Autism Society of Greater Cincinnati 08.01.07 // Add comment
The Autism Society of Greater Cincinnati is a local chapter that is part of the Autism Society of America. As a chapter we support the options policy adopted by the Autism Society of America.
The Autism Society of America promotes the active and informed involvement of family members and the individual with autism in the planning of individualized, appropriate services and supports. The Board of the Autism Society of America believes that each person with autism is a unique individual. Each family and individual with autism should have the right to learn about and select, the options that they feel are most appropriate for the individual with autism. To the maximum extent possible, we believe that the decisions should be made by both the parents and the individual with autism.
Services should enhance and strengthen natural family and community supports for the individual with autism and the family whenever possible. The service option designed for an individual with autism should result in improved quality of life. Abusive treatment of any kind is not an option.
We firmly believe that no single type of program or service will fill the needs of every individual with autism and that each person should have access to support services, Selection of a program, service or method of treatment should be on the basis of a full assessment of each person's abilities, needs and interests. We believe that services should be outcome based to insure that they meet the individualized needs of a person with autism.
With appropriate education, vocational training and community living options and support systems, individuals with autism can lead dignified, productive lives in their communities and strive to reach their fullest potential.
ASA is dedicated to the increasing public awareness about autism and the day-to-day issues faced by the individuals with autism, their families and the professionals with whom they interact. The Society and its chapters share a mission of providing information and education, and supporting research and advocating for programs and services for the autism community.
The ASA believes that all individuals with autism have the right to access appropriate services and supports based on their needs and desires.
Website: Here
St. Judes 06.01.07 // Add comment
This month we are doing St. Judes as suggested by Rumble. I dont have anything waiting in the cue so if you want yours featured next month PM me otherwise Ill be picking it.
St. Jude is unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility anywhere. Discoveries made here have completely changed how the world treats children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.
We are where some of today's most gifted researchers are able to do more science, more quickly. Where doctors across the world send their toughest cases and most vulnerable patients. Where no one pays for treatment beyond what is covered by insurance, and those without insurance are never asked to pay. We've built America's 3rd-largest health-care charity, with a model that keeps the costs down and the funds flowing, so the science never stops.
Website: Here
Donate: Here
Children International 06.01.07 // Add comment
Children International is a nonprofit humanitarian organization dedicated to bettering the lives of impoverished children, their families and communities.
We achieve our goals primarily through child sponsorship, which unites children in need with individual sponsors who wish to address the children's immediate and basic needs. Sponsorship gives poor children the tools and opportunities necessary for success by providing benefits and supporting programs for each child - primarily in the areas of education and health.
Our sponsorship program currently benefits more than 300,000 impoverished children and their families in 11 countries throughout the world, including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, the Philippines, the United States and Zambia.
-Per BJ
- I have been a part of this organization for awhile now ... (I sponsor 3 children ---- an 8 yr old girl in Guatemala, a 7 yr old girl in the Phillipines, and a 5 yr old boy in Zambia.
-It is great ... you recieve letters from the kids, can donate items like beds etc, and write back to them and get responses.
-If you have the extra cash ... I would suggest being a part of it.
Website: Here
Donate/Sponsor Here (Look to the links on the left for different ways to help)
Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund 05.01.07 // Add comment
I dont think I need to explain what this charity is but ...
Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund
To remember and honor the victims of the tragic events of April 16, the university has established the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to aid in the healing process.
The fund will be used to cover expenses including but not limited to:
Assistance to victims and their families
Grief counseling
Memorials
Communication expenses
Comfort expenses
Funds in honor or memory of the victims
In addition to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, you may also contribute to the Hokie Spirit Scholarship Fund to support students university-wide, or to specific funds in the name of each of the victims. See a list of funds that have been established in victims' names. Final criteria for these funds will be dependent upon approval by each family.
In the wake of this tragedy, we are confident that Hokie Spirit will only grow stronger and more resilient. We thank you for your continued support.
Site: Here
Give: Here
Autism Society of America 04.01.07 // Add comment
Also by request of NastyCreech...
The Autism Society of America was founded in 1965 by Bernard Rimland, Ph.D. His book, Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior, was written in late 1964 and was one of the first of its kind. In 1968, Ruth Sullivan, Ph.D. became the organization's first elected president. Over the last 40 years, the Society has grown from a handful of parents, into the leading source of information, research, and reference on autism. ASA is the oldest and largest grassroots organization within the autism community. Today, more than 120,000 members and supporters are connected through a working network of nearly 200 chapters nationwide. ASA membership continues to grow as more and more parents and professionals unite to form a collective voice representing the autism community.
