Giving Increases with COVID-19

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity, ChildFund InternationalTagged: , , ,

A recent survey has shed some interesting light on the type of giving that Americans did during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Smile Train, the largest cleft charity in the world, examined how Americans prioritized their giving during 2020 in a report called Caring Amid Crisis: How COVID-19 Influenced American Donations. There were many interesting takeaways from their research, including that they found that 91% of those surveyed felt it was more important now than pre-COVID to support charities and fundraising.

Here are some other interesting findings. 56% of Americans made some type of a monetary donation during the COVID pandemic. Older people are more likely to give money, while younger people give more of their time. Finally, the majority of donations that are being made are to organizations that help children or the homeless.

See more of the details from the survey to learn more interesting details and findings.

Yoga and Charity

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity, ChildFund International, HealthTagged:

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.

PatriotPaws: Helping Veterans with Service Dogs

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By JohnPosted In: Animals and Nature, PatriotPaws, Service dogsTagged: , ,

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.

Hope Paige Raises Awareness & Funds

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beadedTraditionally, a medical ID bracelet or necklace would be an item to hide. Children who were required to wear these for medical reasons would either feel embarrassed by them, or feel that they were unattractive. Not anymore.
Today, Hope Paige Designs creates fashionable medical accessories. They have recently announced their second annual celebrity-driven campaign whereby 12 stars have created customized Hope Paige medical ID bracelets to benefit charities and raise awareness.
The newly involved celebrities, Angela Bassett, Mayim Bialik, Carrie Ann Inaba and Daniele Jonas, join Melissa Joan Hart, Kimora Lee Simmons, Leeza Gibbons, Misty May Treanor, Dot Marie Jones, Greg Grunberg, Meatloaf and Kenton Duty as they raise awareness and money for good causes.
Hope Paige will donate 100% of the profits from each of the celebrity bracelets to the charity that the celebrity has chosen. Last year’s total reached $50,000 for charities. The bracelet pricing starts at $29.95 and can be used for diabetes, allergies, strokes, seizures and many other medical condition alerts.
As Shelly Fisher, the founder of Hope Paige explained, “We are so appreciative that these celebrities have come on board to help us raise awareness about the importance of wearing a medical ID bracelet. The creativity of these charity minded celebrities are sure to encourage people to be safe while donating to some truly great causes.”

Gates Foundation Helps Eradicate TB

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Tuberculosis, or TB, infects an estimated 8.7 million people a year according to the World Health Organization’s statistics from the year 2011. Almost all TB cases occur in low and middle income countries and those who have HIV or most vulnerable because of their already weakened immune systems.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made the eradication of TB as one of its goals. Dr. Peter Small, of the Foundation, is impressed by recent research developments. As he said, “There were probably forty years in which there was very little, arguably no, progress because there was no effort. What we’ve seen in the last decade is an acceleration. And it’s really changed what was a vicious cycle of neglect and despondency into one in which we’re starting to see exciting new products. We have now, for the first time, the capacity for untrained healthcare workers to definitively diagnose TB within two hours and know if it’s drug resistant. More than two and a half million of those tests run in the world.”

Dr. Small is the senior program officer for TB for the Foundation. He has researched the genetic variability of the disease and has seen the effects that TB can cause while he lived in India. As he said about treatment plans, “I think the Holy Grail remains a vaccine. We do need a vaccine to finish the job. The great thing is that we’ve completed a phase three trial. We’ve shown that we can get definitive answers and unfortunately that trial was ineffective. But I think that the vaccine pipeline is now something which we know we can test. The good news is, in the last fifteen years there have been massive improvements in understanding immunology.”

Bruce Willis Helps the Boot Campaign

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: , , ,

motorcycleBruce Willis is helping out the charity Boot Campaign in a rather unusual and creative way. Two months ago, he donated a 2005 Ducati 1000DS motorcycle which sold for $6250. Now, he’s offered up a 1988 Yamaha TW that is valued at $1400. The bidding had reached $1450 on February 8th with just three bidders fighting it out for the bike.

