to make a difference where it’s needed most in this hemisphere: Haiti. See the full details here.

While you’re bidding, there’s a different Eagle Creek backpack up for grabs from The Adventure Post, so double down to increase your chances. Perceptive Travel is in on this too, with that blog arranging a cool weekend package in Granbury, Texas. There will probably be another 100 tempting things for you to check out, from electronics to hotel stays to vacation packages. Give early and often and you could be celebrating bigtime later. If not, the worst that can happen is some Haitians will thank your for finally getting access to clean drinking water. Isn’t that better than buying more crap at the mall?

First, go donate here—check back in a day if the pickings are looking slim. This is day one to get things posted.

Second, say thanks to our sponsors who are kicking in big chunks of that 100 grand goal. I use and trust many of them and they deserve your business.

• Platinum: Expedia
• Gold: TripIt
• Silver: tbex
• Bronze: HomeAway. TravellersPoint, HostelBookers, Go with Oh

I’m proud to join in the Passports with Purpose effort for a third year. If you’re not familiar with this campaign already, you can go read about it here. The short version is that 100+ bloggers talk up this event, get sponsors to participate with prizes, and send 100% of the money raised to a project that will make a huge impact somewhere.

Two years ago we built a school in Cambodia and staffed it with almost $30,000 from generous readers. The school, built through our partnership with American Assistance for Cambodia is now complete. In 2011 we doubled that and raised $64,128, enough to build an entire village in India. Construction is now underway.

This year we’re banding together to build two libraries in Zambia, Africa through Room to Read. By helping the cause, you can truly change children’s lives and give them a shot at a brighter future.

The best part is, you don’t have to just kick in money out of the goodness of your heart. You’re welcome to, but this is set up as a raffle system where each donation of $10 and above gets you in the running for a prize you choose. Donate more among various prizes and you’ll have more chances. (I’ve personally won something three times. Last year it was a $200 car service ride from Groundlink. Sweet!)

You could get this bag for a $10 donation

I’m proud to say my sponsor is a company near and dear to travelers trying to keep their valuables away from thieves: Pacsafe. This company makes a lot of cool bags and gadgets that put multiple hurdles in front of people trying to get their fingers on your goods. For Passports with Purpose, Pacsafe is giving away one of their cool VentureSafe 200 daypacks. This is an anti-theft day bag that features slash-proof mesh built in, locking buckles, and lots of small features that will frustrate bad guys looking for an easy score. (There’s a video demo at that link.)

Add up all the value of all the electronics you’re carrying around when sightseeing and you’ll probably see why you could use this. It holds 20 liters worth of stuff and will give you years of hard-core use. Their products come with a two-year warranty and I’ve got items that still work like new after five years of travel.

Follow this link to make a donation, either choosing this Pacsafe bag or going for one of the many other great prizes: gear, hotels, gadgets, and more. This one’s open to anyone on the globe as the sponsor has agreed to ship internationally to the winner.

Thanks in advance for your generosity!

Big congrats to the Passports with Purpose founders and thanks to all you readers who participated. There’s a whole village going up in India thanks to you, for people that in no way could build one on their own. Thanks to all the great sponsors and individual donations, we collectively blew past the goal and hit $58,000. The money will be funneled through the LAFTI group, an efficient local charity that will make the most of every dollar on the ground.

Congrats to the winner of her choice of Kuru FootwearKuru Footwear shoes that my sponsor kicked in. If you’ve got a winner notification message in your e-mail from me, you’re it!.

I said before that your odds of winning something while doing good were quite high and I proved it myself: I got a ground transportation certificate to use anywhere in the world from GroundLink and the Travel with Teens and Tweens blog. Next trip I’ll be stylin’!

This whole thing worked because of people like you, but also thanks to some very generous sponsors. Kudos to BootsnAll, LiveMocha, RoundtheWorldwithUs, TransitionsAbroad and others you’ll see on the sponsors page.

It’s time for the annual Passports with Purpose program, the great charity drive driven by bloggers. Last year we collectively built a school in rural Cambodia and overshot the goal by so much that the group was able to plant and maintain a school garden as well. This year we’re building a whole village in southern India for the Dalit caste people who are normally denied the ability to own a home. A whole village—won’t that cost a fortune? Well, 50 grand goes a long way in India, so that’s the goal. The money will be funneled through the LAFTI group and they know how to make the most of every dollar on the ground.

Once again the Cheapest Destinations blog is participating. I’ll personally be donating myself and thanks to the kindness of Kuru Footwear, I’m kicking in a prize as well. Here’s a look at their women’s Chicane shoe.

At the bottom you’ll see the men’s Circue version and if you click on either of the photos, you can check out more from the Kuru line and start thinking about the pair of shoes you’re going to score—for a good cause even.

Kuru is known for its ultra-comfortable and supportive shoes, which are great for pounding the pavement all day as a traveler. They also make some nice shoes meant for apres-ski or after-hiking, when your feet are crying out for help.

When you click on this link and donate, you can pick from an array of prizes where you can participate in a raffle, including a pair of Kuru shoes. We’re talking adventure trips, hotel rooms, gifts, and travel gear. Here’s a hint from me though: hedge your bets. If you can donate more than once you’ll stand a much better chance, especially if you spread it out to some items that aren’t super-popular. (The higher the $ amount of the prize, the more people you’re usually competing with.)

This whole thing succeeds because of people like you, but the cool thing is, the goal is already 3/5 there because of some very generous sponsors. Kudos to BootsnAll, LiveMocha, RoundtheWorldwithUs, and others you’ll see on the donation page.

Remember, if you have drinkable running water in your house, that puts you ahead of the vast majority of children in Cambodia. So donate 10 or 20 bucks and you can really make a difference.

This is a raffle though so you can win some cool prizes that have been donated. My donating sponsor was Tifosi Optics, a company that makes great sunglasses I have used on too many trips to count. They are giving away your choice of frames with Fototech polarized lenses, like the ones below, appropriately named “Envy.”

If that’s not your thing though, there are trips, hotels, gift certificates, travel gear, and lots more. The organizers are even giving you a heads up on which prizes have the best odds of winning based on entries so far.

The deadline is December 21 though, so get on it!