Charities Blog

Giving Something Back

Insights from Charities on Recent Japan and Ecuador Disasters

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Japan earthquake relief efforts

Natural disasters such as earthquakes can wreak havoc on the lives of people and properties. The trauma that they bring can last for a long time but thanks to humanitarian efforts, victims of these disasters get their much needed financial help and emotional support. With charities lending a helping hand, people were able to rebuild their lives.

Last year, Nepal suffered greatly from two major quakes that affected its more than eight million citizens. This April, two more countries were shaken by deadly earthquakes, Japan and Ecuador prompting charitable institutions from the different parts of the world to take action. [Read more…]

Malaysia – Is It Becoming a Hot Bed of Human Trafficking?

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Malaysia’s human trafficking has grown significantly over the years. Even though it has not reached the levels of countries like South Korea and Thailand, it is still a serious problem. Men and are being forced into prostitution and labor by the thousands. The victims are mainly migrant workers coming to Malaysia to find work. Because of their undocumented status, it’s easy for them to disappear into the sex trade and other illegal work. The migrant workers have little protection against traffickers. Foreign women are especially vulnerable when working in Malaysia. [Read more…]

Abandoned Animals: What Are Charities Doing To Help?

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A scared dog named “Theo” was rescued after a year of living on the streets of Los Angeles. The images of Theo, from the Mutt Scouts website, shows his before and after pictures. Underneath all the matted hair and dreadlocks was a frightened little dog. He was rescued by Eldad Hager, founder of Hope For Paws, was able to lure the pup to safety with treats and a little love. With the help of Jf Pryor, founder of Mutt Scouts, Theo was able to get help. Shortly after he was taken into custody, he was treated to a haircut and relocated with a foster family.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where this is the reality for many abandoned pets. Luckily for Theo, he was rescued. Many innocent animals face the cruel reality that many people neglect their pets with heart wrenching outcomes.

Why Are There So Many Homeless Pets?

  • Their families relocate to new places that don’t allow pets
  • Sometimes animals accidentally get loose or lost
  • Some people abandon their pets when they can’t handle the responsibility
  • Many cities and towns are banning certain breeds of animals

Numerous people forget that pets are not equipped to fend for themselves. They often assume that animals will be able to find new families or survive off the land. The number of abandoned pets is a serious problem affecting many cities and their pet populations.

What Can People Do To Help?

  • Adopt a shelter animal
  • Protect your pets with appropriate identification or microchips
  • Foster animals for rescue charities
  • Raise awareness about abandoned animals
  • Support local pet rescues by volunteering or donating

Theo managed to get a his happy ending, because of compassionate people who care about abandoned pets. Stav Ozbada, Theo’s foster parent, gave Theo a new leash on life. The small dog is now sporting bowtie collares instead of matted dreads. His soft hair curls and remains clean. Theo’s days now consist of playing with his new pawed friend, Beastly, and his adopted family.

 

Women Victims of WWII Get Strong Support

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During the Second World War, tens or even hundreds of thousands of women in Asia were made as sex slaves by the Japanese soldiers. Not many people knew about this until in the early 1990s when, one by one, these so-called comfort women gradually came out in the open to reveal their tragic stories.

Specifically, it was the women’s movement in South Korean that first raised the issue of forced recruitment of Korean women back in 1990. The movement’s sole purpose is to obtain recognition and compensation for surviving comfort women. A year after in 1991, a former Korean comfort woman testified in public and revealed her suffering during the war.

By 1992, women leaders in Korea and Japan including surviving comfort women and legal experts have called on international organizations to include the United Nations to investigate the matter and conduct hearings.
[Read more…]

Thirst Aid

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The non-profit group has been running for quite sometime since the Tsunami’s of past and they have been filling the gap that left millions of people without clean drinking water. Founded by Curt and Cathy Bradner, an American couple who have given up everything to help the poor people of Myanmar (formerly Burma) many of whom lack basic necessities for safe and healthy living as most of Asia’s developing countries. Myanmar, being run by a Military Junta has been cut-off from the rest of the world by a military that reports directly to their generals. Suspicious of Westerners (mostly Americans) whom they distrust due to criticism they receive from most of the West.

