As we enter this uncanny valley between Thanksgiving and Hannukah/Christmas, I’m thinking a lot about gratitude and giving. I am old so I remember a time when we didn’t have a commercialized name for all of these days past Thanksgiving. It is surreal to see just how much cultural purchase these labels have gotten. Black Friday (which admittedly has been around a while) goes into Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday. It’s overwhelming, isn’t it? Today, I’ve gotten at least a hundred e-mails asking for contributions. It’s annoying but it’s also a stark reminder that there are many organizations out there doing good work and that need generous financial support. So, use this thread to shout out organizations you are supporting this year or would like to see getting some support. As for me, I’ll share a few, too.
I am on the board of and an alumna of A Better Chancewhich does incredible work in supporting young people of color going to prep school.
I am also the president of the board ofPerformance Space New York, an organization dedicated to experimental performance art and community.
Hope for Haiti is another great organization. (Full disclosure: my dad is on the board). They build schools and hospitals and other necessary infrastructure in Haiti and their operations on the ground are run by Haitians.
Mutual Aid groups in your city are always, always in need of money and know where and how to spend it in your local community.
I’m always going to say local abortion funds. If you don’t know the funds in your area, the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) can tell you, or you can give directly to them.
Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $750,000 approved by the Legislature for the Zebra Coalition to create housing for homeless gay and transgender youth. With the LGBTQ+ community being marginalized and under attack in Florida, I've contributed to the Zebra Coalition. If you're looking for a worthy organization on this #GivingTuesday, check it out.
YAMT is an amazing organization that supports queer and BIPOC survivors of sex trafficking in a non-exploitative, sustainable way. They are survivor-led and the only organization in the country that is specifically focused on queer and BIPOC trafficking survivors, who are frequently excluded from other survivor organizations. They're great and I love them: https://www.yamt.org/donate
So many great people doing so much good work! Grateful to everyone who puts in their time, energy, heart, money, all the resources!
I’m on the board of http://kidsandart.org which is a foundation that provides fun, meaningful art experiences for kids with cancer and going through treatment. This helps with stress and anxiety of both inpatient and outpatient treatment (and the hours upon hours of waiting), giving kids and their siblings and families moments of joy and normalcy during the most challenging times.
I am the president of a local LGBTQ+ organization; Ogden Pride here in Utah. We plan, prepare, and hold an annual Pride festival in our town; going into our 9th year now. We also host twice monthly activities for our Youth OUTreach program. We don’t have a center or offices of our own, and are fundraising to open the Ogden Pride Center.
This work is crucial, especially at a time when our safe spaces are shrinking, and being attacked. Our community needs a space to call home, to gather more than just during Pride, and a place our youth can drop in after school. Our community partners would also benefit with a place to use a board room, or gather.
This #GivingTuesday and every day, I’m all in for this work.
Visit ogdenpride.org for more on our mission and programs or to make a much appreciated donation!
The Hudson River Valley of New York State is a spectacular and complicated place, full of natural and human beauty, and reeling from the impact of so much change these days. For The Many is a local grassroots organization advocating for housing, climate, racial justice and more - from inside and outside the political system. Let's keep their work funded!
Every year on Giving Tuesday, I give $1/book sold to charity; and this year I'm giving to Remora House, a mutual aid fund for unhoused people in Washington, D.C. They do excellent work. Here is their winter fundraiser: https://givebutter.com/winter22-23
SMART Reading helps connect community volunteers with kids in schools for weekly shared reading time, and gives kids books to keep. The program benefits children statewide in Oregon.
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is one of the best Instagram follows!
I've volunteered for years for Paws & Think - they are the largest provider of therapy dogs in Central Indiana. Therapy dogs are pretty different from service dogs and Emotional Support Animals, and I've learned a lot about how dogs can help people, in some cases actually assisting with certain types of intervention and treatment. Their therapy dogs do everything from comforting kids during forensic interviews for domestic abuse to helping kids improve reading skills at school. They visit with people who are hospitalized, elderly people in memory care units, queer youth experiencing homelessness, healthcare workers in high stress workplaces, and so many other types of people. The organization also facilitates Youth-Canine programs in Indy where teens train shelter dogs to help the dogs get adopted. www.pawsandthink.org
I also always donate to Indiana Youth Group when I can, they provide services and programming for queer youth in Indy. www.indianayouthgroup.org
Spread The Vote, which helps eligible voters obtain IDs (tracking down birth certificates, filing the necessary papers) so that they can vote, get jobs, get assistance, etc. spreadthevote.org
A colleague recently referred to GT, not unlike a solicitation gladiator pit. Yikes. Hopefully all the important orgs listed here receive the support they need to do good work. Here are more good orgs to add to what I'll call the Ring.
