Disasters Emergency Committee

August 18th, 2010 | By Malcolm

Want to help disaster victims in Pakistan? We do and we are sending a check to the Disasters Emergency Committee for this purpose. This group is not listed in the Charity Navigator because it’s not based in the United States. It’s actually based in the United Kingdom. And it’s not in itself a relief agency, it’s a group of 13 relief agencies that are funded via this group. They previously concentrated on the disaster in Haiti and now they are focused on the 2010 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa floods

Here is a list of the charities that all fall under the DEC organization. This list includes links so you can check them all out.

Official DEC website
ActionAid UK
British Red Cross
CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development)
Care International
Christian Aid
Concern – “Working for a world where no one lives in fear, poverty or oppression.”
Help the Aged
Islamic Relief
Merlin
Oxfam GB
Red Cross
Save the Children UK
Tearfund
World Vision UK

The current situation as of 2010 August 18 is that almost 2,000 people are known dead and the potential for more fatalities is high as disease is spreading rapidly. There is little in the way of clean drinking water or food for many tens of thousands of families. Many villages are completely under water for the first time in a century.  This is a good charity and a worthy cause – please help if you can.

Thanks Everyone !!  Regards,

Childrens Aid Society – New York

July 27th, 2010 | By Malcolm

The Childrens Aid Society has been around for more than 150 years and it continues to be highly rated. The Society has around 300 million US dollars in assets and a revenue stream in 2008 of almost 120 million. It consistently performs well on the Charity Navigator… currently rated at a 69% efficiency. It is recently honored as one of the 10 top charities on the Navigator with the most consecutive 4 star ratings. Interestingly enough, 6 of the top 10 are University Endowment Funds.

The Children’s Aid Society
105 East 22nd Street
Room 504
New York, NY 10010

Haiti Relief Organizations – You Can Help

January 23rd, 2010 | By Malcolm

During my lifetime I’ve always felt sad about the conditions in Haiti but now it’s biblical level destruction and I had to help. I gave a contribution to the Clinton Foundation hours after the earthquake because they setup quickly and that fund gets a 95% rating from the Charity Navigator. Here is an offshoot of that original program that is called the

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund

And you know there are a lot of funds but this one in particular will be well managed. It seems now 10 days after the initial disaster there are a lot of supplies on the way but not much on the ground yet. The level of human suffering is staggering and there is no poorer nation in the world that could use your help right now in some small way. I’m going to send a few bucks to this foundation as soon as I get my next paycheck.

Here is a list I got from Google for more places you can check out for Haiti Relief Organizatinos:

Care,

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund,

Direct Relief,

Doctors Without Borders,

Feed the Children,

Habitat for Humanity,

Lambi Fund,

Mayor’s Fund for NYC,

Meds & Food For Kids,

Mercy Corps,

Partners in Health,

Red Cross,

Save the Children,

The International Rescue Committee,

UNICEF,

World Food Program,

Yele Haiti,

Vietnam Children’s Fund

January 11th, 2010 | By Malcolm

The Vietnam Children’s Fund Builds Schools all over Vietnam and I know a number of people who have been involved. This is one of those charities that American soldiers who fought in Vietnam frequently participate in. It’s a great concept and each project is manageable. There are no grandiose goals but at the same time, what this charity accomplishes has had a significant positive impact on thousands of kids. I’d like to see the organization market itself a little better on the internet with pre-made charity banners and so forth. I’m going to write to them this week about getting some made and available on their website. Anyway check out the Vietnam Children’s Fund and look at all those smiling faces !!

I’ve been to Vietnam 10 times since 1993 and one of the greatest assets I’ve ever seen there is the smiles on the kid’s faces. I frequently hold up my hand and smile back shouting “Hello !” to groups of school kids and without exception they always return the gesture. These kids are genuinely happy to meet foreigners and they could use any help you could offer. I’m personally going to look more into the Vietnam Children’s Fund to see if I can help a bit on my next visit to Vietnam.

