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You wouldn't know it from the rhetoric emanating from the NBA lockout, but this is the season of giving. So while cruising the net between holiday parties and bowl games, check in with those in the sports world for whom wins and losses—and salary caps—aren't the most important thing. Here are four organizations that help the truly needy. Log on to learn what they do and how you can dish out some help to the cause.

?www.specialolympics.org
The volunteer-driven Special Olympics have been helping mentally retarded athletes participate in sports since 1968. Their site explains how you can donate time and/or money to the worldwide group.

?www.magicjohnson.org
The Magic Johnson Foundation, created to raise funds for AIDS research, now supports a variety of social, educational and health programs for inner-city kids. Log on to contribute or help out with an MJF event.

?www.kenyashoe.com
For three years Adam Reiser, 23, a former cross-country star at Rice, has been collecting used running shoes and shipping them to Africa, where they're handed out to young runners who can't afford their own. Read Reiser's journals from his trips to Africa and find out how to send your old treads to the Kenya Shoe Expedition.

?www.bayscenes.com/np/midnightbball/
The nonprofit National Association of Midnight Basketball Leagues runs late-night hoops programs to keep young adults off the streets and out of trouble. Here you can find a league in your area or make a donation to the association.

web.dreams sites we'd like to see

?www.Saltpork.com
Listing of illicit gifts by Salt Lake City's Winter Olympics organizers

?www.letitsnow.com
Online support group for skiers desperate for a blizzard.