Hi guys! I’m back from Austin and I had a great time. I’ll be sharing some photos and stories from my trip this week. In the meantime, I wanted to give you my own version of a holiday gift guide. If you’re truly struggling with what to buy the person “who has everything,” why not make a charitable donation in their name? It’s a great way to help others during the holiday season and give something awesome to that hard to buy for person on your shopping list too.
There are tons of great organizations out there. Here are a few to get you started. The ones with an * are based in Seattle. You can use JustGive to help you find ways to donate locally in your own community. Italicized descriptions are from the organization’s website.
Charitable Organizations
GRLZ Radio: One of the women I met at Camp Mighty wanted help getting the word out about this Boston-based organization and I’m happy to help.
The GRLZ Radio, Broadcasting & Music Production Program is a nationally recognized radio station and after school program which gives young women a voice in their community. A first of its kind violence prevention and girls’ leadership development initiative, GRLZ radio allows adolescent girls to: gain technical skills, build a positive identity, and speak out on issues that are important to them. GRLZ Radio broadcasts worldwide on the Internet with all aspects of production, programming, and on-air activities orchestrated by the girls themselves.
* 826 Seattle: You’re going to hear more about 826 Seattle this month. I’m working with AT&T on a donation for them this holiday season!
Working with like-minded, community-focused Seattleites, Teri Hein started 826 Seattle, originally incorporated as Studio 26, in 2004. In early 2005, Studio 26 was invited to become a Seattle chapter of 826 National, the brainchild of acclaimed author and philanthropist Dave Eggers. 826 Seattle is a nonprofit writing and tutoring center dedicated to helping youth, ages six to 18, improve their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around our belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.
The Girl Effect: “Girls are the most powerful source for change on the planet.”
When we include girls in education, health and economic investment we have a better chance of preventing issues such as child marriage, teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and breaking the inter-generational cycle of poverty. But girls can’t do it alone; they need the world to listen to them and invest in their potential.
The girl effect is a movement. It’s about leveraging the unique potential of adolescent girls to end poverty for themselves, their families, their communities, their countries and the world. It’s about making girls visible and changing their social and economic dynamics by providing them with specific, powerful and relevant resources.
Created by the Nike Foundation in collaboration with the NoVo Foundation, United Nations Foundation and Coalition for Adolescent Girls, the girl effect is fuelled by hundreds of thousands of girl champions who recognize the untapped potential of adolescent girls living in poverty.
* Lifelong AIDS Alliance: I’ve volunteered with Lifelong AIDS Alliance in the past, helping man one of the booths at their annual event, the Seattle AIDS Walk.
Lifelong empowers people living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS and other chronic conditions to lead healthier lives.
At Lifelong, we do whatever it takes to improve the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. We help people access health insurance so that people can get the care they need. We cook and deliver healthy meals. We ensure that people have a safe place to live. And our caring case managers help people every step of the way.
Until there is a cure, preventing new AIDS infections is our best hope. We distribute hundreds of thousands of condoms each year, along with safer-sex messages aimed at stopping new infections. We also counsel individuals to help reduce risky behaviors and offer prevention education programs and activities to promote and increase community awareness.
Decisions made in Olympia and Washington, D.C. have a profound effect upon people living with HIV/AIDS here in Seattle/King County. At Lifelong, we advocate for those living with HIV/AIDS to ensure that their voices are heard at the local, state, and federal levels.
We build a strong network of support for our programs and services. Events, like our annual Seattle AIDS Walk and Dining Out For Life, raise both awareness and financial support for people living with HIV/AIDS in Seattle/King County.
Breast Cancer Research Foundation: My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 30s. This one is important to me on a personal level.
Our mission is to achieve prevention and a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime by providing critical funding for innovative clinical and translational research at leading medical centers worldwide, and increasing public awareness about good breast health. Currently, 91 cents of every dollar spent by BCRF is directed towards breast cancer research and awareness programs.