ASPCA The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

December 20th, 2009 | By Malcolm

Everyone’s heard of the ASPCA and it’s been around for quite some time – almost 150 years now. This is certainly another deserving organization that is making positive change in the world. Human beings are indeed the top of the food chain on this planet but we are all very related to all animals – BECAUSE WE ARE ANIMALS. Humans are Mammals and that is scientific fact despite what many of the “Great Religions” say about the matter.

You know for every religion that claims God is a white guy or a brown guy or some kind of spirit, we know that there has never been a supernatural act ever that was recorded. There has never been a real miracle that was ever recorded. 10 billion people have lived and died and not one has ever come back from the dead with any proof that others could have seen. But we can all have hope that doing the right thing and helping others will make us better people and bring us closer to a higher power if there is one. The human mind is incredibly powerful – and there have been many cases of cancer remission and seemingly miraculous healing that may have been done by the persons mind and positive thinking. Did a higher power give us that? Maybe. I hope so and I live confidant that there is a strong possibility there could be something out there. Something good. So I hedge my bet and try to build up points on the plus side.

Cruelty toward animals is usually done by incredibly stupid unfortunates that feel superior God like power over their victims. Sometimes they are backed up by religions dogma that tries to make the uneducated masses feel they are made in the image of a God and all other animals are inferior. Educated and mature people realize all life on the planet is linked, and we are all on the same boat together. Lower species should be treated with dignity as all life should be. We will all find out soon enough if there is something past this life – and I hope there is. But until then we have to do our best to educate and stop cruelty toward animals whenever we can. Check out this organization and make a positive change.

Live United

December 8th, 2009 | By Malcolm

This is a post about the United Way… NOT Manchester United. Although I think I could do one on MU shortly as their global educational initiative has helped millions in over 100 countries as well. The United Way is a century old organization that has changed the lives of millions through the work of thousands of regional offices. Their new campaign is “live united” and they have a special website setup for it at http://www.liveunited.org/ United Way has always tried to live by the credo that you can feed a man for a day by giving him a fish but you can feed a family for a lifetime by teaching a man how to grow or catch his own fish. They try to get to the root of the problem which is why I like them. Almost every Fortune 1000 company I every worked for in the last 25 years had a major United Way charity campaign but I did not see that kind of effort in the last couple years.

Neru International

December 7th, 2009 | By Malcolm

What can a former US Marine do to promote peaceful change in the world? Start a non-profit organization that helps the poorest people on the earth with Agro resources, Health resources, clean water, sanitation, education, and economic development. The organization was started by a Force Recon Dude named Jake Harriman who’s idea was that poverty fostered terrorism and if we ended poverty we could take a big bite out of terrorism. Good idea.

Each individual program is implemented and then it becomes self-sustaining because every area becomes profitable. Wow. What a concept.

Contact Neru at:  http://www.nuruinternational.org/

Amnesty International

December 7th, 2009 | By Malcolm

With over 2 million members claimed and actions in 150 countries, AI is a world class organization that helps shape political freedom and human rights around the world today. Starting in the early 1960′s, there are offices in around 80 countries so if you want to get involved in a global initiative, this is certainly an organization you can try. There are literally thousands of opportunities to help including election monitoring, trial observations, and media reporting.

Contact Amnesty International at http://www.amnesty.org/

Harvard University Global Initiative

December 3rd, 2009 | By Malcolm

My brother will graduate from Harvard with his Masters in IT in 2010. Since he’s been going to Harvard, I’ve noticed how much of an impact the University has had in the last decade in terms of positive global change. The alumni from the school can be found all over the planet working on some of the most critical problems facing the world. It’s not far fetched to claim that Harvard and maybe in particular Harvard MBA’s have had a tremendous impact on the global and international economy. Here is a link to the Global Initiative at Harvard University. http://www.hbs.edu/global/

Clinton Global Initiative

December 1st, 2009 | By Malcolm

Former President Bill Clinton is still having a positive impact on the lives of millions through his “Clinton Global Initiative” Program. Based in New York City, they just had their yearly meeting in September 2009 and I almost went. I’m on their mailing list and I was invited. Perhaps I’ll go in 2010 if I’m fortunate. Leaders from around the world have praised President Clinton for his efforts with this positive program and our current President Barack Obama said:

“President Clinton helped create a model for individual responsibility and collective action…”

Check this informative video: