Center for Third World Organizing: Dedicated to Racial Justice

The Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO) is a non-profit organization known for its mission of establishing a racial and social justice movement of, for and by people of color. With its training and resource center, it builds, promotes and sustains direct action initiatives in communities of color within the United States, thus, contributing to their advancement.

Its programs include:

• Training of both new and veteran organizers for racial and social justice;
• Promoting multi-racial community organizations;
• Building an active network of activists and their organizations of color in achieving racial justice in every sense of the word.

CTWO has a noble vision of creating a just and equitable society where communities of color have an active voice and participation in the policies and practices shaping their lives. Over time, its dedication to its mission and vision has paid off in terms of people and communities whose keen sense of racial and social justice is being applied in their daily lives.

Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association: Nurturing the Zoo

Established in 1963, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) is a non-profit corporation that supports the Los Angeles Zoo. The zoo itself has a mission of nurturing wildlife and enriching the human experience via a wide range of programs and projects designed to strengthen the bonds between man and animals through education.

The association has the primary mission of seeking and providing financial support for the Los Angeles Zoo’s programs and projects including its capital needs. Aside from funding support, it also provides support in other ways including travel programs, membership programs, and special events, as well as publications of award-winning magazines, coordination of zoo volunteer programs considered as one of the largest in its kind in the United States, and administration of service concessions for visitors. It is also at the forefront of community and public relations for the Los Angeles Zoo, thus, making GLAZA the strongest advocate for the zoon.

The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, a sprawling 133-acre zoo, was founded in 1966. The ownership of the entire zoo including its land, facilities and animals belong to the City of Los Angeles; the personnel involved in construction, grounds maintenance, animal care, administration, education, and public information are all city government employees.

The zoo has several areas of interest including:

• The Botanical Gardens, which was established in 2002, are spread throughout the grounds. These feature 15 plant collections with over 800 plant species and more than 7,600 individual plants.
• The chimpanzees of Mahale Mountains are housed in a 1-acre exhibit complex characterized by palm trees, boulders, and waterfalls, among others.
• The Campo Gorilla Reserve featuring western lowland gorillas, which can be viewed via two glass observation windows.

Other exhibits are Elephants of Asia, The LAIR (Living Amphibians, Invertebrates, and Reptiles) complex, the Red Ape Rain Forest, and the Rainforest of the Americas.

Connecticut Legal Services: Providing Valuable Legal Information for Free

The Connecticut Legal Services is an organization dedicated to providing every individual with valuable legal information for free. Each individual can enjoy the benefits of free-of-charge, secure and reliable online legal evaluations; of a law firm directory with several legal specialists listed; of a comprehensive FAQs section from the user database; and of legal articles on a wide range of topics.

Its goal: To provide competent and compassionate assistance in finding the right solutions to legal issues for individuals who are facing lawsuits, or asking questions about the US legal system, or studying the law, among other purposes.

Along this line, the Connecticut Legal Services has several informational and educational resources on its official website including:

• Legal glossary for the updated definitions of thousands of legal terms;
• Legal questions sections containing answers for the most frequently asked legal questions; and
• Law firm directory for reliable information including the name of the lawyers/firms as well as their addresses and contact numbers/emails

The Connecticut Legal Services focuses on consumer law but it has a comprehensive database on a wide range of practice areas including criminal defense, bankruptcy, and personal injury.

All Hands Raised: Transforming Children from the Cradle to the Career Path

All Hands Raised, a non-profit organization, ensure that all the children in Portland and Multnomah County are provided with the right opportunities to become educated, responsible and independent adults in the future. The men and women behind the organization believe that it takes a community to transform impressionable children into productive adults.

For this reason, All Hands Raised acts as a bridge between the wide range of stakeholders in the community including local businesses, non-profit organizations, churches, and government agencies on one hand as well as parents, students and teachers on the other hand. With their strong partnerships resulting in concerted efforts, the children have higher chances of success in the present and future – and, thus, the stakeholders have done their job well.

All Hands Raised have two crucial roles, namely:

• Synchronizing the stakeholders’ collective actions for cost-efficient, results-effective, and client-responsive programs and projects; and
• Guiding the stakeholders toward meaningful and measurable results including a set of indicators that help them stay focused on their goals.

By using objective data to measure every indicator, All Hands Raised ensures that each of its programs are providing for the most benefits for the children. Finding better methods and achieving better results are the organization’s de facto motto, thus, rallying the community in changing expectations, behaviors, and practices for the better.

All Hands Raised is well-known for its All Hands Raised Partnership, which has established Collaborative Action Teams that bring together the crucial resources necessary in transforming student outcomes in meaningful, measurable, and lasting ways. The Teams start by clearly identifying the specific issues that must be addressed; considering the best practices in addressing it; and committing to a specific goal and strategies for its achievement.

All Hands Raised has several programs including:

• Communities Supporting Youth
• Eliminating Disparities in Child & Youth Success
• Ninth Grade Counts
• Early Learning

By starting children on the right path to success early on, All Hands Raised is in effect ensuring the bright future of the country.

Erie Community Foundation: Improving Quality of Life in the Erie Region

The Erie Community Foundation (ECF) is actually a collection of charitable endowments under a single public charity, which is among the most prominent public charities in Erie, Pennsylvania. Founded as the Erie Endowment on 1 June 1949, the foundation started with Elisha H. Mack’s endowment of The Boston Store’s Class A common stock (100 shares at $100 par value each) in 1935; the endowment amounted to over $250,000 upon the endowment’s incorporation.

