‘Tis The Season For Giving: TPG End of Year Giveaway

My favorite Charity is the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast cancer research. As a person who knows many people who have suffered from breast cancer, this foundation really hits home and I think that the more money that is available to them, the more likely they will be to find a cure. Thanks a lot, and happy holidays!

We choose individuals in need we become aware of locally. This year it was a 19 year old mother, the victim of domestic violence, whose father was murdered in the attack on her. As of this December she is spending Christmas in her new (used) mobile home due to the generosity of friends & the community.

Make a wish foundation. Giving sick kids cool experiences – gotta love that!

I contribute to charity through my local Lions Club, the New Berlin Lions Club in New Berlin, WI. We run a Corn Roast stand at the Wisconsin State Fair and raise over $100,000 each year for our designated charities. Our favorite charity is the Wisconsin Lions Foundation, which runs the Wisconsin Lions Camp for special needs children (primarily vision and hearing impaired) and also runs one of the 4 Lions eyeglass recycling centers in the US to recycle used eyeglasses to needy individuals in third world countries.

My favorite charity is Smile Train that helps children around the world born with disfiguring clefts. If these clefts are not fixed, these children will face many unwanted challenges in their life.

Second Harvest Food Bank – Everyone deserves enough to eat. Especially at this time of year.

My favorite charity is St Jude’s that’s all about battling cancer for kids!

Another vote for the American Cancer Society. Cancer took my mother from me at much too young an age, and so many people I know have been affected by this devastating disease. I definitely try to do my part to kick cancer’s ass.

My personal fave is Hope Connections for Cancer, a local charity providing free programs to anyone affected by cancer.
http://hopeconnectionsforcancer.org/

I’ve met with several staff and board members and have been touched by the caring and generosity that comes out of this organiaztion.

Salvation Army is my favorit charity because they help people of all religions and races all throughout the year throughtout major crisis

Local charities in Ann Arbor, MI, like Food Gatherers and Alpha House , that serve children and families.

My favorite would have to be Wounded Warrior. Being an Iraq war veteran I’ve been exposed to a lot of soldiers that have been wounded.

While not a exactly a charity, I also enjoy loading money on Kiva and helping people with micro loans.

The Fisher House is one of my favorite charities. (www.fisherhouse.org) I had the opportunity to aid several of my fellow soldiers through the difficult recovery from injuries incurred during OEF/OIF. The recovery process is usually lengthy and family support is critical. Fisher House provides a place for families of the injured solders (sailors, airmen, etc) to live while they are recovering. Without this support the families would not be able to afford to live nearby. Efficiently managed and effective I donate every month.

I’m a big fan of the MS Society, which funds both living expenses and medical costs for those suffering from multiple sclerosis, but unlike other health charities, also pays for basic lab research. It’s this research which is critical for curing diseases 10 – 20 years down the road.

St. Augustine’s Hunger Center (Cleveland). This past Thankgiving the center served/delivered just under 17,000 meals. For many recipients, this was their only “real” meal of the day. The meal program is run year-round.

The Trevor Project for sure… dedicated to crisis and suicide prevention among LGBTQ youth, one of the most vulnerable segments of the population. Adolescence is hard for everyone, but even harder for people who grow up feeling like they don’t belong or that they’re wrong somehow.

UUSC. They have very quietly and very efficiently set the standard for human rights work, both abroad and in the US.

Givology – This charity was started by a friend of a friend of mine, and some of my good friends are very involved. It is not a typical charity, in that Givology doesn’t take any of your money, but they allow you to browse projects around the world and fund them directly. Most projects focus on funding elementary school education in China and Africa. A very worthy cause! https://www.givology.org/

Catholic Relief Services (http://crs.org/) – 95% of their budget goes to support different programs all over the world…

I’ve supported Children’s International for a decade and a half now and I love the work they do. The idea of supporting a specific child in a difficult economic circumstance might sound cheesy on the TV commercials but it really is a wonderful use of resources. I’ve watched two different kids grow up – from 7 years olds until they were young adults of 17 and 18. I highly recommend it.

Haitiwaterproject.com. This organization provides wells and clean drinking water to rural areas of Haiti impoverished further by the earthquake.

I live in the DC area and have interacted a lot with a local organization called Urban Alliance that provides high school students with high quality internships to prepare them for work and college. The organization does good work and I am proud to support them.

The hunger project. I believe we can end world hunger and malnutrition in our lifetime and hunger project is working to achieve that. It has a great volunteer base and works in all continents, not just in agricultural projects, but in education, empowerment and political outreach.

COTS in Burlington, VT. provides shelter and other services for the homeless in our community.

I’ve worked for the red cross for a few years as a volunteer. To this day, it remains one of my favorite charities not only because of what they do, but because the employees actually care. It’s really hard in this corporate culture today to find employees working for any organization that truly believe in the company they work for, and I can say the various red cross employees are definitely this way.

I’m a big fan of the humane society in my local community. I always try to donate my time, as I feel that it can go a lot further than cash donations. Big fan of the pets!

Megan’s wings. This is a charity that was started in the memory of my late 2nd cousin, Megan Savage. She was 11 years old when she passed away from a form of childhood leukemia. This fund helps to offset many of the expenses that families incur in the course of traveling to get their children cancer treatment. Remembering my cousin certainly helps me to recognize that our health is one of the greatest gifts we all have!

My favorites, besides the Wounded Warriors Project, are the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (http://www.nchv.org), and Homes for our Troops, which provides free home to vets serious disabilities and injuries from Iraq and Afghanistan (http://www.homesforourtroops.org)

The Refuge Clinic – Lexington, KY!! Funds medical and dental clinics to serve the uninsured in Jessamine and Fayette Counties. It was a response to the tremendous need for primary and dental care for the under-served within the community. A very worthy cause! http://www.refugeministriesky.org

The Foodbank! Every city has them. Don’t let anyone go hungry.

Please support http://www.humanesociety.org/.

CVAN womens shelter a local organization in Concord N.C.

These Numbers Have Faces (TheseNumbers.org)

They are sending first generation South African’s to college. Great charitable model, with the goal of putting themselves out of business in twenty years and being fully funded by 1% donations of past scholarship winners. Run by some great friends that I respect immensely.

My go to would be the The American Diabetes Association. My girlfriend has had type 1 diabetes since she was born, so I understand how difficult it must be for those less fortunate to come up with the money to pay for what they need and how negatively that lack of proper medicine could affect their bodies.

Habitat for Humanity: Building affordable housing for people in the United States, and moreover, helping individuals from around the world, especially after natural disasters. Plus you can give back by volunteering with them!

We’re big supporters of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (and in particular of Waynesboro, VA where we live). It gives hundreds of disadvantaged kids a place to go every day that emphasizes life skills and learning, and provides many of them with the only steady meals they have.

I support the CCFA, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (ccfa.org), which puts money towards research for finding a permanent cure to Crohn’s and UC. These diseases fly under the radar compared to many others and this is a great cause to help those suffering from those diseases.

I think the American Jewish World Service is great. They run programs all over the world to fight hunger and poverty in communities of every race color and creed.

My charity of choice is Pats kids- the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Treatment Support Project (http://patskids.org/). Its an amazing NGO that l contribute to yearly that supports HIV-positive children in rural China due to parents who contracted HIV when they sold blood to alleviate their poverty in the 1990s. Donations go to covering the needs of these orphans not only to feeding and clothing them, but administering medication, routine checkups, and teaching them the importance of vitamins and cleaniness. The price of a typical dinner in NY is enough to sponsor a child’s basic cost for a year. Totally worthwhile to see a young child be able to grow.

I’m a fan of the Red Cross. The work that they do, in the situations that they do it in, is unsurpassed.

My local Police Dept’s PBA. Funds are used to purchase new Bullet Proof Vests for the officers. Vests have to be replaced every 5-7 years when the kevlar starts to break down

Sounds like a great charity. I have lost my father, uncle, brother and sister to this tragic disease and the funding and research for it are so under supported. I’m glad this blog made me aware of it.

As a traveler I love Doctors Without Borders for the work they do in emergency situations, in all parts of the world. I’ve often wished I could do med school just to be part of their team!

As an 1st generation Indian-American I really appreciate the work that the BAPS Swaminaryan Santha does. It not only helped me realize my voice and place in America by showing me where I came from, but has done the same for literally millions of other Indians living both in America and India.

I love the premise behind your post. You mix just the right amount of high-yield professional information in with personal items. Looking forward to another year of great posts!

My best friend was born with cleft lip and palette and was fortunate enough to have parents with the time, money and resources to help her. So many children suffer with unrepaired clefts – making it difficult (or impossible) to eat or speak properly – and do not have the resources to get the surgeries they need. Every year on Valentine’s Day, I donate to Smile Train in honor of my friend Amy – they are a wonderful organization that you can explore at http://www.smiletrain.org/

I support my local SPCA by volunteering my time every weekend, helping to walk dogs and clean up litter boxes. My husband works with dogs on leash manners, as well-behaved dogs are naturally more likely to be adopted (and stay adopted)! The four-legged ones need people looking out for them too.

MSF – known in the US as Doctors Without Borders. They’re one of the few aid organizations that honestly and cogently assesses on-the-ground politics when conducting humanitarian work. If they perceive manipulation on the part of their “hosts” – such as in the Eastern Congo in the mid-1990s when rebels took control of refugee camps and skimmed off the top of the MSF supply shipments – they pull out rather than worsen the situation. Most other organizations are more interested in maintaining their public image of “being where it matters.” MSF cares about doing what’s right.

Partners In Health is doing great work in Haiti. International Red Cross is on the front lines and first responder in many, many crisis situations and locales.

RICE – Research Institute for Compassionate Economics.

RICE conducts research and advocates policy for some of the poorest people in the world – those in rural India.

RICE’s mission statement, “RICE was founded in the belief that our understanding of the lives of the poor is a binding constraint on programs and policies. We reject an inherent tradeoff between insight and relevance, and are convinced that living with and for the poor – far from being incompatible with persuasive, rigorous, and careful research – will encourage it. We envision a growing, sustainable community of Fellows working together in commitment to serving, learning, and teaching.”

Their website is here: http://www.riceinstitute.org/index.html

A good friend of mine had the pleasure of partaking in a trip sponsored by the Dream Foundation. At 15 she was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma and fought it successfully twice. Through all the treatments, she managed to continued school and was accepted into (yours and my alma-mater) Pitt to pursue her dream of becoming a creative writer. Her inspiration was a poet whom she had the pleasure of hearing lecture in Hawaii after her second relapse was deemed the fatal one, thanks to the Dream Foundation. During the trip, the foundation and the poet himself surprised her by inviting her on stage to read a short story of her life with cancer to the audience, and then proceeded to present her with a highly distinguished creative-writing award.

This kind of experience would never have been possible without the Dream Foundation, and ever since she passed away (at 21, 2 years ago), I’ve made it a priority to give whatever I can to it to allow people like my friend to get a break from their suffering and have the experience of a lifetime..

RIP Melissa.

Operation Gratitude

http://www.operationgratitude.com

Sending care packages to servicemen and women overseas since 2003.

Last Saturday, the group reached a significant milestone, shipping its 750,000th package.

The founder, Carolyn Blashek, started the group out of her living room.

Check out this recent segment from CBS Sunday Morning for more background.

http://opgrat.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/cbs-sunday-morning-pays-a-visit-to-operation-gratitude/

Her story, and that of the group, is inspiring and amazing.

A $15 donation sends a care package.

Simple.

So Others May Eat – Great charity in the DC area focused on DC’s homeless and poor.

One more, just because:

Homes For Troops

http://www.homesforourtroops.org/site/PageServer

Building Specially Adapted Homes For Severely Injured Veterans FOR FREE

“Homes for Our Troops is a non-profit, non-partisan, 501 (c)(3) organization founded in 2004. This organization is strongly committed to helping those who have selflessly given to their country and have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries. We assist severely injured Servicemen and Women and their immediate families by raising donations of money, building materials and professional labor and then coordinating the process of building a new home or adapting an existing home for handicapped accessibility.

THE FINISHED HOME IS THEN GIVEN TO THE VETERAN.

*ALL SERVICES PROVIDED BY HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS ARE AT NO COST TO THE VETERANS WE SERVE.

Homes for Our Troops Has Been Named Top Rated Charity by American Institute of Philanthropy.”

OBVIOUSLY!

Just amazing.

What a country.

