Five Favorite Non-Profit Organizations

There are times when I'm spending so much money on luxuries that I become disgusted with myself. Right now, I made a deal with my Dad to put twenty five dollars into a bank account every month for the next year, then go after Final Four Basketball Tickets for 2013. Along with that, I've been buying teeshirts off of TeeFury, Ript Apparel, and Shirt.Woot like crazy. Sure, they've been great designs, but my wardrobe doesn't actually NEED them. 

Anyway, this blog post isn't just to say what a stupid spoiled brat I am. I try to even things out by Decreasing Worldsuck. There are easy ways, like sending a card to a child who has cancer or playing Free Rice, but I try to give twenty dollars to charity each month. Some months I can't do that (just like how I'm likely to skip the basketball deal during August, when my car insurance is due), but I try.

I went through websites yesterday and collected up my Top Five Favorite Non-Profit Organizations. Here they are, in no particular order:

1.) The Harry Potter Alliance.

I'm extremely bias on this, since I'm a member, but I love the HPA. They do programs like Helping Haiti Heal and Accio Books. They run smoothly and generally have a great program. They support the values shown in the Harry Potter Books. If you haven't already, you should check them out.

2.) This Star Won't Go Out.

If you're a Nerdfighter, you've heard John talk about this foundation. Esther was a Nerdfighter with cancer who died last year, when she was 16. The foundation supports families who need help paying for the medical care a child with cancer need. Esther was awesome and would have been proud of this organization.

3.) Donors Choose.

I especially like this program because I value education. I really like how you donate to a specific program and can choose how much you donate goes to administrative fees. My father refuses to donate to anything that has over 15% administrative fees, so I was happy to find this program that lets you choose how much goes to them. I like choosing the literacy programs, but I know some of my friends donate for the math ones. It's great because you know where your money is going.

4.) Reach Out and Read. 

I'm rather new to this program, but Katie pointed it out to me a few days ago. It's the program that Reading Relay will be donating their proceeds to in May. This program promotes reading from six months and up and breaches the gap between English and Science. Doctors prescribe books to families and encourage them to read to their kids aloud. They also fill the waiting room with toys that will promote literacy, rather than televisions that shut kids up. 

5.) ShelterBox.

ShelterBox was introduced to me through Maureen Johnson's Twitter. ShelterBox is an organization that goes to the current place of crisis to help families immediately. People can go in together to buy a shelterbox, or they can buy a shelterbox themselves. The program is super successful and does a great job.