Cooperative Living November/December 2016 - 23

WebTalk | by Laura Emery, Field Editor
'Tis the Season to Give Back
Ideas on choosing which charitable organization to support this holiday season.
I
Angel Tree - www.prisonfellowship.org/
angeltree
Right now, an estimated 2.7 million
children have a parent in prison. The
number is huge - but so is the opportunity
to help these children. According to the
organization's website, " For these children,
their story may be filled with the
abandonment, loneliness and shame that
come from having a mom or dad in prison.
For many, it may also include following
their parents down the same destructive
road to incarceration. Angel Tree, a program
of Prison Fellowship, reaches out to the
children of prisoners and their families. "
Through Angel Tree, you can help meet
the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs
of these families. The program provides an
opportunity to connect with these families
and begin ministering to them at
Christmas and then continue through a
variety of year-round ministry opportunities.
Trees for Troops - www.treesfortroops.org
Trees for Troops, a program of the
Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, provides
real Christmas trees to armed forces
members and their families in the U.S. and
stationed overseas. Since 2005, more than
176,000 free farm-grown Christmas trees
have been provided to troops and military
families in the United States and overseas
through Trees for Troops. Thousands of
trees have been donated by growers and
the public, and FedEx has provided the
in-kind service of shipping these trees to
more than 60 military bases while logging
more than 573,000 ground miles.
Make-A-Wish - wish.org
Make this holiday season special by
helping a child's dream come true. MakeA-Wish's
unique holiday-donation options
will help grant the wishes of children with
life-threatening medical conditions. Since
1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has
www.co-opliving.com
Toys For Tots - www.toysfortots.org
Donate a new toy or give a donation to
help make Christmas a little brighter for a
needy child in your community. The
mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
Toys For Tots Program is to collect new,
f there's ever a season to give to those in need, it's around Thanksgiving and Christmas. During these
months we take time to give gifts, cherish family and reconnect with old friends. It's also the time when
many feel the desire to spread good cheer by giving to charities. Our spirit of giving soars during the holidays.
How do you choose which charitable organization to support? The first step is to know which
organizations are out there, and that's where the internet comes in. We can't list every charitable website,
but here are some top picks for charitable giving during this holiday season.
been enriching the lives of children with
life-threatening medical conditions
through its wish-granting work. Whether
it's a wish to meet a favorite celebrity or a
desire to dance with professional
ballerinas, the Foundation grants wishes to
children who struggle to keep hope in the
face of enormous adversity. By giving to
this organization, you're helping make
dreams come true.
Salvation Army - www.salvationarmy.org
The Salvation Army fundraising
campaigns are conducted locally and
regionally. There is no fundraising at the
national level. The organization gets its
funds through traditional Christmas-kettle
campaigns, direct-mail programs, corporate
and foundation gifts, planned giving and
government contracts. The red kettles and
bell-ringers are perhaps the most visible
community-wide Salvation Army program.
During the holidays, the nickels, dimes
and dollars put into the kettles provide
needy families with Thanksgiving and
Christmas dinners, gifts for children, coats
and shoes for needy kids, and visits to the
elderly and imprisoned who have no one
to care for them.
Samaritan's Purse/Operation Christmas Child -
www.samaritanspurse.org
This is a unique project of Samaritan's
Purse that enables caring people to share
love with hurting girls and boys in the far
corners of the globe. Take an ordinary
shoe box, fill it with toys and other
presents, and you have an extraordinary
gift for a child in need of joy and hope.
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. 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.
GoodShop - www.goodshop.com
This website's tagline says it all:
" You shop. You save. We give. " Every
time you click over to one of GoodShop's
partner merchants from the GoodShop
site and then make a purchase, your
nonprofit charity or school earns money.
GoodShop is connected with over 114,000
nonprofits and schools, which means that
you can shop for your cause no matter the
scale. And if your local nonprofit or school
isn't listed with the website, it's an easy
process to get it added to the list. The
GoodShop concept is simple and
compelling. It makes giving as easy
as shopping.
The United Way - www.unitedway.org
With the United Way, a little goes a
long way. It is a coalition of charitable
organizations that has traditionally pooled
efforts in fundraising. United Way's focus
is on community building through local
partnerships with government,
foundations, schools, and other
organizations. United Way focuses on
education, income and health - three
major elements of a prosperous
community. The community-based
organization believes working on these
core issues creates a win-win situation
for the majority of the community. It's
not so much one-on-one as it is
all-for-one. 
November-December 2016 | Cooperative Living | 21

http://www.prisonfellowship.org/ http://www.salvationarmy.org http://www.goodshop.com http://www.treesfortroops.org http://www.unitedway.org http://www.samaritanspurse.org http://www.wish.org http://www.toysfortots.org http://www.co-opliving.com

Cooperative Living November/December 2016

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