Philanthropy

Welcome to our new section on charitable giving, the following organizations have done a great deal of good and deserve your consideration.  Thank you for your interest in helping others and we are interested in your own experiences working with charitable groups.  If you have a heartwarming story you’d like to share please do so in the comments below.

First we’d like to introduce you to Sylvia:

Sylvia

Sylvia is going through some rough times, we found her first few posts on twitter @Sylken6 and were compelled to get involved after reading her story:

Family is in dire need of financial assistance.  The wife is on permanent disability and recieves $337.00 a month SSD. She had a rare spinal cord infarct(stroke) on July 31, 2005 and paralyzed from waist down. The husband was self-employed and was laid off. Found another job and got laid off just right after he was hired permanently. Family can not get unemployment because husband was self-employed from Jan-June 1, 2008 and does not have enough quarters to claim.  Family can not collect cash assistance either because their son is attending Penn State Ext. in Monaca and is over 18 yrs old living at home commuting to college.  The son moves to Penn State Main at the end of August 2009 as he enters his junior year.  He is carrying over a 3.0 GPA and has recieved letters of congratulations from the Dean of Penn State Ext. Families debts amount to $12,000.00. The family is renting a house in the country for $550 a month. If debts could be paid off  the family would be able to survive with husband getting a minimum wage job even at McDonalds. Husband Kenneth is registered at Callos, Addecco, Liken, Gregg, Career Link at Beaver Falls,Pa. and Temp Agency in Ambridge, Pa. and has put in 20 applications and resumes on his own.

The family is praying and hoping that anyone who is able to help them with any amount of financial aid would be humbly and gratefully accepted.  The family has been seriously been hurt in their financial situation because there is only one person in the family that can work.  The husband works and comes home and cooks, does dishes, laundry and takes care of his wife. They have been married 33 years December 11, 2009.  The wife is so depressed that she can not help the family especially her husband (whom she loves dearly) who is carrying the whole burden because she is unable to work.  Please any amount of financial charity for this family will sincerely and truthfully be received as a gift of Love and never forgotten.  Family will always remember the kindness and when on their feet again help others in need.

Damian was able to go and visit her and her lovely family on Monday.  He brought her some computing equipment and spent time getting to know everyone.  Now we’ll donate some money and are asking you all to consider helping them out as well.

UPDATE! You can now donate to Sylvia directly through her PayPal account here. We had to post it on PaintedMule because hosted WordPress blogs will not allow most special coding. Thanks for your support!

we hope you will please contact @Sylken6 via twitter for now.

• FinishTheJobFund.org – an amazing group of people doing what they can to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.
• RedCross – on twitter @RedCross -Follow us for disaster and preparedness updates.

@SolarGroupies suggested charities:

• Vermont Food Bank – Serving Vermont’s Network of Food Shelves
• Lund Family Center (Burlington, VT) – Providing services for young women who are pregnant and parenting, families with young children and adoptive families
• Women’s Rape Crisis Center – (Burlington, VT) – a non-profit agency serving women, men and teens in Chittenden County.

Read With Hope

In October 2008, I visited 15 schools in Afghanistan on behalf of RTF and met with many of the students and teachers. The schools are well received in each village and greatly appreciated by the local residents.
My goal for additional funding in 2009 is $20,000.00. I don’t like asking anyone to do something I’m not willing to do, so I will match 100% of the first $5,000.00 in donations. – Kurt Swann

KarenTweet owner of RainbowFrenzy ‘s         suggestions:

Starlight Children’s Foundation -Starlight brings together experts from pediatric health care, technology and entertainment to create programs that educate, entertain and inspire seriously ill children. Whether it’s finding friends online, learning more about a disease, or just spending time together as a family, Starlight’s programs help children and families cope with the challenges they face daily.

World’s Greatest Shave – The Leukemia Foundation World’s Greatest Shave is one of Australia’s biggest fundraising events.  100,000 people across the country will shave or colour their hair.

Autism Spectrum Australia – Aspect provides information, education and other services through partnerships with people with autism spectrum disorders, their families and communities.