Give where it helps
The holiday season is a time when millions of Americans make tax-deductible donations to non-profit organizations, but for many the question is, who to help? We all want to give where it helps most. In that spirit, here is a short list of suggestions for groups that are truly creating a better world.
Environmental Working Group (EWG)
EWG gets more done in a year than most non-profits do in a decade. They lobby in Washington D.C. for you and me, for a clean environment and toxin-free products, and actually create real change. They have created the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, an invaluable resource for finding toxin-free personal care products and researching mystery ingredients to find out if they’re harmful. The Shopper’s Guide to Pesticide-Free Produce can be downloaded and there’s an app for that so you can check it while you’re shopping. The good works just keep coming from EWG.If you donate before the end of the year you’ll receive a free Chico mesh produce bag, and a generous donor will match your gift!
Pesticide Action Network (PAN)
The PAN is another non-profit that does more than pay lip service to its mission; it gets in there and fights Monsanto, Dow and others who are polluting the earth and poisoning us with pesticides. Their mission: “Pesticide Action Network promotes healthy communities and a safe, fair and clean food system. We combine grassroots science with public will campaigns to replace highly hazardous pesticides with ecologically sound, socially just solutions.” They are on the ground and in action around the world.
Food & Water Watch
This group is particularly active at the local, state, national and even global level to keep our water safe, clean and accessible. They’ll tackle a corporate polluter at the local level, and work with Senators to get clean water legislation passed. Their Take Back the Tap Guide to Safe Tap Water is a good guide to clean water in your home. If you donate before the end of the year you’ll receive their eco-friendly gift bag.
Add Your Suggestions!
If you have a favorite non-profit group that is truly helping make the world a better place, share it in Comments (below) or visit Virginia Hopkins Health Watch on Facebook and add it there.
About This Post
Amnesty International is an excellent human rights organisation – still necessary, still doing exc work, both at high level (eg, re governments and international human rights instruments) and on the ground, implementing projects to improve people’s lives.
This may not be as good a ‘fit’ with the Virginia Hopkins work as the environmental groups,but Amnesty is still a non-profit group that is worthy of our support.
Cheers, cath.
Natural Resources Defense Council
Habitat for Humanity
Compassion
I had to search around the net and neighborhood before I found out how to contribute to my LOCAL Planned Parenthood this year. I did not want to send the check to the national organization because – and you can fill in your own reasons here. This year my check was made out to “Women’s Health Center of West Chester” and mailed to the local address where we allways find Planned Parenthood, Wayne Ave.. Scout around and you can make your dollars work locally.
Here are two of my favorites:
American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) is a long-time world-wide disaster and war relief org. that has one of the lowest overhead costs of any in the world. Usually one of the first groups into areas devastated by wars and disasters, they focus more on their work to relieve suffering than on getting recognition. Currently focused on their efforts to raise funding through their “One Minute for Peace” program to raise the amount of money that the US Dept. of Defense spends in one minute. Somehow the AFSC is usually left off the lists of NGO groups that are considered safe to contribute to.
Nourish America has a 94% contribution rate (= 6% overhead rate) for supplying nutritional supplementation to low-income folk (especially children) and to folk slammed by hurricane, flood, and other disasters.
Am honestly disappointed to see such a political slant to this article and even the comments. Giving in this season to such politically slanted groups? Planned Parenthood? How about giving to organizations that feed and clothe the needy? There’s Salvation Army, food banks, local firemen’s toy drives, etc. I’m all for protecting the environment as are many if not most believers in Christ. In this season of Christ’s birth, at least for me, in this economy, with much suffering I truly want my money going to people, not “causes.”
Many conservative Christian believers embrace alternative medicine solutions. Hopefully there is enough tolerance for us.
I’m a huge fan of the Environmental Working Group and their work at http://www.ewg.org/skindeep – it tiess in to what Ginny is teaching us about reducing chemical/toxics exposure in an everyday way.
But my heart is also really moved by a tiny nonprofit called Reading Village. Founder Linda Smith has kind of adopted a few villages in rural Guatemala where literacy is very low. Knowing it wouldn’t be enough to just teach the adults to read, or build a school house, she set about to build a culture of reading. Your donated dollars go to teach young teenagers to be reading promoters to younger children, so their joy of listening to a story can grow into a love of reading, and thus foster a lifetime of reading. This program nurtures all participants’ imagination and critical thinking skills by paying for books, training the reading promoters, and integrating reading further into daily lives. Reading Village has been going for a few years now and the success is growing – more than a thousand children are read to daily via this program. Learn more and donate at http://www.readingvillage.org/.
My two favorite organizaitons are Hope Brings Help for Haiti – http://www.hbhh.org/index.html
and the ACTON Institute – http://www.acton.org/
Both organizations help people improve their lives by learning about the freedoms of religion and liberty. Both organizations were built by hard working, dedicated people who promote quality of life issues, dignity of people and the way to improve poverty by turning matter into resources.
Merry Christmas
People need to know about the non-profit Christians Overcoming Cancer Organization. Mary Jenkins is a cancer survivor and gives a powerful testimonial about her journey through treatment and being inspired to use financial donations to help people in cancer treatment for heating costs, rent (so they do not end up homeless) childcare costs, transportation and food. Check out her website: http://www.christiansovercomingcancer.com or contact Mary about the Hands of Hope program where a monthly donation of just $5.00 can make a difference.