Who’s Behind the Mask?

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By DouglasPosted In: Childrens CharitiesTagged: , , , ,

Members of Scotty’s Little Soldiers were treated to a surprise visit from the Duke of Sussex at their annual Christmas party. While not a real-time visit, Prince Harry appeared in a video message recorded specially for bereaved British forces children.

Scotty’s Little Soldiers is bereaved military charity based in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. This is not the first time the Royal Family has chosen to support this important organization. In 2018, the charity benefited from contributions given in honor of Harry and Meghan’s wedding. A year later, Prince Harry delivered a video message to the charity’s children while dressed as Santa Claus.

In the latest video, Prince Harry sought to empathize with the sorrow experienced particularly during the Holiday Season. Dressed in a Spiderman costume as per the event’s heroes and villains theme, he said: “Christmas is a time when we miss our loved ones really, really badly and that’s OK. But at the same time, it can be possible to feel guilty for having fun without our parents.”

He went on to offer more comforting words: “But I am here to assure you that our parents always want us to have fun, OK? So don’t feel guilty. You are allowed to have the best time ever, especially with this Scotty’s Little Soldiers community. Go out there, have the best time, and Merry Christmas.”

Prince Harry then took off his mask and revealed his identity.

GivingTuesday is Gifted $10 Million from the Gates Foundation

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity, Charity in BusinessTagged: ,

In 2012, a simple idea turned into a global movement.

#GivingTuesday began in the 92nd Street Y in New York City as a proposal for people to perform good deeds for others on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Eight years later, the concept transformed into an independent nonprofit and collaborative effort to encourage giving and celebrate kindness.

In honor of the upcoming tenth anniversary of the #GivingTuesday initiative, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $10 million to the organization. This is in addition to previous support from the Gates Foundation, which has amounted to $10.5 million over the years. Co-founder Melinda French Gates noted the importance of philanthropy, explaining that it is “the right thing to do and that anybody can do it…Anyone can be a giver. Everyone has resources to share and make the world a better place – whether it’s through time, money, expertise, or your voice.”  She hopes that philanthropy, and giving back as a whole, becomes more of a societal norm.

Asha Curran, CEO of GivingTuesday, expressed her appreciation saying that “It’s a really wonderful thing to see the partnering of big philanthropy and grassroots generosity, that those things don’t have to live in separate worlds and be viewed as totally separate things.”

Just last year, the GivingTuesday organization reported that over $2.7 billion donations were made on the designated Tuesday.

With the new grant from the Gates Foundation, GivingTuesday hopes to facilitate more giving worldwide while expanding the movement to additional countries and establishing thousands of campaigns.

All-Star Basketball Charity Game

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: , ,

There’s nothing like the excitement of attending a live basketball game with your favorite star athletes. What if you could attend a game while also supporting a great cause?

TJ Kidd, the son of Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, hosted the first annual Classic Celebrity All-Star Game at Santa Monica College (SMC) on August 20. The event benefited the HelpCureHD foundation.

Growing up with an NBA legend father, TJ Kidd attended many all-star basketball games. He had always dreamed of organizing his own one day – but with proceeds going toward charity. His childhood dream was realized this month when he collaborated with his friends, sports reporter Allie LaForce and her husband, MLB pitcher Joe Smith, to raise money for their foundation, HelpCureHD. The foundation provides grants for preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) for those suffering from Huntington’s Disease. Joe Smith felt compelled to establish the charity after his mother was diagnosed with the hereditary brain disorder in 2012, along with over 30,000 others in the US alone who suffer from the disease.

The TJ Kidd Classic featured famed athletes, including WBC World Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder, four-time NBA Champion Jon Salley, three-time NBA Champion Bryon Scott, and many more celebrities. The game was thrilling, and both the players and spectators had loads of fun. After the game, TJ Kidd expressed his satisfaction with the turnout, and said he hoped to host the event again and to keep it at SMC.

A Walk to Remember

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By DouglasPosted In: Charity Activity, Family, HealthTagged: ,

Losing a loved one is never easy, no matter what the cause. Many find comfort and meaning by raising awareness or funds in memory of those who have passed. When family or friends pass tragically or after battling illness, the drive to take action to help others often kicks in even stronger.

Mary Hersch, a 61-year-old Wisconsin native, embarked last September on a 1,439-mile walking journey from central Wisconsin to the Texas coast. Her mission was to raise awareness about pulmonary fibrosis, the lung disease that took her mother’s life 25 years ago. When her mother passed away, Hersch’s father requested that half of his ashes would join with her mother’s ashes in the gulf at Port Arkansas, when the time would come.

