Giving Back on #GivingTuesday

As many of you know, today is “Giving Tuesday,” a day that emerged as a response to the commercial insanity of Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving in which the pre-holidays merchandise stampede for savings begins (continuing on CyberMonday and throughout the weeks from Thanksgiving to Christmas). Here at GrokNation, we thought we’d share a few of our staff’s favorite charities and initiatives to support on #GivingTuesday or any other time when we feel moved to donate to good causes. (All language describing these organizations is from their official websites, linked below.)

How do you give? Who will you be supporting this #GivingTuesday or in the weeks ahead?

Jewish Free Loan Association of Los Angeles  offers interest-free loans on a non-sectarian basis to individuals and families whose needs are urgent and who may not qualify through normal financial resources. Interest-free loans instead of charity fill an important gap in our social system by promoting self-sufficiency with dignity. Help people get interest-free loans by donating here.

Gift of Life bone marrow foundation is an international public bone marrow and blood stem cell registry. Through its life-saving work, Gift of Life is a world leader in facilitating transplants for children and adults suffering from many life-threatening diseases, like leukemia and lymphoma. Donate here to fund donor kits that help add donors to the registry.

Concern Foundation is an independent, volunteer-driven organization conceived in 1968 by a group of friends who wanted to make sure their dollars counted in the fight against cancer. With 90-95%  of net proceeds going directly to cancer research, Concern has raised more than $57 million dollars and funded 750 cancer research scientists studying cancer, primarily in the areas of cancer genetics, cell biology, and immunology. By specifically targeting promising post-doctoral scientists and providing critically needed “seed” money for innovative projects, Concern Foundation bridges the gap that currently exists in the scientific research community. Donate here.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI provides aid through their education programs, public policy, helpline and public awareness events and activities. Donations made today will be matched – see here for details and to donate.

Prader-Willi Syndrome Association PWSA (USA) Angel Drive, a year-end fundraising initiative, has for 19 years raised funds to support families who have a loved one with PWS. We provide support to families in all 50 states and 33 countries. Our support activities include assisting with medical emergencies and school issues, Medicaid waivers, residential placement, assisting families who are dealing with behavior or medical issues, and many other daily support activities requested by the families who have loved ones with PWS. Our new parent support and mentoring program will serve over 200 newly diagnosed clients in 2016.

Planned Parenthood is a trusted health care provider, an informed educator, a passionate advocate, and a global partner helping similar organizations around the world. Planned Parenthood delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of women, men, and young people worldwide. Donate here.

The Dinner Party is a community of people (mostly in their 20s and 30s) out to change the way we approach loss and life after. Through beautiful, unstructured dinner parties hosted by friends for friends, we invite those who’ve experienced significant loss – whether a parent, a child, a partner, a sibling, or a friend – to dive into long-tabooed territory, sharing a defining part of ourselves that rarely sees the light of day. Rather than treat loss as the ultimate conversation-killer, we’re using it to inspire some of our most profound conversations and deepest relationships. Since December 2013, we’ve grown from a few dozen friends and friends-of-friends to a community of more than 3,000, active at more than 230 tables in 119 cities and towns. Find a table here, or support TheDinnerParty.org here.

Modern Loss is a place to share the unspeakably taboo, unbelievably hilarious, and unexpectedly beautiful terrain of navigating your life after a death. This project grew out of two friends’ separate experiences with sudden loss, and their struggle to find resources that weren’t too clinical, overtly religious, patronizing or, frankly, cheesy. Support ModernLoss.com here.

St. Baldrick’s Foundation is the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, having awarded more than $200 million to support lifesaving research since 2005. St. Baldrick’s funds are granted to some of the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts in the world and to younger professionals who will be the experts of tomorrow. Funds awarded also enable hundreds of local institutions to participate in national pediatric cancer clinical trials, and the new International Scholar grants train researchers working in developing countries. Click here to support the 36 Rabbis initiative (co-founded by GN writer Rebecca Schorr and which has raised over 1.4 million in memory of Sammy Sommer) or another of St. Baldrick’s initiatives here.

Hilarity for Charity is a movement led by Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen to inspire change and raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease among the millennial generation. They established the Hilarity for Charity Fund as part of the Alzheimer’s Association, through which monies raised are directed to help families struggling with Alzheimer’s care, increase support groups nationwide, and fund cutting edge research. Since its inception, Hilarity for Charity has raised more than $6.5 million to support these efforts. You can support Hilarity for Charity here.