Author: Cieana Detloff (yes, I love to hug people!)
This time of year is about congregating, looking back on the good times, and filling our hearts with hope for the future. One of the best ways I can think to show my gratitude is by donating to organizations that really mean a lot to me, so this year, I wanted to share with you some of the organizations I will be personally donating to support their missions. And especially on #GivingTuesday, when there is more awareness around all “THE GOOD” that is being done around the world.
Led by co-founders Shonali Ditz and Tiernan Murrell, Sparkshop is an incredible non-profit that is working to empower and inspire children in Chicago. “We must expose students to the opportunities that exist in the technical fields, because if we don’t, students miss out on a lifetime of compelling, fulfilling, and high-paying work,” declares this dynamic duo. “At SparkShop, we run engineering workshops and provide curriculum and materials for teachers to connect engineering to the humanities. We have $50,000 worth of machinery that we bring to schools who couldn’t otherwise afford them. But more importantly, we provide students and teachers the opportunity to test-run what it’s like to be an engineer, to peek into their futures, and to be imagine where they can grow.” Their goal today is to raise $3,000. Will you help them?
Giving the gift of clean water certainly ignites the passion in my heart, and if you have the same feelings, then consider donating to the H2OpenDoors effort that is working to install a SunSpring solar-powered water filtration system in Aitong, Kenya in July of 2020. This system, which runs off-the-grid on clean energy, can produce 40,000 liters of clean water per day for 10 Years! If you are able to donate *today* on #GivingTuesday, Ello will match your donation to double your impact! 😀 When you donate more than $50, you will receive a Clean Water Bracelet for free as a symbol of your commitment to combatting the global water crisis! Donate more than $100 and Ello will also send you a water bottle or travel mug from the Clean Water line for free as a thank you gift! Get the full details!
Sanitation is equally as important, which is why I am a supporter of Plumbers Without Borders, a non-profit that was started in 2010 after the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti. I had the pleasure of meeting one of the founders, Domenico DiGregorio back in 2015, and I continue to be inspired by this group of volunteer plumbers. If you’re not able to donate today, follow them online and be on the lookout for the Seattle Foundations Give Big Event!
Continuing along this line of sanitation and how it impacts people, I was so happy to hear about W.S. Darley & Company’s corporate donation of $2000 to Global Brigades, who has successfully constructed 76 in-home biogas toilets for families in Ekumpoano. “Giving Tuesday is for Giving Toilets”. I invite you to support this #GivingTuesday initiative to empower these families with in-home access to public health infrastructure. By giving them flush toilets, you can directly impact their health and economic development. Powerful!
When we donate to support other cultures, we enrich our own. Living in Chicago, I am surrounded by people from every ethnicity and places around the globe. I am not ‘culturally isolated’, yet some people have experienced this – one of them who have expressed this is Kimberly Bryant, Founder of Black Girls Code, a non-profit that provides pre-teen girls of color opportunities to learn in-demand skills in technology and computer programming. Donate to keep these girls imagining, building, creating!
Last but not least, there is one more way to participate today! If you cannot donate money, consider voting through the Chicago Foundation for Women to help them select one organization that will receive a special award of $10,000. “Our Giving Councils and Circles have nominated six outstanding organizations to participate in our #GivingTuesday campaign, for their incredible work in health, safety, and opportunity for women and girls in the Chicago region. One organization will be selected by you to be awarded the $10,000 gift, and the remaining five organizations will receive at least $1,000 for their participation, depending on how much is raised on #GivingTuesday.” Watch the videos and learn more about how you can support their #GivingTuesday campaign.
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