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The couple have been working in the country for quite sometime and have bought Visas (long term) which is a rarity in the country. The tsunamis devastated much of the effected areas contaminating water tables, decaying animals and people who were left without proper burial have also contributed to the pollution which if not corrected, would kill just as many people that were killed during the disaster itself. Disease is the aftermath of any disaster and many of them are spread through contaminated drinking water. Many of the developing world’s diseases are water-borne and the couple who started it all has been working ever since to get safe and clean drinking water to all who needs it. They have focused their efforts on Myanmar due to the utter isolation of the country from the rest of the world.

They sold everything they had and made a promise to get clean and safe drinking water to all who need it. The tsunami ravaged Myanmar was a perfect area for them to operate in due to little or no contact with the outside world. They designed simple filters made of pottery and lined with coconut husks that are capable of filtering out almost all of the harmful bacteria and other contaminants that may be present in the water. It is estimated that every 15 seconds, a child dies form disease caused by drinking untreated or polluted water and they have been fighting ever since to bring their low cost water filters to poor people who do not have much cash to purchase commercial filtration systems. The coconut and earthen filter removes all but the tiniest contaminants with a colloidal silver solution mixed in to kill any deadly pathogens that may still be left in the water. They are then safe for all to drink, especially children whose small bodies can be easily ravaged by disease.

The country is so poor that most live in huts outside of the capital with not much in terms of modern infrastructures to support the country’s growing population. They need help in their projects and their children back home manage and maintain their web site which is one of the ways they earn money for their many projects. They have managed to produce filtration systems that run from car batteries and they are in urgent need of money for funding and other purposes for them to continue helping those who need it the most.

Children Generosity Without Prejudice (From the Archives)

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Charity abounds and it is not limited by age as the charity event sponsored by Save the Children showed many people when they flocked to several locations to support a “Sleep-over” program that aimed to raise awareness and funds for less fortunate kids all over the world. The event was held in June when they also broke records for the most number of children who have participated in an event of the sort anywhere in the world.
Children should be educated in the roles they are to play in this ever troubled world for they are some of the most affected by strife and misery when problems occur. May it be economic turmoil, conflicts or even victims of long past wars, they are the most scarred and abused which leaves them helpless and maimed both physically and mentally unable to deal with life that should have been in front of them.
Most of the world’s displaced children suffer from poverty, crime and other illegal activities such as child labor that they sometimes feel nobody cares for them and their future. Organizations who aim to help them like the UN through UNICEF and other Non-Governmental charities aim to change that and again bring hope into their lives educating them and teaching them all they need to know that would allow them to face tomorrow and see it as bright as it could be.
The event, in partnership with the Autism charity TreeHouse, was successful in showing that children where ever they may be have the power to change and influence their world in their own little ways. More power to the people who makes such events and charities possible, and to the millions of people who give to others in need as we all make this world a better place to live in for all.

World Oceans Day

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wod.jpgJune 8 is designated to be the World Oceans Day and the event started in 2007 with over 50 countries spread over 5 continents participating. Various marine conservation groups have been part of the celebrations which aims to heighten the awareness of the problems our seas are facing as well as the creatures big and small who live in them. We humans are the most destructive beings to ever walk this earth due to the huge amount of destruction we have brought about in our short history as the dominant species on the face of the earth. There are millions of animal and plant species the world over but none has been so to blame for the extinction of the most animals and plants. Deforestation, dumping garbage into the land and sea are just some of the destructive acts we have committed against mother earth and the event aims to educate more and more people as to what we can do to lessen the impact we have on our environment.
This planet of ours has 70% of its total area as bodies of waters and of that 70% not much is known of vast oceans of the world. To this day, scientists are still finding formerly unknown species of plant and animal life from the seas, many of which hold unique and interesting properties that can prove solutions to some of our most pressing problems. The WorldOceanNetwork.org is one of the many organizing bodies which coordinates and provides materials of the scheduled events with organizations such as the Marine Conservation Society of the UK, UNESCO, TheOceanProject.Org, Nature Conservancy and many others taking part in helping our seas get the respect they deserve for theirs and our survival.

