Vote with your toothpaste

Want to make people at Slow Food Charlotte, Friendship Trays or the Rutherford Housing Partnership in Rutherfordton show really big smiles?

Tom's of Maine, the toothpaste brand, wants to give $20,000 grants to five local projects nationwide that are making good. And all three groups are finalists. Slow Food Charlotte and Friendship Trays are working together to get the money for an urban garden project in Charlotte. The Ruth'ton folks will use it to build handicap-access ramps for people in low-income housing. You can vote once a day until Oct. 30.

It's easy to do: Go to www.tomsofmaine.com and scroll down the list. (The order changes every time you go to the site, so everybody gets a fair shot. Nice touch.)