BIKE MS

Good friend Taryn makes another behind the scenes appearance, gathering friends, Aliza and Danielle, to take Charity Change to the finish! I'm promoting her skills as a freelance PR agent :)

* Every hour, someone is newly diagnosed with MS.
* More than 2.5 million people worldwide live with this unpredictable disease.
* MS is the most common neurological disease leading to disability in young adults.

And if those aren’t enough reasons to search for a cure, biking with friends and family sure is! There are over 100 different rides around the United States, and these fully supported rides will connect you to over 100,000 other riders, as well as make you a part of a growing movement to put an end to multiple sclerosis.

Multiple Sclerosis affects everyone differently, but yet it continues to affect yet another person ever hour of every day. The money raised through Bike MS goes to funding critical local, national and international research into the cause and a cure for MS.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society uses funds collected from the Bike MS Events to not only help with searching for a cure, but also to help provide programs and assistance to those living with MS today. Because we can fight this disease by simply riding a bike, thousands of participants each year join together to help others achieve optimal health, and get themselves involved in achieving a healthier (biking) lifestyle of their own.

“Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between brain and body and stops people from moving. We believe that moving is not just something you can or can't do, but that moving forward is who we are. Just by being here, you are connected to the potential, the hope, the momentum of the movement toward a world free of MS.”

Bike MS is the premiere fundraising cycling series in the United States, and the help they provide to all of those connected to MS is something we should all be thankful for. If you know anyone affected by Multiple Sclerosis, here is a great way to get involved and support them while bettering yourself.

“You’re up for the challenge - and ready for the ride of your life! The sense of accomplishment that you’ll feel as you cross the finish line can only be matched by the difference you’ll be making in the lives of people affected by MS.”

To learn more please visit www.nationalmssociety.org

MAOT CHITIM OF GREATER CHICAGO

This post traveled from St. Louis and Chicago to tell the very important story of a non-profit that Shira Engelhart and Taryn Ariel care about!

Isn’t that the new restaurant opening in Curry Hill?

Nope! The Maot Chitim of Greater Chicago enable thousands of needy people to experience the Passover holiday according to their tradition.

Instead of collecting money and distributing is, the money now goes to purchase wholesale food, thereby allowing the money to go farther and serve more people. The food boxes are packaged based on number of family members, and not just 1 per household.

Due to economic conditions, increases in the elderly population, and the immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union - caused the number of recipient families to increase to over 5,000 families each year!

And Maot Chitim does not only serve it’s own mission: because of their excellent track record dealing with wholesale food purchases, they in turn help support other local organizations who work to provide food during the rest of the year!

So what does ‘Maot Chitim’ mean? ‘Maot Chitim’ refers to the custom of gathering wheat to provide the poor with the makings of matzo for Passover. Now, the Maot Chitim of Greater Chicago has evolved into a year-round volunteer effort organizing an army of volunteers, setting up a warehouse, locating recipients through social service agencies, packing the products, coordinating an orderly volunteer delivery system, delivering the packages and finally closing up and beginning the plans for the next holiday.

And the most special thing about this program? “Recipients are as hungry for some companionship as they are for the food. Sitting down for a visit is the heart of the program -- meaningful for those who deliver a package as for those who receive it.” Volunteers are encouraged to bring their families on the donation trips, and stay with the recipients for a meaningful cup of tea.

Isn’t that what the holidays are all about anyways?

Please visit www.maotchitim.org for more information.

Many thanks to Taryn and Shira, the duo you can always count on! Happy Holidays :)

IT GETS BETTER PROJECT

It's comforting to know that someone else cares.

It's comforting to know that people have persevered the depths of their worst day.

It is comforting to know that It Gets Better.

While many kids experience loneliness and exclusion during middle school and high school, LGBT kids often encounter exaggerated forms of bullying. In response to a recent series of suicides, Dan Savage and his partner Terry, created a movement composed of individuals who are dedicated to proving that It Gets Better.

With over 5000 short videos and 15 million views, It Gets Better serves as a support system for LGBT kids struggling with everyday bullying. This virtual support is built from the difficult reality that so many individuals face. It is Dan's hope that kids suffering from bullying today will identify with the stories people are sharing with It Gets Better project. Proving that life does indeed get better will save the lives of many experiencing difficult periods in their lives.

Together with The Trevor Project and GLSEN, which provide tools, a hotline, and educational materials to ensure that schools are safe places for kids of all types to attend, It Gets Better is leveraging the Internet to combat high school bullying.

Sometimes it's impossible to see life beyond the darkest of days.

But sometimes it helps just to know that It Gets Better.

Please visit itgetsbetter.org for more information.

(It Gets Better Project shows LGBT youth that thier future is worth living for.)

D.A.R.E.

Although you may remember its popular slogan from its heyday in the 80’s and 90’s, D.A.R.E. continues to impact millions of children today.

In fact, D.A.R.E.’s curriculum is used in over 75 percent of American school districts and in over 43 countries worldwide.

Inspiring over 10 million children to avoid drugs, gangs, and violence every year is no small feat. And so what follows is a glimpse into one of the most successful drug resistance programs in the world.

D.A.R.E. leverages a unique set of instructors to instill the skills needed to combat drug use and violence among high school kids:

The police force.

