Best Charity Apps

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: ,

Digital charity makes giving charity easy and convenient.

Several apps make the donation process even easier. One app—InLieu—was developed by Texas resident Kathy Terry to fill a specific need.

On her way to a holiday party, Terry realized that a token gift—wine, scented candles, chocolate—weren’t needed by her hostess. She wanted to give a gift to charity instead of a gift, but the logistics—finding an online charity, setting up an account, notifying her hostess of the gift—were daunting.

“As time passed, it became clear that there were many opportunities to make donations in lieu gifts, but I couldn’t find an easy way to do it,” Terry explains. “I finally got sick of waiting for someone to build my little app so I decided to do it myself.”

The InLieu app allows users to donate money to a charity of their choice and notify others of the donation that was made in their honor.

Donations are tax-deductible.

Comedy Kids

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Comedy Kids

A pair of eight-year olds raised $30,000 for cancer research.

It all started when Max Chwatko and Alex Travin decided to raise money for Max’s sister, Scarlett, who was battling a brain tumor.

The two friends started charging their classmates a nickel for every joke they shared. Their collection of nickels grew as they shared more and more jokes. With the help of their parents, the boys continued their efforts by setting up a joke-telling stand at a local farmer’s market.

Incredibly, they raised around $20,000 telling jokes.

The boys fundraising efforts were noticed by the NY Yankees, who then donated $10,000 to the cause.

Max and Alex were thrilled with the success of their efforts. “I’m glad we can make the world a funnier place,” Alex added.

Runway Heroes

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The Ronan Thompson Foundation was created in memory of Ronan, who lost his battle with cancer shortly before his 4th birthday.

The Ronan Thompson Foundation focuses on funding clinical trials for children with cancer. Sadly, less than four percent of federal funding is invested in funding childhood cancer research. This foundation funds clinical trials because “We support the best childhood cancer research. We believe children deserve a chance to grow up.”

A unique event affiliated with the Ronan Thompson Foundation is the Runway Heroes event. Based in New York, this fashion show features children with cancer. These shows give children with cancer the opportunity to dress up and enjoy feeling confident while raising money to help cure childhood cancer.

Runway Heroes has an incredible goal: It’s “a unique opportunity for children with cancer to feel like stars.”

The New Bake Sale

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Bake sales have always been a good way to raise money, but the concept has evolved in some communities.

In California, New York, and New Jersey, bake sales continue to raise money for schools.  However, instead of selling baked goods such as cookies, cupcakes and brownies, healthy foods—organic fruits and vegetables from local farms– are sold.

Rebecca Matthews, of Berkeley, California, started a “fruits and vegetable sale” to benefit her children’s elementary school. She was able to raise several thousands of dollars through a company called Farmigo, which sells and delivers fresh produce.

Many parents are enthusiastic about the program. They appreciate the convenience of being able to buy healthy food during carpool time, all the while supporting their school.

Yoga and Charity

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Maintaining emotional equilibrium is important for all people, regardless of their individual circumstances. This equilibrium can usually be achieved by a combination of positive habits and by engaging in stress-reducing activities.

The Give Back Yoga foundation is a charity that funds yoga programs to promote healing. They train instructors and provide different forms of yoga to those in need.

They offer the following innovative programs:

  • Eat Breathe Thrive uses yoga as a tool to support people struggling with eating disorders
  •  Mindful Yoga Therapy is a program that helps military veterans deal with challenges such as PTSD
  • Yoga for Cancer works with cancer patients and survivors to boost health and ease anxiety
  • Prison Yoga Project teaches yoga to prisoners
  • Yoga of 12 Step Recovery helps people struggling with addictions regain control of their lives

Practicing yoga during challenging times can help bring healing and peace.

Habitat for Humanity

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Habitat for Humanity is an organization that builds homes for people…for free!

Habitat for Humanity builds homes by relying on manpower from volunteers, future homeowners, and professionals.  Together, this team builds a free home for homeowners, who are then responsible for an affordable mortgage.

Remarkably, Habitat for Humanity operates in 1400 communities in the US and in 70 countries around the world. Regardless of location, their mission remains the same: to provide shelter and opportunities for people.

For many people, owning a home and putting down roots is an impossible dream. Habitat for Humanity, which was founded in 1973, turns this dream into a reality. In doing so, it provides families with shelter, hope, and opportunity.

Bridle up Hope

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Rachel Covey was a talented equestrian who passed away at the age of 21 after battling with severe depression for many years.

Rachel, who was Stephen Covey’s granddaughter (author of several books, including “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”), left behind a strong legacy. Since she loved horses and often took her friends riding, Rachel’s family started a charity organization, “Bridle up Hope” to honor her memory.

“Bridle up Hope” is a 14-week program that teaches girls how to ride horses while gaining life skills such as confidence and resilience. Volunteering is built into the program; participants earn free lessons for the time they volunteer in the barn.

A similar program is offered to women, who are later given the opportunity to mentor girls. Built into both these programs are lessons on the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” habits that can help bolster coping skills.

“Bridle up Hope” was started in 2013 by Rachel’s parents. It is located at the foot of the alpine mountains in Alpine, Utah. The program is geared towards girls and women who are struggling with anxiety, depression or have experienced trauma.

PatriotPaws: Helping Veterans with Service Dogs

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PatriotPaws is a unique charity that supports veterans through the use of service dogs.

PatriotPaws trains dogs and provides them at no cost to veterans who require physical or emotional support. Veterans with mobility issues or post-traumatic-stress-disorder often find that a service dog increases their independence while simultaneously decreasing loneliness.

PatriotPaws was founded by Lori Stevens in 2006. She founded the charity with a belief in the healing power of animal therapy.

Incredibly, it’s not only the recipients of service dogs that are helped. PatriotPaws has partnered with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to allow inmates to be part of the dog training process. Three prison facilities have successfully partnered with this innovative program.

Volunteers, especially other veterans, are welcome to pitch in for this wonderful cause.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

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Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is a charity that raises money to help cure childhood cancer.

Its main focus is on funding research. Although 700 children worldwide are diagnosed with childhood cancer, childhood cancer research receives less than 4 percent of the National Cancer Institute’s annual budget.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand was founded by Alexandra Scott, who passed away from cancer in 2004. When she was just four years old, Alex set up a lemonade stand in her front yard and raised over $2,000. Alex raised one million dollars before her death in 2004.

Best of all, setting up a lemonade stand and donating the proceeds can be done by anyone, adults and children alike.

100 Women Who Care

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100 Women Who Care recently donated $5000 to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention charity. As Doreen Bourassa, one of the founders of the 100 Women Who Care for Greater Nashua said,

“There’s just a lot of women who really care about the community, would like to give back, but they have a lot of commitments with their family, with jobs, with life and they just don’t have the time to do it. I thought this would be such a great way for women who are busy to congregate together and make a collective donation and find out about their community and make an impact on the community.”

The way that it works is that each member contributes $100 to four charities a year. 100% of the donations go to the charities.

Learn more about the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and see how you can get involved.