CAUSES

2001 - Doctors Without Borders – www.doctorswithoutborders.com

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971.

Today, MSF provides aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. MSF provides independent, impartial assistance to those most in need.

What donations provide:

$35  Two high-energy meals a day to 200 children

$50Vaccinations for 50 people against meningitis, measles, polio or other deadly epidemics

$70Two basic suture kits to repair minor shrapnel wounds

$100Infection-fighting antibiotics to treat nearly 40 wounded children

$250A sterilization kit for syringes and needles used in mobile vaccination campaigns

$500A medical kit containing basic drugs, supplies, equipment, and dressings to treat 1,500 patients for three months

$1000Emergency medical supplies to aid 5,000 disaster victims for an entire month

$5500An emergency health kit to care for 10,000 displaced people for three months

2002 - Oceana: Protecting The World’s Oceans - www.oceana.org

Oceans cover 71 percent of the globe, and they are as important to us as they are vast. Not only do they control our climate; they are the primary source of protein for 1 billion people around the world. They drive our economies. For millions of sailors, swimmers, and vacationers of all stripes, they offer a refuge from the metal and concrete that encase our working lives.

Oceana seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they were in our grandparents’ youth. We look to a future in which dolphin sightings are common along any temperate coast; in which the mighty swordfish, marlin and tuna are abundant once again; in which whales and sea turtles thrive, cod are plentiful on both sides of the Atlantic, local fishing cultures evolve rather then decline and in which fish are a safe, growing and plentiful source of food around the world.

In the last few decades we have seen the benefits of restored rivers and lakes – for ecological and economic health – in many parts of the world. We can reap the same benefits from healthy oceans. We can restore ocean ecosystems that will sustain us, entertain us, amaze us and generate jobs around the world for centuries to come.

2003 - K.I.D.S. Kids In Distressed Situations (New York) www.kidsdonations.org

Children living in poverty is a disaster that happens every day. Young lives facing a family in crisis. A debilitating illness
that devastates a family’s well-being. Children in homeless shelters. Poverty that makes a child wonder, “Does anyone care about me?”

K.I.D.S. brings hope and self-esteem to children in need and their families by providing new clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, books and juvenile products donated by leading manufactures and retailers. The donations move through our network of community social service agencies in the U.S. and abroad to reach children who are ill, living in proverty or are the victims of natural disasters.

Why Donors Give - Helping a homeless child. Putting an abused youngster back on her feet. Providing the educational resources to motivate a child. This and all our work at K.I.D.S. takes an efficient behind-the-scenes operation to solicit new products, identify a partner agency to distribute the products in its community, ship the donated goods, and follow up on the products’ delivery.

K.I.D.S. accomplishes all of this with the lowest possible overhead. With administrative costs at 2.5% annually, K.I.D.S. is cited by Forbes, Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau as one of the most efficient not-for-profits in the country.

For every dollar we receive from foundations, local charities, individuals and companies, we deliver a minimum of $10 worth of donated products to children and families in need. That investment also means that donations from K.I.D.S. help our network of more than one thousand social service agencies allocate precious resources to other needed programs. Not a bad return on investment.

Financial donations not only help support the organization's administrative, shipping and marketing efforts, but dollar contributions also allow K.I.D.S. to undertake new and ongoing service programs.

2004 - Operation USA – www.opusa.org

Founded in 1979, Operation USA helps communities alleviate the effects of disasters, disease and endemic poverty throughout the world by providing privately-funded relief, reconstruction and development aid. We provide material and financial assistance to grassroots organizations that promote sustainable development, leadership and capacity building, income generating activities, provide education and health services, and advocate on behalf of vulnerable people. Operation USA rapidly and expertly provides on-the-ground aid by sending vital life-saving supplies and cash grants to assist communities in rebuilding. Partnering with grassroots organizations, Operation USA specializes in reaching vulnerable populations who are in the greatest need, yet who are often ignored by governments and larger aid organizations.

Rapid Relief - When an emergency strikes, Operation USA is often one of the first professional responders, on the ground with medical supplies, water, purification equipment, shelter materials and trauma teams.

Recovery & Rebuilding - As the emergency phase slowly lessens, Operation USA makes grants to local organizations to help them build their capacity to meet their communities' basic needs.

Long-Term Development - Years after a disaster has abated, communities are still frequently in need of assistance. Responding to a continuing need, Operation USA makes grants to partner organizations for sustainable community-based projects.

2005 - Alley Cat Allies – www.alleycat.org

Mission Statement - To end the killing of cats and lead the movement for their humane care.

Through outreach, education, and community building, Alley Cat Allies serves as the expert on Trap-Neuter-Return and supports the efforts of citizens humanely caring for cats.