My favorite Charity is the Jacksonville Humane Society: http://www.jaxhumane.org/lifechanging/index.php They had a tragic fire back in 2007 which claimed their facility and a large number of the helpless pets there. Not only do I love animals but I love helping such a great cause rebuild after such a sad & tragic loss. Of course they are also near and dear to me because I’m local…

Heifer International, because they help needy people obtain sustainable sources of food.

I’m always partial to our local food bank, which does a lot for folks in my community.

It’s a close call between Medecins Sans Frontieres and Rotary International for me!

Operation Smile because they help children with cleft lips all around the world and train local doctors to be self-sufficient.

Partners In Health – Supporting medical care in some of the most impoverished countries in the world, including my personal favorite: Haiti!

Great to read through the comment and see that people do care – thanks TPG! I personally try and help with whatever I can by reaching out directly to individuals in need as well as through the local food bank. I also support the National Kidney Foundation and the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organizations. Thanks again for all your bloggs and money saving advice/tips and hope you prosper financially from your ventures so that you can continue providing the best.

Great Falls Children’s Receiving Home (Great Falls, Montana), for abused and neglected children. Unfortunately, the home is always at full capacity this time of year :0(

Charity: Water. This is a non profit focusing on bring clean and safe drinking water to developing nations around the world. It is very easy for us to forget how fortunate we are to be able to turn on a faucet and have clean water for us to drink at almost any time. And I am sure that many of us take advantage of this and leave our faucets running. Even though water shortage is not a problem for most of us on this board, it is important for us to remember the people around the world that have to fight for a cup of clean drinking water. Charity: Water is a great organization that is helping this cause by donating 100% of public donations to fund their water projects.

Red Cross, I have been part of it and I know how the system works.

RPCI, the local cancer hospital … For giving so many ppl hope

my favorite charity/non-profit has to be Chill. It’s an organization founded by Burton Snowboards that sponsors at-risk inner city youth and brings them out to the mountains and teaches them not only about snowboarding, but about working and living with nature.

my favorite new charity is Team Rubicon – it gives veterans who have recently returned from combat the opportunity to help out with global disaster relief – a skill set that they know well and have recently incorporated during their service. it’s a great new charity, and helps two distinct sets of people – http://teamrubiconusa.org

One Girl – onegirl.com.au.

1. Helping girls in places of need does more than help one person.
2. They are transparent – they want donors to know where their money is going.
3. Chantelle is passionate about this – she’s changed her life to make it happen.

The Red Cross, for their unbelievable response to Hurricane Katrina in my home, New Orleans.

Happy Holidays TPG, I live between Miami and DC. My favorite charity is EAA Young Eagles, an aviation introduction program for kids that rewards them for good grades in math and science with flying time with volunteer pilots on the weekend. Harrison Ford is the honorary chairman, and I’ve enjoyed serving as a volunteer pilot.
Thanks,

City Harvest — sharing surplus restaurant food with New York’s hungry.

I have long been appreciative of the Nature Conservancy. Protecting the world we live in is vital to all of us. And it doesn’t hurt that they have been noted as one of the charities with the highest percentage of donations actually going to the work they do instead of administrative and marketing overhead.

American Cancer Society – Great charity helping fund research to find a cure for cancer!

My favorite charity is GIVE KIDS THE WORLD (http://www.gktw.org). This non-for-profit branched from the MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION after realizing that 60% of all terminally ill children asked for the same wish, “to see Mickey Mouse.” So GIVE KIDS THE WORLD is the giant fantasy village where families come for one week, all expenses paid including meals, and they get VIP treatment at all the Orlando theme parks.

I went to university in Central Florida and would spend some weekends volunteering with these people, so I feel I know it well as a fan and as an insider. This place is really magical and spending five minutes with some of these kids will change your life forever.

Worldfund (www.worldfund.org) for giving hope to hundreds of thousands of children in Latin America

Candidly, my favorite charity is my church. On Saturday evening, volunteers from the congregation volunteer their time to prepare, cook and serve dinner to those in our area who are less fortunate. The church participates alongside other various charities, such as the Salvation Army and Red Cross, donates money to local and global organizations, and encourages others to do the same. World Vision is my second choice, as my family sponsors a child, and the Christmas Gift Catalog is a wonderful alternative (purchase goats and chickens for a family’s sustenance, deep wells for clean water, and micro loans). I would encourage everyone to give to them.

Have a Merry Christmas

My favorite charities are Kitty City Rescue Foundation and SPCA Tampa Bay. They both excel at finding homes for newborns, lost and/or injured animals, and those given up by their previous owners. I have had excellent luck with my adoptions from the SPCA. They were almost like a match.com service – it was that good! These charities truly care about and protect those creatures who cannot speak for themselves.

I used to work for Ashoka in Arlington VA
Ashoka supports social entrepreneurship by giving them seed money, advices and networks for 3 years to develop their great social impact idea.
For me Ashoka is similar to a social venture capitalist.

Wounded Warrior as well as Susan G Komen. Also, any charity that helps kids…i’m a sucker for those, especially local kids in need.

Food Bank For New York City (http://foodbanknyc.org) serving a very large population in NYC with essential services including food, of course, and much more.

ASPCA. It is always wonderful to place great pets with great people. Total Win-Win.

My favorite is Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, founded by Paul Newman to send sick children to a week-long camp in the summer. Some of the camps specialize in a certain illness (typically various forms of cancer) where others will rotate weeks among children with similar conditions (i.e. sickle-cell anemia one week, burn victims the next). I have visited the camp in Orlando and can attest to how wonderful they are and how much the children get out of them.

As an active-duty Navy officer, I give to them (and St Jude’s) monthly through the Combined Federal Campaign and raise money for them when running road races. I highly encourage your readers that are looking for a new and worthy cause to give this organization their consideration. One of the best things: they’re documented as one of the most efficient non-profits out there, with fewer than ten percent of income going to overhead and expenses. You know your dollars are being used for what you expect.

Regardless, Brian, this was a great idea and I’ve enjoyed reading what charities are important to my fellow TPG readers. Happy Holidays!

American Red Cross – help people national wide

My favorite charity is big brothers big sisters because I believe it can have a huge impact on underprivileged children growing up.

Happy Festivus! I support The Human Fund, whose moto is “Money For People”.

Also I support the Make A Wish Foundation!

There are so many great nonprofits and charities that exist, so it’s hard to pick one… but

There are so many great nonprofits that exist, but if I had to pick one, I’d pick the Donate Life America charity, which helps raise awareness about organ donation — something that can save so many lives. People may be surprised to learn just how many people they can help when choosing organ donation!

One of new favorites is Pets2Vets (http://p2v.org/). P2V helps injured vets (physically and/or psychologically) by providing them the opportunity to pair with shelter dogs or cats, many of whom would be otherwise euthanized, as they continue to pursue rehabilitative and therapeutic care from their health care providers.

there are so many great charities doing great work. Our local soup kitchen is where we spend time.

I am a big supporter of SafeHouse Center, a domestic violence and sexual assault service provider and shelter here in Michigan. There are so many good organizations doing a great deal of good work. It’s overwhelming. I’m excited to see what organizations your readers support. Maybe I’ll find a new one!

My local Alzheimers Association. My mother has this diseases and the help that the volunteers has provided has kept my family from going insane. If anyone is dealing with this terrible disease in their family I urge you to conact your local association. There is no cost, other than donations, and they have support groups which have been a Godsend for us.

National Youth Science Foundation (nysf.com). It runs science education programs for high school students, including the National Youth Science Camp, held annually. All expenses are paid to bring 2 graduating seniors from each US state and more from various countries to spend 4 weeks in the WV mountains learning about science, engineering, math, medicine, etc.

It’s how I met my wife (at a NYSC reunion).

http://www.nysf.com/w/programs/nysc/

I’m a regular contributor to the Cincinnati Men’s Chorus — they change lives every time they step onto the stage!

Awesome giveaway! My favorite charity is the ALS Foundation. We have a family friend that died from the disease and it’s amazing that there is so little information on the disease over 70 years after Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with it – we need to find a cure!

Smile Train, They provide surgery for children with cleft plate. 165,000 children are born with a cleft every year, and many can’t afford surgery. It only cost $250 to provide surgery and you can change a childs life forever.http://www.smiletrain.org/

I love to help Feed My Starving Children. The approach is simple: children and adults hand-pack meals specifically formulated for malnourished children, and they ship the meals to nearly 70 countries around the world.

Awesome Idea Brian!

The charity that is my favorite is “Checking For Charity”

It is a charity hockey tournament where each team represents a charity of their choice. All proceeds go to the charities, while if you place in a higher seed the more money you win for your charity of choice. It is a great competitive tournament for a great cause. A lot of current and former pros participate in it as well.

I enter a team every year and represent a Charity call “The Victorious foundation” which is a foundation founded after a girl I grew up with had passed away. They create a happy atmosphere for children battling cancer in hospitals by way of teen kits-which is a kit of goodies and games for them to enjoy. Also, they create teen centers which is a dedicated teen room in a hospital that provides a fun atmosphere for children and a place where a teen can be a teen. We all know that hospitals are not kid friendly, and this foundation provides kid friendly rooms ” where a kid can be a kid”

My teams portion of the tournament raised over 1200 dollars for the foundation last year.

It is a unique hockey centric approach to raise money and awareness for the various charities represented at our tournaments has inspired people to become a part of the Checking For Charity movement.

Below is a video taht will provide a better explanation how it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xKsBzlh8pQs

I prefer giving locally, and thus prefer charities like SSP and Robin Hood in NYC.

I go local. My church has an outreach organization called Hope for RDU (we live in Raleigh-Durham) which cares for the homeless, orphans, prisoners, unwed mothers and HS drop outs. Those 5 groups of people are among the most disadvantages in America and in our local community.

My favorite charity, although I’m not sure you can call them a charity is KIVA. It gives microloans to people in disadvantaged situations. They have to pay it back, but it is interest free. It helps people help themselves that normally couldn’t.

As a techie, I’m keen on One Laptop per Child. I kind of like that they’re working on developing accessible technology.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. One of my best friends has Cystic Fibrosis so I support the foundation whenever I get a chance. Additionally, there’s a local Chicago Women’s Treatment Center that allows women to keep their children with them while they’re going through rehab. It’s great to see that they’re able to keep the bond with their children during such a rough time.

The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
My friend lost his toddler son to the disease. Got us all involved in searching for a cure.

Help youngs and elders. These two groups are always need our help especially in cold winters. We may not be able to give them all they want, but we’ll always try to help them by donating clothes or food.

My family has it’s charity in Algeria, helping the orphans go through school by buying school supply, clothes and school help. And also giving monthly food supply to disadvantaged family.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Because they do great work with Malaria.

I give to Habitat for Humanity; a long track record of getting good people into homes with wonderful community involvement.

Feeding America – I support them monthly. While I believe in a lot of international charities, I’m a firm believer that there is a lot of work to do in our own country, and our own backyard. It’s times like the holidays that I try and keep that in perspective as to how fortunate and blessed I am/we are.

I recommend a generous donation to “The Human Fund” (for Seinfeld fans out there).
On a more serious note…
As a global traveler, I’m sure you have often seen first hand the disparities in access to basic provisions and infrastructure. Medical Teams International is a fantastic option – they serve populations and areas stricken by disaster with emphasis on improving integrity of global public health.
Domestically, the Jimmy V Foundation is a well recognized and sound foundation deserving of continued investment and support.

United Way – great way to support many charities in need and keep communities strong.

American Cancer Society (directed towards research) – eventually EVERYBODY is impacted by cancer in their life, and generally through no fault of their own. My hope is that solving one cancer will lead to solving them all shortly thereafter.

My personal favorite is Sankara Eye foundation. For $30, they provide the ‘gift of vision’ by performing cataract surgeries for the poor. ‘Eardicate curable blindness’ is their motto.

The American Cancer Society — I lost my mother to colon cancer last year. They provide not only support to advance the latest research, but support for the difficult financial and emotional burdens cancer places on patients and their families.

Wounded Warrior – We run the races, volunteer, have friends in the military, work for the military, wife is in the military and have friends downrange as I type. Great place that takes wounded warriors fishing, kayaking, rock climbing, scuba diving, everything! Go Air Force

My favorite charity is the Boys and Girls Club. They have helped so many youth through the years.

My favorite is Blumenthal Performing Arts

what a great idea! My favorite charity is World Vision — the sponsorship program is top notch and targets the areas on the globe where folks need the most help.

We are very fortunate in Montreal to have the Sainte Justine Hospital Foundation which looks out for children’s health… what a better way to make sure we make a better world tomorrow.

