Giving Tuesday

[pixy0stix]

Share the charities that are near and dear to your heart. The world is hard. Let's try to spread a little joy.

[fernweh]

This is very local to me but as far as animal charities go this one has a special place for me. We have adopted 3 former/current dogs from them and will continue to do so when we adopt in the future.

www.animalwelfaresociety.net/

[fortnightlily]

Two healthcare-related ones I'm a big supporter of are:

RIP Medical Debt: ripmedicaldebt.org - they act like a collection agency, they buy up people's medical debt for pennies on the dollar but then wipe it out instead of trying to collect on it.

Compassion & Choices: www.compassionandchoices.org - an advocacy org working to expand legal and safe end-of-life care and options, including medical-aid-in-dying.

[DotAndBuzz]

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Student Success Stores, in Central Ohio. I have a personal connection to this one. From their website:

"We provide free, anonymous stores inside schools filled with hygiene products, easy-to-eat food items, school-code clothing, and school supplies. By supplying students with the essentials, we aim to ensure that each child starts the school day healthy, confident and ready to learn."

They're currently doing a bundle drive for coats/shoes/winter gear, and you can donate here:
Bundle Donation

[Jalapeñomel]

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HoneySpider 's charity: Through the Heart

[jane6672]

Gallop: gallopnyc.org/

They do therapeutic riding and hippo therapy. I volunteer with them and they do amazing work.

[BlondeSpiders]

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The Trevor Project is near and dear to my heart. They provide 24/7 crisis support services to LGBTQ young people, as well as tools to navigate living in a hostile home.

I sell a variety of Pride merch; earrings in rainbow, bi flag, trans flag and pansexual flag colors, and keychains in rainbow, bi pride, and pan flag colors with funny sayings on them. Sales tend to be slow outside of summer, but I do donate 20% of my sales to the Trevor Project.

I identify as LGBT, but I have the passing privilege of a cisgender husband. That being said, I can't even imagine how hard it must be to be a queer and/or gender non-conforming teenager in today's America. It absolutely breaks my heart thinking about scared and lonely teens out there who are bullied by their families and feel they have no place to go. My own teenaged refuge of a library isn't even a safe space anymore in many areas. 

In the 2023 legislative session, 506 anti-LGBTQ bills have either passed or have been initiated. In 2022, 180 passed. This is only going to get worse.

My employer matches donations at 100%, so I'll be doubling my donation. Lululemon is matching donations on the Trevor Project's website, so it's almost likely tripling!

[formerlyak]

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If you have kids, please consider giving them a small amount - $25 or similar - and helping them choose a charity to give to today. One of the biggest challenges for nonprofits is cultivating the next generation of donors, and research shows that kids who have seen their parents give or who have been part of charitable gift discussions in their family are more likely to be donors in the future.

I have been doing this with my kids for about 6 years now, and this year in early November they started talking about where they will be making gifts on their own. My 17 year old already made one gift this week with money he earned from work and will direct the $25 I give him to research about alternative fuels. My younger son joined the "Green Ambassadors" program at school (an environmental group) and wants to choose an environmental cause to give to today. He is leaning toward Team Trees or Heal the Bay.

It is so cool to me that it is just part of the season now for them.

[beetea]

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Check to see if you have a local diaper bank or organization that supplies period supplies, and donate if you can. SNAP and WIC do not cover either item, which is absurd. Poverty is a huge, complicated issue, and this is one small but critical part.

[plutosmoon]

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I am leaning towards a donation to www.helpcurehd.org, they provide funds for HD positive individuals to have HD free children through PGT-IVF. Parents have a 50% chance of passing down HD to their children and age of onset is generally earlier in each subsequent generation. Huntington's is a brutal neuro degenerative disease, my dad, brother, and niece are all gene positive or symptomatic for HD. I discovered this organization when I had my own genetic testing for Huntington's done.

[ellipses84]

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Www.donors choose.org is matching 50% of donations (so your $40 becomes $60, $100 becomes $150). You can fund teacher projects / needs. Even if you don’t know of a specific teacher, you can search for a specific school and see if they have any. Mine suggests projects from the schools with the biggest needs in our district.

[katfco]

Nov 28, 2023 12:10:22 GMT -5 DotAndBuzz said:

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Student Success Stores, in Central Ohio. I have a personal connection to this one. From their website:

"We provide free, anonymous stores inside schools filled with hygiene products, easy-to-eat food items, school-code clothing, and school supplies. By supplying students with the essentials, we aim to ensure that each child starts the school day healthy, confident and ready to learn."

They're currently doing a bundle drive for coats/shoes/winter gear, and you can donate here:
Bundle Donation

I'm in Central Ohio and I've never heard of them. I'd love to see one in my district. 

[pixy0stix]

Nov 28, 2023 16:55:09 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

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Www.donors choose.org is matching 50% of donations (so your $40 becomes $60, $100 becomes $150). You can fund teacher projects / needs. Even if you don’t know of a specific teacher, you can search for a specific school and see if they have any. Mine suggests projects from the schools with the biggest needs in our district.

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Thanks for this, my kid's teacher has a project up to fund. I didn't think about checking before.

[katfco]

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This is one I'm a volunteer for. It's local to me and was created a year and a half ago, called Columbus Cake Celebrations.
The objective is to ensure no child ever goes without a birthday cake. For the most part, all materials and transportation are supplied by the volunteers, whether buying or making the cakes. Since gaining 503c status, the few donations they get are used to help offset those costs. 

[BlondeSpiders]

Nov 28, 2023 13:56:04 GMT -5 formerlyak said:

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If you have kids, please consider giving them a small amount - $25 or similar - and helping them choose a charity to give to today. One of the biggest challenges for nonprofits is cultivating the next generation of donors, and research shows that kids who have seen their parents give or who have been part of charitable gift discussions in their family are more likely to be donors in the future.

I have been doing this with my kids for about 6 years now, and this year in early November they started talking about where they will be making gifts on their own. My 17 year old already made one gift this week with money he earned from work and will direct the $25 I give him to research about alternative fuels. My younger son joined the "Green Ambassadors" program at school (an environmental group) and wants to choose an environmental cause to give to today. He is leaning toward Team Trees or Heal the Bay.

It is so cool to me that it is just part of the season now for them.

Thank you for posting this, such a wonderful idea. I grew up in a house that never did any kind of charitable giving so I never saw it in action and didn't think it was important. My dad had kind of a bootstraps mentality, and that constant mindset will easily snuff out a generous heart.

[HoneySpider]

Nov 28, 2023 12:18:02 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

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HoneySpider 's charity: Through the Heart

Thank you so much for sharing!

[katfco]

formerlyak, we did that when we donated our COVID aid--we split it evenly and every member of the family chose a charity. I never thought to give them smaller amounts at different times.