Everyone Matters Challenges You to Stop Judging for 24 Hours

Started by HeathCliff Rothman, Everyone Matters is a 2012 global “Don't Judge” campaign that aims to promote tolerance, inclusiveness, and equality. The idea came to Rothman one day when he was sitting at a cafe and people watching. He realized that he was being judgmental and knew he had to stop criticizing others.

Everyone Matters is inviting everyone to join the movement of not judging other people based on their skin color, food choices, sexual orientation, clothes, appearance, religion, and other characteristics. The campaign is looking for 100,000 people to join its 24-hour challenge – for 24 hours, participants cannot say or think things like, “His shirt is so tacky,” or “She shouldn't be doing that.”

The Everyone Matters 24-hour challenge will fall on November 19th, the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, in which the President urged to put an end to slavery. Celebrity supporters of the campaign include Sir Paul McCartney, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Ellen DeGeneres, Nicole Kidman, Dame Judi Dench, and Natalie Portman.

Save the Children: Helping Kids in Need for Over 90 Years

In 1919, British teacher and sociologist Eglantyne Jebb founded the Save the Children Fund in England to help children affected by the war in central Europe. More than a decade later, a group of Americans inspired by Jebb's vision established Save the Children in America, with the immediate goal of assisting the kids and families living in the Appalachian Mountains during the Great Depression. Today, Save the Children is the leading independent charity dedicated to supporting children in need worldwide. With a presence in over 50 countries, the organization provides families and communities with the essential tools to lift them out of poverty, poor health, hunger, and illiteracy.

Save the Children oversees a number of programs that all aim to create permanent, positive change in the lives of underprivileged kids in the United States and around the world. One of the issues that the organization addresses is HIV/AIDS – Save the Children works with communities in Asia, Eurasia, Africa, and the Caribbean to raise awareness about the disease as well as provide care for those affected by it. Additionally, Save the Children helps vulnerable families in nearly 30 countries to help ensure they have secure livelihoods and can afford basic needs and services.

Save the Children supports education programs for kids in the most marginalized parts of the world as well. Last year, the charity's efforts reached almost 10 million children. Recently, athletes Abou Diaby and Johan Djourou of popular English football club Arsenal headed to Beijing to visit the club's educational project in partnership with Save the Children. During their visit, Diaby and Djourou played football, read stories, and made arts and crafts with the youngsters. The joint project will train 200 teachers and 20 head teachers to improve the quality of education in some of Beijing's most under-resourced schools.

The Walter and Connie Payton Foundation: Changing Tomorrow, Today

As a prominent entrepreneur and community member of the greater Chicago area, Perry Mandera strives to empower the people within it. In addition to founding and managing Custom Cares Charities, the non-profit he established as subsidiary of his transportation venture The Custom Companies, he serves as a Board Member of and donor to The Walter and Connie Payton Foundation.

As a contributor in various regards to the Chicago organization, Perry Mandera shapes positive opportunities for local children dealing with neglect, abuse, and limited financial resources. The Walter and Connie Payton Foundation organizes a number of initiatives to assist these children in various parts of their lives, from education to holidays. The Annual Holiday Giving Program, an event that draws widespread community participation each year, brings schools, workplaces, and spiritual institutions together in the spirit of giving. The foundation sustains a close affiliation with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and effectively brightens the celebrations of more than 16,000 children each season with toys and gifts they might not receive due to limited family incomes. Additionally, the foundation supervises the widely successful Back-to-School Supply Drive. Each summer, the non-profit encourages community members to fill a backpack with items including pencils, notebooks, colored pencils, glue sticks, post it notes, markers, rulers, and folders. These and other goods afford children coping with economic disadvantages to build a platform for dedicated studies and prosperous futures. Other opportunities to support these children include fundraiser marathons and diaper drives. With the help of Mandera and other community members, the charity continues to stand for the youths that need it most.

Dogs for the Deaf: 35 Years of Rescuing Dogs and Helping Disabled People

Founded in 1977 by the late Roy Kabat, Dogs for the Deaf is a Central Point, Oregon-based charity that pairs dogs with people who have disabilities across the United States and Canada for free. All canines are rescued from shelters and then trained to help those with health challenges such as hearing loss, autism, stroke, chronic arthritis, depression, and anxiety. Dogs for the Deaf also offers lifetime follow-up assistance to ensure that both client and dog are benefiting from each other.

On August 4th, Dogs for the Deaf will be celebrating its 35th anniversary with a party and fundraiser at the Sportsmen's Lodge Events Center in Los Angeles. The “Hooray for Hollywoof” event will be hosted by Betty White and attended by many other celebrities, including Constance Marie, Lea Thompson, and Ryan Lane. Proceeds from Hooray for Hollywoof will benefit Dogs for the Deaf and partner organization Generation Rescue, which supports families affected by autism.

