[melinda]

animal charities, the heart association (more women die of heart disease than cancer), and leukemia society because my Mom died of it 5 yrs ago
_________________
Make me half the person my dog thinks I am.

[emilyj]

What a lovely idea Clotilde. I support the Red Cross, I think that their work with refugees, particularly the family tracing service is incredibly important.

Also, the Cancer council and other cancer related charities, Oxfam and Doctors without borders.

Like Georgia, I have been disappointed with some charities in the past. When I lived in Vietnam I noticed that certain charities spent a lot more on fancy buildings and huge salaries than others. There is one (international) charity which has a residence in Hanoi for their regional manager that is almost the same size as the presidential palace. I was horrified and have never given money to that particular charity again.

[Rachel]

Excellent idea, Clotilde! Like you, I tend to support charities that work to protect the environment or help developing countries help themselves.

The ones I currently support are Oxfam and Carbonfund; I used to give to the Sierra Club when I lived in the States but since moving to the UK I've preferred to support more international charities (we are all in this together, after all!). And one I plan to add to my list once I have a steady job and more spare cash is Terre des Hommes, which combats child abuse, particularly in developing countries.

And yes, Georgia makes an important point about making sure how your donation is spent. Any charity worth its salt should make this clear in its website/publicity materials etc.

[cigalechanta]

We have willed our home to Habitat, our bodies to a University, what money goes to Doctors without borders
_________________
Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly
..................................MFK Fisher

[clotilde]

Many thanks for all the great suggestions!
Clotilde.

[tealady]

Is there room for one more? Please consider the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation which is an international body linking the activities of national MS societies around the world. You can find more information here: http://www.msif.org/language_choice.html. Thanks!!!

[clotilde]

There is definitely room for more -- keep them coming!
And thanks, tealady, for that additional suggestion.
Clotilde.

[Deste]

Given the nature of this Web site, it would be wonderful to identify foundations or charities that:

*look out for small farms, farmers and their workers,
*establish and nurture farmers markets or venues for selling local food directly to communities w little or no access to fresh foods
*champion healthful meals in schools, such as Edible Schoolyards (Alice Waters) or Jamie's School Dinners (Jamie Oliver).

Jamie Oliver also has or had a wonderful program that brings inner-city youth into kitchens and offers culinary training as a way to escape poverty. I am not sure if there are similar programs outside the U.K.

The Project for Public Spaces offers grants to diversify the demographics of farmers markets which may be more of an issue in the US (& parts of the UK, so I'm told) than in other parts of the world where outdoor markets still thrive. Here's a link: http://www.pps.org/markets/

[GB]

[Rainey]

That reminded me of the Grameen Bank that is set up to create financial independence in the third world so that sustainable economies can be built on this micro economic base.
_________________
God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny. -- Garrison Keillor

[Donna]

We are partial to the Heifer Fund, which dinates farm animals to families in developing nations. It allows community groups to provide eggs,milk and meat to their membersand to develop a herd that will permit them to sell these items to others in order to make a living.

http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.201470/
_________________
L'appetit vient en mangeant. -Rabelais

[harpospeaking]

I support Heifer too, Donna! I like to idea of contributing a symbolic sheep or llama at the end of the year.

Living in a relatively affluent country whose government does not subsidize the arts as much as I would like, I also firmly believe in supporting the arts. I give to my local public radio stations KPCC and KCRW and I have memberships to my local museums --- the Norton Simon (a hidden gem) and the Huntington Library (enormous and expanding!). Being able to walk in without bothering with the admissions booth is the closest thing I'll ever get to being a VIP.

http://www.nortonsimon.org/

http://www.huntington.org/

I've also enjoyed the American Ballet Theatre lately, so I'll probably cut them a check at the end of the year as well.
_________________
"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" --- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

http://onegirlonehouse.wordpress.com

[Rainey]

...and the Huntington has such gorgeous gardens too!
_________________
God writes a lot of comedy... the trouble is, he's stuck with so many bad actors who don't know how to play funny. -- Garrison Keillor

[harpospeaking]

One of my newest favorite charities (although they aren't relying heavily on my support), The American Ballet Theatre company is bringing its production of Swan Lake to the Music Center in Los Angeles. I'm so excited!

http://www.musiccenter.org/dance.html
_________________
"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" --- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

http://onegirlonehouse.wordpress.com

[DebbieN]

Since this is a food blog, I'd recommend Mazon (http://www.mazon.org, sorry I can't get the URL tags to work), which funds food banks, organizes community food drives, partners with synagogues and other organizations for yearly/holiday events, and conducts food distribution within the U.S. and around the world. They also encourage anyone celebrating a wedding, bar/bat mitzvah, banquet, or other big food event to donate 3 percent of their food budget to alleviate hunger.