“I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do.” ~ Jana Stanfield
How is everyone doing? We’ve certainly become experts at snacking, coming up with creative food combinations, staring at the sky, dancing in our PJs, video calls and finding songs that put a smile on our faces. All good skills, wouldn’t you agree? Additionally, we’ve been reminded that giving and helping someone in need are things that help also the giver, not just the receiver. For instance, the messages we received regarding the tempeh care packs we sent out have brought us more joy than we can explain - they’ve made our day numerous times. So, we wanted to put together a list of some amazing organisations that are worth donating to if you’re able to do so.
It’s important to note that giving and helping doesn’t have to be about donating money. For example, giving someone a call and really listening to them, dropping off groceries to a vulnerable person, raising awareness of a cause close to your heart, or surprising a lonely relative with brownies (made by a small business) can make all the difference. However, in this post we want to highlight some organisations that are doing incredibly important work and need donations urgently.
The Trussell Trust
The Trussell Trust supports a network of food banks throughout the nation, and together with them they provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty. Additionally, The Trussell Trust campaigns for a change so that there wouldn’t be hunger and a need for food banks in the UK. With £10 you could help give a parent peace of mind that their family won’t go hungry tonight.
Made in Hackney
Made in Hackney is a plant-based community cookery school and charity that used to run, before coronavirus, free community cookery classes with groups such as young carers, refugees and low income families. Made in Hackney’s aim is to help people lead healthier, happier, more connected, environmentally sustainable lives. In response to the coronavirus crisis, they’ve paused their community cookery classes in order to deliver free meals to their communities’ most vulnerable members.
City Harvest
City Harvest collects nutritious, safe and perfectly good food that would otherwise go to waste from all segments of the food industry (incl. restaurants, grocers, manufacturers, wholesalers, hotels and caterers) and distributes it to organisations such as homeless shelters, soup kitchens, refuges for women experiencing domestic violence, centres for elderly and children’s programs that provide meals to vulnerable people. With, for example, £25 you enable City Harvest to deliver 100 nutritious meals to the most vulnerable amongst us.
Women’s Aid
Women’s Aid is a grassroots federation of over 180 organisations that provide almost 300 local lifesaving services to women and children suffering from domestic abuse. Women’s Aid offers support and information through, for example, Live Chat, the Survivors’ Forum, The Survivor’s Handbook and refugees. Since coronavirus and lockdown measures, Women’s Aid has experienced a huge surge in demand for their services and need our help more than ever to keep services like Live Chat open.
Refuge
Refuge provides specialist services to survivors of domestic abuse. On any given day Refuge supports more than 6,000 clients, helping them rebuild their lives and overcome many different forms of violence and abuse. For instance, Refuge provides emergency temporary accommodation for women and children fleeing abuse and operates The Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline that is open 24/7. Refuge also supports victims of human trafficking and modern slavery across its national services. As staying home increases the risk of domestic abuse for thousands of women and children, Refuge’s services are needed more than ever.
Choose Love
Choose Love helps refugees fleeing war, persecution and climate change. Because of coronavirus, refugees need our help and support even more than before. As Choose Love points out in their emergency appeal, it’s not feasible to wash your hands regularly and safely when you share the tap with 1,300 people, and self-isolating in an overcrowded refugee camp is not really an option. Additionally, refugees struggle to get proper medical help since they lack access to healthcare. More than ever, they need our support.
The Big Issue
The Big Issue magazine offers homeless and other vulnerable people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income through the selling the magazine to the public. Since the street vendors’ only income comes from selling the magazine, the lockdown measures have had devastating financial and emotional impacts on the vendors. Thus, The Big Issue has had to try and find new ways to offer support for the vulnerable people in our society. Needless to say, The Big Issue could really use our help in order to keep supporting the street vendors through these difficult times.
“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” ~ John Holmes
If you’ve been wanting to help by donating money but have struggled to come up with organisations to donate to, we hope this list will help. If you would love to help but are not financially in a position to donate money, you can help by, for instance, sharing any of these organisations and emergency appeals in social media. As mentioned before, giving and helping doesn’t have to be about money, there are so many ways to make this world a better place. We’d like to wrap up this post with one more beautiful quote:
“One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.” ~ Shannon L. Alder
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