Non-Profit CA Firm Designs Practical Products for the Developing World

Four billion people worldwide do not have access to basic goods and services. Unfortunately, most of the solutions to the problems they face are ineffective and expensive. Non-profit technology incubator D-Rev is out to change that. Based in Palo Alto, California, D-Rev is on a mission to deliver affordable and quality products that can improve the lives of people subsisting on less than $4 a day.

The firm is currently led by CEO Krista Donaldson, a former American Association for the Advancement of Science Diplomacy Fellow at the US Department of State. She joined D-Rev in 2009, during which the firm already had plenty of ideas that were good but had yet to cross the “valley of death”. In other words, they were just that: ideas.

However, two of D-Rev's projects have now made it past the death valley to become actual products in developing countries. One of them is Brilliance, a world-class jaundice treatment for low-income areas. D-Rev estimates that every year, more than 6 million babies with severe jaundice are not getting the care they need. The condition is easy to treat, though. The problem lies in the fact that current treatment devices are not cheap to acquire and maintain, costing about $3,000 apiece, with CFL bulbs that require regular replacement. D-Rev's Brilliance, on the other hand, costs only about $400 and uses LED bulbs that last longer.

D-Rev has also developed the ReMotion JaipurKnee, a high-performance and affordable prosthetic leg. Currently used in two clinics in India, the JaipurKnee has a 165-degree range of motion, allowing the wearer to kneel and squat. Traditional single-axis prosthetics limit mobility as they just move back and forth like a door hinge. D-Rev is now looking to conduct a field test for the JaipurKnee, which was designed in collaboration with the Jaipur Foot Organization and Stanford University, before launching full production.

Yellow Bird Project Helps Charities and Indie Musicians

Founded in 2006 by Casey and Matt, two then-recent university graduates who were “like Bono on a mission”, Yellow Bird Project is a non-profit organization based in Montreal, Canada that collaborates with indie artists to design T-shirts for the benefit of their charities of choice. Devendra Banhart was the first musician to work with Yellow Bird Project, and since then, other artists such as Broken Social Scene, Tegan and Sara, Metric, Bon Iver, and Yann Tiersen have signed on.

In addition to raising money for good causes by selling exclusive tees, Yellow Bird Project aims to bring awareness to various charities and their objectives (through artists' endorsement), as well as raise the profiles of participating musicians.

Yellow Bird Project has also released the Indie Rock Coloring Book and Indie Rock Poster Book. Profits from both publications, which showcase indie art and music, go to the charities supported by Yellow Bird Project.

Benelab, the Search Engine That Gives Back

A lot of teens these days are too occupied with social media and video games. Not Jack Kim. The 17-year-old high school student from Seattle, Washington is busy managing his company Benelab. Oh, and he's helping make the world a better place in the process, too.

The non-profit corporation, which Kim runs with his classmates (no adults allowed), donates 100 percent of its revenue from web searches to a different cause each month. It all started when Kim was a freshman at King's High School in Shoreline. He had just learned how to code HTML and make websites. Kim though it was “pretty neat” and set up his first site – a simple search engine that brought in between $200 and $300 per month from 2,000 monthly visitors.

“That's when I learned that the search engine was the way to go – you can make a lot of money for such little traffic,” says Kim.

He decided he would use that money to help others. Kim subsequently launched Benesearch.com, which was powered by Google's search engine. After attending a summer business program at Stanford, he relaunched Benesearch as Benelab.org, which now routes its searches through Bing.

According to Kim, “Our mission is to make philanthropy easy and more accessible.” And what's easier than doing a web search?

While they had to work on a tight budget, Kim and his team haven't let the challenge stop them from bringing their vision to fruition. So far, Benelab has made donations to charity: water, Pilgrim Africa, and Vittana, among others. This month, the startup will be benefiting World Concern to send five children to school for an entire year. Benelab's target of $400 will cover tuition, books, and writing materials.

As Kim explains on the Benelab blog, “The reason we chose this cause is that we, especially I, believe that education is a huge stepping stone in coming out of poverty and empowering an individual to achieve more.”

From Top of the Class to Top Doctor

Some non-profit organizations exist to raise awareness about issues that may be underserved in major media outlets, some to raise money for those coping with terminal illnesses, and others to organize volunteers for reconstruction efforts in regions affected by natural disaster. The non-profit spectrum also includes a wealth of groups that gather professionals in certain fields in the spirit of education and progress. As a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (AOA), neurosurgeon Sagan Tuli displays a commitment to her field. Sagan Tuli and other members gain inclusion through top performance within their medical class and proven dedication to the community.

AOA, established in 1902, serves to unite those in the medical field in a continuous mission of learning. Today, AOA chapters at universities speak highly of that institution’s reputation. AOA now maintains branches across the country, and continues to empower members with an educative environment. The group upholds standards of scholarship, leadership, professionalism, and service, and elects members based on their demonstration of these principles. Affiliates of the non-profit take advantage of a wealth of opportunities, including visiting professorships, research fellowships, and access to a comprehensive collection of multimedia scholastic resources. In addition to engaging its population in these regards, the non-profit publishes regarded journal The Pharos, which publishes scholarly essays exploring aspects of medicine and culture as well as artworks. AOA’s allegiance to excellence shows in the accomplishments of its members; the group boasts 54 Nobel laureates. 