Americares – disaster relief to for crises around the world, from the USA

There are so many worthy agencies out there, but my state has one called Oregon HEAT. It helps to pay the electric or gas bills so that low-income families can have heat during the cold winter months. Every time you step out to a cold car and think: “brrr,” imagine what it’s like to sleep in even colder temps all night long.

Alzheimer’s Association, for sure.

My favorite charities are Amnesty International, Planned Parenthood and Doctor’s without Borders. If I had to pick just one, I would probably say Planned Parenthood since they help women all over the world.

Friends & Helpers.. their goal is to support and encourage women, teens and children (and sometimes men), all of whom are trying to help themselves out of a violent, hurtful situation.

New York Foundation for the Arts…help foster the growth of music, art, and performance in youth and struggling artists

I’m always a fan of charity:water – they’re doing amazing work bringing water to millions of people around the globe. I’ve had the chance to travel to see a few of their projects in action…. absolutely amazing.

Favorite charity is my local pug rescue because I have a pug I absolutely adore and wish the same for all the ones out there currently without a forever home.

The one charity that I always donate without any questions asked is “Doctors without borders”. They help people in disaster stricken areas as well as war torn areas. Please donate to them if possible. Every bit help. Please go to http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

I like St Jude. Its noble cause of helping cure children with cancer is very commendable.

Alzheimer’s Association as it is such a terrible disease.

My favorite charity is Sun City K-9 adoptions. It’s a no kill dog shelter. I like them because they’re local and I can drop by and see what my monthly check is spent on.

I take my grandson there every Christmas with an extra donation of cash and towels. He needs to learn about charity first hand. It’s a tradition he looks forward to.

My personal favorite is the World Wildlife Fun … the earth needs to be protected, and they do such an amazing job and protecting land and species from the threats out there!

Doctors without Borders for sure. Doing amazing work around the globe in the toughest conditions. Makes me happy to write checks to them, figuring it is the least I can do to support those actually on the ground.

One of my favorite charities is Goodwill because it provides job training, and thus helps create a permanent solution to problems associated with joblessness.

Habitat for humanity (http://www.habitat.org/default.aspx) is one of the fun ones. It is not a charity where you just give a dollar amount, you have to put in some work. It is good to know that you can make a difference and it will help you realize how lucky you are with a roof above your head.

I think Teach for America is a great idea because education really is the foundation of getting kids to college and having a successful life.

The Wounded Warrior Project is a great charity. Anyone willing to put their life on the line to serve their country is a hero in my book and they should be treated as such.

Make-a-wish Foundation!! i wish every kid get a present for Christmas

My favorite charity is UNICEF. I first learned about them and their mission about 15 years ago when I was still in school and was blown away at the work they do. I do what I can personally to help raise awareness and money for them every year. I love how UNICEF tries to teach and help people learn, and doesn’t just “preach” – they are just amazing.

I would have to say The American Cancer Society. I hope they find a cure for this awful disease.

Planned Parenthood provides vital low-cost health services not only for women, but also for men as well. 90 percent of their work is preventive, primary care and in many communities are the only option for such services.
Also the Natural Resources Defense Council does great advocacy and legal work for those who care about clean water, safe chemicals, energy independence, and other environmental and health issues.

A year ago, my family and I started a non-for-profit called Life Quilt Foundation https://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Quilt-Foundation/208198182563559. We are doing quarterly events focused on helping underprivileged students and adults with resources to get back on their feet. Events in the past included back to school supplies drive, Easter luncheon, winter coats, and job prep seminar. It had been rewarding to give and meet the people who are on the receiving end. We know exactly where our money is going.

My favorite is UNICEF — I’ve supported them for a long time for the work they do all over the world, in particular in Africa, for the benefit of children, the ones who are truly unable to help themselves, and give them a second chance at a better life (even survival in many cases). Clean water, food, medicine, education — everything we in the 1st world take for granted.

Above any other charity, Doctors without Borders. They travel to countries that need medical assistance, no matter what the conditions are like.

Love this!! My favorite charities are the Shriners Hospitals for Children and my local Humane Society. I love my humane society!!

My favorite charity is my church. I think that most charity should fill the local need, then move to contribute to causes where there may not be local organizations or a lather infrastructure may be required. Most of our funds actually go to outside organizations / efforts, but we want to make sure we carry the burden for our local needs so others don’t have to come in to do so.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières do great work all over the world

I’m a fan of an organization called CHRIS Kids. They supply housing and support for homeless children (less than 18 years old).

American Red Cross – My sister’s house burned down and they were there immediately helping her with food, clothing, etc.

I support Smile Train, an international charity that provides cleft palate surgery to those in need. They do amazing work to around the world.

http://www.smiletrain.org

Great contest!

My favourite charity is the Snowsuit Fund, an Ottawa, Canada-based charity that gives brand new snowsuits (13,000+/year) to the children (up to 16 years old) under-priviledged families. I have volunteered at this charity for over 20 years and the experience of seeing the happiness on a little kid’s face when they receive their new snowsuit is a magical experience.

Thanks!

I support the United Way. United Way works to address the root of social problems, such as poverty.

Kudos for this post.

One in particular that I like is PACKFORAPURPOSE.ORG. Rebecca and her team have a wonderful call to action: pack 5 lbs of needed supplies (listed on her site) in your suitcase and bring it to your destination.
For all those elite flyers out there, baggage allowances are generous, so as much as you can bring from
the list of items on her site can change the lives of many!!

UNICEF, particularly for the work they do in Africa.
The other, and this may not really qualify as charity, but it would be Kiva for the incredible idea of everyone being able to chip in and help so many small businesses in other countries, and the keep doing it again and again and…..

I really like World Vision. We support 4 children. It takes so little to give them so much! Thanks, Rick.
Lynn

Susan G. Komen for breast cancer research! Thanks TPG.

Partners in Health because of their many innovative contributions to healthcare in developing nations

I have to say the Wikimedia Foundation (Parent organization of Wikipedia and others) because they seek to educate the masses in an efficient way across language barriers and do so with zero government funds.

Great post, Brian! I’ve chosen American Cancer Society — to help people fighting with cancer.

My favorite charity, and the one I give the most to every year is my local ASPCA. Awesome charity.

My favorite charity is WaterAid. Clean, available, abundant drinking water is something that people in America and Europe take for granted, but its unavailabiltiy is among the most important issues facing the rest of the world today. And it effects so many other things– a little help can go a long way.

I would say NPR and PBS. These 2 organizations provide entertainment of substance and a refuge from the copy cat dramas and sitcoms and brainless reality shows.

My local church and a local university. Not only do they help a lot of young people find their way, the church is very involved in supporting local law enforcement and the fire department.

Oregon Food Bank – because no one should go hungry

Being from Memphis, TN, my favorite charity is St. Jude’s Hospital. The work they do there is simply amazing, from the research, to the facilities, to the care, it is all spectacular. Great post!

I always donate to the American Red Cross. They’re always around in times of disaster and when people need it most.

Working in the nonprofit sector exposes me to so many worthy charities, it’s hard to narrow down to one. If I had to chose just one, I would pick the Exotic Feline Rescue Center (EFRC) in Indiana. I loved volunteering there weekly as a student and would do it again in a heartbeat if I ever moved back to Indiana. EFRC exists to give homes to exotic felines (e.g. tigers, lions, etc) who have been rescued from abuse or neglect. If you’re ever in southern Indiana, I highly recommend checking it out – they give tours too.

American Cancer Society is the tops as well as some local charities that support teaching kids to read.

My high school is a combination public and privately funded magnet school, so they have a 501c3, called the IMSA Fund for the Advancement of Education, set up for alumni donations and the like, so I contribute there every year. I also typically do a small donation to the American Cancer Society.

I recommend the Make a Wish Foundation. For very little money you can greatly improve someone’s quality of life.

EQual Rights Washington – For the are fighting for equal rights, marriage equality and more. Since their conception just a few years ago they have successively advocated for the Anderson Murray Anti-Discrimination law in Washington state,the creation of the domestic partnership registry In washington, the further expansion of domestic partnership protections – giving us all rights as married couples, and the passage of the Healthy Youth Act. ERW also works to organize the movement for equality, educate voters, and influence policy makers. They continue to advocate for the expansion of protections available to committed gay couples and their children while working toward marriage equality. And finally they work to ensure that healthcare providers meet the needs of an aging LGBT community. We really need more organizations like these working on the grass root and local levels!

I support local charities and give to the William J. Clinton foundation for there work at home, abroad and disaster relief.

Graduating students in the United States have an average of more than $25K in college debt, and many are still unable to enter the workforce. While not technically a 501(c)(3), this year I’ve been donating my time to the UnCollege movement ( http://www.uncollege.org/ ) which challenges the notion that college is the only path to success.

Much in the same way that TPG readers “hack” the airline and hotel industry to find the best deals, UnCollege students hack their education by deciding how, where, and what they want to learn. Hacking doesn’t require dropping out of college but does strongly support the idea that students need to take control of their own learning. Whether or not you attend college, success in the 21st century requires passion, hustle, and contrarianism.

Through UnCollege, I’ve started community learning groups in the San Francisco Bay area to provide support and build community for fellow “hackademics.” Be it a class on Python programming, a feminist reading group, or tips on getting great airline deals, UnCollege is helping people take charge of their education.

LDS Charities (Humanitarian Services) because I have seen their quick action in response to natural disasters and know that all involved in distribution of goods/services are unpaid volunteers.

Because we are older travelers, we are very concerned about the devastating effect of Alzheimers disease on so many especially older individuals who could be contributing to society and out enjoying travel as we do. We give to UCI Mind, who’s research may soon find a cure for this devastating disease.

Mary’s Meals, in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. For just $10 you can feed a child for a year. While they appear to be fighting hunger, they are more actively targeting poverty — they recognize that by offering food, children will attend school for the free meal, and education is the path to prosperity.

They are staffed by genuine altruists and run on an absurdly low 6% overhead. http://www.marysmeals.org.uk/

The charity that you actually personally get involved with and see first hand how much is needed. Give a charity some sweat and I guarantee you will give them more funds to work with.

donorschoose.org – fantastic program directed at specific classrooms of your choice. Students and teachers write thank you notes and take pictures of the item purchased with your donation . Classrooms are painfully underfunded and I find this program really rewarding.

St. Jude’s Hospital – pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children.

I support Accion, similar to Kiva in providing micro loans to female entrepreneurs in developing countries. Coming from the United States where business start-up costs are in the hundreds of thousands, it amazes me that such small amounts of money can buy enough goats, fabric, or whatever is needed, to start a successful business and change the course of a family’s life. Women are most likely to repay the loan and use the proceeds to benefit their children’s health and education, and it enables them to access family planning and control their family size, which benefits everyone in the family.

My personal favorite charities are Share Our Strength – which does a great job fighting to provide children in the states with access to healthy meals, as well as Martha’s Table here in DC.

Star of hope — giving to the homeless

While I tend to feel that local charities are most effective in getting the money donated out to the people who need help, I will go with the Red Cross since they do good work both locally (with blood drives, etc.) and internationally.

I would recommend the Make-A-Wish Foundation, that grants wishes to children (3 to 17 years old) who have life-threatening medical conditions. In my view, Christmas is about families, children, and hope, and this charity certainly helps keep those themes alive.

http://www.naturebridge.org/yosemite

Helps children get involved in the great outdoors.

I like to support Doctors Without Borders!

American Red Cross. Thanks.

My favorite charity is Imagine No Malaria. They help fight malaria in Africa, which a very treatable.

Bridges to Community is a community development organization in Nicaragua and has expanded to the Dominican Republic as well. I spent a week in March 2011 traveling to Nicaragua where we assisted local masons in building homes for families who do not have a shelter of their heads. The families are required to work a certain amount of hours and contribute a certain amount of money to show that they are dedicated to the project. The masons are employed by Bridges to Community. It was a powerful experience to construct a home for a family who was desperately in need of one. The family included a single mother and her nine children ranging from age 21 to age 2. Additionally, there is a crafts market with vendors who earn money selling their crafts to the foreign volunteers of Bridges to Community. It is a great organization and Bridges to Community has made an incredible difference in Nicaragua. http://www.bridgestocommunity.org/

My favorite charity is Food and Friends in Washington, DC. They provide home delivery of food for those who have AIDS or other health issues. The nice thing is that most of the donations go straight to buying food as it is delivered by volunteers and they have very little overhead.

