TroySchneider.com

GrandCentral -- the "one phone number for life" venture acquired by Google earlier this year -- has drawn criticism a couple times on this site, but that's been tough love. I really do like the service, and here's another reason why:

As the Official Google Blog noted today, GrandCentral has an initiative to provide permanent phone numbers to San Francisco's homeless and other needy individuals.

A virtual phone number may not be the first thing that springs to mind when thinking about helping the homeless -- don't they need food, clothing and, well, homes? But as GrandCentral founders Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet note, "not having a stable phone number can be crippling: you need one to follow up on medical appointments, keep in touch with friends and loved ones, and hear back from prospective employers."

I agree -- anything that helps keep at-risk individuals from dropping off the radar is important. And while it would be prohibitively complicated and expensive for a city agency or traditional help-the-homeless charity to offer such a service, GrandCentral can do it easily at minimal expense. Virtual numbers and voice mail, after all, are the core of their business.

In-kind contributions sometimes get a bad rap, and with good reason: What you have to give may not be what's really needed, and few things are as fungible and portable as cash. But my guess is that Project CARE produces much more bang for the buck than an equivalent check from Google.

Sure it's good PR for GrandCentral. But it's also a good deed that addresses a previously unmet need -- and an example of creative philanthropy that more firms should emulate. Very cool.