Putting the power of impact producing into the hands of under-represented storytellers to change the world. (disclosure: i am on the Board of this amazing org)
I work for a nonprofit that provides workforce training for homeless and low income adults, along with offering case management to help with housing and more. You can donate at www.projectplace.org/give
My husband and I vary who we donate to each year. This year I’d like to give to a local food bank and a place combatting antisemitism, such as the USHMM. Last year a couple places we donated to were the Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project and Doctors Without Borders.
Excellent article. On your last note, I adopted a baby elephant a few years ago from there and continue to donate regularly! Excellent group that does this with these animals.
I offer up Ballet Tech - a unique tuition free dance school in NYC. It’s a public private partnership wherein the Ballet Tech Foundation provides dance training and the NYC Department of Education provides academics - all under one roof. For lots of reasons, I think you’d like it, Roxane.
Out Saskatoon provides a lot of support for QILT2BAG+ kiddos, including hosting camp fYrefly, which was Canada's first camp for queer kids and absolutely life changing for me to go to.
The Tiny House Warriors are a group of land protectors with the aim of being mobile so they can be present wherever they are called. http://www.tinyhousewarriors.com/
The Indian Residential School Survivors Society provides counseling and community support for survivors of Canada's genocidal residential schools (the last one closed in 1996, when I was twelve—this is in the living memory of multiple generations) https://www.irsss.ca/
I love this post and thread, thank you for the shout outs, Roxane and to all that are replying with amazing organizations and public institutions doing good work and good trouble!
I’m on the board of Washington DC’s only 24/7 crisis intervention agency for domestic violence, DC SAFE: https://www.dcsafe.org
Donated funds go a long way to support women and their families during and post crises, love what they do and the dedicated staff and volunteers that work there!
Your neighborhood public school, or one in your town that could use support (maybe outside of your neighborhood, depending on how your community decides who goes where). Public school PTAs are well-situated to help families that need it (often through their school social worker), and helping teachers with the miscellany that is essential and unfunded goes so far for both the teachers and their kids.
The Friendly Fridge!! The thought of people, especially children going hungry in this country fills me with rage. This organization has rescues and redirects food in communities all over New York City. Link is for donations and to volunteer. https://www.friendlyfridgefoundation.org/
"Through our partnerships with Therapy for Black Girls, National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network, Talkspace, Open Path Collective, Black Female Therapists, Zencare and Psychology Today, Loveland Therapy Fund recipients will have access to comprehensive lists of mental health professionals across the country providing high quality, culturally competent services to Black women and girls. With therapy sessions costing an average of $80 – $200 per session, we have selected the previously mentioned directories to increase the likelihood that participants are able to financially afford therapy after the end of the 4-12 sessions supported by The Loveland Foundation’s Therapy Fund. Black women and girls deserve access to healing, and that healing will impact generations."
We are small but mighty - this year, we provided field trips for every single fifth grade student in the Kingston City School District, and our Guided Recess & Afterschool Adventures program Internship program that serves 2,500 4th-12th graders each week.
Roddy Doyle's amazing organization Fighting Words promotes creativity and writing as a fun and powerful means of self-expression throughout Ireland, a lot of which is focused on kids and teens from underserved neighborhoods. I know many of the volunteers personally and they are doing great work! Give if you can!! https://www.fightingwords.ie/get-involved/donate
I’m always going to say local abortion funds. If you don’t know the funds in your area, the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF) can tell you, or you can give directly to them.
https://abortionfunds.org/
Abortion Care Network is also good: https://abortioncarenetwork.org/abortion-care-providers/
Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed $750,000 approved by the Legislature for the Zebra Coalition to create housing for homeless gay and transgender youth. With the LGBTQ+ community being marginalized and under attack in Florida, I've contributed to the Zebra Coalition. If you're looking for a worthy organization on this #GivingTuesday, check it out.
