S/O Charities? causes? What do you like?

One of my fb friends is a missionary in Bolivia. I made a donation to help send kids to camp and have Christmas presents.

Elephants. Specifically the care of captive elephants that have been performing all of their lives and have now been turned over to sanctuary.

Global Sanctuary for Elephants is a non profit organization started by Americans for the elephants in Brazil which will accommodate all elephants in South America. They recently took in their first two elephants a month ago and did so very quickly or the elephants would have been turned over to an aquarium.

They are literally trying to get the land ready to take elephants... Build fences, barns etc. In South America they have more than enough elephants ready to go to sanctuary, but they can't take them yet. In America, they have the sanctuary but getting the elephants is hard.

The founders are Scott and Kat who also founded The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee

Unicef has always been my favorite charity, although it isn't new or unusual. Remember to check out any charity before giving money by reading the reviews on Charity Watchdog, or other similar sites. It's a good idea to check more than one site. 

I am a sucker for animal related causes. I recently became aware of a rescue called Flying Fur. The organization rents small planes to remove animals (mostly dogs) from impoverished areas of the south east states and brings them to rescues in the New Jersey area. His Facebook posts are simultaneously heart breaking and heart warming. 

The goal is to be able to buy a small plane to be able to rescue more animals. 

Here's a link to the site. I'm not affiliated with this organization. 
Flying Fur

Rails to Trails (converts old railroad beds to bike trails) because we, especially dh spend a lot of time on them.

Ali Forney Center through Amazon. The nation's largest homeless LGBT youth services provider, from their wishlist on Amazon. They list their current needs. I buy whatever fits my budget. Amazon mails the items directly to them.--They were recommended by another pea and I've been donating to them ever since.

My nephew is a Make A Wish kid. The funding is more difficult than you would think. He has two sponsors. They stay with him until gets his transplant or he makes the transition. He did a shopping spree for a room makeover because when he does have a transplant he will live in room once he's home from the hospital And even there he will be very limited.

Local food pantry, local hospice, local foundation to support families in need, our local Edfund educational grants. We also support Cancer research via Dana Farber, and The Nature Conservancy.

When my cousins baby was born with CHARGE and spent months in the hospital I started donating to the CHARGE Foundation as well as a local group who she receives services from. When the ice bucket challenge was going on 2 summers ago i refused to participate so I donated to CHARGE rather than ALS. By posting that on Facebook I was able to convince several other friends to donate to CHARGE as well. They do good work for a pretty rare disease that will severely affect my cousins little girl.

Oh, and we like to keep our giving as close to our community as possible. The local animal shelter, food pantry, church, the Victms Assistance division of our police dept and The Salvation Army.

I take my little grandson with me & we deliver checks. I hope we will be able to do this together for many years. The director of the animal shelter always comes out to thank us & asks where I would like the money to go. I always answer for medical care for pets injured in the streets. The director of the victim's assistance dept always has tears as she tells me how my check will help. I want my grandson to understand how we are helping people.

I support dog rescues.  I like inner city rescues and ones for older/senior dogs. 

@knot I love the way you are including your grandson. If I hear of an individual need (like somebody local's house burned down) I sometimes present it to my kids to see if we would like to make a donation. It was something important to my dh especially after we received so much help. So I have funds set aside for this purpose.

A guy I graduated high school with works with troubled youth. He purchased TWO houses to be used as group homes for boys. These kids are loved and invested in. We made a donation to help him purchase one of the houses and sent $ for Christmas gifts last year. We'll do the same this year.

What a wonderful idea!

I give to the children's hospital where I work, because I see the amazing things done every day and hear the stories of the children and families who are helped through philanthropy. I also give to the children's social service agency where I worked prior to this job, also because I know the stories & where the money goes.

Otherwise, we give locally to a homeless organization, local YWCA which has a domestic violence shelter and nationally to Planned Parenthood and our alma maters.

My friend started a charity 501c3 that is now currently an art center where they provide art for those who need it by charging a membership for others to do art and take classes there. They often have events for special needs or boys and girls club etc. She raises money for all sorts of good causes and as far as I'm aware she's never taken a salary. She also does things like collect socks and sleeping bags for the homeless. She makes giving fun and is a wonderful person.

charitywings.org