ASA is dedicated to increasing public awareness about autism and the day-to-day issues faced by individuals with autism, their families and the professionals with whom they interact. The Society and its chapters share a common mission of providing information and education, and supporting research and advocating for programs and services for the autism community.
Website Here
Donate Here
Big Brother, Big Sister 03.01.07 // Add comment
This month is Big Brother, Big Sister by request of NastyCreech.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is the oldest, largest and most effective youth mentoring organization in the United States. We have been the leader in one-to-one youth service for more than a century, developing positive relationships that have a direct and lasting impact on the lives of young people. Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors children, ages 6 through 18, in communities across the country - including yours.
The Big Brothers Big Sisters Mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that have a measurable impact on youth.
Our Mentoring Programs Work
National research has shown that positive relationships between youth and their Big Brothers and Big Sisters mentors have a direct and measurable impact on children's lives. By participating in our youth mentoring programs, Little Brothers and Sisters are:
More confident in their schoolwork performance
Able to get along better with their families
46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs
27% less likely to begin using alcohol
52% less likely to skip school.
Webite: Here
Donate: Here
Share Our Strength 02.01.07 // Add comment
Since 1984, Share Our Strength® has led the fight against hunger and poverty by inspiring and organizing individuals and businesses to share their strengths. We have raised over $200 million to fight hunger around the globe. We have invested critical funds in over 1,000 hunger-related organizations to help the most effective organizations sustain their efforts and maximize their capacity to deliver results. Today, our priority is to end childhood hunger in America ensuring that the nearly 12 million American children facing hunger have access to the nutritious food they need to learn, grow and thrive.
How We Will End Childhood Hunger
Share Our Strength believes that years of public and private progress have put the goal of ending childhood hunger within our grasp. Our strategy is to surround every child with nutritious food in the places they live, learn, play and pray. To do so, we work with local organizations to help families help themselves through three important areas: increasing access to the public and private programs that can provide food to those who need it, strengthening the community infrastructure for getting healthy food to children and teaching families how to get the most nutrition out of a limited budget.
Leadership
With innovation and creativity, Share Our Strength has earned a reputation as one of America's most effective non-profits. The organization has won acclaim for its enterprising and visionary efforts in developing corporate cause marketing partnerships and our groundbreaking work to help nonprofits create new opportunities and funds to support and sustain their efforts.
The key to this success has been a philosophy of identifying and empowering leaders -- bringing new people into the cause of ending hunger and helping them find their unique way to share their strengths to make an impact. Over the years, we have helped expand the scope of our work by engaging some of America's most talented and successful chefs to take a leadership role in this effort, providing a way for thousands of community activists to expand their resources and the impact of their activities, and forging partnerships that have put leading corporations on the front lines battling to end hunger and poor nutrition.
Website Here
Donate Here
Mercy Corps 01.01.07 // Add comment
This is one that comes from BJ.
Mercy Corps works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against nearly impossible odds. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided $1 billion in assistance to people in 82 nations. Supported by headquarters offices in North America, Europe, and Asia, the agency's unified global programs employ 3,200 staff worldwide and reach nearly 10 million people in more than 35 countries.
Mercy Corps has learned that communities recovering from war or social upheaval must be the agents of their own transformation for change to endure. It's only when communities set their own agendas, raise their own resources and implement programs themselves, that their first successes result in the renewed hope, confidence and skills to continue development.
We believe in the intrinsic value and dignity of human life.
We are awed by human resilience, and believe in the ability of all people to thrive, not just exist.
Our spiritual and humanitarian values compel us to act.
We believe that all people have the right to live in peaceful communities and participate fully in the decisions that affect their lives.
We believe that human imagination and energy can inspire innovative solutions to any problem, no matter how intractable.
We believe that it is our duty to be effective stewards of the financial resources entrusted to us.
Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. We pursue this mission through:
Emergency relief services that assist people afflicted by conflict or disaster.
Sustainable economic development that integrates agriculture, health, housing and infrastructure, economic development, education and environment, and local management.
Civil society initiatives that promote citizen participation, accountability, conflict management
All over the world, millions of innocent people are caught up in intolerable situations. But they are not today's victims; they are tomorrow's heroes, who have the power to transform their own communities.
The agency is currently involved in these geographic areas:
Africa Ethiopia, Liberia, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Latin America Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua
Balkans Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia
Caucasus Azerbaijan, Georgia
Central Asia Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
East Asia China, East Timor, Indonesia, Kiribati, Mongolia, North Korea
Middle East Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, West Bank/Gaza
North America Gulf Coast Response, Mercy Corps Conflict Management Group, Mercy Corps Northwest, Global Envision
South Asia Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Website Here
Donate Here
Doctor's without Borders. 12.01.06 // Add comment
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in more than 70 countries.
