John has much experience working in the philanthropic world, and takes great interest in charitable goings on today.

Missoula Food Bank

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By JohnPosted In: Feeding AmericaTagged: ,

The Missoula Food Bank seeks, quite simply, to feed the hungry in Missoula.  That is its short-term goal.  Long-term, it is attempting to overall reduce the incidence of hunger in the neighborhood and how it impacts the entire community.  Every year, the food bank distributes over 250 tons of food (including fresh, canned, baked and baby items) to the residents in the area. Ultimately through this work, it serves around a thousand households per month.

Along with a full-time staff, the food bank is also blessed with many volunteers who work tirelessly for the organization’s efforts.  Aside from food distribution, the Missoula Food Bank has a free store; a ROOTS program for those who are home-bound or low income; a Café for kids that gives out lunches for those children that may not get a good meal during school vacations, and more.

The San Francisco Food Bank

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The San Francisco Food Bank is all about feeding the hungry of San Francisco and Marin.  The charitable organization’s mission is to help people not starve, and not have to choose between rent and food or other basic necessities.  Unfortunately, this very much is the case for the people living in these areas so the San Francisco Food Bank was set up nearly 25 years ago to collect and repackage many thousands of pounds of food which it thereafter distributes to soup kitchens, grocery centers, educational programs and the elderly.

Every week, more than 200,000 people are the recipients of food from the Food Bank.  Each day, a staggering 93,000 meals are made. Thus, through its vital work, this organization links up people and food, also by working with more than 450 nonprofit partners.

The Food Bank receives food from various different sources including: grocery stores, processors and the USDA.  Sometimes food is given as it is approaching its code date; other times because it is misshapen and still other times as the company simply made too much. We have a bunch of volunteers working for us who deal with the food at our warehouse, so we save money on otherwise having to employ around 50 full-time staff members.  It is our intention to feed as many of the hungry as possible, ensuring the people of San Francisco and Marin do not go to bed starving or need to worry about where their next meal is coming from.

Pedro Zaragoza Fuentes Helps Rehabilitate Community Center

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The Francisco I. Modero Community Center has recently been rehabilitated in Juarez, Mexico with three million square feet of construction and an area of one thousand meters square.  The center was redone with an investment of 29 million pesos for infrastructure and 19 million for equipment.

The new center was inaugurated on Friday with a long list of important government officials.  The opening saw Secretary of Social Development Heriberto Felix Guerra, Governor Cesar Duarte, Mayor Hector Murguia, businessman Pedro Zaragoza and Magdy Martinez of the United Nations Organization present.

The center teaches more than 30 workshops such as carpentry, cooking, sewing and pastries, computer classes, English, sports and more.  There are also art workshops sponsored by the Federal Government that include drama, music and dance.  This is the only community center in Juarez of the 41 that has a pool, two soccer fields, two basketball courts and a dome.

Here is an example of the many charitable activities that the Pedro Zaragoza Vizcarra Foundation does.

 

Cellphones for Soldiers

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Connecting to Soldiers to Their Loved Ones

In 2004, Brittany and Robbie Bergquist set up Cellphones for Soldiers using a mere $21 from their own pockets.  At the time, the siblings were 13 and 12 respectively.  Today, the worthy charitable organization has raised more than $7m in donations.  As a result, more than 500,000 pre-paid calling cards have been sent to American soldiers overseas, which equals 114 million minutes of free talk time.  Now the plan is to convert old cellular phones into around 12 million minutes of prepaid calling cards for these soldiers.  To make this happen, the charity needs to collect 50,000 old cellphones every month.

Through its incredible work, Cell Phones for Soldiers has enhanced the lives of soldiers and their loved ones, by facilitating their communication connectivity through otherwise impossible circumstances. These soldiers – working for all of America – receive free communication tools wherever they are stationed.  Anything that is donated that equals $5 (a used phone or a monetary contribution) results in 2.5 hours of free talk time for soldiers.

