Greater Good sites offer so many easy ways to be involved,fr om a free click donations to direct donations that fund a specific program – people's smallest actions online matter, creating real results in Greater Good programs.
Already, visitors' actions have provided $30 million to nonprofit charities around the world since 1999. That means millions have received help and assistance because of participants' efforts: hungry families fed, pets rescued, rainforests saved, breast cancer caught and treated, children helped, and so much more.
Small Actions Have Big Results
Explore the network of great charities and good works that make up GreaterGood. Find the cause, program, or project that speaks to your passion for helping others and start making a difference today. No good action is too small.
Click to Give. It's Free!
The Animal Rescue Site funds food and care for rescued animals in shelters and sanctuaries.
https://theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/ths/home?gg_source=ctgcontent&gg_medium=aboutus&gg_campaign=GGC
The Hunger Site funds food for the world's hungry and food insecure.
https://thehungersite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/ths/home?gg_source=ctgcontent&gg_medium=aboutus&gg_campaign=GGC
The Breast Cancer Site funds mammograms and care for women in need.
https://thebreastcancersite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/bcs/home?gg_source=ctgcontent&gg_medium=aboutus&gg_campaign=GGC
The Veterans Site funds meals for homeless and hungry veterans and their families.
https://theveteranssite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/vet/home?gg_source=ctgcontent&gg_medium=aboutus&gg_campaign=GGC
The Autism Site funds research and therapy for children on the autism spectrum.
https://theautismsite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/aut/home?gg_source=ctgcontent&gg_medium=aboutus&gg_campaign=GGC
The Alzheimer's Site funds promising research into the disease.
https://thealzheimerssite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/alz/home?gg_source=ctgcontent&gg_medium=aboutus&gg_campaign=GGC
The Diabetes Site funds leading-edge diabetes research.
https://diabetes.greatergood.com/clickToGive/dbs/home?gg_source=ctgcontent&gg_medium=aboutus&gg_campaign=GGC
The Literacy Site funds new books for children in need.
https://theliteracysite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/lit/home?gg_source=ctgcontent&gg_medium=aboutus&gg_campaign=GGC
The Rainforest Site funds preservation of endangered rainforest habitat.
https://therainforestsite.greatergood.com/clickToGive/trs/home?gg_source=ctgcontent&gg_medium=aboutus&gg_campaign=GGC
Read more at https://greatergood.com
Most Useful Ways to Help California Fire Victims
Our hearts go out to the victims of the California fires, but material donations like food, clothing and blankets are proving not to be the best way to help, according to Alessandra Malito of Market Watch. There just isn't enough storage space in already over-crowded emergency accommodations.
“After a disaster hits, the American Red Cross witnesses the incredible generosity of people from across the country who want to help in any way they can with donations of items like clothes, shoes, food and household items, but the reality is, cash donations are best,” the Red Cross said in a statement.
"Officials in California say the victims of the fires would benefit from gift cards to Walmart, WMT, -0.38% Target, TGT, -0.90% gas stations or grocery stores, as well as other stores in the affected areas, including the grocery store Raley’s, Food Maxx, Grocery Outlet, Rite-Aid, RAD, -9.09% CVS, CVS, -0.10% Walgreens, Dollar General, DG, -2.20% Dollar Tree DLTR, +0.01% and Big Lots BIG, -1.08%."
"In Southern California, where the Woolsey Fire has ravaged communities, the Humane Society of Ventura County said it was stocked with supplies, but will need more money for items like pet food. Actress Sandra Bullock donated $100,000 to HSVC, which is caring for cats, dogs, donkeys, pigs, horses, chickens, ducks and other pets displaced by the fire." (The organization will take care of the animals until they can be reunited with their owners, it said.)
"The Chico, Calif.-based North Valley Community Foundation, which is supporting evacuation centers near the Camp Fire, said there wasn’t enough storage space for donations of clothing or blankets. 'If you have any ability to contribute financially to our fire relief fund, this is the time,' Alexa Benson-Valavanis, president and chief executive officer of NVCF, said in a statement."