Since walking has always been a passion of Hersch’s and her mother loved the beach, the chosen route seemed most fitting. She partnered with the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation who managed the fundraising and helped her map out her voyage.

Along the way, Hersch often had some company. A couple of her friends accompanied her, driving along slowly in their motor home, as she walked. Many drivers stopped along the road to check if all was OK, if she needed water, and learned about Hersch’s undertaking at the same time. The poster of her mother’s picture hung on her friends’ RV sparked curiosity from passerby, triggering conversation and bonding among people.

On the 89th day of her journey, Hersch received word that her father had died of a heart attack. While she took the news very hard and had considered delaying her projected end date, she gained strength knowing he was rooting for her and felt his presence along each step. She experienced a newfound push to pull through, and had planned to have family meet her half a mile before the coast with her father’s ashes.

Hersch arrived at Port Arkansas on December 30. She scattered her father’s ashes into the sea, and her parents were reunited. She walked for 107 days and raised over $34,000 for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.

Firefighter Challenge 2022

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By M. MarksPosted In: Charity Activity, Family

This year’s annual Firefighter Challenge event took place over the weekend in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The fundraiser began with a relay on Friday night, and continued with individual competitions on Saturday, attracting over 250 people. Team competitions were scheduled for Sunday. Over $85,000 has already been raised for the Grand Rapids Fire Department Fire Prevention Foundation, which will go toward smoke detectors and other safety measures to keep locals safe.

The event brought in firefighters from over 1,300 miles away. Organizers reported that the Firefighter Challenge is also an opportunity for people to learn more about the work firefighters do, and even recruit interest. By the end of Saturday, over a dozen attendees were considering the line of work.

What do the competitions at the event actually look like? The purpose is to simulate real life scenarios. In one timed course, the participants carried a bunch of heavy hoses while climbing up five flights of stairs. They then returned downstairs to the street, broke through a door, and lugged a water hose through the doorway, spraying at the target. In the last stage, the firefighters simulated the rescue of a trapped person, pulling a 175-pound man to the finish line 100 feet away.

In addition to the competitions aimed at firefighters, the Firefighter Challenge is also designed to attract families. There are a variety of fun activities for children, such as the Kid’s Challenge Course and others which promote fire safety. An array of dining options are offered, including food trucks and a beer tent.

If you missed this year’s Firefighter Challenge, be sure to check back in a few months to see where next year’s event will be held!

Bill Gates Donates $20 Billion to Foundation

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity, Charity in BusinessTagged: ,

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the world’s largest and most impactful philanthropies. Even after the divorce of the couple in May 2021, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates agreed to continue to co-chair the foundation together for a two-year trial period. Both of them have also publicized their intentions to give over the majority of their wealth to the philanthropy.

On Wednesday, Bill Gates announced in a blog post that he is transferring $20 billion to the endowment of the foundation. He explained that the foundation will increase its spending from $6 billion per year prior to the pandemic to $9 billion by the end of 2026. The movement of funds and extra expenditure is due to increased needs in many areas, despite the worst of COVID being over. The foundation supports a wide range of causes, including global health, education, climate change, gender quality, and more.

According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, Bill Gates currently ranks as the world’s fourth-richest person, with a net worth of about $114 billion. In his blog post, he wrote: “I have an obligation to return my resources to society in ways that have the greatest impact for improving lives.” He asserted that, with time, he will move down on the list of the world’s richest people until he is eventually off the list altogether.

The dedication of Bill Gates, and of the foundation he and his ex-wife started over 20 years ago, is encouraging and important in current times. As Gates concluded in his blog post, “I hope others in positions of great wealth and privilege will step up in this moment too.”

Walking for a Purpose

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By DouglasPosted In: Charity Activity, Childrens Charities

Tony Cunningham has a mission. He has pledged to walk 10 miles a day throughout the year 2022. He is also a 72-year-old great-grandfather who has recovered from a quadruple heart bypass. Being the determined man that he is, the Coventry, England native is walking to raise funds for Molly Ollys, a children’s charity based in Warwickshire.

With 2,500 miles already under his belt, Cunningham is currently 450 miles beyond his halfway target. He has been starting his laps in Memorial Park at 5:00 AM daily, without fail. To this date, he has raised over £4500 for Molly Ollys to be used to support kids suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

According to Cunningham, the toughest part of this endeavor has been getting through the winter months. With floods hitting the city hard in January, he was cold and wet. There were days he questioned his ability to achieve his goal but always gathered the strength to continue. He explained: “It suddenly dawned on me what a mammoth challenge I’d set myself, but a guy who was jogging the opposite way suddenly stopped in his tracks and just started applauding me. I felt quite emotional at that moment and it gave me a mental boost to carry on.”