According to Bob Bergquist, Brittany and Robbie’s father, “Cell Phones for Soldiers started as a small way to show our family's appreciation for the men and women who have sacrificed the day-to-day contact with their own families to serve in the U.S. armed forces.  Over the past few years, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of others. But, we have also seen the need to support our troops continue to grow as more troops are sent overseas for longer assignments.”

 

Helping Women Achieve

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Today, there are many ways to give back to others.  Some people enjoy focusing their charitable attention on children’s causes and others emphasize issues of poverty; a lesser known resource for charitable energy is to help women to achieve their professional goals and to help them to raise themselves up economically and professionally.

There are quite a few women’s organizations today that do just this.  While offering financial contributions and donations to women in need, they also offer women the tools to create their own financial stability.

The National Association for Women Business Owners, for instance, formed the NAWBO Institute for Entrepreneurial Development in 2003.  Donations offered to the Institute help them to develop programs and initiatives that will propel women entrepreneurs further along towards their success. This non-profit educational foundation, and an arm of the NAWBO, tries to strengthen the wealth creating capacity for women business owners and to help them to further their entrepreneurial goals.

Another organization, W.O.M.E.N. in America, has created a highly-regarded mentoring program to help women who are early in their careers to build leadership skills and to create an invaluable support network for their future achievement.  Their three year mentorship program enables women to learn from the experience of others while reaching for their professional goals. In addition, after women complete the first two years of the three year program, W.O.M.E.N. in America emphasizes the idea of “Pay It Forward.” As W.O.M.E.N. in America explains, during the third year participants will “be invited at the end of the year to present updates on their “Pay It Forward” projects to the Board or at a Quad Cluster meeting.” At the end of their “Pay It Forward” year, mentees are then inducted into the W.O.M.E.N. in America Alumnae Network.

A third organization, Forte Foundation, is a collection of major corporations and top business schools that have come together to help direct talented women to become business leaders. Founded in 2001 to address the results of the landmark research study, “Women and the MGBA: Gateway to Opportunity,” they help women to gain a strong footing in the business world.  They motivate young women to explore business as a career choice, increase women’s access to educational and business opportunities, support women financially in their business education pursuits, and support cutting-edge research on women and business.  Forte Foundation depends on its many sponsors and collaborators which include business schools, corporations and nonprofit organizations to help today’s women to succeed in the business environment.

These three organizations, the NAWBO, W.O.M.E.N. in America and Forte Foundation, are a few examples of the many organizations out there that are helping women to achieve.  As the expression goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  These organizations are, indeed, offering to teach women so that they will be able to feed themselves for a lifetime.

 

Giving Hope to Cancer Patients

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: , , , , ,

All cancer patients need hope. No matter what their prognosis, feeling some kind of hope is the only way they can carry on.  Thus the City of Hope – nearly 100 years old – is a phenomenal charitable organization that helps these patients live with a little hope.  The organization is recognized around the globe for how compassionate it is toward patient care.  As well City of Hope is a leader in biomedical research and treatment and education institution, engaging in innovative scientific projects, and developing breakthroughs in the world of cancer research that ultimately result in new therapies, which have led to the improvement of the patients’ quality of life and have thus again given more hope to these patients.  Indeed, some of the biggest advances in modern medicine have come from the organization’s physicians and scientists who have “offered insights that have reshaped the world's understanding of diseases.”

The City of Hope is located near LA, California.  Director of the Beckman Research Institute of the organization is Dr. Richard Jove, who is also a professor of Molecular Medicine.  He studied at Columbia University, Rockefeller University and the State University of New York, Buffalo.

Environmental Protection

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The International Rivers Network (more commonly known as International Rivers) was established to help the environment in general, but more specifically the rivers and the neighboring communities.  Set up more than a quarter of a century ago, the charity focuses on how to preserve the rivers in their most natural habitat.  The construction of dams are fought harshly against and International Rivers tries to encourage water saving habits.  As well, the organization seeks ways of preventing tough floods.

