
As we grow up and start looking for our first jobs, we often fail to realize how easy we had it. Although good grades and getting into college are important, almost all seniors and new grads who are looking for an entry level job never had to worry about survival. It was a given. I’m sure that there are some of you reading who had very different experiences, but most of you are now facing the most distressing times of your lives - entering the real world. It’s easy to forget that there are millions of children in the world who live each day trying to survive. Save the Children is an international non-profit organization that focuses almost entirely on making the lives of children across the world better. They do so with a focus on 7 main areas: Economic Opportunities, Education, Emergencies, Protection, Health, Hunger and Malnutrition, and U.S. Literacy and Nutrition. Save the Children has spent the last 70 years fighting poverty’s effects on children through their unique self-help approach, and they’re not stopping any time soon. Continue reading about Save the Children…

Maybe it’s just me, but I hate walking by people who are begging for money. It always feels like a can’t win situation. I want to help the people, but I don’t like the idea that the money is probably going to help feed a dangerous addiction. The imposition makes me feel uncomfortable, and I also don’t want to get suckered by one of those fake homeless people whom you see on tv - the ones who tv stations catch clearing hundreds of dollars a day and then driving back to their homes. In the end, I always end up feeling bad, whether I give money or not. Street Sense is a non-profit organization that takes a creative approach to helping homeless people whether they’ve been begging on a street corner or just trying to find a job. They’ve created a win-win situation. Continue reading about Street Sense…

Did any of you hear James Blake’s rant on sportsmanship in the Olympics? The man has a point. Tennis is a gentleman’s (gentleperson’s?) game and sportsmanship is an essential part of the sport. That’s probably why Tenacity, a non-profit organization, has chosen tennis as a means of transforming youth, building community, and introducing life skills and literacy. Their motto is “Game. Set. Life.” and we think that it’s quite fitting. We hope that Tenacity is not only transforming youth into literate young adults with great life skills, but also into young adults who will fess up when a ball grazes their rackets. Continue reading about Tenacity…

John James Audubon painted birds. His seminal work, Birds of America, was a collection of 435 life-size prints. To this day, when you hear the name Audubon, you think of birds. Interestingly enough, John James Audubon had no direct involvement with the founding of the National Audubon Society. Audubon’s widow, Lucy, tutored a man named George Bird Grinnell and some of Audubon’s love of birds must have rubbed off, as Grinnell was one of the Audubon Society’s founders. To this day, the Audubon Society persists in its mission “to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.” The Audubon Society works to achieve this mission through a national network of community-based nature centers and chapters and scientific, educational, and advocacy programs. Continue reading about National Audubon Society…

Hopelink is a non-profit organization that serves homeless and low income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities. Their goal is to promote self-sufficiency among these people by providing emergency and social services in:
North and East King County, Washington between the I-90 corridor to the Seattle city limits and the Snohomish County line, and from the shores of Lake Washington to the Crest of the Cascades, an area of 800 square miles.
Hopelink offers help to people in the areas of Food, Housing, Child Care, Family Development, Adult Education, Transportation, Interpreter Services, Financial Assistance, Energy Assistance, and Classes. The end result is often a story like this. That’s just one family that was touched by Hopelink - the story in numbers from just last year are awe inspiring (50,000 lives touched for starters). Continue reading about Hopelink…

If you’ve ever been in New York City on a 100 degree day, you know it’s not the best place for your lungs. The air is thick and hard to breathe, the smell of the streets is downright disgusting, and the only respite is when you walk by the occasional open door of an establishment that has its air conditioning pumped up to the max. It’s not a good place for a kid to spend the summer - especially if that kid has asthma or other pulmonary problems (which are much more frequent for city children). That’s why The Fresh Air Fund, a not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations in the country to more than 1.7 million children from disadvantaged communities in New York City since 1877. Continue reading about The Fresh Air Fund…