EQCA – continually fighting for civil rights protections across the US.

Let’s Bring em Home. http://www.lbeh.org

They pay for flights for enlisted military personnel to come home for the holidays. They also accept miles as donations.

My favorite charity is the ASPCA.

My personal favorite is Relay for Life which benefits the American Cancer Society…a way to walk and give.

Toys for Tots. Nothing like manly Marines collecting toys for kids.

I do most of my travels in Africa and tend to stay away for large charities (often big overhead costs). The Books for Africa guys are great: http://www.booksforafrica.org/. A second favorite is FORGE, which is a program that helps IDPs/Refugees resettle. http://www.forgenow.org/

Habitat for Humanity. Always love working on hands-on stuff!

St. Jude’s and several other cancer and pediatric oncology charities are my favorites. Thankfully none of my family has been directly affected by childhood cancer, but some of my closest friends were, and through my work with one particular camp, I’ve known some wonderful people whose time on earth ended far too soon.

Direct Relief International. Rated 4 stars by Charity Navigator and they don’t send you tons of solicitations in the mail or sell your name and address (which really annoys me about some charities).

I love Children International, as we have been sponsoring a boy from Chile for the past 9 years or so. Also, we will probably donate to World Vision International this year; the company provides farm animals (among other things) to people in third-world countries.

The American Cancer Society is always on my list. They do great work, and over time have a huge impact.

National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. Supporting research and education for health care professionals and the public. Thanks for supporting all of us

There are so many worthy causes, but two that I always like to support are the Environmental Defense Fund and my local public library.

Part of me always feels a little guilty traveling to wondrous places in airplanes — I have to wonder what impact that has on air and the environment. EDF does great work on clean air and other issues.

And although libraries are technically govt-run agencies, they are always sorely underfunded and provide such great services to all citizens, including the elderly and kids!

I really like Kiva.org. While not a charity in the normal since, I give as if it was a charity and then if the loan gets repaid I just “add that to the pot” so I am able to give more the next time.

my favorite charity is my local boxer rescue, Legacy Boxer Rescue serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Every year they rescue hundreds of neglected, abused boxers and find them loving homes. They really go above and beyond in their rescue efforts bringing back dogs from near death.

But really any animal charity, such as the ASPCA, is deserving.

My latest favorite charity is Task Brasil (http://www.taskbrasil.org.uk/), a UK-based charity that helps house and care for abandoned street kids in Brazil.

Fantastic post! I’m a big supporter of The Make-A-Wish Foundation. Watching a child have their wish fulfilled is simply amazing!!!

My favorite new charity is a small non-profit called BeLoved International that takes up older orphans and adopts them into a family setting rather than an “orphan home”. Great model for orphan work and tremendously active since they’re new

My favorite charity is “Waves for Water”. The only thing we all can not live without and causes the most deaths worldwide. It is perfect do it yourself charity for travelers. The filters come in a large ziplock bag and weigh less than a pound. With each filter you will give 200 gallons of clean water a day to a village – no need to replace filters – just by cleaning the filters your gift of water will last for years.
This year I have personally delivered many filters to remote villages, indigenous tribes, temples, schools in Luang Prabang, Japan, Bhutan, Mongolia, China, India, Indonesia, Bali, Thailand, Honduras.
There are no words than can express the joy you will see when you gift clean water. We forget how precious water is as we run our dishwashers, take a bath and pour a glass of clean water.

My favorite charity that I always give to is the HRC. Their work for the LGBT community has been very beneficial. Ranking from their LGBT friendly companies (American Airlines) to their help with youths within a community. I love the HRC.

To me, any Children’s Hospital for terminal illness is a truly worthy cause. Children are such angels and the light of our lives and if we can make their short existence (in the case of the terminally ill, I mean) in any way more pleasant then it makes me happy.

United way because of the good work they do in south east michigan.

City Harvest, helps feed the hungry and homeless in NYC

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Great organiztion to donate to. Happy Holidays!

One of my favorite charities is the USO because they really do a good job of trying to take care of our troops.

1) Red Cross because they help so many people! Also, I was trained in CPR at our local Red Cross.

2) Carolina Poodle Rescue is a non-profit group that rescues poodles (and other dogs) that are about to be killed, provides medical care to un-adoptable dogs to make them adoptable, provides a sanctuary to those that have been abused and are not adoptable, and provides foster care to dogs when their owners are deployed overseas for the US Military. We have adopted 3 dogs from them.

I love metavivor.org. It is one of the only breast cancer organizations that raises money for research aimed at extending lives for those living with terminal metastatic breast cancer. Other largish organizations focus on awareness and early screening (which has limited medical benefits). This one is truly looking FOR THE CURE.

Donorschoose.org is fantastic! I love being able to help education in specific areas of study and parts of the country.

Make a wish foundation! Looking forward to more of your posts in 2012!

Our personal favorites are the Shriners, American cancer society and the Humane Society. So many charities doing good work and I wish we could do more. Great post!

La Comunidad Hispana in Kennett Square, PA….they work to empower immigrants and low-income residents of southern Chester County to stay healthy, build strong families and lead productive and fulfilling lives by providing access to high-quality, culturally welcoming services. With extra credit to all the people that take advantage of their education programs….ESL, GED,…

My favorite charity is Muttville Senior Dog Rescue! A grassroots organization in San Francisco that works to find forever homes for senior dogs. Older dogs are often overlooked and languish at shelters, thereby becoming much more likely to be euthanized. Muttville takes these dogs in, finds them homes and helps spread the word about what wonderful companions older dogs are.

My favorite charity is kids international ministries. They have two locations in the Philippines with one located in my wife’s hometown. They are a home for orphans in the Philippines. They also have a school for the kids in Manila. Both locations reach out to the local poor kids each Saturday by feeding them and giving them a lesson. Each year they have a Christmas party for the poor families in the area. They give a gift bag to the kids which contains food items. My wife and I were there last year for the Christmas party and there was close to 2000 people.. It was amazing to see so many kids happy to get cans of food. I have family who are working at one of the locations. I know the people involved in running this charity. I know the money goes to the kids. Thanks for the opportunity to tell others about this ministry.

Project Open Hand – an Atlanta-based charity that does great work delivering meals and other necessities to the disadvantaged

What a wonderful thing you are doing. My favorite charity hits very close to home it is a Fund that my best friend started after she lost her baby boy at only 3 days old. The JAD Fund was founded to raise money to donate machines to NICUs around our area that do not have them. Since the summer they have already raised $50,000 and were able to buy a Blood Gas machine – how amazing to turn a tragedy into a fund that will help other sick babies. Please check it out http://www.JADFund.org – thanks Points Guy for asking such a wonderful question!

The Wounded Warrior Project. This project meets many of the specific needs of so many of those who have given so much for this country…….. in ways the majority of us here in the US can’t even begin to imagine!

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Helps children, advances science. Great combination.

I support the American Cancer Society.

The American Cancer Society and Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation make a feel difference by funding critical research to find treatment and cures for these diseases which affect way too many loved ones

Partners In Health! There are huge number of global health organizations that work in places such as Haiti, Rwanda, Peru, etc., but Partners In Health is one of the most reputable both in the work that they do in providing treatment for those with HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and a number of other issues that people face day to day as well in providing great transparency and accountability for documenting where your money goes when you donate (they have a 4 star rating on Charity Navigator).

sorry for my unrelated question to this post but this bother me a lot in the past few days so pls any answer would help. Before I did Delta double miles transfer promo, I checked LAX/CDG, or LAX/LHR on Delta, Low mile awd is 100,000 for business. Few days after I got those miles I started to make my booking, all those 100,000 awd disappeared. The lowest awd is 150,000 now. Did Delta secretly raised the mile req.? Are they allowed to do this sort of bait and switch practice w/o consequences?

American Cancer Society – Good charity helping to find a cure for the thing that scares everyone, cancer!

The juvenile diabetes association. I love this charity for All they do for the unfortunate youth that contracts this deadly disease. I have been fortunate enough to volunteer several years at children’s hospital when I lived in the area. The entire staff is amazing. May god bless the staff and most of all the children. Hope you have a great holiday season.

The Make a Wish Foundation. After working at Disney and seeing the smiles on the faces of children makes it so easy to donate money knowing the work and joy the organizaiton brings.

Second Harvest is a good charity.

One of my favorites is Heifer International, because it offers families access to sustainable sources for food and farm-building, which can be a first step out of poverty.

Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute

There are so many great groups out there. The two I’ve most recently donated to are Heifer International, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Oxfam. They are on the ground quickly and efficiently when disaster strikes,

My favorite charity is the A21 Campaign which rescues young girls out of human trafficking.

Boy’s & Girl’s Club of America … Our Youth are the Future

Chicago House – helps homeless individuals diagnosed with AIDS in securing housing and employment. My friend is a case worker there and does amazing work.

Goodwill Industries – donations are sold at the retail store which provides jobs and funds training for many people.

Great idea. Year end giving is critial to these chartible organizations. I am giving to First Priotity of Alabama. First Priority Birmingham works in your community as a strategic partnership of churches, ministers, business people, educators, parents, and students who are concerned about the moral and spiritual well being of teenagers in greater Birmingham. In short, First Priority is us, the people of God uniting together to make a positive impact in the lives of this generation.

I would go with Teach For India. You have to volunteer two years of your time and you teach slum and lower income kids

Doctors without Borders is my pick.

The Road Home. So many people are in need of a place to help them get back on their feet and The Road Home is a tremendous place to facilitate that.

My favorite charity is Child’s Play (http://www.childsplaycharity.org/) because they buy video game related items to children in the hospital and I grew up playing (and loving) video games! Every year, video gamers, corporate sponsors and charitable individuals help raise millions of dollars for the charity which is fantastic!

Catholic Charities of St Louis does a great job supporting the entire St Louis area

Thanks TPG for recognizing the great ways to give back!

Gary P

This year, my partner and I supported the UN’s World Food Program the most.

I too like wounded warrior. Helping out wounded vets is a good thing and even though they get government benefits they are far from adequate.

If you can take a bullet for your country they should be taken care of.

My Jiu-Jitsu gym in Chicago held an in-house holiday tournament where all the competitors donated $25 to compete and all the proceeds went to Ignite the Spirit (http://www.ignitethespirit.org/). 34 competitors, $850 donation courtesy of http://www.valkobjj.com

Great post, I support a number of charities each year. But the one that I think is great is the MS Society (great cause and they put on the annual MS 150 Bike Tour) and the American Liver Foundation (underrepresented and for another great cause)!

Hope For The Warriors – For all the soldiers who have put themselves on the frontlines, its a great charity to help them out.

I’m a huge fan of charity: water (http://www.charitywater.org/), which funds projects to provide clean water to communities around the world.

I donate to a wonderful foundation, PAWS TO REMEMBER. It is a pet cemetery in Wallingford Vermont. They dig the holes for your pets, give you the head stones and maintain the grounds beautifully including a hanging swing where you can overlook the cemetery. They also are a shelter for abused animals including Shetland ponies who are almost all inbred, hence retarded. They have 3 legged cows, pigs, llamas, and couple of donkeys who nobody else wanted. And when the owners, Debbie & Todd Morse’s children moved out, they adopted 2 mentally retarded men in their 80′s after their families passed away and they didn’t want them to go to a government run facility. PAWS TO REMEMBER saves many animals of all sizes and shapes and when they pass, they rest as you would hope they should.

I really like the ONE foundation. They spread Global AIDS awareness and the issue of extreme poverty throughout the planet. Pretty easy for us to forget about things like that from our part of the planet.

My personal favorite charity is Big Brothers Big Sisters. It’s changed my life more than it has my little sisters.

Plan India would be charity of my choice, they help underprivileged children get education and protect child rights.

UNICEF, because kids can’t help themselves. We need to watch out for the next generation

My favorite charity is the Hawk Children’s Fund http://www.hawkchildrensfund.org/. This charity was started by college students after attending a Darfur presentation. Since then, it has been passed down to new students who have become interested in the cause. Each year new projects are chosen to help children in Africa, including building schools, building libraries and developing places for villages to get clean water.

I love this charity because absolutely none of the money goes to paying salaries or crazy things like that. This charity teaches the villagers how to make bricks for better structures and create rainwater capturing systems so they can use their knowledge to make work for themselves in the future. In addition students learn how to organize a nonprofit business. Helping people in Africa and here at home!