Hope North: A Ray of Hope in War-Torn Uganda

The Ugandan civil war began more than two decades ago and has yet to come to an end. Doctors Without Borders has called the conflict one of the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2004. Millions of Ugandans have been displaced from their homes since the beginning of the war, making them refugees in their own country. In 1996, the Ugandan government started relocating people into camps in an effort to isolate the rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), who have been terrorizing the civilian population. By 2004, over 80 percent of northern Ugandans have been moved into camps that lack access to basic resources. As a result, problems such as poor sanitation, psychosocial trauma, starvation, lack of education, prostitution, and AIDS became rampant.

In addition, tens of thousands of children have been abducted by the LRA over the course of the conflict. Forced to become soldiers, they are sometimes ordered to kill family members or burn down villages. One former child soldier is working to change Uganda's future, however. Okello Sam, a renowned dance and theater artist, created a sanctuary for young people whose lives have been affected by the civil war. Situated on a 40-acre campus in northern Uganda, Hope North is a place that orphans, refugees, and escaped child soldiers can call home. Sam founded Hope North to provide education, community, and hope to these young victims, as well as protect their Acholi heritage.

Hope North houses an accredited secondary school that currently has 210 students and 15 teachers. Also located on the campus is a vocational training center, where programs in carpentry, tailoring, food production, arts, dance, music, and sports are offered.

The sanctuary is supported by award-winning actor Forest Whitaker, who met Sam and learned about Hope North while filming The Last King of Scotland. Whitaker was moved by Sam's vision and has visited Hope North to meet its residents.

Youth Music Makes Music Accessible to All

Founded in 1999, Youth Music is the UK's leading charity dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged youth through music. The organization believes that anybody, regardless of their background, should have an opportunity to discover their creativity and fulfill their potential through music-making. Since its inception, Youth Music has reached more than 2.5 million children and young people, helping them improve their communication skills, increase their self-confidence, and achieve success in both music and their personal lives.

Youth Music works with young people who are facing the challenges of poverty, disability, criminality, and disengagement from education. Among the charity's initiatives are Youth Music Voices, a youth choir consisting of a hundred talented members from different backgrounds, and MusicLeader, a national network that aims to improve the quality and impact of music leadership in the UK. MusicLeader supports individuals and organizations that are interested in music-making by offering guidance, information, training, and networking opportunities.

Helping the UK's HIV Patients Lead Normal Lives

Based in the UK, Body & Soul is an organization that works with children, teens, and families living with and affected by HIV. With the belief that everyone has the right to lead happy and healthy lives, Body & Soul promotes the dignity and well-being of individuals and families affected by HIV through educational programs for children, workshops and projects for teens, and support group meetings for adults.

Body & Soul was founded in 1996 in response to the lack of family-oriented HIV support for an emerging demographic. For more than 15 years, the organization has been working to counteract the devastation of an HIV+ diagnosis and reduce the stigma surrounding the issue. Its five-storey headquarters on Rosebery Avenue is a place where people of all ages can access personalized health-related and psychosocial support in a stress-free and aspirational environment.

Over the years, Body & Soul has received a number of accolades, including the Queen's Golden Jubilee Award and the GSK Impact Award.

Caring for Egypt's Working Animals

In the 1990s, Julie Wartenberg and her niece Kim Taylor often spent their vacations in Egypt. It was during their visits that the pair noticed the harsh working conditions of the animals there. Both women loved animals – Wartenberg was an officer for animal welfare charity IFAW, while Taylor had worked with vets back home in England – and couldn't bear to see the donkeys and horses of Egypt being treated so poorly.

“In life we often see things that we would like to change, but to get the opportunity to totally change your life around and put your ideas into action is rare,” says Taylor. Thus, in 1998, she gave up her life in England to move to Luxor for good. Wartenberg used her retirement package from IFAW to help her niece to start the charity Animal Care in Egypt (ACE).

ACE was initially set up to provide washing services as a means of preventative care. Many of Egypt's working equines have saddle sores on their backs caused by sweat, dust, and dirt that had accumulated under the tack. Simply washing the grime off helps prevent the sores.

Over time, Taylor and Wartenberg realized that there was also a need for veterinary services in Luxor. Today, ACE has its own veterinary hospital which offers care and treatment to the city's animals, with fully qualified vets who work to UK standards. The center, which was completed in 2007, has two sand pits, several washing stalls, an out-patient clinic, in-patient facilities, and a visitors' area. All ACE services are free, as most of the families who rely on working animals in Luxor can barely afford to pay for their own medical expenses.

ACE runs an educational program with local schools as well. Every week, the charity teaches around 300 children that animals have feelings, too, and should be treated with respect.