My favorite charity is Compassion International, a Christian child sponsorship organization. I believe Amy is going to be talking about the same organization later today. Last year I decided to sponsor a 7-year-old girl in El Salvador named Eunice. I love how dedicated Compassion is to helping children in poverty. It's been very rewarding to get to know Eunice over the past year. We write to each other regularly, and she always includes the most beautiful drawings with her letters. I'm hoping at some point I'll be able to go on one of the Compassion tours, where you visit your child's home country and meet the child you've sponsored. Compassion sponsorship has been a great experience for me. It's made me more aware of how much I've been blessed, and created a strong desire to give of myself to help people who are less fortunate.

I used to drive through McDonald's and sometimes I would throw change into the plastic donation box for Ronald McDonald House, sometimes it would be full of trash and I just didn't pay a lot of attention. That was until 4 years ago when my best friend and her family were in a terrible car accident on Mother's Day. She shattered her hip, her son lost his spleen and her daughter suffered a severe head injury. Only her husband (who had the drivers side airbag) walked away with a broken arm. They were life-flighted to a large city hospital far from home. As they recovered they were able to stay together, eat and sleep, at no cost at Ronald McDonald House. They were there for weeks. The medical costs they are still trying to recover from but can you imagine if they would have had to pay to stay by their children- or worse, not be able to afford to stay? So please, if you get a little bit of change at Mickey D's drive-through, toss it in the Ronald McDonald House donation box.
Thanks so much.
Icedream @ Reading In Appalachia
waitmantwillie(at)hotmail(dot)com

One of the charities that I support is Pasado's Safe Haven. This group is located in the Pacific Northwest and rescues all kinds of animals -- dogs and cats, farm animals of all kinds, lab animals, you name it. Most of their animals are older and were generally considered "expendable" by their owners. Not only does Pasado's provide shelter and care, they also assist in cruelty and neglect investigations and they work for passage of state and federal laws to protect the animals. You can check out this group at www.pasadosafehaven.org.

Hi Piranha,
popped by from Amy's blog to say - kudos to the two of you for highlighting this organization. I'd never heard of it before but think it's fabulous, as I've had opportunties previously to learn about the immense impact microloans can have for developing nations entrepreneurs, especially women. Bravo!

My favorite charity is the HIKE Fund (http://www.thehikefund.org/). I was a member of Job's Daughters and HIKE is our philanthropic charity. It stands for Hearing Impaired Kids' Endowment Fund. We raise money to give hearing aids and other devices to families of children who have hearing problems. I've personally been there when we make presentations, and the impact that it has on the life of these children, to make it easier to hear and communicate with those they love---it's awe-inspiring. So amazing. I was even able to present to a little Amish boy, which was completely amazing.

Heifer International is perhaps my favorite charity. I love it! Heifer — http://www.heifer.org/ — starts from that old adage, 'Give a man a fish, he eats for today; teach a man to fish, he eats forever' (or whatever, I'm sure I'm mangling that quote, sorry. Anyway, Heifer is sustainable giving.

For example, they give a rural families goats, to generate income and improve quality of life. The project focuses on village women's groups as an entry point for transforming lives and communities. They also provide training in multiple areas for participants. And then when the goats reproduce, participants pass those goats (and thus the opportunity) on to other members of their communities.

I don't really have a favorite charity. My hubby & I have a family policy about giving a set $ amount to anyone coming door-to-door for collections. I've probably donated the most to the National MS Foundation--my family (Mom, Dad, two sisters & me--or some fraction of us) has ridden in the 150-mile fundraising bike ride (really, 160+ miles) in NW Ohio for the last 8 or 9 years. The donations we raise go directly to the NW Ohio division of the Nat'l MS Society to support research & the support & care of people with MS.

My favourite charity is Partners in the Horn of Africa, which supports various aid projects in Ethiopia. I like it because all the donations go to aid projects, so I don't have to worry about money being used up in excessive administration costs (or worry about getting a lot of junk mail).

ikkinlala AT yahoo DOT ca

My favorite charity is Junvenile Diabetes Research! My older brother was 5 when he became diabetic. Luckily, I was spared the childhood part of his illness because I was born 14 years later. Our sister is only 4 years younger than him. I will make a long story short and say that I have seen a lot of the illness in my lifetime. My mother had it and now my sister has it. My brother had a stroke in March of 2000 and died that May. My mom died in September of 2000. My brother had been a gifted Veterinarian for over 30 years and so I have a deep love for animals and animal cruelty is another one of my causes. I cry over any poor child, animal, etc. that I see on tv. Thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

I recently learned about the Homeless World Cup (www.homelessworldcup.org)through an ESPN studios production called Kick It! Healing and bringing people together through sport is a bit of cliche but after seeing the film and spending some time on the website I was really impressed. Sports has been a large part of my life, and I was moved by the dedication and the effort of the organizers and the players to use soccer as means to bring people together and provide this unique opportunity. The people are real, there is no Olympic training center, and often there are not even uniforms. 2008 is the first Women's competition and I am supporting the women players in their competition and donating what I can.

I am always really interested in hearing about new charities. There are SO many of them out there, and it breaks my heart sometimes to not be able to contribute to all of them.

I have contributed to St. Jude's, ASPCA, and Compassion International in the past. I believe in the mission of all three organizations.

mykingdomforabook (AT) gmail (dot) com

my favorite charity would have to be Seed Give Back in corporation with Nkemnji-Achenjang Foundation(NAF). It's this charity my parents made, so i guess that kinda makes me bias. The goal is to (1) Help others attain a new level (2)promote and push others in life (3) investigate in human dignity. It's actually a really neat charity and they are just getting started but i believe things are picking up. for more information and to find out how to get involved, visit www.seedgiveback.com

stellargurl93[at]aim[dot]com

I find it hard to name just one, but one of my favourite charities is The Humane Society International ("HSI"). They strive to achieve win-win situations for animals and people in developing countries. When the choice is between a hungry family and exploiting animals, it can be hard to be altruistic. HSI aims to re-educate people and offer them alternatives to sustain themselves other than using animals. They have been successful in reducing bear "dancing", and are also involved in disaster relief where animals are often overlooked as well as many other programs.

Our family supports Gospel for Asia. Not only do they train and send native missionaries within the 10/40 window, but they also have a gifting program that our children love to participate in. They buy bunnies, chickens etc.

jennifer at quiverfullfamily dot com