Our world seems a little chaotic these days, so in light of Giving Tuesday we have put together a list of Nerdy and Women-Based charities to direct your good towards this year. Let’s help make the world a better place:
International Rescue Committee
In the words of a Disney-based red crab, “the human world, it’s a mess.” Thankfully, there are groups like the International Rescue Committee here to help. Vetted with a 91% on CharityNavigator.org (a great site if you’re wanting a better idea of what groups stand for), this organization goes to the areas where people need the most help. The IRC was founded in 1933 after Albert Einstein called for support for those who had been displaced by war.
What stood out to me was the option to donate a year of school to a girl. Education for women is not an assumed right in a large portion of the world. Much of the time due to economic hardships, such as caring for family members or having to spend six hours a day to find drinking water, education is pushed aside.
How can you help? Rescue.org features a wealth of options to help women, including sending a girl to school or even helping a woman starting a business. You can donate in your name or send the option as a thoughtful gift in the name of someone you admire.
Wikipedia
Okay, chances are you’ve signed onto Wikipedia a time or two and have seen that warning window at the top asking you to donate $2.75. DO IT. It only takes a minute and it helps keep Wikipedia free. You can also pay with Paypal or your Amazon account.
Solight Designs
Whether its relying on Kerosene or Gasoline, people in need often lack the energy to keep the lights on. Solight has created a portable solar puff that does not produce gases and possibly put folks in danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. They offer the chance to Donate Light on their webpage. It’s easy to support and you can direct the area where you’d like the light to go.
DonorsChoose
Today (December 3rd) Donors Choose is matching 50% to donations made on their website. This group allows folks to pick a classroom and help support them. This can be anything from helping provide better seating, to one teacher trying to purchase a set of the Neil Gaiman book Coraline for her class. If teachers and children are your passion, this is a great place to check out.
Book Trust
It’s a sad state of affairs that in some places in the United States there’s the equivalent of one book per 300 students. That’s crazy! Book Trust helps rural and low-income communities afford books for students and encourages a love of reading.
Make a Wish Foundation
Chances are you’ve already heard of this one, but Make a Wish does excellent work bringing experiences to critically ill children. This can be a trip to Disneyland, a chance to meet their hero, or sometimes even just a family vacation.
Scares That Care
Want a little horror with your helping? Scares that care is an organization that donates money to people experiencing major illnesses, burns, and breastcancer by providing $10,000 to each chosen family. They got the name after horror legend Kane Hodder expanded the organization.
I keep coming back to this one, so you probably know about it by now. Exodus Road is an organization that puts themselves in the path of sex traffickers and brings home women, girls, and boys that have been sold into the trade or kidnapped. Their missions are often dangerous. When you donate, you can receive text messages and emails showing when a raid has happened and how many people have been rescued. If I had to choose a favorite charity, it would be this one.
RAICES
Kids in cages is not cool. Want to help separated or detained families at the border? RAICES is a killer place to donate and they have a fantastic reputation.
We are not here to start a debate on abortion. We are here to state that women are now 50% more likely to die in childbirth than our mothers, and that number jumps dramatically for women of color. This is first and foremost because many women simply cannot afford the services it takes to have a healthy pregnancy or general reproductive help. Planned Parenthood helps women get the very basic services they need for their reproductive health, like exams and testing.