Disaster Fatigue

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The term denotes the slow influx of aid and donations form countries that used to be generous enough to send billions of dollars to countries that have been devastated by disasters like the recent catastrophes in Myanmar and China. The government has sent aid but for most of the private individuals who used to give a buck or two to help people rebuild their lives, donations are relatively small compared to other disasters on record. Maybe its the recent financial crunch that has many either fearing the loss of their jobs in the coming months or maybe just that they are quite fed up with the situation as in Myanmar with the government committing crimes against humanity by refusing to help their own residents. They initially refused to accept aid from Western nations saying they had the capacity to do it on their own, but as the obvious became apparent and they finally let some aid in the officials of the Military Junta began to stockpile imported aid for their own sending rotten stores to their citizens.
This is a sad yet true story for even the most generous people do have to deal with their own financial woes. China, which has spent billions of dollars in developing and constructing new structures (airport, athletic venues and other such Olympic aimed infrastructures), has appealed for aid from the outside world countering their previous denial for aid. Myanmar which showcases everything as normal even with the rest of the world saying and knowing it isn’t is truly hypocrisy in the highest levels. With thousands of corpses lining rivers and villages, and with no immediate sanitary way of dealing with them the threat of epidemics is high and possible.
People will continue to give like they have always done in the human tragedies of past but world wide economic slowdown may make it more difficult for those who give and receive aid. People are also frustrated that even with the billions in aid being sent to areas and people in need, their government’s themselves fail to take up the cause of helping their own. The world is filled with compassionate and caring individuals that allow us to remain human, compassionate and ever helpful.
A reality that has to be accepted is that these people will have to do the healing by themselves and that is by far the only certainty in this disaster plagued world. The resilience of humans has amazed us in all of the world’s disasters from then till now, let us just hope we as a part of the human race continue to help each other in spite of political, ideological and other differences.

Be Careful Of Fraudulent Charities

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scholorship_military-veterans-picThis kind of news makes me mad; steaming mad. There are so many people who are less fortunate than the average person. And there are few enough people who are willing to help them out. Then these unscrupulous people or groups of people try to take advantage of those who have giving hearts. I think that there’s a special place in hell for people like them

Anyhow, the reason for the mini rant is this piece of news I read at The Miami Herald. Apparently, there are those who engage in fraudulent activities, trying to collect money in behalf of military veterans, police, and firefighters. According to the report:

The Florida attorney general on Wednesday joined a national effort to fight fraud committed by groups claiming to collect money on behalf of protection agencies and veterans, but they give misleading information about how much of the money would actually be given to those groups.

”Operation False Charity” includes 76 actions against 32 fundraising companies, 31 individuals and 22 nonprofits — or groups claiming to be nonprofits. The effort is led by the Federal Trade Commission, and attorneys general, secretaries of state and other law enforcers in 48 states and the District of Columbia.

You know what’s worse? Some of these groups are actually REAL charities. The problem is that the money that they collect do not ALL go to the causes that they are supposed to champion. While that is not wrong or uncommon in itself, people are misled and majority of the money goes to administration costs, which includes wages of those who work in the organizations.

For more information, get in touch with the FTC.

How Charities Retain Integrity

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charities.jpgCharities like business organizations are regularly audited to make sure all their collections in the form of donations of cash and materials are all accounted for. The various state governments have a charity evaluation system in place to separate the good from the bad apples which are out for an easy buck or two. Charities are today harder to target because of tough regulation and control which the various states and Federal Agencies imposes on these selfless entities who work hard to give to the needy, help mother nature and even rush to the aid of people who are thousands of miles away.
Respectable charities are listed with the Charity Navigator, an NGO-run website which independently evaluates and checks each and every charity for approval and inclusion in their listing of charities to give to. Most people go to similar sites around the world to make sure they are giving to an organization that will get their donations to where they are needed. Some charities have international missions such as some religious and large scale ones who have the financial might or strong association with their governments to get aid to people halfway around the globe who have been devastated by natural disasters. Some groups are all for nature and the protection thereof like WWF, Earthshare and many more. Check out the Charity Navigator to view the best charities and their respective equivalent of a corporate standing file which details their activities, expenditures and the amount of funds they have sent out to other charities or individuals they are helping. It is important to deal with charities like dealing with a business for they are getting cash from strangers and lots of it. Financial reports are taken and studied by independent, state and federal offices to evaluate their standing.