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Rep Your Local Charities

edited December 2007 in Strut Central
It's holiday donation time, this year I'll be giving some money to the Guide Dog Foundation since my parents adopted a rejected dog from there a few years ago.They train dogs to be used as guide dogs for blind people. They're one of the most efficient charities in the country, meaning of every dollar donated a higher percentage gets put to good use instead of wasted on office stuff.Anyone on here donate, volunteer, or know of any other good local causes that are important to you?

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  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    Anyone on here donate, volunteer, or know of any other good local causes that are important to you?

    I can't say enough about these fine folks:



    They're a Boston institution whose mission is to fund childhood cancer research. They deserve everything I give and much more.

  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    Katrina shook Man and I all the way up here in Toronto - he started giving to the Humane Society of United States and I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in Louisiana and I contribute to the local chapter here now.

    Also, I give to the Sick Kids Hospital cause they helped my little brother out a few times and seeing all those tiny bodies in casts and on machines made a lasting impression.

  • My wife is interning with The Friends Association for Children in Richmond VA. The organization was founded in 1867 by a former slave. It has grown to offer childcare and family resources to some of Richmond's most at risk youth. They do really great work and their website is worth checking out.

    http://www.friendsassn.org/default.asp

  • JustAliceJustAlice 1,308 Posts
    Thank You! You've inspired me today.

    I think in lieu of gifts I will make small contributions to charities pertaining to peoples interests. ( Humane Society, Cancer Research, Or. Food Bank, Pear, After School Reading Programs and Book donations )

    Maybe I'll get some small trinkets or Gift Certificates (coffee, car wash, lottery, gas ) and attach the charity gift card with it. This will save me time and energy running around like a crazy person and save me the worry of trying to figure out what people will like.

    Giving always feels good, but this would be extra good. And Even though I don't have a lot of money to spend this year, there are plenty of folks with nothing.
    Also buying for folks who seem to have everything they need and are well set is always tough. I'm really stoked on this Sween!

  • Two of my favorites...

    From back in Seattle: Ashesi University is the first non-religious private university in Ghana. It was created by a Ghanaian Microsoft executive, Patrick Awuah. He still comes back to Seattle several times a year for fundraising and faculty recruitment. I've heard him speak a couple of times and have always been impressed.

    Patrick Awuah left a comfortable life in Seattle to return to Ghana and co-found, against the odds, a liberal arts college. Why? Because he believes that Ghana's failures in leadership -- and he gives several mind-boggling examples -- stem from a university system that fails to train real leaders. In a talk that brought the TEDGlobal audience enthusiastically to their feet, he explains how a true liberal arts education -- steeped in critical thinking, idealism, and public service -- can produce the quick-thinking, ethical leaders needed to move his country forward.

    Ashesi University is a coeducational institution whose mission is to educate African leaders of exceptional integrity and professional ability. By raising the bar for higher education in Ghana we aim to make a significant contribution towards a renaissance in Africa.

    The university, which began instruction in March 2002 with a pioneer class of 30 students, has quickly gained a reputation for innovation and quality education in Ghana.

    Out here in Kauai I am a big fan of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. So far as I can tell, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources is too underfunded to do a lot in terms of botany. On Kauai the private NTBG is picking up a lot of the slack. They have rediscovered and rescued several native species and are clearing invasives out of one of the most beautiful valleys on the North Shore. I live right by the Limahuli Preserve.

    NTBG's gardens encompass varied ecosystems and environmental conditions, which permit the cultivation and preservation of a broad range of tropical plants. These gardens are located in the only tropical climate zones in the United States. While others can grow tropical plants in greenhouses ???under glass,??? NTBG's nearly 1,800 acres of gardens and preserves afford a natural open-air environment in which these species flourish.

    These gardens are safe havens for these imperiled plants. They are living laboratories for scientists who strive to better understand the evolution, structure, relationships, and qualities of these species. They are classrooms where students of all ages can learn about environmental stewardship and horticultural practices, and discover that science can be fun. They are museums of history and culture, where modern and traditional knowledge and practices meet, and where the story of the imprint of time on the land and the people is told.

    Uh, and my mom gave me a llama from Heifer International for Christmas last year.

  • I think in lieu of gifts I will make small contributions to charities pertaining to peoples interests. ( Humane Society, Cancer Research, Or. Food Bank, Pear, After School Reading Programs and Book donations )

    A couple of years ago I gave a donation to UNICEF instead of gifts for everyone in my family.

    It was interesting to see the reactions - my mom and grandmother were thrilled, my sister was sort of peeved, my dad seemed indifferent, and my brother said, "What the hell is UNICEF?".

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Positivity 4 Purpose: http://www.myspace.com/positivity4purpose

    Narcisse-Banks Community Resource Center: http://www.myspace.com/narcissebanks

  • Options
    Anyone on here donate, volunteer, or know of any other good local causes that are important to you?

    I can't say enough about these fine folks:



    They're a Boston institution whose mission is to fund childhood cancer research. They deserve everything I give and much more.