Tony Cunningham is scheduled to complete his final walk on New Year’s Eve.

Neil Cole and The Candie’s Foundation

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity

It’s obviously important and impactful when anyone creates a charitable organization that aims to help others. It’s even more impactful when it’s a well known branding executive and founder of Iconix Brand Group, Neil Cole. Neil Cole, as the founder, and former Chairman and CEO of Iconix Brand Group understands working with licensing, branding and public relations. He understands how to get ideas from infancy to action, and he knows how to bring a message to people that will be impactful.

Neil Cole
Neil Cole

For these reasons, his creation of The Candie’s Foundation in 2001 managed to reach millions of teenagers and to have a lasting impact. This foundation, started by Neil Cole formerly of Iconix Brand Group, worked with well-known celebrities to get messages about teen pregnancy to the right audience. With participation from such heavy-hitters as Hilary Duff, Hayden Panettiere, Ciara, Bristol Palin and many others, The Candie’s Foundation has influenced teen culture and behavior through education. They have been able to explain the consequences of teenage pregnancy.

And the research has shown that Neil Cole’s vision is making a difference. Teen girls who were exposed to The Candie’s Foundation have been more likely to view teen pregnancy and parenthood as stressful and negative and believe that their peers should wait longer to have sex than those who haven’t been exposed to the foundation.

Such organizations, and the efforts put in by people like Neil Cole, can really make a difference in the lives and the futures of American teens.

Young Author Inspires and Fundraises with Anti-Bullying Book

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By DouglasPosted In: Childrens Charities, EducationTagged:

In Toronto, there is a young author with a mission to impact how kids grow up.

Twelve-year-old Shreya Gupta has published two books which focus on young students’ overcoming bullying in school. After the release of her most recent book earlier this year, she decided to donate all proceeds to charity.

The organization she chose is called Kids Help Phone. It is an e-resource available 24/7 for guidance through mental health issues, abuse, and bullying. Trained professionals are available to the youth at all times via phone or text.

Shreya Gupta’s first book, Flamingo Feet, tells the story of a young ballet dancer who is compelled to drop out of a competition after being verbally ridiculed by a peer. Her new book, The Flip Side, describes the experience of a young girl who is cyberbullied after moving to a new school.

A victim of school bullying herself, Gupta was inclined to write these books to raise awareness and is happy to make a difference by supporting Kids Help Phone.

Gupta is pleased that her own school in Toronto has been making strides in dealing with bullying and its impact. There are now mental health clubs offered and assemblies that focus on these matters. She explained, “In our diverse community, everyone can feel welcome there, and it’s a really important topic which we have to talk about.”

In an effort to inspire others, Shreya Gupta encourages young people everywhere to make a difference in any way they can: “You don’t have to write a book to make a difference. Organizing a fundraiser, spreading awareness, or raising money for charity are things that people of all ages can do.”

As Shreya Gupta has demonstrated, if you have an idea that can change our world for the better, go for it!

Lending A Helping Hand

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By JohnPosted In: Childrens Charities, HealthTagged:

It’s amazing what people can accomplish when they are truly dedicated – regardless of their age or training.

Two Miami senior high school students have successfully developed prosthetic hands for children in Haiti. The twin brothers, Jonathan and David Tamen, came up with the idea two years ago, and quickly turned their vision into a reality. The boys started a nonprofit called Helping Hands MB and recruited others in their school along the way.

The parts are designed by e-NABLE, an online engineering charity. The organization trained David on how to print and assemble the prosthetic hands, making him the Helping Hands engineer. His brother Jonathan explains, “The biggest challenge with actually assembling the devices is you have to be very precise. It is a medical instrument.” David explains that the prosthetic hand is split into many 3-D models, and each is downloaded and printed individually. After an average of about 18 hours, the parts are finished being printed. With the assistance of the Miami Beach Senior High’s 3D Printing Club, the raw plastic parts are joined together to create the prosthetics. This process usually takes about six hours for each prosthetic hand and forearm. The group of students, with participants from all grades, meet every other week to pursue this project. Although Jonathan and David are graduating at the end of the year, the 3D Printing Club plans to continue meeting.

After production and assembly are complete, the next step is transferring the devices to their users. One shipment of prosthetic hands is already on the way to Haiti, with more planned to be sent in the future.

Despite all the challenges involved, the Tamen twins are proud of what they’ve accomplish and learned along the way. The brothers hope their creations will make everyday tasks easier for disabled children.