Foolanthropy, The Motley Fool's ninth annual charity drive, is officially up and running. Each year, we select five charities we consider especially Foolish, and we field donations from our members and readers. The charities track donations that come in through our site, and the one that gets the most support (dollar-wise) by the end of the drive wins an extra $10,000, donated by The Motley Fool.

Also, throughout the month of December, The Motley Fool will donate $0.02 to our five charities for every single post on every single board, no matter what the subject matter. This can add up, because we have many boards and many dedicated posters.

You can read more about this year's recipients and donate directly to them by clicking on the links below:

Since we launched Foolanthropy nine years ago, we've raised more than $2 million for charities nominated by our readers. Our goal this year is to top last year's intake of $175,934. Please help us reach this goal by reading up on this year's "readers' picks" and donating to the charity or charities of your choice. And feel free to join the discussion about this year's picks and Foolanthropy in general at our discussion board.

Fool editor Carrie Crockett is Foolanthropy 2005 co-chair, along with Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner.