“The best things to do with the best things in life is to give them away.” — Dorothy Day
Happy Giving Tuesday, friends! This day is an opportunity for non-profits to gather more attention for their causes and for us to be reminded to be especially generous with our time and treasures. I want to give you a few ideas about some of the organizations that are doing great work in the world at the moment, as well as ideas of how to be helpful and giving year-round for little to no money (so that means that even if your budget is too tight to give money today, this article is for you, too!).
Here are some ways to be helpful and giving year-round, whether or not you can donate money this year: Encourage others to check out organizations to donate to by sharing this article. Use Amazon Smile, which donates a little bit of your total to an organization of your choosing. Volunteer at a local non-profit or a local chapter of a national or international non-profit listed below. Have your friends on Facebook donate to a cause in honor of your birthday. Thank people who work for nonprofits because the work environment is often intense and can induce burnout. Donate your old clothes, books, furniture, toys, cell phones, and more to organizations in your area, some of which will pick them up for free. Donate your exercise miles to CharityMiles. Play vocabulary games on Freerice to help end world hunger. Learn about issues facing your country specifically and globally if you have energy afterward [a few ideas for people living in the United States: What is privilege? | What is intersectionality? | What is rape culture? | What are racism and systemic racism? | What do the different letters in LGBTQIA stand for? | Free books about race, gender, sexuality, and class]. Contact officials about issues that matter to you [How to learn the names and contact information of your representatives | Important issues to call about (includes calling scripts, and here are some tips on how to do it if you have social anxiety) | How to get your congressperson to listen to you | Resistbot].
Now, onto some names of organizations to donate to! Note that on Giving Tuesday specifically, if you donate through Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are matching up to $2 million in donations. Know that I don’t represent the views of everyone here at S&C; these are simply suggestions, which in part were collected by people of various groups who are the most affected by the tough estate of world affairs at the moment. These groups are in no particular order, and I’ve highlighted a few ideas in these categories of our website: Sweatpants & Equality, Sweatpants & Self–Care, Sweatpants & Culture, and Sweatpants & Nature.
Sweatpants & Equality
To end gender-based violence and rape culture and to support people who are survivors of domestic violence or sex trafficking
–Your local domestic violence shelter or rape crisis center, especially one that serves folks of all gender and sexual identities
–The Rape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN)
–Futures Without Violence
–Distributing Dignity
–A–21 Campaign
–Just Detention International (JDI)
To support groups affected by racism
–American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
–Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
–Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)
–Movement for Black Lives (#blacklivesmatter)
–Native American Rights Fund
–Partnership with Native Americans
–National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development
To end homophobia and transphobia and to show support to the LGBTQIA community
–Trevor Project
–Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Network
–Local pride center and local LGBTQIA youth support programs
–Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund
–Trans Lifeline
To show solidarity with religious groups being targeted
–Muslim Advocates
–Your local Islamic Center
–Local interfaith organizations
–Anti–Defamation League (ADL)
To help with refugee, exile, and immigrant crises within the United States and around the world
USA:
–RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services)
–National Immigrant Justice Center
–Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund
–Your area’s local refugee resettlement efforts
International:
–Amnesty International
–International Rescue Committee
–Oxfam International
To fight America’s legal system’s targeting of certain groups and mistreating its prisoners
–Children’s Defense Fund
–Equal Justice Initiative
–National Religious Campaign Against Torture
Sweatpants & Self–Care
To increase mental and physical health access, as well as acceptance of people with disabilities
–METAvivor Research and Support Inc.
–National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
–Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
–Autistic Self-Advocacy Network
–National Suicide Prevention Line or Crisis Text Line
–Hyancinth AIDS Foundation
To maintain access to reproductive health services and family planning options, especially for those with uteruses
–Planned Parenthood
–Center for Reproductive Rights
Sweatpants & Culture
To get more women into elected offices
To support the work of professional journalists, who are increasingly under fire
–International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
–The Center for Public Integrity
Sweatpants & Nature
To help rebuild the homes and lives of those who have been affected by natural disasters
–Puerto Rico Real-Time Recovery Fund
–Virgin Unite (for the Virgin Islands’ rebuilding)
–Greater Houston Community Foundation
–Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies
–Samaritan’s Purse
To prevent more natural disasters by helping to research and slow global warming
–Environmental Defense Fund
–Union of Concerned Scientists
–Sierra Club
These are just my ideas, a few large charities that have caught my eye over the years as doing great work – make sure to look at your local charities as well! May you be blessed as you choose to give of your time and treasure and bless others in so doing.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Emmie Arnold (she/her/hers) is a hospital chaplain in New York; a Reverend in the PC(USA); avid cook; traveler (on hiatus); friend and family member to many; writer; and musician.
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