YAMT is an amazing organization that supports queer and BIPOC survivors of sex trafficking in a non-exploitative, sustainable way. They are survivor-led and the only organization in the country that is specifically focused on queer and BIPOC trafficking survivors, who are frequently excluded from other survivor organizations. They're great and I love them: https://www.yamt.org/donate
So many great people doing so much good work! Grateful to everyone who puts in their time, energy, heart, money, all the resources!
I’m on the board of http://kidsandart.org which is a foundation that provides fun, meaningful art experiences for kids with cancer and going through treatment. This helps with stress and anxiety of both inpatient and outpatient treatment (and the hours upon hours of waiting), giving kids and their siblings and families moments of joy and normalcy during the most challenging times.
I am the president of a local LGBTQ+ organization; Ogden Pride here in Utah. We plan, prepare, and hold an annual Pride festival in our town; going into our 9th year now. We also host twice monthly activities for our Youth OUTreach program. We don’t have a center or offices of our own, and are fundraising to open the Ogden Pride Center.
This work is crucial, especially at a time when our safe spaces are shrinking, and being attacked. Our community needs a space to call home, to gather more than just during Pride, and a place our youth can drop in after school. Our community partners would also benefit with a place to use a board room, or gather.
This #GivingTuesday and every day, I’m all in for this work.
Visit ogdenpride.org for more on our mission and programs or to make a much appreciated donation!
The Hudson River Valley of New York State is a spectacular and complicated place, full of natural and human beauty, and reeling from the impact of so much change these days. For The Many is a local grassroots organization advocating for housing, climate, racial justice and more - from inside and outside the political system. Let's keep their work funded!
https://forthemany.org/donate
The Library Foundation of Los Angeles is always a great place to contribute.
Every year on Giving Tuesday, I give $1/book sold to charity; and this year I'm giving to Remora House, a mutual aid fund for unhoused people in Washington, D.C. They do excellent work. Here is their winter fundraiser: https://givebutter.com/winter22-23
Some other orgs:
Black Girl Hockey Club: https://blackgirlhockeyclub.org/
D.C. Central Kitchen: https://dccentralkitchen.org/
Scares That Care (full disclosure: I'm on the board of directors): https://scaresthatcare.org/
Arlington Free Clinic: https://www.arlingtonfreeclinic.org/
K-9 Lifesavers: https://k-9lifesavers.org/
SMART Reading helps connect community volunteers with kids in schools for weekly shared reading time, and gives kids books to keep. The program benefits children statewide in Oregon.
www.SMARTReading.org
The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is one of the best Instagram follows!
I've volunteered for years for Paws & Think - they are the largest provider of therapy dogs in Central Indiana. Therapy dogs are pretty different from service dogs and Emotional Support Animals, and I've learned a lot about how dogs can help people, in some cases actually assisting with certain types of intervention and treatment. Their therapy dogs do everything from comforting kids during forensic interviews for domestic abuse to helping kids improve reading skills at school. They visit with people who are hospitalized, elderly people in memory care units, queer youth experiencing homelessness, healthcare workers in high stress workplaces, and so many other types of people. The organization also facilitates Youth-Canine programs in Indy where teens train shelter dogs to help the dogs get adopted. www.pawsandthink.org
I also always donate to Indiana Youth Group when I can, they provide services and programming for queer youth in Indy. www.indianayouthgroup.org
Spread The Vote, which helps eligible voters obtain IDs (tracking down birth certificates, filing the necessary papers) so that they can vote, get jobs, get assistance, etc. spreadthevote.org
A colleague recently referred to GT, not unlike a solicitation gladiator pit. Yikes. Hopefully all the important orgs listed here receive the support they need to do good work. Here are more good orgs to add to what I'll call the Ring.
Take Back the Court
https://www.takebackthecourtfoundation.org/
Democracy will die unless we take back the court and the urgency for court expansion has never been more real.
Peace is Loud: Collective Lens
https://www.classy.org/campaign/giving-tuesday/c439604 or https://peaceisloud.org/
Putting the power of impact producing into the hands of under-represented storytellers to change the world. (disclosure: i am on the Board of this amazing org)
Third Wave Fund
http://www.thirdwavefund.org/
Support grassroots, youth-led, gender justice movements not only in moments of crisis—but for the long haul.