In 1971, ECF became a public charity after tax reforms were made in 1969. Today, the fund has a value of more than $200 million from more than 500 separate endowments. The increase also came from an anonymous donation of $100 million from a donor who only want to be known as “Anonymous Friend” (November 2007).

ECF has been recognized for its compliance with national accountability standards by the Council on Foundations as well as won the Council’s Wilmer Shields Rich Award (silver medal) in 2004 and 2006 for its public information campaigns.

Woodlawn Foundation: Spreading the Love of Opus Dei

The Woodlawn Foundation, Inc., a non-profit corporation, spreads the love of Opus Dei by receiving donation and making grants to other non-profit organizations receiving pastoral care from the Roman Catholic institution. The foundation takes its name from the first Opus Dei cneter in the United States, the Chicago-based Woodlawn Residence opened in 1949.

Today, the foundation provides grants from donations to roughly 40 to 50 non-profit corporations annually. It contributes to long-term needs via the administration of charitable remainder trusts, bequests, and charitable gift annuities as well as gifts of real estate and securities. It has indeed nearly all types of charitable gifts from donors as well as provided assistance to these donors in minimizing their tax obligations.

The Woodlawn Foundation, Inc., in fact, chooses its officers and directors based on their professional financial and legal expertise in these matters. It has also established long-term professional relationships with third-party legal, financial and investment counsellors, thus, ensuring its compliance with the laws while maximizing the usefulness of donations for non-profit purposes.

The foundation also maximizes its capital grants by making them as matching grants, which also means that the capital grants are contingent upon the organization meeting its fundraising goals. Its Challenge Grants Capital Campaign emphasizes the need for grantees to engage in their own fundraising activities while the foundation carefully measures their progress. It also records pledges and loans in its audited financial statements.

Donors usually make three-year pledges for their capital donations. Many of them are then able to give large gifts for capital projects because of the long-term pledges while many also indicate their intentions for making regular donations, usually on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis.

Donations can be made via automatic, bank draft, and credit card methods. Contributions are deductible from 30% (appreciated property) to 50% (cash) of adjusted gross income.

Children's Hospital Guild Association: Coming Together for a Compelling Mission

Few of humanity’s ills are as troubling as pediatric diseases – and that’s exactly why the members of the Seattle Children's Hospital Guild Association band together with a compelling mission in mind. With its status as the largest all-volunteer fundraising network among all hospitals in the United States, its members are united by the mission of preventing, treating, and eliminating pediatric disease.

The Seattle Children's Hospital Guild Association is actually an umbrella organization consisting of nearly 500 groups of community members, workers, and supporters as well as family and friends of Seattle Children’s Hospital who donate their resources including time, talents and money into supporting the medical facility. Indeed, the guild’s programs and projects have been instrumental in the hospital’s success in the past 100 years.

The guild members deliver outstanding patient care, promote discoveries in treatments, and serve the academic medical center in several states including Washington, Montana and Idaho as well as Alaska. In fact, Seattle Children’s Hospital has been ranked as #6 of the United States’ best children’s hospitals (2015, U.S. News & World Report).

William Sansum Diabetes Center: Pioneering Research Into Diabetes Treatment

The William Sansum Diabetes Center, previously known as the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute, is a non-profit research center based on Santa Barbara. The center was named in honor of its founder, Dr. William Sansum, a notable pioneer in diabetes research and the first doctor to administer a U.S.-made insulin injection into an American patient in 1922. Dr. Sansum is also the founder of a primary care group, the Samsun Clinic, although the two are not affiliated.

The center is widely considered as a leading institution in diabetes research with particular focus on Type 1 diabetes. By promoting research and development into the chronic degenerative disorder, the organization aims for more effective treatments for diabetes and, ultimately, for a cure. Two of its most notable works are: first, the development of advanced protocols for Type 1 diabetes management in pregnant women; and second, the development of an artificial pancreas device used in the management of insulin delivery and glucose monitoring.

The research and development of the artificial pancreas was developed as a result of a $2.3 million grant. Once complete, the device would work by gathering real-time data from a continuous sensor with secure attachment to the wearer’s body. The data gathered will be combined with a sophisticated set of algorithms that will direct the insulin pump’s injection. While the device is not a cure, it will improve the quality of life for patients who must administer insulin injections to manage their symptoms.

Many of the world’s foremost diabetes researchers are with or have been with the William Sansum Diabetes Center. Dr. Lois Jovanovic, one of the innovators in the advanced protocols for Type 1 diabetes management in pregnant women, was with the organization for 26 years before retiring as its chief scientific officer in 2014. With its thrust in pioneering diabetes research, the center continues to attract the best minds in the scientific community.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium: Rescuing the Animals Is Its Mission

The Clearwater Marine Aquarium, a non-profit organization and aquarium, has made it its avowed mission to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured and ill marine animals. It is also actively involved in public education, in animal-assisted therapy, and in animal research, among other notable activities.

Opened in 1972 on Clearwater Beach within a former water treatment plant, the aquariums now host numerous forms of marine life, either as permanent or temporary residents. All of the animal residents here have suffered from serious injuries, which significantly reduced their chances of living in the wild or which prevented their return to their natural habitats.

Winter, a bottlenose dolphin, is the aquariums most famous resident as well as the focus of its campaigns. Her serious injuries resulted in the loss of her tail, which the aquarium management resolved by outfitting her with a prosthetic tale.

Today, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium hosts several types of animals including North American river otters, green sea turtles, southern stingrays, great white pelicans, cownose rays, and a wide range of fishes.