    I've heard of them before, maybe during a Red Sox game or something? Does Denis Leary raise money for them sometimes? Great cause.

  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    Anyone on here donate, volunteer, or know of any other good local causes that are important to you?

    I can't say enough about these fine folks:



    They're a Boston institution whose mission is to fund childhood cancer research. They deserve everything I give and much more.

    I've heard of them before, maybe during a Red Sox game or something? Does Denis Leary raise money for them sometimes? Great cause.

    Yeah, the Sox have had a long-standing relationship with the Jimmy Fund, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if Dennis Leary were involved too. They're huge up here???collecting at Sox games, movie theaters, collection jars at convenience stores. Great stuff.

  • Options
    Katrina shook Man and I all the way up here in Toronto - he started giving to the Humane Society of United States and I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in Louisiana and I contribute to the local chapter here now.

    Also, I give to the Sick Kids Hospital cause they helped my little brother out a few times and seeing all those tiny bodies in casts and on machines made a lasting impression.

    Katrina really opened up a lot of people to give a little more of themselves, I was blown away when you went on that mission down there.

  • GuzzoGuzzo 8,611 Posts
    I know there are various chapters of this throughout the nation but Hospitals & Institutions is one I've been supporting lately.

    http://www.na.org/h-i/hi-guidetoc99.htm

  • Options
    Positivity 4 Purpose: http://www.myspace.com/positivity4purpose

    Narcisse-Banks Community Resource Center: http://www.myspace.com/narcissebanks


    WOW!!! I'm really interested in the Narcisse-Banks one, that's a great idea. 501c too, I need that. Do they take monetary donations or just books and records?

    I would think this whole board would be interested in their program, but I'm a pie-in-the-sky type of fellow. Thanks for posting those links.


    JoeMojo, next time I'm in Hawaii I'll meet you at that garden.
    JustAlice, check out the second link Harvey posted. You might like it.
    CousinLarry, big ups to your wife. It's one thing to write a check, a whole other ballgame to donate time.
    Jspr, keep trying!!

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Positivity 4 Purpose: http://www.myspace.com/positivity4purpose

    Narcisse-Banks Community Resource Center: http://www.myspace.com/narcissebanks


    WOW!!! I'm really interested in the Narcisse-Banks one, that's a great idea. 501c too, I need that. Do they take monetary donations or just books and records?


    Currently, monetary donations are being accepted to meet the following short-term goals:

    1. To build a promotional budget so that we may better market our services to artists, students, and teachers within the Austin area.

    2. To pay our curriculum specialist, who holds a doctorate in education and is willing to work at a dramatically discounted rate, to derive a series of lesson plans that teachers would be able to implement without much or any direct instruction.

    I'll PM you payment instructions...

  • Options
    Positivity 4 Purpose: http://www.myspace.com/positivity4purpose

    Narcisse-Banks Community Resource Center: http://www.myspace.com/narcissebanks


    WOW!!! I'm really interested in the Narcisse-Banks one, that's a great idea. 501c too, I need that. Do they take monetary donations or just books and records?


    Currently, monetary donations are being accepted to meet the following short-term goals:

    1. To build a promotional budget so that we may better market our services to artists, students, and teachers within the Austin area.

    2. To pay our curriculum specialist, who holds a doctorate in education and is willing to work at a dramatically discounted rate, to derive a series of lesson plans that teachers would be able to implement without much or any direct instruction.

    I'll PM you payment instructions...



    You run that????? Very impressive.

  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
    Positivity 4 Purpose: http://www.myspace.com/positivity4purpose

    Narcisse-Banks Community Resource Center: http://www.myspace.com/narcissebanks


    WOW!!! I'm really interested in the Narcisse-Banks one, that's a great idea. 501c too, I need that. Do they take monetary donations or just books and records?


    Currently, monetary donations are being accepted to meet the following short-term goals:

    1. To build a promotional budget so that we may better market our services to artists, students, and teachers within the Austin area.

    2. To pay our curriculum specialist, who holds a doctorate in education and is willing to work at a dramatically discounted rate, to derive a series of lesson plans that teachers would be able to implement without much or any direct instruction.

    I'll PM you payment instructions...

    Could you shoot me some payment instructions as well? I'd like to at least kick in a little something.

    I love this thread. Giving to charity is, among other things, a great way to counterbalance my general dislike of Christmas, and I'd really like to expand my horizons beyond the usual suspects.

  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    About EJI

    The Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama is a private, nonprofit organization that provides legal representation to indigent defendants and prisoners who have been denied fair and just treatment in the legal system.

    We litigate on behalf of condemned prisoners, juvenile offenders, people wrongly convicted or charged with violent crimes, poor people denied effective representation, and others whose trials are marked by racial bias or prosecutorial misconduct. EJI works with communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment.

    EJI also prepares reports, newsletters and manuals to assist advocates and policymakers in the critically important work of reforming the administration of criminal justice.

    These attorneys do critical work in the trenches on behalf of the disenfranchised and disposessed. They deserve everyone's support.



    DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.

    DONATE: $10 minimum
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