While many children may associate the police with punishment and conviction, D.A.R.E. has redefined our notion of the traditional police officer’s duty by allowing the police to connect with the community in a meaningful way. Since the police are an already well-respected and feared authority, D.A.R.E. has extended their routine social role to relate to children in a mature and thoughtful manner.

For many, the police force is no longer a group of law enforcers.

They are life savers.

Or rather, life builders.

The knowledge that students take away from the D.A.R.E. program will aid them with specific life building skills that pave the path for many students to lead a successful life.

D.A.R.E.’s success has illustrated that such a model is incredibly useful in building a sustainable program that can be adapted for both the local and the global community.

Please visit www.dare.com for more information.

(D.A.R.E.’s educational program keeps kids free from drugs and violence)

CANSTRUCTION

Canstruction’s motto exceeds the traditional meaning of the phrase “One can make a difference.”

In fact, their motto should be rephrased: “One can makes a difference.”

Nick Telesca, Executive Director of Canstruction, explains that switching the subject for the verb is the essence of Canstruction’s mission. Led by architects and engineers, Canstruction design/build competitions showcase the designers’ talents through displays of giant canned food sculptures.

Their mission, however, does not end there.

“At the close of the exhibitions all of the [canned] food used in the structures is donated to local food banks for distribution to pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers.”

Canstruction has reinvented the social context of the food can.

And has created a literal meaning to the words “Sustainable art.”

With the help of over 30,000 volunteers, aka “hunger relief ambassadors,” helping to bring Canstruction exhibitions to life, who knows which product will breach its traditional boundary next?

The growing art movement dedicated to raising hunger awareness and distributing over 2 million pounds of food to the hungry “officially broke the Guinness World Record on February 11, 2010” with the largest canned structure exhibited in Walt Disney World.

Structure assembly—partnership with Disney

Structure disassembly— partnership with food banks in Central Florida, Miami, and Atlanta

Canstruction is bridging the gap between the bookends of our social structure.

And this year they are expanding the model to Egypt where canned structures will be assembled in 10 locations throughout the country, igniting unique cross-cultural trend in artistic reuse of everyday items.

Thanks, Nick, for teaching us how to build through reuse!

Please visit construction.org for more information.

(Canstruction’s design competitions are alleviating hunger through awareness and canned food donations)

THE FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE

Charity Change is honored to have its first guest post hail all the way from Cleveland, Ohio this week! A HUGE thanks to dear friend, Ellie Berlin (and hubby Jeff Berlin's photography skills) for sharing a charity close to her heart!

This summer, I had the privilege of working with The Friendship Circle of Cleveland to help plan their first annual walkathon.

This international Jewish non-profit organization began in 1994, and caters to children with special needs and their families. The Friendship Circle of Cleveland recruits their volunteers from local high schools, and currently has about 200 teenage volunteers. These volunteers help to facilitate the many programs that Friendship Circle offers. From “Friends at Home” to “Sunday Circle,” teen volunteers and children with special needs are able to create a long-lasting bond. Each branch has its own unique programs. For example, Cleveland’s “Friends at Home” program brings teen volunteers into the homes of their special needs buddies to play games, do art projects, or just hang out.

While working with the Cleveland Friendship Circle staff, I got a first-hand look at how the staff’s dedication and love can create a ripple effect throughout the community. The walkathon had a great turnout, and I can only imagine what next year will bring . . .

The Friendship Circle currently has seventy branches, worldwide, and is still growing.

For more information about The Friendship Circle of Cleveland please visit: www.friendscleveland.com

For more information about The Friendship Circle please visit: www.friendshipcircle.org

Would you like to share your favorite charity's story and tee? E-mail charitychange@gmail.com to be a future guest blogger!

PLOINK!

This post is dedicated to members of the twittersphere.

For those who have never ventured onto Twitter, check it out. It aggregates information, allowing individuals and organizations to multiply their impact through collaboration.

It’s pretty neat, just keep reading.

My relationship with ploink! began on twitter. In registering a twitter account, I found that my name, @charitychange, was already in use. Eager to reveal the source, I followed the account and discovered that a friendly tweeter was behind @charitychange, representing a fun microdonation website called ploink!

And so, @charitychange and @charity_change’s (this blog's twitter account) “intimate” relationship began.

On Twitter.

As a website, ploink! is enabling individuals to donate small amounts of money, even 1 pence, to charities in the UK. @charitychange was appropriately named, for it reflects ploink!’s mission that small amounts of change donated on its website do make a difference. Indeed @charitychange and @charity_change are both “charity changing,” albeit with slightly different connotations.

Ploink! uses Twitter as leverage to expand their campaign, and “The response and support we get from twitter is remarkable.” For an organization that has only used Facebook and Twitter as its sole source of promotion, ploink! has 1860 followers and is catalogued on 145 lists.

How’s that for social marketing?

While ploink! currently operates as a source of funding for charities in the UK, it has embarked on a phase II version of the website, which may include the option of donating to charities outside the UK. Upon registering on ploink!’s updated website, individuals will encounter their charity giving come to life—including “animated piggy banks that move, smile, wiggle their ears etc. when you put coins into them.”

We’ve come a long way.

Gone are the days of schlepping change to the bank.

Thanks Marc, for teaching us about the virtual piggy bank!

Please visit www.ploink.co.uk for more information.

(Ploink! provides a medium to donate small amounts of change to charity.)