I’m a huge fan of the television show “The Amazing Race.”  I enjoy watching the wacky team challenges and the team dynamics each week.  It’s a fascinating show simply because you get to see human communication and teamwork at its best – and sometimes its worst.

While I doubt I’d ever be brave enough to tryout for that show…or find a partner crazy enough to pair up for me for the weeks-long, globetrotting expedition, the Western Pennsylvania Salvation Army’s “The Most Amazing Race” looks like it’s going to be just as much fun.

Beginning with a qualifying event today, and the real, scavenger hunt-like challenge tomorrow, 25 teams will race around the city of Pittsburgh, completing zany physical and mental tasks along the way, for a chance to win a prize package that includes $5,000 for first place, two 32-inch flat screen televisions, four Steelers tickets and more.

All they had to do to earn a spot in the race was fundraise a minimum of $500 in the name of The Army.  The team that fundraised the most money will also win a cash prize at the race’s conclusion.

For those of you in the Pittsburgh area who’d like to cheer on the Army’s Most Amazing Racers, an itinerary of tomorrow’s events can be found here.

If you aren’t in the immediate Pittsburgh vicinity, but would still like to participate, consider making an online donation to the Army instead.

Today, the national headquarters of The Salvation Army debuted its first-ever paperless annual report.  The innovative, interactive document is completely online and features compelling, first-person stories of the work the Army does.

“The digital annual report captures the work of The Salvation Army – and the stories of those we help – in a way that a paper report can’t,” said Major George Hood, National Community Relations and Development Secretary for The Salvation Army, in a statement about the annual report’s launch. “As more and more donors move online to learn about charities, this is one more way to quickly and easily learn about how charitable contributions are being used to help those in need.”

Utilizing Flash technology and dynamic design, the reader is encouraged to flow seamlessly from testimonials to financial statements without the necessity of flipping through a number of printed pages.

In addition to their cutting-edge  annual report, The Army also officially launched its social networking sites.  From the homepage visitors can quickly and easily visit The Army’s Twitter feed or Facebook fan page.  They can also browse photos on their Flikr page and watch more stirring videos on their YouTube Channel.

The roll-out of its new interactive communications arm is a sign of the times as The Army continues to look for ways to reach new audiences to tell the story of its work.

“The interactive format engages and educates current and potential donors in a more meaningful way,” said Stan Richards, founder and principal of The Richards Group, the company responsible for the new annual report format. “Audiences can now actually see where and how The Salvation Army is investing its time and money and hear directly from the beneficiaries.”

So, how will you choose to follow all of the good that The Salvation Army is doing?

Image courtesy of The Salvation Army – Canada

The Salvation Army in Canada wrote a blog post suggesting “5 Ways to Support The Salvation Army Through Social Media.”

The entry shares five interesting ways that you can support the work of the Army while you Tweet, udpate your status on Facebook, or even contemplate your next viral video.

In a time where more and more of the world is creating their own, personal online web presence – and checking out that of others – this could be one of the easiest ways to do some good.

You may question how effective a Facebook status update asking others to donate to the Army may be.  Or perhaps you’re wondering if mentioning the Army’s increasing need for monetary, time and goods donations in your blog will even make a dent in the needs of the organization.

Worry no more…there’s no such thing as small help:

• A group of Ohio prison inmates regularly sends $5 individually to support the Army.
• A gradeschool classroom in the midwest held a class yard sale to raise money to send to the Army.  The children could see a massive fire burning from their classroom and simply wanted to help.
• A California man sends $5 every month and insists that no thank you letter be sent back to him “because it would cost money.”
• And one  Missouri man has been sending $5 every month for nearly 20 years.

There’s no such thing as “a little help.”  Everything that you do to spread the mission and support the cause of the Army goes a long way to ensuring that the Army can continue Doing The Most Good for years to come.

So go ahead: put your multimedia multitasking to good work.  Every “little bit” helps!