Update: There has been recent concern whether or not this is a legitimate charity.  The owner of MacMice seems to have a sordid history throughout the Mac community.  We urge you to read the comments and follow all of the  links provided in them before deciding to order product to support this "charity."

Much has been made of (Product)^RED, and with good reason: the campaign brings some of the world's largest manufacturers together to fight against AIDS in Africa by not only raising money for the cause, but raising awareness throughout the world. Apple had started helping the (Product)^RED campaign last month by releasing a RED 4GB iPod nano and continued to show their support for the program by releasing an 8GB RED nano this week. In recent weeks, there have even been rumors floating around that Apple is toying with the idea of releasing red iMacs and MacBooks. We like Apple products in red, and we like the fact that so many companies are working together for such a cause.

So because of that, we were a little surprised when we saw other^Red spring up around the Apple web. Run by the Peace Village School and Orphanage in Ukunda, Kenya, this charity also gets manufacturers to sell red products in which a portion of sales is donated to the school and orphanage. The charity makes no qualms about who inspired their campaign:

[...]With 5 million orphaned children needing care in Africa we are always searching for the strongest fundraising methods we can apply to divert money from around the world to these kids. When we saw what (product) RED was doing to partner with the world's largest manufacturers as a fundraising method, we developed a similar program for partnering with the thousands of smaller manufacturers who cannot be accepted into the (product) RED program. [...]

So what about copyright? Isn't this an infringement on the err, other other red charity?

This is a question the Global Fund would need to answer. If they think so, they are welcome to explain it to the kids we are trying to care for with this funding program. We actually think that there is room in this big world for many organizations to increase their corporate funding partnerships, and to increase the amount of money being invested into humanitarian aid programs. We believe that the Global Fund agrees.

When you say it like that, it does seem rather harmless. So what does this have to do with Apple you ask? Well they certainly aren't making red MacBooks for this cause but another Apple-oriented accessory company is making red products for them: MacMice. Well actually, so far, MacMice is the only Mac-related company making red products for them.

So far they have their Danger Mouse and GarageKey products available in the primary color. If we look a little deeper, we start to think that MacMice might actually be more responsible for the endeavor than anyone says. When you visit the MacMice site, one of the products available is the SafariPod, a product sold off-site by a company out of Kenya. Further, the Other Red and MacMice websites share the same domain name servers—a stretch, but another link all the same.

Thoughts on this latest charity?