Thanks for the invitation to share.
I work for a nonprofit that provides workforce training for homeless and low income adults, along with offering case management to help with housing and more. You can donate at www.projectplace.org/give
My husband and I vary who we donate to each year. This year I’d like to give to a local food bank and a place combatting antisemitism, such as the USHMM. Last year a couple places we donated to were the Wopanaak Language Reclamation Project and Doctors Without Borders.
Penn North Recovery, in Baltimore City. Comprehensive program for people recovering from drug addiction. I teach qigong there.
http://www.penn-north.com/
In NJ https://www.handsinc.org/ is doing great work building community.
Wish I could support all these places.
I gave today to:
Refugee Strong https://www.refugeestrong.org
Equal Justice Initiative https://eji.org
Sandy Hook Promise https://www.sandyhookpromise.org
And I give regularly to Together Rising https://togetherrising.org
Excellent article. On your last note, I adopted a baby elephant a few years ago from there and continue to donate regularly! Excellent group that does this with these animals.
I offer up Ballet Tech - a unique tuition free dance school in NYC. It’s a public private partnership wherein the Ballet Tech Foundation provides dance training and the NYC Department of Education provides academics - all under one roof. For lots of reasons, I think you’d like it, Roxane.
www.ballettech.org
https://ballet-tech-foundation-inc.networkforgood.com/projects/20354-donate
For any Canadian folks on this thread:
Out Saskatoon provides a lot of support for QILT2BAG+ kiddos, including hosting camp fYrefly, which was Canada's first camp for queer kids and absolutely life changing for me to go to.
https://www.outsaskatoon.ca/
The Tiny House Warriors are a group of land protectors with the aim of being mobile so they can be present wherever they are called. http://www.tinyhousewarriors.com/
The Indian Residential School Survivors Society provides counseling and community support for survivors of Canada's genocidal residential schools (the last one closed in 1996, when I was twelve—this is in the living memory of multiple generations) https://www.irsss.ca/
I love this post and thread, thank you for the shout outs, Roxane and to all that are replying with amazing organizations and public institutions doing good work and good trouble!
I’m on the board of Washington DC’s only 24/7 crisis intervention agency for domestic violence, DC SAFE: https://www.dcsafe.org
Donated funds go a long way to support women and their families during and post crises, love what they do and the dedicated staff and volunteers that work there!
Your neighborhood public school, or one in your town that could use support (maybe outside of your neighborhood, depending on how your community decides who goes where). Public school PTAs are well-situated to help families that need it (often through their school social worker), and helping teachers with the miscellany that is essential and unfunded goes so far for both the teachers and their kids.
The Friendly Fridge!! The thought of people, especially children going hungry in this country fills me with rage. This organization has rescues and redirects food in communities all over New York City. Link is for donations and to volunteer. https://www.friendlyfridgefoundation.org/
The Loveland Foundation Therapy Fund! https://thelovelandfoundation.org/therapy-fund/
"Through our partnerships with Therapy for Black Girls, National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network, Talkspace, Open Path Collective, Black Female Therapists, Zencare and Psychology Today, Loveland Therapy Fund recipients will have access to comprehensive lists of mental health professionals across the country providing high quality, culturally competent services to Black women and girls. With therapy sessions costing an average of $80 – $200 per session, we have selected the previously mentioned directories to increase the likelihood that participants are able to financially afford therapy after the end of the 4-12 sessions supported by The Loveland Foundation’s Therapy Fund. Black women and girls deserve access to healing, and that healing will impact generations."
Would love to shout out my workplace, doing nonprofit nature education that centers justice and equity in New York's Hudson Valley:
http://wildearth.org
We are small but mighty - this year, we provided field trips for every single fifth grade student in the Kingston City School District, and our Guided Recess & Afterschool Adventures program Internship program that serves 2,500 4th-12th graders each week.
Roddy Doyle's amazing organization Fighting Words promotes creativity and writing as a fun and powerful means of self-expression throughout Ireland, a lot of which is focused on kids and teens from underserved neighborhoods. I know many of the volunteers personally and they are doing great work! Give if you can!! https://www.fightingwords.ie/get-involved/donate