American Red Cross — Always make a big impact during distastes as first responders

I’m a big fan of the Grameen Foundation, it really helps to empower the world’s poor and allows them to become self-sufficient.

my charity is the Child Fund Alliance, they have been helping child internationally with clean water, medical care and education for over 70 years

Susan G Komen foundation for breast cancer. They do fantastic work to help defeat this deadly disease.

Since both my parents had cancer, I like giving to the American Cancer Society. I also really like Environmental Defense Fund as they seek practical solutions to environmental problems.

Compassion international has been my favorite for years although the Crisis Pregnancy Center comes in at second. I support both of these among various other charities year round. What better Christmas present can any one get than the satisfaction of giving to children in need or frightened pregnant teenagers who don’t know where to turn.

My favourite is the American/Canadian Diabetes Association. Being a diabetic myself, I’ve found them to be wonderful at helping fellow diabetics cope and adjust to all the inherent limitations that this illness brings. I bet you know or have a diabetic in the family. Please give to them in their ongoing efforts to fight this disease – which is increasing dramatically in our society!

ASPCA, it’s so sad watching all those animals being sick or stranded. Did you know we have more cats in America than people?

One of my favorite charities is Compassion Connect. They organize and run occasional free dental/health clinics around town and connect people with all kinds of resources.

Terrific. My favorite charity is “Seeds of Peace” which sends Palestinian and Israeli children to summer camp in the US.

Great! My favorite charity is Cross your Borders: a Dutch initiative for which I volunteer: we teach kids in high school about poverty in developing countries and try to make them more conscious about the problems in the world. We believe a better world starts with consciousness ! Happy holidays from The Netherlands!

I support my local PBS station, KQED here in San Francisco, for it provides fair journalism, arts, entertainment, and learning programs that bolster everyone in the community.

Children’s Miracle Network – This is an organization that raises money to buy needed and technologically advanced equipment for Children’s Hospitals, that would exceed that outside of the normal operating budget. Growing up in Central Pennsylvania, I have been a volunteer with the local branch of this organization since I was 15 years old. To this day, I still volunteer often with the same location, despite moving two hours to the East. It is an excellent charity, that undoubtedly has saved the lives of many people, who otherwise would have passed at far too young of an age.

Been volunteering and donating with the American Red Cross for a year or so and am proud of the work they do here and abroad. Tons of good charitable organizations out there and the ARC is certainly on top of that list. Thanks for the giveaway!

One of my favorites is St. Judes. I donate every Christmas and I know that if I can make a kid smile, that’s a good enough gift for me. Their research and no child turned down program is phenomonal.

I go for the Red Cross USA. There are so many faux charities nowadays, and to save all the hassle, I think RC is always a safe bet!

Toys for Tots. Because it’s impossible to take a cut of a toy [donation] for overhead.

We give to Philabundance, which supports food banks all over Philly.

+1 to all the fans of the Trevor Project (lots of mentions here!)

Thanks for the opportunity! I tend to support 2 charities one being WWF and hence and a big supporter of Coke’s new program of matching donations for the holidays and also raising awareness by changing their labelling, second is Palolo Chinese Home which has cared for many of my family and friends who were unable to help themselves and allows us all to show our elders the respect they deserve by having a safe place for them to live.

Kiva.org. I think it’s a great concept to create microloans for people all over the world that want to start up a business that could not aford to do so bc of poverty.

My favorite charity is my Church!

Wounded Worrier charity

My favorite charity is DonorsChoose.org. The site allows public school teachers to post things that are needed for their classrooms that aren’t in their budget, and allows donors to pick which projects (and classrooms) they want to donate towards. It’s really nice to choose exactly which project I like (I’m partial to music education), and the thank you notes from the kids are really great.

The American Cancer Society is always a favorite of mine because so many families are touched by cancer.

My fave charity by far is UNICEF. They care for kids where and when they need it most.

Christina S. Walsh Breast Cancer Foundation – It’s my coworker’s foundation that was started by her daughter shortly before she passed. Rather than contributing donations to research they give it directly to the families to aid “patients who require assistance in paying for medications, tests, wigs, transportation to and from treatment, and other financial burdens associated with breast cancer treatment” (from their website).

Love the blog. My favorite charities are the Wounded Warrior project and Livestrong … I can’t pick between the two!

Love the blog. My favorite charities are the Wounded Warrior project and Livestrong … I can’t pick between the two! One is all about taking on cancer and the other honors the sacrifices by our men and women in uniform … both are worthy causes.

American Red Cross because they provide a lot of relief during disasters.

The American Cancer Society, for all the obvious reasons.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund is my favorite charity, because they have an awesome track record with pushing legislation through against cruelty to animals. They rock!

American Red Cross – I always donate to them. I appreciate what they stand for and their work.

My favorite is the Red Cross. Those guys are quite a welcome sight everytime there is a calamity, anywhere.

Shenandoah Riverkeeper is a charity I donate to That works with landowners, industry, municipalities & the public to preserve & cleanup the Shenandoah River. Great to see a small charity achieve positive results!

UNICEF. Because at the end of the day you can’t fault giving money to help the neediest children in the world. That’s the best bang for the buck charity that exists. A few dollars can have a huge positive impact on someone’s life over the next several decades.

American Cancer Society. My mom passed away from cancer.

The Global Fund for Women is my favorite charity. They make grants to women’s organizations worldwide that support women’s rights. My sister and I make donations for each other instead of exchanging gifts. I’m fortunate to be an educated female living in a first world country, married to a man that treats me as an equal partner. There are so many women in this world that don’t get to enjoy the same freedoms.

I love Kiva where you lend money to individuals to start small businesses around the world to bring them out of poverty

American Cancer Society. I work in this field so I know firsthand that money given to them makes it into the hands of researchers like myself. Thanks for the blog and all the great tips in 2011!

Brian, this year I decided to donate locally, so I chose the Gandhi Youth Brigade. They are a non-profit in the Washington DC suburbs. Their mission statement says: “Gandhi Brigade prepares young people to become powerful leaders. In collaboration with adult allies, young people create multimedia that engages and transforms our community.”

They also reach out to at-risk youths and lower income communities and teach young people real skills (think: video editing, blogging, production & design, etc). Really great stuff. You can find out more at: http://www.gandhibrigade.org

Cheers, and thanks for the reminder to give back. The recession has been brutal on most non-profits, I’m sure.

-David

Habitat for Humanity do fantastic work in providing secure, affordable housing to those who need it. Fantastic organization.

The Shriners Children’s Hospital….love to help out the kids.

I support the ASPCA. Their work with rescues/adoptions as well as their dedication to erasing animal cruelty is important.

My favorite charity is the one I work for — Second Harvest Food Bank, part of the Feeding America network. Being hungry in a rich country such as the US shouldn’t be so prevalent. Charity starts at home!

My favorite charity to support is charitywater.org – 100% of every donation goes directly to providing clean sources of water to those in need around the world. The administrative costs are paid for by a group of wealthy VCs and individuals.

My favorite is unicef because it helps those in need globally.

What a lovely idea this holiday season! I am a big fan of The Stray Cat Alliance in Los Angeles. They help the ever expanding feral cat population by promoting TNR (trap, neuter, release) programs and are just an amazing overall animal advocacy group giving a voice to those who have none.

I like donorschoose.org because you can support a single small project and see what impact it is having.

My favorite charity is the Doors of Hope Women’s Shelter in Wilmington, CA. In the interest of full disclosure, I served on the women’s committee for building this shelter. After 3+ years of research, red tape, building, etc., we opened our “doors” in September. But aside from my own personal reasons, it is the first and only shelter for homeless single women (as opposed to women with children) in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. And we did it all without public funding. Did you know that in Los Angeles, we have more shelters for animals than we do for humans? I’m a big animal lover, but wow. Brian, I’d love to send you one of our XL reusable cloth grocery bags in so-chic black!

As a dentist, I heard about Operation Smile and it seemed like a perfect fit. Cleft lips and palates are not a big deal in America but in the third world, the are left untreated and the children become total outcasts without anything approaching the possibility of a normal life. Thankfully, there are organizations that mobilize US doctors to go overseas and perform surgeries at no fee. The cost of suppost services for each operation is about $250 – a pittance to basically save a life.

We decided that anytime we do a cosmetic case, we will donate that amount in order to make a life-changing difference in someone’s life very, very far away. It has truly been a blessing.

Passports program was great. Teach people to fish than feed them.

SAARC, Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center. They do a fantastic job doing both research and providing resources to those with autism.

Two favorites are PFLAG — a great resource and support for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and my local SPCA for our furry friends.

My main cause is the American Cancer Society.

It’s not the only one I support, but I love RxArt, because they put high-quality, original art (from bigtime artists like Jeff Koons) in children’s hospitals like St. Jude and Schneider Children’s Hospital. It’s easy to overlook what a scary place a hospital can be for a kid, with bare walls and tons of strangers around. I just feel like making a kid feel a little less freaked out is pretty important–especially if he or she is spending his or her final days somewhere. http://www.rxart.net

I support the local Food Bank as they really trying to reach out to individual with needs. I make regular donation to the Food Bank and made some really good friends via Food Bank over the years. They have great people who donate their time to volunteer and work on food donation pick up, sort, distribution.

Favorite Charity: Project: New Born
What more can I say: giving new born babies with life threatening challenges a chance at life.

Project: New Born Neonatal Intensive Care Unit consists of 126 beds, including the Special Care Unit and a referral unit expressly for preemies requiring extremely complicated procedures. This highly specialized treatment is available at Jackson Memorial Hospital (University of Miami) for premature and critically challenged newborns from Miami, South Florida, and the Caribbean, as well as Central and South America.

http://projectnewborn.org

Have a wonderful holiday.

We believe in supporting education for children, especially girls, in areas of the world where they have little opportunity to receive any education at all. One organization which does excellent work in this area is The Citizens Foundation, USA, (http://www.tcfusa.org/index.php) which builds and supports schools in Pakistan.

The Hunger Project – thp.org

I love to give to New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (www.nyagv.org). They are the only organization in New York working on BOTH sides of the gun violence issue. They work on policy to reduce the number of illegal guns on the street that end up in the hands of criminals and kids. They also run several free after school programs in communities hardest hit by gun violence and provide the with the tools and skills they need to become advocates for change in their community and to never pick up the gun in the first place.

Two of my favorite charities are Habitat for Humanity and Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Ky. Habitat provides a basic human need by making shelter possible for so many people in the U.S. and around the world. Kosairs provides a vital service to children. My son spent a little time there years ago and I have a friend who has a son there now. They make a real difference.

Wowee, Zowee, TPG – nearly 650 comments in less than a day!!! I donated to Passports With Purpose, which raised money to build libraries in Zambia. I also donate to a lot of health related charities – because many friends run marathons for charities, and I choose to support them even if with small donations. Additionally, for the last two years, my family has decided to scale down the pricetag of holiday gifts and for each of us to use the difference in dollars to donate to a charity of our choice. Then, when we exchange gifts we each take turns talking about where we chose to donate money and why. Sometimes though charity is about being alert enough to see who could use a helping hand. Happy Holidays!

American Cancer Society – to find a cure!

My favorite charity is LDS Charities. 100% of donations go to help the needy in places like Japan, Haiti, Africa, Dominican Republic and Chile, just to name a few – all overhead is paid for by the LDS church. They’re one of the first responders to any catastrophe and are virtually unseen as they seek little to no media attention. There can be no other charity to which you can give to see your dollar go further.

One of my favorites is Habitat for Humanity. They do a great job of providing housing to low income residents. They also do a great job of getting the recipients involved by having them help to build the residence so it’s not “just a handout.”

Doctors without borders.

water charity

My charity is “Headrush” in Wisconsin. It a non-profit organization whose mission is to significantly improve the future of Brain Tumor research, treatment, and survivorship. Having gone through Brain surgery myself this one is close. If anyone is interested in getting more information or donating here is the link…
http://headrushwisconsin.org/

American Cancer Society – I’ve had many friends and family stricken with this disease.

Doctors without Borders for the eyeopening work they do in parts of the world where suffering is beyond limits and catastrophic.

love habitat for humanity. appreciate everything they do for people in need

Medical Teams International. They go to hard-hit spots after disasters to offer free medical care. It’s an incredibly efficient charity as well.

love it! good stuff!

Texas Lions Camp is a camp devoted to kids born with disabilities, handicaps, cancer , diabetes and downs syndrom, among other things. Lions Clubs work year round raising money for the camp, which offers FREE camping for these youngsters. The goal is to provide an atmosphere wherein campers will learn the “Can Do” philosophy and be allowed to achieve maximum personal growth and self-esteem. The camp was established in 1949. When we are not traveling or visiting grandkids, we are fund raising for these special kids.