We promote and launch programs that benefit both cats and communities, and we educate the public about ways that cats and people can peacefully co-exist.

Backed by our world-recognized best practices for humane care of outdoor cats, we publish materials and provide training and advice to the thousands of Americans caring for stray and feral cats. We research, document, and teach about the domestic cat species and its relationship with humans. We work with like-minded organizations, united under the common goals of effecting change and supporting compassion towards cats. 

2006 - Fight Crime: Invest in Kids – www.fightcrime.org

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a national bipartisan anti-crime group led by 3,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, other police leaders, and violence survivors. As leaders on the front-line in the battle against crime, our mission is to take a hard-nosed look at the research about what works to keep kids from becoming criminals. Research and experience show that certain targeted investments in programs that give kids a good start in life will prevent children from engaging in later crime and violence. These investments include quality early education and care, child abuse and neglect prevention, after-school programs, and programs that help troubled kids get back on track.

When you make a donation to Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, you are making a difference in the lives of millions of America's children. Thanks to support from our donors, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids has helped protect effective anti-gang programs from budget cuts, expanded access to quality early education for millions of kids, and raised awareness about the 10 million children who still have no place to go during the high-risk after-school hours.

With our donors' support, we have made an important difference in kids' lives and in making our community safer:

.550,000 more kids have access to after-school programs

.

.More than 150,000 more kids are in Head Start

.

.700,000 more families have access to quality child care

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Although we have made progress, the unmet need remains enormous: millions of children lack access to the quality programs that help them get the right start in life and prevent crime and violence. Your contribution will enable more children grow up to be healthy and productive adults by supporting Fight Crime: Invest in Kids' focus on taking a hard-nosed look at research about what keeps kids from becoming criminals and putting that information in the hands of policy-makers and the public.

2007 - Music Changing Lives – www.musicchanginglives.org

A California non-profit organization (MCL), is designed to offer mentorship programs for underprivileged and neglected children, helping them improve their chances of achieving a positive and successful life. MCL's mission is to assist others in connecting with the essence of life with the goal of helping our youth build a better tomorrow. Music Changing Lives plans on achieving this goal by conducting and analyzing research, sponsoring extensive workshops, and collaborating with a variety of practitioners to further our mission of reducing America's dropout rate by meeting the needs of youth in at-risk neighborhoods.

This program focuses on high school students in grades 9-12, within the age range of 14 through 18. This model focuses on students who have typically had poor or sporadic school attendance and low academic performance in their previous educational history.

The goals of this program are to increase school attendance, improve current academic skills, enhance self-esteem, and educational attitudes in students who have dropped out of high school, and may have no other opportunity in completing a high school education.

The "Ignorance Stops Here" tour is designed to take high school students around to visit various college campuses throughout California to show them there is more to life than their local neighborhood. The avenues for post-secondary education are voluminous and the opportunities are timeless with a little strive and determination. By providing the youth with encouragement and knowledge, we hope to increase their interest in their education and their future.

2008 - The Amazon Conservation Team – www.ethnobotany.org

The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) was created in 1995 with the conviction that if international rainforest conservation efforts are to succeed, the active and meaningful participation of indigenous people is essential. The conservation of biodiversity is the primary focus of all environmental organizations working in the tropics. With the guidance of tribal elders, shamans, traditional authorities, and leading western conservationists, ACT has developed a uniquely successful and cost-effective approach that we term biocultural conservation. This ACT methodology incorporates the protection of biodiversity, strengthening of traditional health systems, and cultural preservation into a unified system

Some of their projects –

Brazil-Suriname Border Region Biocultural Protection - ACT seeks to protect 20 million acres of rainforest on indigenous lands in the Brazil-Suriname border region through proven biocultural conservation strategies. ACT is working with the Tirio, Wayana, Apalai, and Kaxuyana of the region as well as local government agencies and tribal councils in building local conservation capacity by strengthening local culture and by completing parallel conservation and management plans for both sides of the border.

Indigenous Handicrafts and Self-Sustainability - ACT is implementing a sustainable development project in the Tumucumaque region under an agreement already signed in December 2002 between ACT, APITU, the indigenous communities of the Xingu, and the FUNAI Amapá regional administration.

Shamans and Apprentices Program - One of the core values by which the Amazon Conservation Team operates is the vital importance of shamanic systems. In the areas where we work, the true “experts” on the flora and fauna are the Indians, who have lived there for centuries. When Indians are acculturated, they can lose centuries of knowledge within a generation. ACT provides support to shamans so that they can continue practicing their traditional medicine, and are able to transmit their knowledge to the next generation. We also give “scholarships” to younger Indians, selected by the shamans, so that they can be apprenticed to the shamans.

2009 - American Forests – www.americanforests.org

Mission: Our mission is to grow a healthier world.

Vision: Our vision is to have healthy forest ecosystems for every community.

Strategy: Our strategy for achieving the mission is to provide action opportunities to targeted audiences to enable them to improve their environment with trees. We do this by using the best science to identify conservation issues, then develop and market practical solutions that individuals and groups can apply. American Forests' targeted audiences are individuals, community groups, government at all levels, educators, and businesses.

American Forests is a world leader in planting trees for environmental restoration, a pioneer in the science and practice of urban forestry, and a primary communicator of the benefits of trees and forests.

American Forests is the nation’s oldest nonprofit citizens’ conservation organization. Citizens concerned about the waste and abuse of the nation’s forests founded American Forests in 1875. The organization is proud of its historic roots in the development of America’s conservation movement and proud of the new approaches the organization has developed to help people improve the environment in the 21st Century. American Forests’ Ecosystem Restoration and Maintenance Agenda presents our core values and seeks to build support for our policy goals. These goals focus on assisting communities in planning and implementing tree and forest actions to restore and maintain healthy ecosystems and communities. We also work with community-based forestry partners in both urban and rural areas to help them participate in national forest policy discussions. American Forests seeks to broaden awareness of the interdependence of communities and forests through our policy and communication activities with local partners.

2010 - Heifer Project International -  www.heifer.org

Founded in 1944, Heifer Project International is a humanitarian assistance organization that works to end world hunger and protect the earth. Through livestock, training and passing on the gift, Heifer has helped 8.5 million families in more than 125 countries improve their quality of life and move toward greater self-reliance. Heifer helps build strong communities because each project participant agrees to pass on the gift of animal offspring, training, or skills to another family in need.

Agroecology
- In a world where land is overused, community members need to learn how to protect and rejuvenate their land, water and other natural resources. Heifer helps by teaching environmentally sound agricultural techniques. 

Animal Well-Being
- Before any Heifer animal is passed along to a project partner, Heifer trains the new recipient in animal management, using our strictly enforced. Animal Welfare Guidelines

Gender Equity -
In Heifer's view, gender equity is a social justice and human rights issue that directly leads to ending hunger and poverty. That's why our participants are equal partners in sustainable development projects.

HIV-AIDS
- Today, we as a world community, confront AIDS, a virus that in the past 25 years has either infected or killed over 64 million people. It is not only a health issue, as it fractures every sector of society, for Heifer, it is a prominent concern in the arena of sustainable development. This is why Heifer is incorporating HIV/AIDS education in our community training groups.   

Microenterprise
- Heifer provides both "no-interest living loans" in the form of livestock, as well as small monetary loans to help people start and expand businesses that yield big benefits for families.

Urban Agriculture -
Heifer is reconnecting city-dwellers with their food sources, building strong alliances and instilling an entrepreneurial spirit among adults and youth through our Urban Agriculture projects.

Young People's Initiative -
Heifer weaves youth-focused programs through all our project work and emphasizes young people's needs.

2011 - Dogs For The Deaf – www.dogsforthedeaf.org

Mission Statement: Rescuing and professionally training dogs to assist people and enhance their lives, maintaining a lifelong commitment to all dogs we rescue and all teams we serve.

HEARING DOGS: Hearing Dogs are chosen from animal shelters. Many shelters must euthanize dogs if no homes are found for them. By using shelter dogs, we are able to help alleviate some of the unwanted dog population by rescuing these dogs. Once trained, they are placed in loving homes where they provide valuable and even life saving benefits. The dogs are usually mixed breeds up to 36 months of age. The trainers look for dogs that are friendly, energetic, healthy, and confident. Each dog is individually evaluated by a Dogs for the Deaf trainer. Those passing the evaluation are brought back to our facility for a thorough medical exam, needed vaccinations, and treatment to bring them to optimum health. All dogs are micro chipped, spayed or neutered, and then begin the intensive 4 to 6 months of training.

MIRACLE MUTTS (Special Dogs for Special People): Special furry friends who provide companionship, motivation, and emotional support to people who need a helping paw. These dogs help with depression and loneliness; they provide a reason to get up in the morning and motivation to exercise; and the generally make life more worth living.

HARMONY'S HOUNDS (Dogs with Special Needs): Dogs who have a special physical or emotional need and are looking for someone willing to provide a stable, loving home and any special care they might need with things like on-going medical concerns, old age, anxiety issues, allergies, and seizures. In the right, special environment, these dogs can thrive and provide lots of love.

2012 - Guide Dogs of the Desert – www.guidedogsofthedesert.org

Guide Dogs of the Desert improves the lives of the blind by creating opportunities for life-changing independence, and by conducting community outreach and education programs.

