December 18, 2014
Organizations to Keep in Mind This Season
It’s almost Christmas time. And if you’re feeling anything like us, there’s some stress, frantic shopping for last minute gifts, the excessive to-do lists to be completed before traveling to visit family, menus to plan, and all those things that completely take you out of the spirit of the holidays and into some frenzied war-zone of task-mastering that can seem totally overwhelming and not all that much fun.
Because we could all use a reminder of what the season is about, why we’re giving thanks, and the blessings we’re supposed to be celebrating, here’s a list of organizations that are accepting donations and doing really powerful things for communities across the globe. They’d make great projects for you and your family — a way to introduce children to larger ideas of charity, philanthropy and the concept that not every child may be as fortunate as they. And for us adults? They’re a strong reminder of why it’s good to keep things in perspective. Presents are great, and they certainly have their place, but there are other things that deserve our focus, too.
Project Hopeful. “Project HOPEFUL’s mission is to bring hope to overlooked children and vulnerable mothers around the world. We work in the United States and globally to support families and individuals fostering, adopting, or considering care for overlooked orphaned children…Our goal is to bring the right educational, financial, spiritual, and emotional resources to bear where they can make the most impact for each overlooked child.” An ideal organization for introducing your children to the trials and tribulations of children around the world. To donate, click here.
mothers2mothers. Working to end the epidemic of pediatric AIDS, mothers2mothers trains, employs, and empowers “Mentor Mothers, who are mothers living with HIV, to work alongside doctors and nurses in understaffed health centres as members of the healthcare team. In one-on-one and group sessions, Mentor Mothers provide essential health education and psychosocial support to other HIV-positive mothers on how they can protect their babies from HIV infection, and keep themselves and their families healthy. Mentor Mothers’ ties to the community and first hand-hand knowledge of HIV makes them highly effective peer mentors.” To learn more, or to donate, click here.
Live in New York City, or somewhere near the Big Apple? Here are tons of places where you can give back, as well as ones where you can volunteer!
This awesome thread on Lifehacker has people from all over the country sharing their favorite charities to donate to. Lots of good ones on this list!
What are your favorite charities to donate to? Do you have any special annual giving traditions with your children?