My personal favorite is MAP international, it does international medical work, as do many charities, but is consistently highly rank ed for financial transparency, which is importnat when you’re parting with your hard-earned income!

I support the Day Worker Center of Mountain View for the help they give to some of society’s most marginalized workers.

I love Children International and sponsor a lovely little girl in Guatemala! Children International helps underprivileged children through school and to give them shoes and clothing!

I like my local ASPCA, and have also adopted dogs from them!

Our favorite charity is a toss between save the children and doctors without border. Both are noble causes. If I have to pick one, I’ll say save the children since I have a daughter and it just break my heart to see how kids in poor and war torn country have to grow up, which I personally experienced growing up in Asia.

Rachel’s Women’s Center in Washington, DC. They help homeless women by getting them off the streets into a safe environment where they can reestablish their lives. It’s an area that requires intensive group help to work with each person one on one to determine why they became homeless in the first place and then how to get them back on their feet again.

http://www.rachaels.org/template/index.cfm

Partners in Health – their work continues to be an inspiration for me!
Happy holidays!

WWF. There are too many animals facing threats of extinction.

My favorite charity is Catholic Charities. They help many poor people in the US with food pantries, scholarships and heating fuel support.

One of my favorites is http://www.kiva.org . I really love the idea of helping other people help themselves. Teach a man to fish…

Kiva is one of many micro-lenders. It’s not quite a straight up cash donation type charity. Rather, you fund part (or all) of a (usually small) loan. It seems that generally the micro loans are paid back in full. Once paid back, you can elect to re-loan the funds or donate them to Kiva to help cover operational costs.

Of course it’s possible your loan isn’t repaid in full, though I have yet to experience this.

I am especially happy with this micro-lender and they seem fairly legit based on various charity evaluations: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12978

I love that my donation (loan) can go on to help others with their dreams of self-sustainability. I am also fond of browsing through various proposals and choosing people with business plans that have feel close to my heart.

Happy Micro-Lending!!

mike

I support the Salvation Army. They have several programs from Elderly Services to Disaster Relief. Another great charity is Operation Christmas Child (operated by Samaritan’s Purse) which sends shoeboxes filled with toys and needed items to children around the world – this is what Christmas is all about! Merry Christmas!

My favorite is St. Jude’s – they do wonders for kids with cancer!

my favorite charity has got to me HUGS here in Hawaii. It’s a organization that helps support families that are dealing with terminally ill children. http://www.hugslove.org/

Cradles to Crayons (cradlestocrayons.org) provides underprivileged children with things they need to help them feel safe, warm, ready to learn, and valued. They also provide great volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups.

My favorite charity around the holidays is the Red Cross

Unicef as it helps the sick , poor , and under privileged!

My favorite charity is the World Vision.

PKD (Polysystic Kidney Disease) – my mother recently passed away due to PKD and they did a lot for her in the 10 years up to her passing, both financially and emotionally. Thanks, Mark

favorite charity: united way. theyre great because theyre always there when disaster strikes.

easy, American Red Cross.

I’m not sure if this is considered a charity, but I love lending on Kiva. It seems really personal.

I support The Wildlife Conservation Society. Their parks are local to me: the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo. They currently manage about 500 conservation projects in more than 60 countries. They save wildlife and habitats worldwide through education, global conservation, and education. Because of their hard work and dedication, they help ensure future generations will be able to appreciate endangered species that were saved from extinction.

One that comes to mind is the Organization for Tropical Studies. This charity brings together several important aspects and provides :higher education and educational outreach, understanding human and environmental interactions, environmental appreciation, research, and international travel/experience.

Red cross

Purple Heart Foundation

http://www.purpleheartcars.org/

Kids Against Huger. The reason because it gets people under the age of 18 involved in giving back and feeding millions of kids around the world. Last year 40,o00,000 meals to more than 40 countries. That is why I am a big fan of Kids Against Hunger.

My favorite charity is http://www.path.org a global health charity based in my home state

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to find cures for children with catastrophic illnesses through research and treatment. Children are treated without regard to a family’s ability to pay. St. Jude covers all costs not covered by insurance for medical treatment rendered at St. Jude. Families without insurance do not pay. St. Jude freely shares research findings with doctors and scientists around the world.

American Cancer Society

I give to World Vision which supports a community while I support a child. The child is growing up in a third-world Asian country and I know that my monthly donations go towards important projects like building schools and ensuring clean water, which benefits everyone who lives there and builds good will between the countries where they work and the West.

My favorite charity is ModestNeeds.org Founded in 2002, Modest Needs is an award-winning public charity with a simple but critical mission: we work to stop the cycle of poverty BEFORE it starts for the low-income workers whom conventional philanthropy has forgotten.

We do this by empowering compassionate members of the general public to safely and securely help hard-working, low-income households to afford the kinds of short-term emergency expenses that we’ve all encountered before: the unexpected car repair, the unanticipated visit to the doctor, or the unusually large heating bill, for example.

Since 2002, by working together in this very ‘modest’ way, Modest Needs’ donors have stopped 10,203 low-income individuals and families from entering the vicious cycle of poverty and a lifetime of dependence on the public welfare system for their survival.

I support the Trevor Project as it is a cause that is near and dear to my heart and helps down-on-their luck teenagers.

The North Texas Food Bank – not only do they distribute food to help prevent hunger, they also emphasize the importance of nutrition and provide significant amounts of fresh vegetables and fruits. They have adopted a hub and spoke system to rapidly and effectively distribute tons of food throughout the North Texas area, minimizing waste and maximizing the impact on the community. One dollar pays for three meals. No one, particularly in America, should go hungry.

The Jimmy V foundation that does research to find a cure for cancer. Not only am I a huge basketball fan, but that speech brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.

My favorite charity is the Red Cross.

BuildOn (formerly Building With Books) builds schools in developing countries and creates afterschool programs in the U.S. http://www.buildon.org/

Ike

My favorite charity is the Jimmy V foundation. 100% of the money goes to cancer research. Jimmy V died of cancer and I have had several family members pass away from cancer. I also am very inspired each year when ESPN runs his famous speech. Cancer has taken too many lives and as with anything else money and research are the only things that will bring that to an end.

Here is a link to the speech.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E

http://www.jimmyv.org

The American Red Cross, always there to lend a helping hand!

Doctors without borders. I am in the medical profession and this is a truly good cause!

There are lots of charities I love, but I will list SOS Outreach here, because I figure many people aren’t aware of it. It teaches underprivileged kids a set of five core values through community service and skiing/snowboarding. It’s awesome: sosoutreach.org.

And just in case people need some last-minute gift ideas that will also help out a bunch of great charities, check out my article on Boots N’All. http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/11-12/10-perfect-gifts-for-travelers-and-the-world-they-love-to-explore.html Thanks!!

+1 for charity water! try to not drink any water for a few days and you’ll see how impt water is. millions live a la 127 hours in worse parts of the world.

fav charity is the church I’m a member of.

Doctors without borders

Ditto on the Navigators, I worked for them for 8 years, see my husband’s comment below.

National Public Radio…what other radio station gives you such broad perspectives on the rest of the world. Helps to know more about where you’ll be using all those FF miles to travel

http://www.ekal.org/ – They are working on educating children in rural parts of emerging contries like India. This charity lets me give back to the childrens in community I come from and help build a bright future for them. I truly believe in kind of work these guys do.

I started my own organization in 2008 called, “If the Shoes Fit”. We recycle used but still good shoes back into the local community. Shoes are donated to local non-profits such as a homeless shelter, an organization that houses women and children who are the victims of violence, and churches-synagogues. No shoes are for resale—they must all be given away free. Since January 2008 over 5,000 pairs have been recycled out of two 55 gallon recyclable plastic drums.

I support St Jude children’s hospital. They provide treatment to critically ill children who otherwise would not get the treatment they need.

I like both the Boy and Girl Scouts of America. While they aren’t a charity they in turn to a lot of charitable with the added benefit of improving children in our communities.

Shanghai Healing Home
Helps kids with cleft lips.
http://www.charitydreamshanghai.com/shh-main

My favorite charity is the National Parkinson’s Foundation (NPF). It is kind of biased since my mother has PD, but we have worked hard together to try and help those will young onset parkinson’s.

My favorite charity is Samaritan’s Purse. (https://www.samaritanspurse.org/) We started packing shoe boxes with toys last year and they send it down to kids in Haiti (Operation Christmas Child). This year we didn’t get a chance but we were able to do it virtually on their website! We can include a message to the kid that’s getting the toys too!

My gov job offers the CFC…gets the job done, though I’m sure a portion ends up going to organizations I don’t support.

Women for Women International; I have seen their commitment towards fulfilling their mission of empowering women survivors of war and other conflicts with the tools and resources to rise from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency.
http://www.womenforwomen.org/

Mennonite Disaster Service – always one of the first on the scene when a natural disaster hits, but also one of the last to leave after the media spotlight is gone.

For me its St. Jude. Having a child now, I can’t imagine what it must be like for some of the kids and familes who are sick.

SIM International, because I work there and they serve people on 6 different continents.

My favorite charity is the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Although the overall attitude towards veterans has approved in America, compared to what it was for Viet Nam veterans when they returned home, we do not give our veterans the support that they deserve and require. Paralyzed veterans have paid a high price for their service to our country. Many require extensive care and support for the rest of their lives. PVA is an organization formed by paralyzed veterans that focuses on providing many different types of support to those whose physical abilities have been severely limited due to their service.

My favorite is http://www.kiva.org. As a business minded person, micro lending just seems near to my heart

We support World Relief — http://worldrelief.org/ and Lutheran Community Services NW — http://www.lcsnw.org/ . They both work with refugees and immigrants, as well as other people in need.

CRY ( Child Relief and You) is my favorite

Peace Corps Partnership Programs – http://www.peacecorps.gov/contribute/

The funding goes to support current projects that Peace Corps volunteers are working on at the grassroots level in communities in over 70 different host countries. Funding covers a portion of the resources requested – the rest is made up by what the community contributes. There are various projects which really can go a long way to benefit those living in underserved communities worldwide.

The American Red Cross – The global presence of Red Cross does make a difference all around the world …

My favorite charity is the USO. So many young men and women giving their all to their country for so little pay. These men and women deserve so much more and the USO provides a lot of help to make their lives a little easier.

i’ve always donated to the hawaii nature conservancy. Hawaii has a delicate environment and need to be protected. they also promote green living and overall nature conservation which benefits all.

Doctors (or Engineers) without Borders take my vote for the best. I think they both exemplify the great model of using the educated and skilled professionals to do a LOT of good that’s not otherwise easy to do.

I support the United Way. I’m not capable of individually selecting the best use of my funds, but I feel comfortable giving to an umbrella organization that will allocate to the highest and best use.

Doctors without Borders and OneWorld Health, which works to develop and provide cures/treatments for some of the neglected diseases in other countries.

My favorite charity is Stop Land Mines (stoplandmines.org) since it strives to remove land mines which continue to haunt people of all ages especially children long after the needless wars are over. It does a tremendous job in raising awareness about land mines and in removing them.

American Cancer Society – hit my family pretty hard.

Hackers for charity they do some awesome work in Uganda.

International Justice Mission because they help fight sex slavery, human trafficking, and other forms of exploitation around the world.

http://www.highfivesfoundation.org is dedicated to raising money and awareness for athletes that have suffered a life altering injury while pursuing their dream in the winter action sports community. Within the past year we have not only grown at a rate that exceeded all expectations, but have also successfully raised funds, secured alternative treatments and aided in the recovery of over fifteen athletes.

The red cross is my favorite charity as they provide medical aid no matter what your nationality, political affiliation, race or status is.

My local church.. Where you can see the benefits firsthand

Red cross. Love giving blood!

Livestrong – does awesome work to keep people healthy and provide support to those with cancer

American Heart Association is a charity that’s very close to my family. we donate, participate in fund raising events including walks, drives, and speaking events whenever possible. they really do save lives.

I support the American Red Cross. They are always there in a time of need.

Casa De Los Ninos is my favorite charity. They are in my hometown of Tucson and offer a variety of programs designed to prevent child abuse and to care for children who have already been abused.

Compassion International. A great charity that helps children living in poverty.

I donate to UNICEF, becuase of the work they do for children around the globe

Heifer International (www.heifer.org) – Great charity that aims to end hunger and poverty in the world.