Guide Dogs of the Desert provides safe mobility, loving companionship and the "miracle of independence" to the blind through the use of a guide dog.

2013 - World Wildlife Federation(WWF) – www.worldwildlife.org

For more than 45 years, WWF has been protecting the future of nature. The world’s leading conservation organization, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. WWF's unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature.

WWF's mission is the conservation of nature. Using the best available scientific knowledge and advancing that knowledge where we can, we work to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth and the health of ecological systems byprotecting natural areas and wild populations of plants and animals, including endangered species; promoting sustainable approaches to the use of renewable natural resources; and promoting more efficient use of resources and energy and the maximum reduction of pollution. 

We are committed to reversing the degradation of our planet's natural environment and to building a future in which human needs are met in harmony with nature. We recognize the critical relevance of human numbers, poverty and consumption patterns to meeting these goals.

Goal
By 2020 WWF will conserve 19 of the world's most important natural places and significantly change global markets to protect the future of nature.

2014 - Kids Sport Canada – www.kidsportcanada.ca 

Mission Statement - We believe that no kid should be left on the sidelines and all should be given the opportunity to experience the positive benefits of organized sports. KidSport™ provides support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport. In 2007 more than $5 million was raised nationally and 49,112 kids were provided grants that enabled them to participate in a season of sport.  

                                   

Our primary strategy is to support and empower the licensed chapters so that they are able to raise and provide funds to support grants to kids unable to participate in sport due to financial barriers.

Providing a Support Structure for the 173 Provincial and Local KidSport™ Chapters

1. 1.National entity to champion "Sport for All" across the country with a specific emphasis on removing the financial barriers to sport participant for kids….."So All Kids Can Play"
   

2. 2.An entity that can build the capacity and knowledge of supporting sport participation through a Registered Amateur Athletic Association designation from CRA
   

3. 3.Create a positive legal and regulatory climate to engage more Canadians and companies in understanding and supporting sport participation as a worthy strategy for ensuring all kids experience a healthy lifestyle.
   

2015 - Manon Rhéaume Foundation - www.manonrheaumefoundation.org 

Manon Rheaume formed the Manon Rheaume Foundation in 2008 as a way to give back to the community and to the game of ice hockey. Her desire is to use her experience as the first female NHL hockey player to inspire young girls to reach for their dreams while overcoming obstacles and, through her Foundation, to provide scholarships for young women to assist them as they seek to fulfill their aspirations. Through the Manon Rheaume Foundation, she is hoping to give the first scholarship(s) out in 2010 - 2011 to three young women seeking financial help for college.

2016 - Roots & Shoots - A Jane Goodall Charity www.rootsandshoots.org

Roots creep underground everywhere and make a firm foundation. Shoots seem very weak, but to reach the light, they can break open brick walls. Imagine that the brick walls are all the problems we have inflicted on our planet. Hundreds of thousands of roots & shoots, hundreds of thousands of young people around the world, can break through these walls. We CAN change the world.  - Dr. Jane Goodall

The Roots & Shoots program is about making positive change happen—for our communities, for animals and for the environment. With tens of thousands of young people in almost 100 countries, the Roots & Shoots network connects youth of all ages who share a desire to create a better world. Young people identify problems in their communities and take action. Through service projects, youth-led campaigns and an interactive website, Roots & Shoots members are making a difference across the globe.

What is the Roots & Shoots mission?

1. •To foster respect and compassion for all living things
   

2. •To promote understanding of all cultures and beliefs
   

3. •To inspire each individual to take action to make the world a better place for people, animals and the environment.
   

4. •
   

What makes Roots & Shoots different from other service organizations?
Our history, flexibility, international network and youth-driven programs. 

1. •History: Our roots are unique and special. We were founded by 16 Tanzanian students and Dr. Jane Goodall in 1991. We continue to be inspired by the leadership and legacy of Dr. Jane. Her pioneering idea that each individual can make a difference is the foundation of Roots & Shoots. Learn more about our history.
   

2. •Flexibility: Our learning model of knowledge, compassion, action provides a flexible structure for group activities, with room for seemingly endless creativity in application. Our members have formed Roots & Shoots groups in almost any context: classrooms, home school groups, families, neighborhoods, community centers, zoos and nature centers, museums, 4-H clubs, scout troops, even prisons.
   

3. •International network: Roots & Shoots members on every continent, and in almost 100 countries, make connections far beyond their home communities, fostering a better understanding of cultures and ecosystems.
   

4. •Youth-driven projects: We believe young people have the power to make a difference, and we offer our groups the tools and inspiration they need to plan and implement projects that are truly youth-led. We incorporate our young members' perspective into our regional and national strategic planning and foster leadership skills through opportunities such as the Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership Councils.