Global Soap Project: If you’re familiar with my blog, you’ve heard about this already. But just in case you’re new, here’s how this group saves lives.
Each year, an estimated 2.4 million children die from hygiene and sanitation related illnesses. The Global Soap Project is working to prevent those deaths and improve global health by recycling used hotel soap and turning it into new bars that are distributed to vulnerable populations around the world. We work with organizations that have existing operations in these communities to ensure the soap is distributed to those in need, and to ensure that proper hygiene education is provided in addition to the soap. Our goal is to ensure our impact is sustained, so we work with our partners to create both short-term and long-term positive outcomes.
With 4.6-million hotel/motel rooms in the United States, an estimated 2.6-million soap bars are discarded every day. By participating in our program, hoteliers are diverting tons of waste from the landfill and bolstering environmental sustainability programs. Hotel managers, housekeepers and guests become more environmentally conscious and more sensitive to the needs of vulnerable populations.
* The VERA Project: If I had a place like this where I grew up, I would have been much more productive.
Vera is an all-ages volunteer fueled music and arts venue. By engaging participants at all levels of music production and community organizing, Vera strives to fulfill its mission to foster a participatory creative culture through popular music concerts, arts programs, experiential learning and volunteer opportunities for all ages, especially young people.Vera’s programs are always all ages, with a focus on young people ages 14 to 24.
V-Day: I first heard about V-Day after reading and seeing Eve Ensler’s play, The Vagina Monologues.
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money, and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM), and sex slavery.
* Art With Heart: Helping children cope with difficult life events through creativity is something that I’d like to learn more about in 2013. I think this is where I’ll start.
The need for Art with Heart’s work is driven by the approximately 17 million children in the U.S. alone that are experiencing special health care needs or mental health disorders. Of this number, at least 4 million (1 in 5) suffer from a serious mental illness that impacts their ability to function in school and in life. But of this number, only 20% receive the mental health services they need; 80% are left behind. Art with Heart fills the void by providing tools that help bridge this gap.
Creativity is often overlooked as a positive behavioral intervention tool that promotes healing and trauma resolution. Self-expression can spur personal insight as well as self-motivated behavioral changes; it also helps youth gain the skills necessary for coping with stress and other challenges. Art with Heart encourages resiliency using the concepts of art therapy to lead toward greater self-confidence and emotional clarity.
Art with Heart’s books and programs are based on mental health therapies that are effective in helping improve emotional wellness and reducing the potentially damaging impact of stress. Through our carefully researched and thoughtfully crafted publications, youth facing extraordinary life challenges are equipped with skills and strategies that support resilient responses to adversity.
Art with Heart has had the privilege of helping over 70,000 young people through the healing power of creativity. Our work supports schools, hospitals and other nonprofit organizations who are dealing with fragile populations of kids at times of extreme crisis, such as after a diagnosis of cancer, a natural disaster, or the tragedy of a school shooting.
Cure, Citizens United For Research in Epilepsy: Both of my brothers were diagnosed with epilepsy. It’s possible that a seizure caused the car accident that took one of their lives. This one is important to me on a personal level.
CURE, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, was founded by parents of children with epilepsy who were frustrated with their inability to protect their children from the devastation of seizures and the side effects of medications. Unwilling to sit back and accept the debilitating effects of epilepsy, these parents joined forces to spearhead the search for a cure.
CURE’s mission is not only driven by the pressing need for scientific research and data, but by the painful struggle of families who suffer from epilepsy worldwide.
Since its inception in 1998, CURE has raised more than $20 million to fund research and other initiatives that will lead the way to a cure for epilepsy. CURE funds seed grants to young and established investigators to explore new areas and collect the data necessary to apply for further funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To date, CURE has awarded 134 cutting-edge projects.
I hope this list has been helpful. If you decide to donate to any of the organizations above, I’d love to hear about it. Or maybe this post will inspire you to create your own list. If you do that, please leave a link in the comments section so we can share it on social media and get the word out about awesome organizations doing amazing things! xoxo