Toys for Tots is my favorite, because all children should have a Merry Christmas.

The Salvation Army because they have stayed true to their Christian Mission and are so efficient in serving so many.

Any local Children’s Hospital. Many parents can’t afford good care for their kids.

My favorite charity is the USO for two reasons. 1) It supports troops who are deployed overseas far away from their families, and 2) There are tons of USOs in airports everywhere and as a Veteran I can stop in and say hello to the staff and grab a bite to eat!

American Red Cross is one of the best!

So I actually have a few favorites, but the one that comes to mind is a site called Give-a-Bike (http://www.giveabike.com/). Not sure they’re accepting donations any longer, but this charity was organized by a couple who decided to put their money where their mouth is… actually, their feet and legs. They took the task of bicycling all 50 states over the course of a year. They did this from January to November 2011 and yes, they posted video, pictures and running commentary of their journey. At the same time, they collected donations and sponsorships to help “to bring mobility, healthy life choices, and joy to disabled United States Veterans, and underprivileged communities around the globe.” Though their journey is over, they have other charities on their site still accepting donations (http://www.giveabike.com/Our-Charities–Donate-Now-.html).

My favorite charity is the Red Cross. I think they are great since they are everywhere and seem to be one of the first large organizations in the heart of destruction.

So Others May Eat – Great charity in the DC area focused on DC’s homeless and poor.

Love this post – my favorite charity is Falling Whistles, which is working to end the deadliest war in the world – in the Congo. They sell trendy whistles so we can all be a whistle blower for peace.

I like “God’s Love We Deliver” in NYC. They deliver meals to people with illness including HIV/AIDS.

My fav. charitable organization is AKSHAR GYAN U S A; They provide primary school education to underprevilged children in Mumbai, India. They provide daily meals as part of the curriculum.

The Parkinsons Foundation is the most important charity to me. My mother is suffering from this terrible disease so I support their research for effective treatments.

The Philippine Red Cross -right now, they’re helping the survivors of the massive tsunami-like flooding that happened days ago.

Awesome Idea Brian!

The charity that is my favorite is “Checking For Charity”

It is a charity hockey tournament where each team represents a charity of their choice. All proceeds go to the charities, while if you place in a higher seed the more money you win for your charity of choice. It is a great competitive tournament for a great cause. A lot of current and former pros participate in it as well.

I enter a team every year and represent a Charity call “The Victorious foundation” which is a foundation founded after a girl I grew up with had passed away. They create a happy atmosphere for children battling cancer in hospitals by way of teen kits-which is a kit of goodies and games for them to enjoy. Also, they create teen centers which is a dedicated teen room in a hospital that provides a fun atmosphere for children and a place where a teen can be a teen. We all know that hospitals are not kid friendly, and this foundation provides kid friendly rooms ” where a kid can be a kid”

My teams portion of the tournament raised over 1200 dollars for the foundation last year.

It is a unique hockey centric approach to raise money and awareness for the various charities represented at our tournaments has inspired people to become a part of the Checking For Charity movement.

Below is a video taht will provide a better explanation how it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xKsBzlh8pQs

Every year I hive money to Sea Shepherd. They work very hard to protect marine mammals and wildlife, they actually risk their lives to do so.

My favorite charity is the Equal Justice Initiative. They do amazing and important work representing the most marginalized members of society.

Habitat for humanity is my favorite charity. I feel that a decent, safe and affordable place to live is a fundamental right.

Two charities I’ve supported are the UCSF AIDS Health Project & and Stop AIDS Project. Both offer free HIV/STD testing, education, and support to anyone in need, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

I support Compassion International, an agency that supports children in third world countries around the world. They provide food, education and a Christian message of hope.

My favorite charity is Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation (www.giftoflife.org).
Gift of Life is one of the nation’s public bone marrow registries helping children and adults find donors for bone marrow transplants. Hundreds of lives have been saved due to the efforts of this organization — and many generous donors. Chances of any one person being a match for another person are very slim — but if you’re the one, you could be the only one…

My husband and I support ASPCA because the world can be very cruel to animals. How anyone could hurt these precious animals is beyond me. If we lived in the country, we’d have more animals. Currently we have 2 dogs, we rescued both, and a cat who’s 14! We also support WWF, the Humane Society of the US, and St Jude’s on a monthly basis. With so many deserving charities it is hard to chose only a few to support. On a random basis we also support our local animal shelter, the local foodbank, habitat for humanity, and operation smile.

My favorite charity is Charity:Water helping to provide clean water to those who need it.

Love this post! My favorite charities are in no particular order – The Elephant Sanctuary (www.elephants.com) which is a habitat refuge for endangered Asian and African elephants based in TN; Pets Are Worth Saving aka PAWS (www.pawschicago.org) which is Chicago’s largest no kill shelter; Best Friends animal shelter in Utah (www.bestfriends.org) which is striving for no more homeless pets.

My favorite charity is the Aids/LifeCycle. (www.aidslifecycle.org) This is an amazing community of 3000 people that come together once a yaer for a week to ride from san francisco to Los Angeles last year raising nearly $13.7 million dollare to fight this disease. The riders are from across the country, around the world, and work their butts off, and fundraise even harder to help fight this disease. I’m excited to training for my 5th ride as captain of the top fundraising team for this event. btw it the biggest aids related fundraiser in the world….I know we dont get miles for riding out bike from San Fran to La, but its worth it.

National Marrow Donor Program. It can save lives.

The Wounded Warrior Project. These people have sacrificed a great deal for each of us, and giving back to them is by far the least we can do.

All year round we like to support the humane society, but this year my family has also begun donating to the humane farming association.

Charity: Water. It’s a charity that establishes available clean drinking water for communities/countries throughout the world by wells. The projects are done with the community, so 1) it provides some skill trianing, 2) the wells usually provide a few jobs, and 3) it allows people to put effort into other things rather than walking many miles for unsanitary drinking water. Their overhead is covered by private investors, so all donations contribute to these projects.

charitywater.org

International Justice Mission, fighting human trafficking around the world.

I think the American Red Cross is a great organization and saves so many lives!

Smile Train. Having been born with a cleft lip and palate in a 1st world country with great resources I cannot begin to imagine the life of a child born in a 3rd world country with a cleft lip and palate where corrective surgery is based on the giving of others. Where eating is a struggle, and where you may not be able to leave your home because of cultural theories of what caused your deformity and making you an outcast.

Equinox. They make and deliver holiday meals for people who need them and it makes their holiday a little nicer.

Lifebread is my favorite. (www.lifebread.org) They teach people (usually women) in impoverished communities how to build a brick oven with local materials, how to bake bread, and how to run a successful bread business.

Any charity supporting AIDS. There is still too much AIDS in this world.

My favorite charity is donorschoose.org. I like it because you can choose how you want to help out teachers whether it be with much needed books, school supplies, or seemingly frivolous ipads for their classrooms. You choose and you choose how much.

Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. They help individuals and families by educating the public on the conditions and raising awareness with other organizations to work towards better treatments and eventually a cure!

My favorite (new) charity is Coach-Ed Inc. which was launched two months ago to support Cystic Fibrosis patients in all their physical and emotional needs, while recognizing and catering to the unique needs of individuals with CF. I just love this charity because it creates communities of people with CF and it’s goal is never to shortchange the life of someone with CF. On top of that, the creators of the charity are downright inspiring!

I was turned on to my favorite charity by the author Patrick Rothfuss, who every year runs a campaign that he calls WorldBuilders for Heifer International. Heifer International promotes education, sustainable agriculture, and local industry by enabling families to take care of themselves. They give goats, sheep, and chickens to families so their children have milk to drink, warm clothes to wear, and eggs to eat.

And via the WorldBuilders campaign (going on now!), Pat matches donations and offers you the opportunity to win awesome prizes; for example, you could win a limited, signed, hardcover copy of “Embassytown” by China Mieville. Check it out!

My fav charity is definitely for those who are disabled. I’m healthy, but once I started thinking about how things are different for those, I really appreciate what I am.

My favorite charity is Shriners. I was a Shriners child and try to continue the good that they do by donating as I can.

My favorite charity currently (although it’s great when ANY charity does something good!), is Compassion International. Their main outlet of charity work is with support centers all over the world, mostly in more impoverished areas of countries, where they feed kids, clothe kids, take care of medical work for kids, and put them through school. That is done through the donors who “sponsor a child”. I’ve been sponsoring a girl in Ghana for about a year now and it’s been amazing to stay in touch with her and here how the program has helped her live a better life, and get an education. Since then, I just sponsored 3 boys in Latin America. Excited to learn about their lives and bless them with the overflow of the blessings in my own life!
My favorite thing about the program is they don’t just say “thank the person donating for the money” – but they share the gospel of Jesus with the kids, and that is PRICELESS!
Merry Christmas, and keep on giving.

Heifer International. I love the idea of giving someone a real animal that they can use to better their life conditions. I gave a chicken to a family in Ecuador to my Dad last Christmas and he said it was his favorite gift! Merry Christmas and thanks for all of your hard work!

My favorite charity is Habitat for Humanity. It helps so many people in such a positive way.

Sorry, post was cutoff prematurely.

My favorite charity is the International Rescue Committee. They are an incredible organization that is often the first in and last out of disaster areas and warzones. They do the important work of rebuilding infrastructure and resettling refugees in some of the world’s most devastated regions. The work these people do has every bit of the gravitas of what the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders do, they just don’t do as much publicity.

My favorite charities are the local humane societies and rescues. As Karen Carpenter said so well, “Bless the beasts and the children | For in this world they have no voice | They have no choice.” If we don’t support the beasts, the only other solution is for them to be put down. How horrible.

My favorite charity is The Wheelchair Foundation of Danville, California. The organization has been providing free all-terrain wheelchairs to people around the world since June 2000 and as of today has delivered mobility to over 885,000 disabled and differently-abled people in 152 countries. By providing the mobility of a wheelchair to children, teens and adults who couldn’t otherwise afford one; The Wheelchair Foundation has made it possible for physically challenged persons around the world to go to school, find work to sustain themselves and perhaps most importantly find hope for their futures. I am very proud to be a supporter of this worthy charitable effort.

http://www.wheelchairfoundation.org/

Great post! I personally support the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, as well as my local humane society shelter by donating time.

Heifer International is a great charity that works to end poverty by providing sustainable “projects” to those in need. It also encourages “passing on the gift” which allows those who were helped to help others.

Being a rail transportation buff I donate to the non profit Illinois Railway Museum. They do amazing restoration work.

GiveWell, because it helps us understand which charities are most effective!

Against Malaria Foundation (http://www.againstmalaria.com/) Malaria is a major problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Over 1 million people — mostly children — die each year from this disease.

Asia’s Hope is a great charity supporting orphanages in Southeast Asia.

I like the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). My wife and I raise thousands of dollars for them every year! She has Crohns disease so we especially try to help others afflicted with this disease.

Doctors without Borders.

Love the idea TPG! Love what you do here for all of us…

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Thanks and Giving is a national awareness and fundraising campaign that asks everyone to “Give thanks for the healthy kids in your life, and give to those who are not.” Help St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® give hope to children in communities.

http://www.tg.stjude.org/index.shtml?sc_cid=kwp4&sc_kw=childrens%252520charity&sc_mt=b&sc_adid=9246029482&tngsourcecode=THWKEYWDO12&plt=THWGOTXTDO121349&gclid=CNH5paH2ma0CFUOo4AodBFaLmQ

For me: Doctors without Borders: The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people in crisis regardless of their race, religion, or political affiliation.

They operate independently of any political, military, or religious agendas. Medical teams conduct evaluations on the ground to determine a population’s medical needs before opening programs, aiming to fill gaps that exist (rather than replicating services that are already offered) or reach communities that are not being assisted.

American Diabetes Association…leading the fight to stop diabetes.

My local Childrens Hospital. Children are the most innocent ones in this world, and they deserve every chance they can get to a full and fulfilling life.

Doctors Without Borders is my charity of choice. They provide basic medical attention for a much needed segment of the world, and are well trained for what they do. Compared to many other organizations, the individuals who deliver services are specifically oriented to what it is that they service.

I’m a HUGE fan of donorschoose.org…perhaps because I’m a teacher. This organization allows donors to choose and fund a variety of public school projects. Public education gets a fair share of ‘beat down’ by many, but these site really demonstrates how hard some teachers are working to turn it around!

Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry right here on Kaua’i, Hawaii. I’ve been volunteering every Wed for about a year now and the gratitude I see on folks faces when they are given a bag of food is a gift to ME! Seniors, moms with babies, vets in wheelchairs, folks on unemployment… Everyone needs a little help at one point or another and they in turn have the opportunity to “pass it forward.”
Mele Kalikimaka from Hawaii and I wish you peace and points for 2012!

Redcross is my favorite.

Habitat for humanity. I volunteer for them all the time and love the fact that they work on providing housing to those in need.

A local charity called Nana Baby that provides emergency foster care for needy children. It’s where we donate clothes and toys when my kids outgrow them.

Furry Friends Network in Boiling Springs, PA, which fosters rescued animals. Thanks to them I got my wonderful dog.

After seeing all the support CureSearch (www.curesearch.com) provided to family friends following the diagnosis of their two year old daughter with Wilms tumors in both kidneys we’ve done whatever we can to support the organization. Only about 3% of money goes toward pediatric cancer research in the US, yet 36 children are diagnosed with cancer each day. Often some of the treatments they undergo have not undergone testing or formulation outside adults. CureSearch also provides family support to help through difficult treatment, and after. Support like theirs is why the survival rate is coming up, with successes like our friend who is now two years NED!

My favorite charity is Mercy Corps – they are doing great work all over the world.

Susan G Komen. Breast cancer foundation. It is a very special foundation as my mom had breast cancer. She caught it at an early stage and is now cancer free. SGK provides research grants on breast cancer to different investigators in order to find a cure. I work for MD Anderson Cancer Center and have seen great research done with SGK grants. Merry Christmas to all!

My favorite charity is the Trevor Project.

The Trevor Project is a 24-hour hotline to prevent teen suicides for gay or questioning teens. This organization has saved thousands of lives by a simple phone call managed by volunteers. Also, provides support in public schools to prevent suicides and bullying (which continues to grow in the US).

Ezra

I would have to go with St. Jude’s Childrens Cancer Hospital. The work that is done in Memphis to cure children of all ages of terrible cancer is truly magical. They do their work and ask for very little in return.

National Forensics League!

My favorite charity is a local or neighborhood school. As funding continues to decline, teachers are digging deeper into their small pockets to help a student in need. Teachers are on the front line and know the needs of their students. Whether it’s purchasing books, buying coats, or refreshing school supplies. Helping our future is a win for all.

My favorite charity is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I see this is a few others favorite. Being a mother of young children, my heart really goes out for these families. I love the moto they stand for, ‘No child will ever be denied because of the families in ability to pay”. They serve terminally ill children with cancer & rare diseases. Our family donates to them regularly and they have a special place in our hearts.
http://www.stjude.org
Thanks Brian for you blog! It’s such a great resource. Hope you have a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

American Red Cross – for when disaster strikes!

American Cancer Society. Thanks!!

My favorite is heifer project. By giving animals to families it’s a gift that helps sustain them for years to come and the families will gift the offspring to otber needy families. It’s truly a gift that keeps on giving.

Since we have children in the Military stationed overseas and one Son In Law that handled bomb dogs in Afghanistan we support the Wish Upon A Hero Foundation, whose mission is to grant wishes of those in need through the Wish Upon a Hero website. http://www.wishuponahero.com/ Wish Upon A Hero is a unique venue for any individual, organization, or company looking to make a difference in someone’s life, or the lives of countless people. Heroes come in all ages and from all walks of life.

My favorite nonprofit is Women for Women. It allows an individual to sponsor a woman in a war-torn country by providing emotional aid, job-skills training, rights education and small business assistance.

My favorite lately has to be Fairy Dog Parents. It is a small non-profit that works to allow people who have fallen on hard times to keep their furry friend, regardless of what care needs it may have. So instead of sending a dog who needs an expensive surgery to a shelter, likely to be put down, a person can work with Fairy Dog Parents and their team of friendly veterinarians to get Fido what he needs and keep him at home. They work entirely on donated money and have done a lot to help people in and around the Boston area.

I support my local Humane Society and American Cancer Society for their research and support helping others…

No particular charity. Help anyone anyday when opportunity arises in the best possible way you could.

Not as unique but….
American heart association for their super for effective research.

Partners In Health is one of my favorite charities. It was started in Haiti by Paul Farmer, M.D., Jim Kim, M.D., and Ophelia Dahl and has expanded to providing health care in Lesotho, Malawi, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Guatemala, and Burundi. Their model is a community-based approach to health care and socioeconomic support. Read more about them and donate at http://www.pih.org.

Frankie Lemmon Foundation. Provides support for children w intellectual impairments and guides parents and caregivers in their continued care and special needs. It’s a truly beautiful and worthy cause.

there are so many great charities to give to but this year my top charity is the Wounded Warrior Project http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ giving back to those who have given so much for our country, thank you.

Jewish Spiritual Literacy — http://www.jsli.org

I leave my charity decision making to the experts. Givewell, a non-profit charity evaluator ranked the Against Malaria Foundation as one of their top charities. They have information on their evaluation here http://givewell.org/international/top-charities/AMF

My favorite charity is the Acumen Fund based in New York. Acumen combines the best of charity and markets to change the way the world tackles poverty. Rather than dumping millions of dollars into empoverished pars of the world, these guys invest in social enterprises, emerging leaders, and great ideas. They bring stakeholders in a project together to make sure that everyone has skin in the game. The results are spectacular

The old models of charitable giving have proven not to work.

This one does.

See for yourself at http://www.acumenfund.org.

Teach for America. They locate in new york city and have produced a highly engaged, high quality entry level teaching workforce serving in the neediest schools.

ACCION International. It gives people the financial tools they need to work their way out of poverty.

SEWA.org – They are outstanding because of their comprehensive services to poor women.

One of my wife’s Facebook friends knew a family with 3 children where the husband had just lost his job prior to Christmas. To make things worse he cut off a finger working at home. While shopping we got the call with their bank information and while I waited in line my wife walked across the parking lot and made a deposit in to their account.

Asha for Education. They do great work to take education into remote villages in India.

Breast Cancer Fund for their clear science and big picture approach to the problem of cancer.

A charity that is close to my heart is Family House in San Francisco. Not unlike the Ronald McDonald Houses, Family House provides temporary housing to families whose children are receiving care for cancer or other life-threatening diseases at the nearby University of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital. Without Family House, some of these families would be forced to sleep in their cars or simply wouldn’t be able to get the needed treatment for their children. I’ve spent some time working at Family House, and I am amazed by the positive atmosphere the staff is able to create, even given the serious circumstances. What Family House provides is a second shot at life for so many children and their families.

Happy holidays!

My favorite charity is Room to Read. Their mission was inspired by the founder’s travels to Nepal where he was shocked at the lack of resources in schools. Now they’ve distributed 10 million books to schools and libraries around the world. http://roomtoread.org.

Dear Brian,
My favorite charity is not in the US, but it’s definitely a very worthwhile institution. The place is one of very few schools for physically and mentally handicapped children in East Africa. it is called Joytown Primary School, and is located in Thika, Kenya.

The US and the Western world is lucky to have several protections legislated for people with disabilities. The third world is a different matter altogether. A handicap often means you won’t survive long – families are reluctant to invest scare resources on you, and governments usually could not care less. A few non-governmental organizations may have some small programs, but are hard to find for the vast majority of disabled people in need.

Joytown is a remarkable place. It’s a refuge for disabled children from all over Kenya, and, I think, could be a wonderful models for similar institutions in Africa. The primary school has about 300 students, and I don’t know how many are in the secondary school, but I believe it’s a slightly smaller number. These are kids who can’t walk, with cerebral palsy, etc., and some have mental disabilities such as autism. Normally, they would have to go begging in the streets or be cast out of society. At Joytown, the students stay at the boarding school so they get all their care and meals there, and go through the regular state educational curriculum. They gain skills and confidence, and and upon graduation, are very well equipped to hold a job. Of course, they will still face discrimination because of their handicap, but they now have opportunities that they otherwise would have had to forgo.

I give to this school regularly, and I encourage others to donate to them. Most donations go towards buying food for their meals, school uniforms, textbooks and notepads. Sometimes, a big enough donation may go towards buying gym equipment or school furniture. When I got married three years ago, my wife and I decided to give all our cash gifts to Joytown. This time we decided to reward the teachers: each teacher got a sizable bonus, and a couple of teachers nominated by the headmaster as being outstanding received bigger bonuses. The idea was to thank these young men and women for teaching at Joytown instead of some other, easier school.

The school’s equipment is very old, stuff you wouldn’t see in the poorest recreation center in the US. They once got a swimming pool, which was a boon to many of the students, but it is often empty because they can’t afford it’s upkeep, in light of other priorities.

It started off as a primary school, and then expanded to kindergarten and a secondary school. They now have facebook pages!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joytown-Secondary-School-For-the-Physically-Impaired/124579480981611
http://en-gb.facebook.com/joytownprimary

World vision — reaching the neediest among us.

African Wildlife Foundation because of their Charity Navigator ranking

My favorite charity is Safe Horizon in NYC. They do a lot of great work helping domestic violence victims rebuild their lives after leaving their abusers, finding them housing, jobs and counseling. They also have a fantastic program for homeless teens in the city called StreetWorks, working to make sure the kids get fed, find places to sleep and get their high school diplomas. There is so much need in New York for these kinds of services and Safe Horizon makes such a big difference for so many.

UNICEF is my favorite charity

I am a huge fan of God’s Love We Deliver, which brings meals to New Yorkers and New Jerseyans who are homebound because of illnesses like AIDS and cancer. They have an army of volunteers who wake up for 6am kitchen shifts and fan out across the city to deliver meals. It’s comforting to know that if I needed support to stay independent, GLWD would be there. Check them out – http://www.glwd.org

The United Way is a great organization, when you want to give but do not have time to research to know that your money is going to a good cause(s).

Right Rides for Women’s Safety. It’s a very local charity–to New York City. It gives women and members of the LGBT community a safe right home on Friday and Saturday nights, when they might be in danger while riding public transit. I know it seems like a small thing but I really do think that it has an impact on a local level and I am proud to volunteer for them.

My favorite charity is City Harvest, specifically their Mobile Market. These open air markets take place 2 times a month at 4 different locations with 1 in Brooklyn, 1 in the Bronx, 1 in Staten Island Island, and the newest one in Washington Heights. City Harvest gives away fresh produce, which they rescue from stores and directly from farmers who otherwise wouldn’t harvest their crop, to low income individuals who otherwise would have no other means of securing healthy produce. A lot of charities give away non-perishables which is great but I especially like how City Harvest makes an effort as part of their Healthy Neighborhood program to provide fresh produce which has more vitamins and nutrients than non-perishables. This is a great charity to get involved with for anyone in the New York area.

My favorite charity is The Make A Wish Foundation who grants dying children their last wish. This often helps them forget about their problems for a moment or two.

I suspect most people commenting here have some sort of personal connection to the charity they have listed. Similarly, I have seen the impacts of Parkinson’s and list my favorite charity as The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) for Parkinson’s Research.

My favorite charitable organization is Legal Aid. I’m a law student now, so I understand how incredibly important, and often times difficult it is for low income individuals to acquire legal assistance, especially if the stakes are that they are about to be evicted or they are victims of domestic abuse.

One of my favorite nonprofit organizations is Charity: Water. This great charity builds clean water projects in second and third world countries. http://www.charitywater.og

Clean water improves the health of the population so that more children end up going to school and getting educated. It’s the first domino in improving community circumstances.

I will vote for AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Traffic Safety is a “missing” social issue that general public pays less attetion for this important life saving case.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is dedicated to saving lives and reducing injuries on the roads. Since 1947, the Foundation has funded over 200 research projects designed to discover the causes of traffic crashes, prevent them, and minimize injuries when they do occur. We have used this research to develop dozens of focused, high-impact educational materials for drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists and other road users. Government agencies and legislators–as well as automobile clubs, driving schools, and school districts–turn to the Foundation’s research to guide them in creating policies that can save lives on our roads and highways, teach adults how to drive more responsibly, and teach children about vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian safety.

I’m particularly fond of charities that empower recipients to improve their lives, so I love Heifer International, which provides livestock, seeds and training to families and communities struggling with poverty and hunger. There’s something delightful about being able to donate ducks or bees or part of a water buffalo to ensure a family will be able to become self-sufficient. Heifer operates in the U.S. and around the world.

My favorite charity is Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which is saving marine mammals and protecting the oceans. Also high on my list are the NRDC, ACLU and Amnesty International, all worthy of my money.