{Organic Wednesday} Charity

CharityWatch is a nationally prominent charity watchdog service whose purpose is to help donors make informed giving decisions. Their web site will provide you with information about their organization, the charities they rated, and their method of grading charities. Other features include tips for giving wisely, a helpful-hints guide for getting the most for the dollars you donate; tips for online giving; answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ); and useful and interesting articles on a variety of topics relating to charitable giving; and more.

How does your favorite charity rate? Of the over five-hundred charities currently rated by CharityWatch, only a select number qualify for their listing of Top-Rated charities based on their rigorous analysis. Groups included on the Top-Rated list generally spend 75% or more of their budgets on programs, spend $25 or less to raise $100 in public support, do not hold excessive assets in reserve, and receive "open-book" status for disclosure of basic financial information and documents to CharityWatch.  http://www.charitywatch.org/

After looking at their many highly rated charities, here are my TOP choices of the "A" organizations:

http://www.awionline.org

Since 1951, the Animal Welfare Institute has been dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people.

http://www.thp.org

The Hunger Project (THP) is a global, non-profit, strategic organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. In Africa, South Asia and Latin America, THP seeks to end hunger and poverty by empowering people to lead lives of self-reliance, meet their own basic needs and build better futures for their children.

http://www.bbbs.org

Big Brother Big Sister, positively impact a child for the better, forever.

Also on December 11th CNN broadcasted an amazing show about Heroes. Many tears were shed! The top ten were selected from more than 10,000 nominations submitted online on the CNN Heroes website. 

These four really touched my heart! 

American Widow Project: provided support to more than 900 military widows since 2007.

Global Soap Project: recycles partially used hotel soap to save lives in impoverished countries.

Yayasan Bumi Sehat: Robin Lim and her team have helped thousands of low-income women have a healthy birthing experience.

World Access Project: provided hundreds of wheelchairs to people in rural Mexico.

But there were so many great stories and you must read more and donate if you can here:

http://www.google.com/landing/cnnheroes/2011/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/

http://www.facebook.com/CNNHeroes

How do you donate? What charities do you support? Will/did you make a donation for your wedding?
I like to donate my blood as much as I can to The Blood Alliance and support our local Humane Society