Each year, MSF doctors, nurses, logisticians, water-and-sanitation experts, administrators, and other medical and non-medical professionals depart on more than 4,700 aid assignments. They work alongside more than 25,800 locally hired staff to provide medical care.
In emergencies and their aftermath, MSF provides essential health care, rehabilitates and runs hospitals and clinics, performs surgery, battles epidemics, carries out vaccination campaigns, operates feeding centers for malnourished children, and offers mental health care. When needed, MSF also constructs wells and dispenses clean drinking water, and provides shelter materials like blankets and plastic sheeting.
Through longer-term programs, MSF treats patients with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, sleeping sickness, and HIV/AIDS, and provides medical and psychological care to marginalized groups such as street children.
MSF was founded in 1971 as the first nongovernmental organization to both provide emergency medical assistance and bear witness publicly to the plight of the people it assists. A private nonprofit association, MSF is an international network with sections in 19 countries.
MSF is often one of the first humanitarian organizations to arrive at the scene of an emergency. Its large-scale logistical capacity ensures that MSF emergency teams hit the ground with the specialized medical kits and equipment they need to start saving lives immediately.
Custom-designed by MSF for specific field situations, geographic conditions, and climates, a kit may contain a complete operating room, for example, or all of the supplies needed to treat hundreds of cholera patients. MSF kits and medical protocols have been replicated by relief organizations worldwide.
MSF has proven expertise in the field of epidemiology and is often called on to monitor, diagnose, and control outbreaks of diseases, such as cholera, meningitis, and measles.
Independent Humanitarian Action
MSF's decision to intervene in any country or crisis is based solely on an independent assessment of people's needs — not on political, economic, or religious interests. MSF does not take sides or intervene according to the demands of governments or warring parties.
MSF volunteers frequently work in the most remote or dangerous parts of the world. When crises unfold, they make themselves and their skills available on short notice, usually dedicating six to twelve months to each assignment. Their expenses are covered and they receive a modest stipend.
MSF teams are composed of international volunteers and skilled local staff. Together, they work closely with national medical professionals and cooperate with other aid organizations.
Speaking Out to End Suffering
MSF unites direct medical care with a commitment to speaking out against the causes of suffering and the obstacles to providing effective assistance. MSF volunteers raise the concerns of their patients with governments, the United Nations, other international bodies, the general public, and the media. In a wide range of circumstances, MSF volunteers have spoken out against violations of international humanitarian law they have witnessed — from Chechnya to Sudan.
Based on its field experience, MSF is addressing obstacles preventing people in the developing world from obtaining affordable, effective treatments for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Through its Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, MSF is advocating to lower drug prices, stimulate research and development of new treatments, and overcome trade and other barriers to accessing treatments.
In the United States and worldwide, MSF raises public awareness of the plight of people at risk. The organization sends field volunteers and staff to speak at international and national conferences, and arranges informational events and traveling exhibitions. Special public education projects have addressed the stark realities of living without access to medicines, the devastation caused by malnutrition, and the hardships of life in a refugee camp.
Financial Independence and Accountability
To maintain its operational independence and flexibility, MSF relies on the general public for nearly 80 percent of its operating funds. The remaining 20 percent of funds come from international agencies and governments. The organization counted more than 3.1 million individuals, foundations, corporations, and nonprofit organizations among its donors worldwide in 2004. In 2004, MSF's worldwide income was $568 million. In the United States, nearly 380,000 private donors contributed more than $91 million to MSF-USA.
Website Here
Donate Here
U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program 11.01.06 // Add comment
With Christmas coming up next month I thought this would be a good one...
U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program
MISSION: The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.
GOAL: The primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a shiny new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders.
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of Toys for Tots are to help needy children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation's most valuable natural resources - our children; to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to better communities in the future.
ACTIVITIES: The principal Toys for Tots activities which take place each year are the collection and distribution of toys in the communities in which a Marine Corps Reserve Unit is located and in communities without a Reserve Unit that has a Marine Corps League Detachment or group of men and women, generally veteran Marines, authorized by Marine Toys for Tots Foundation to conduct a local Toys for Tots campaign. Local Toys for Tots Campaign Coordinators conduct an array of activities throughout the year, which include golf tournaments, foot races, bicycle races and other purely voluntary events designed to increase interest in Toys for Tots, and concurrently generate toy and monetary donations.
Website Here
Donate Here