Have you enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday and then the Black Friday shopping madness. If you were some of those people who braved the crowds to buy stuff made in China you may have forgotten about the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a time to help others who are down on their luck. And Giving Tuesday is a great way to help out other people! Giving Tuesday is a campaign to create a national day of giving at the start of the annual holiday season. It celebrates and encourages charitable activities that support nonprofit organizations.
In Alabama, there are some charities you need to consider when you want to donate money. People in Alabama are lucky to see these great organizations in the state! Here are Geek Alabama’s top 5 charities!
Magic Moments
Magic Moments provides critically ill children in Alabama with the opportunity to forget about their illness and just feel like a “normal” kid, if only for a day. This means kids get to do some pretty awesome things like seeing their favorite stars, going on a trip, getting new toys, etc. They really need donations to continue their mission of granting wishes to ill kids. For more information go to: http://www.magicmoments.org.
Toomer’s for Tuscaloosa
Toomer’s for Tuscaloosa was started by a group of volunteers after the April 27th tornado outbreak. They delivered supplies and immediate relief to the residents of North Alabama. Today TFT collects donations to send to disaster areas after major weather events like tornadoes and hurricanes. They also lend manpower to help clean up damaged areas as well. This group could use donations to help pay for gas and to help fund supplies in disaster areas. For more information go to: http://toomersfortuscaloosa.com/.
Hand In Paw
Hand In Paw uses professionally-trained teams of handlers and their animals to help improve people’s day to day lives at numerous facilities throughout Central Alabama. This group uses service animals in area hospitals, juvenile detention centers, and rehabilitation facilities to help heal people who are experiencing hurt, be it social, emotional, developmental or physical. This group could use donations to help pay for gas and the animal training. For more information go to: http://www.handinpaw.org/.
Camp Smile-A-Mile / Camp ASCCA
These two camps down along Lake Martin in Tallapoosa County provides a really great service. Camp Smile-A-Mile provides a great camp experience for kids and young adults who have cancer. Camp ASCCA provides a great camp experience for people with disabilities. Both camps could use donations to help pay for the upkeep of the camp. For more information on Camp Smile-A-Mile go to: http://www.campsam.org. For more information on Camp ASCCA go to: http://www.campascca.org/.
Operation Hug Me Tight
After the tornado outbreak in January 2012. Operation Hug Me Tight was started and it does a great service for the kids in need. The group provides brand new Teddy Bears to hundreds of displaced children in need of emotional support. Whatever the circumstance, it is OHMT’s hope to help young children cope with the fear, confusion and sadness of suddenly losing their sense of “home.” This group could use donations to pay for new Teddy Bears! For more information on Operation Hug Me Tight go to: http://ophugmetight.org/.
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- Non-profit group starts “Giving Tuesday” (abc4.com)
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