The UniversalGiving™ Team would like to highlight some of our partners who are responding to the devastating cyclone that hit Myanmar/Burma on May 3rd. This is the worst disaster to hit this region since the tsunami in 2004. The urgent needs for this phase of the disaster relief are: food, clean water, medical supplies and temporary shelter. UniversalGiving™ is dedicated to connecting donors and volunteers with NGOs on the ground addressing the most pressing needs of any crisis. UniversalGiving’s NGO partners have been vetted with our unique Quality Model™ so that you can trust that your donation will make a significant impact.

Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team

AMURT has volunteer teams on the ground and are sending in overseas experts and coordinators. Distribution of food and medicine is this organization’s immediate priority.

Operation- USA

Operation USA has worked with Burmese refugees for over 15 years all along the Burma-Thailand border.Temporary shelter, water purification chemicals and medical supplies are among the most urgently needed items.

Relief International

RI successfully brought emergency relief to families and communities affected by the 2004 Southeast Asia Tsunami and the 2006 Central Java earthquake. RI is now bringing much needed assistance to the people of Myanmar with provisions of food rations, clean water, non-food items, and emergency medical services with the help of  RI’s RED—Rapid Emergency Deployment—Team.

Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger has worked in Myanmar continuously since 1994 and currently has 21 international and 300 national staff mobilized in the hardest hit, Ayeyarwaddy delta region.

Meet Nepal Orphans Home, one of UniversalGiving's newest partners! Nepal Orphans Home is doing important work in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. Their school, Papa's Trinity Academy, is serving 350 children and no child is turned away because of their inability to pay school fees. Fifty children are currently supported in the compassionate environment of Papa's House, a home for orphans and for children that couldn't be cared for by their families. Most recently, Nepal Orphans Home has opened a new facility for 25 Kamalari girls who were rescued from indentured servitude. Your donation to Nepal Orphans Home can support their many effective projects such as installing cleaner and more efficient solar power for the orphanages or refurbishing existing facilities. Just $20 can provide for better nutrition for the children living in Papa's House or $60 can provide school supplies to children attending Papa's Trinity Academy. However you decide to give, your gift will be supporting a brighter future for the children of Nepal!

Springtime usually signifies the beginning of new life, flowers blooming and rain falling. However, competition for clean water is increasing as water flows freely across borders. As our planet faces the challenge of climate change it is important to understand what this means for the global supply of drinkable water and what we can do to be a part of the solution. Tackling the problem of access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation for all has to include both the building of wells in developing areas as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Rising temperatures around the globe continue to alter rainfall patterns and melt glaciers at an accelerated rate, affecting this valuable resource. The facts remain that 1.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 2.6 billion lack proper sanitation and the deaths of 1.8 million children have been caused by tainted water supplies. UniversalGiving™ would like to highlight some of our partners working to protect our environment, increase the supply of clean water and provide access to adequate sanitation. Join us in protecting a resource that we all must share!

Cooperation
Tensions between nations have the potential to increase when in competition for an essential natural resource. The EcoLogic Development Fund has initiated an important project to help ensure Guatemalan voices are heard in the complex bi-national environmental management arrangement with Belize. The river, spelled "Sarstun" by Guatemalans and "Sarstoon" by Belizeans, is a major source of livelihoods for bordering communities; its use is often a source of tension between the two countries. Donations to this innovative project will help protect and restore the river shared by these two countries as well as assist in creating a sustainable plan for development.

Conservation
Implementing water conservation efforts is essential to protecting the current supply of clean water on the planet. TransFair USA focuses on ways to conserve water while improving the lives of people in developing nations. Their project to improve the condition of South American flower growers includes guaranteeing fair wages, supporting sound environmental policy, increasing the use of natural pest controls and reducing water and energy use. Help empower Fair Trade flower producers to introduce more sustainable and equitable products and to thrive in the global marketplace!

Climate Change
Taking steps to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases goes a long way to protecting our glaciers that supply some of the world’s largest rivers. The Hope Alliance’s gift package of Biogas digesters is effective in reducing carbon and improving health in Nepal. These digesters process human waste, animal waste and food waste into methane gas to provide heat and energy for the villager’s homes.  The family’s health is greatly improved (especially respiratory and eye health) because they are no longer burning open fires in their homes.  This also prevents deforesting because the families no longer have to cut down trees for their firewood. Support a smaller carbon footprint worldwide!

Education
Educating future generations about an environmentally conscious way of life is key to any sustainable solution to climate change and water supply. The Cloud Forest School Foundation supports a school in Costa Rica whose mission is to “nurture a new generation of ecologically aware, bilingual individuals by providing them with the skills and motivation to make environmentally and socially conscious decisions on a local, national and global scale.” The 106 acres that make up the school's campus are located in the tropical cloud forest that is protected from development and has been re-forested. In addition, the campus includes organic gardens, greenhouse and germination beds, recycling center, forest and mountain trail system and organic composts. Support this unique educational facility!

Wells & Sanitation
While education is helping provide future generations with the tools for cleaner water and a cleaner environment, well and sanitation projects are essential for improving lives today. The H2O Africa Foundation supports over 150 well and sanitation projects across the continent of Africa. Additionally, a donation of only $20 to the East Meets West Foundation can provide a lifetime of clean drinking water for someone in Vietnam. All of these projects help prevent water-born diseases, support gender equity and allow for economic development because of this important infrastructure.

Need to see more quality projects? Need effective ways to celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd ? Put the keyword water into our donate search box and see over 200 other effective ways to give!

Photo Credit: EcoLogic Development Fund

Hands to Hearts, Nurturing the World's Orphans

Hands to Hearts International (HHI) was founded to reach the world's neediest children--at the most important developmental time, zero to five years old --with the most cost effective, replicable healing available.  The organization offeres training for orphan caregivers which teaches infant massage and the importance of calling children by thier first name.  The mission of HHI is founded on two intertwining principles: To empower women and to nurture children.

 Click here to donate to Hands to Hearts International 

American Friends of Kenya (www.afkinc.org) is carrying out a relief effort to help its Kenyan friends and partners during the violence affecting their country at present.

The organization has partners in the three largest slums in Nariobi (Kibera, Mathare & Korogocho) as well as in the rural impoverished villages in Kenya.  The violence has destroyed the homes, community youth programs, and micro finance projects and affected our AIDS orphans in our sponsorship program.

Through our emergency relief funds we provide money to purchase food and potable water, medical supplies, and the materials to rebuild the destroyed housing for our friends.

Donate Relief Funds Now:  American Friends of Kenya

"Right now, with Kenya in turmoil and our people in the slums and Rift Valley in such great need, we welcome our association with Universal Giving." Emely Silver, Executive Director, American Friends of Kenya"

UniversalGiving was featured in CNN Money.com in an article about holiday season charitable giving! 

Our founder and CEO, Pamela Hawley, was quoted in the article:

"UniversalGiving processes 40 to 50 times more gift packages during November and December than any other time of the year."

To give a meaningful gift, choose from an exceptional list of gift packages in the spotlight below!

To read the full article featured on CNN Money.com: Spending big to save the planet

Still racking your brain for that thoughtful Father's Day gift? Maybe
wishing it would just fall in your lap?

Well, you are in luck!

Put a smile on your Dad's face this year with a thoughtful and compassionate gift in his honor.

UniversalGiving has been busy this summer! We've been improving our service, expanding our global reach through new partnerships and adding to our team. We are also pleased to announce a few milestones for our unique service: $1,000,000 donated and 5,000 volunteers matched with our top-performing organizations. We hope that you are as excited by these changes and achievements as we are.