Boot Campaign released this statement from Bruce Willis, “I wanted to use my bikes in a way that would benefit our military service members, and I am thankful to have found the Boot Campaign as the catalyst for using my bikes in a way that will give back to our country’s true heroes.” He continued, “These bikes have been a lot of fun to ride, and my hope is they can do a lot of good for our veterans.”

Boot Campaign will be auctioning off his five bikes in two month intervals. The next bikes up will be the 1962 Cushman Eagle and then the 1991 Yamaha XT. The last auction will be in August with his 1972 H-D Ironhead Sportster XLH.

NeNe Leakes Combines Fashion with Charity

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There’s nothing better than an opportunity to look your best – while also helping out a charity. That’s what NeNe Leakes has in mind with the new shoe design that she has recently created. The “Nethia” design is a black boot that is ankle-length and has platform heels and a zipper.  Posting a photo of her hot new design on Twitter, NeNe said, “I love this ‘Nethia’ shoe! I’m very proud of it & created it myself 4 a great charity.”

The shoes can be found on ShoeDazzle’s website, a brilliant creation from Kim Kardashian where style-minded women can get fashionable shoes, handbags, accessories and more each month made by leading designers and celebrities. While ShoeDazzle.com used to be a subscription mail-order service only, they’ve recently started offering all times for $39.95 with free shipping!

And, the best part of purchasing NeNe’s latest design is that all profits from the shoe will go towards Saving Our Daughters. This is a nonprofit that works to help teen girls with issues of bullying, date abuse, hate crimes, school violence, violence against women and other self-esteem issues. They are making important strides to boost the self esteem of girls everywhere.

Shoes…fashion…charity…self esteem….it’s a combination that can’t be beat.

Guns & Hoses Softball Tournament Raises Money for Youth Programs

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August 18th marks this year’s Guns & Hoses charity event, which combines the efforts of the Great Falls Police Department and Great Falls Fire Rescue in a softball tournament.

All proceeds from the event, which include the admission fee of $7 and a can of food, are donated to local youth programs and food banks. Tickets are being sold at the Great Falls Police Department and Centene Stadium.

Katie Cunnigham, a police officer, explained:

“It’s important for 100 percent of the donations and proceeds go straight back into the community for youth-based organizations such as ‘Shop with a Cop’ graduation parties, CASA-CAN, all those types of things. It goes straight back into the community.”

The Fire Rescue feels the same way. Fireman J.D. Kulbeck said:

“Just good to show that the cops and firemen do actually get along though there’s kind of that friendly rivalry. But most importantly it’s to raise money for the charities.”

Last year’s competition ended with a 31-15 win for the Fire Rescue. This year Cunningham believes the police are “planning on bringing their best game,” while the Fire Rescue team vows to keep up their winning streak.

New York Concert Battles Extreme Poverty

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Late this September, three hot bands will combine their efforts at one of the most popular concerts of the year- the Global Festival 2012.

Tickets for the event, which will feature The Black Keys, Foo Fighters and Neil Young with Crazy Horse, cannot be bought in advance, however. Instead, fans must take part in an effort to fight extreme poverty though the event’s website or app, thus earning entry to the Central Park performance. Participation involves simple activities such as posting info on social media networks, signing petitions and small donations.

The Black Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney explained:

“The scale of things that they’re trying to do just felt really cool, and we’re trying to get the ball rolling. Especially with everything that’s been going on for the last three years, I supposed, after the stock market crashed. There’s attention on the amount of people living below the poverty line and the disparity between the rich and the poor and everything that’s going on now… It just felt like the right time to do something.”

Efforts against worldwide poverty have increased as the UN meetings in NY proceed. Hugh Evans, organizer of Global Poverty Project, has called the concert a “crescendo” to the outstanding effort.

“I think what’s exciting is all the world leaders are going to be in town that week for the United Nations meeting. And this concert and the associated campaign will give us the opportunity to ask these world leaders to make practical and tangible monetary commitments to the world’s poor and to the achievement of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.”