International Rivers works with other organizations too, in order to efficiently achieve the best results.  Particularly active are those individuals and communities impacted directly by dam constructions, as well as those wanting to protect the environment while looking out for its future.  As well, there are many experts in the field seeking ways of looking for alternatives to destructive river projects.  The main thrust of the work takes place in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Pedro Clean Up

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Drinking Water Distributed – Free for the Southeast and West

Pedro Zaragoza Vizcarra Foundation, Lucerne Milk BipGas, will join the Board of Municipal Water and Sanitation (JMAS) to distribute free water in the southern colonies (east and west of the city) that are currently not connected to such a facility.

Veronica Jimenez, director of the Foundation, said two trucks belonging to the enterprise will be distributed, on a schedule, as of today in 22 colonies.  She said that around 6,000 families will benefit from this, being the recipients of 800 liters of water on each distribution day.

Tankers have a capacity to charge between 15 thousand liters of water per trip. According to the schedule in the division, every Monday the trucks will go to Plazuela de Acuña, San Rafael, Plazuelita and Tarahumara. On Tuesday they will go to Golden Valley, Desert Farms and Eye of God. By Wednesday, the tour begins in Loma Blanca, then  Emiliano Zapata and will end in in San Isidro Extension. Thursday’s schedule will be in Lomas de Poleo Alto, Lomas de Poleo Low, Santa Elena Farm and New Millennium.  On Friday it will go to Polo Gamboa, Peasant, Villa Esperanza, United Farm Bello Horizonte.  The schedule will begin daily, at 10 am prompt.

The families concerned will be contacted by the Foundation which will also be in touch with the Bipgas and Lucerne Group to provide trucks, drivers’ salaries and water transfer.  It was also indicated that over the hot summer months, the high temperatures that affect our city impacts everyone but it is the children and low-income seniors who do not have the basic service of water in their homes, so are more exposed to health problems who are the most vulnerable.  Jimenez also pointed out that this program is activated each year by the Foundation and the Zaragoza group, generating very good results.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation seeks to “help all people lead healthy, productive lives.”  It firmly believes all lives have “equal value” and thus tries to provide the resources people are lacking to ensure they have enough food and live above the poverty line.  Health and (adequate) wealth are the foundation’s main aims.  In America, the charitable organization (headquartered in Seattle, Washington) works toward facilitating and enabling access to educational opportunities for all, leading to a greater chance of being successful in life. The foundation’s co-chair is William H. Gates Sr., CEO Jeff Raikes, and directed by Bill and Melinda Gates as well as Warren Buffet.  Their mission is to “increase opportunities for people in developing countries to overcome hunger and poverty.”

The three main areas the foundation works in are: Global Development, Global Health, and United States.  In the first, work is done to reach as many people as possible in the areas that have the most potential for “high-impact, sustainable solutions”; in the second, attempts are made for progression in science and technology to save lives in poor countries, focusing on health issues and in the third, the  United States Program work, is geared towards citizens achieving the best – and most – education possible.

Central Neighbourhood House

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The Central Neighbourhood House, is Toronto, Canada’s second oldest settlement house. For the past century, both staff and volunteers have been working together with the neighbourhood to find out what is missing in their lives and what the House can offer.  It has been working for this goal since 1911.  There are many gaps in society unfortunately, and this is what the CNH recognizes through its efforts. 

Therefore, we offer: childcare services; a variety of programs for children and youth; special club for women; stroke survivors club; in-home services; a program for vulnerable seniors; a community development program; a supportive housing initiative; street survivors initiative and more.

The CNH has been located in various different neighbourhoods throughout the last century due to economic concerns or to move to a bigger place so it could develop and offer more services.  Today the CNH can be found at 349 Ontario Street, where it has been for more than 40 years.

The House tries very hard to provide much needed services, but at the same time to offer extra-curricular activities for children so that it’s not all just about need, but fun too.  For example, there has been a music school; a dressmaking course and more.  The idea is that those in need should get more than just what they need; they should get what they want and enjoy too.