Bottom line: Right now, donations of cash or gift cards would be the most useful and appreciated to California fire victims. Thank you to all who are able to help.
“After a disaster hits, the American Red Cross witnesses the incredible generosity of people from across the country who want to help in any way they can with donations of items like clothes, shoes, food and household items, but the reality is, cash donations are best,” the Red Cross said in a statement.
"Officials in California say the victims of the fires would benefit from gift cards to Walmart, WMT, -0.38% Target, TGT, -0.90% gas stations or grocery stores, as well as other stores in the affected areas, including the grocery store Raley’s, Food Maxx, Grocery Outlet, Rite-Aid, RAD, -9.09% CVS, CVS, -0.10% Walgreens, Dollar General, DG, -2.20% Dollar Tree DLTR, +0.01% and Big Lots BIG, -1.08%."
"In Southern California, where the Woolsey Fire has ravaged communities, the Humane Society of Ventura County said it was stocked with supplies, but will need more money for items like pet food. Actress Sandra Bullock donated $100,000 to HSVC, which is caring for cats, dogs, donkeys, pigs, horses, chickens, ducks and other pets displaced by the fire." (The organization will take care of the animals until they can be reunited with their owners, it said.)
"The Chico, Calif.-based North Valley Community Foundation, which is supporting evacuation centers near the Camp Fire, said there wasn’t enough storage space for donations of clothing or blankets. 'If you have any ability to contribute financially to our fire relief fund, this is the time,' Alexa Benson-Valavanis, president and chief executive officer of NVCF, said in a statement."
Bottom line: Right now, donations of cash or gift cards would be the most useful and appreciated to California fire victims. Thank you to all who are able to help.
Bike the US for MS
Bike the US for MS coordinates cross country bike trips to raise awareness and funds for Multiple Sclerosis. These bike tours traverse the most scenic routes of the country, which make for an incredible experience while contributing to a worthy and important cause. Volunteers can ride a segment of the journey or make the entire coast-to-coast trip. Proceeds from the funds go towards MS research and treatment.
Read one fundraiser's inspiring story. Despite having MS, she has been raising funds for years by doing virtual bike rides:
Join Bike the US for MS today for a 2019 tour and help make a difference!
Read one fundraiser's inspiring story. Despite having MS, she has been raising funds for years by doing virtual bike rides:
Join Bike the US for MS today for a 2019 tour and help make a difference!
Refugee Nuns Made Epic Journey
This group of nuns made an epic journey . . .
These nuns arrived destitute, mostly illiterate, traumatized, and in ill health. They arrived to a refugee community in Dharamsala with little or no resources to receive them.
The Tibetan Women’s Association and the Tibetan Nuns Project sprang into action to help them. Today some of these women are teachers, leaders, and Geshemas, holding the highest academic degree in their tradition.
Their story reflects the power of your support.
These nuns, and hundreds like them, escaped on foot over the Himalayas in search of a safe place to practice their religion.
However, the escape of this group was just part of their epic journey together.
In 1989, they were part of a large group of pilgrims from Lithang whose aim was to visit the sacred sites in Lhasa, a distance of 1,200 miles. For centuries, such rigorous pilgrimages have been practiced in Tibet as a way to transform one’s consciousness and to gain merit.
Walking from Lithang to Lhasa would be an extraordinary feat by itself. However, the pilgrims had decided to travel the entire distance by doing prostrations—stretching out full length on their fronts and then getting up and stepping to where their hands had been and then repeating that hundreds of thousands of times.
The nuns in the top photo did hundreds of thousands of prostrations on their epic journey, covering a distance of 1,200 miles. This photo, courtesy of Olivier Adam, shows a Tibetan nun and lay people doing prostrations in front of a holy site.
“The pilgrimage to Lhasa took two years to complete because we did prostrations all along the way,” says Delek Palmo, who earned her Geshema degree in 2016.
“We would do prostrations in the rain and our clothes got wet and dirty and we could not wash them out every day.”
Tragically, the lack of religious freedom and basic human rights in Tibet meant that the pilgrims could not reach their goal.
When the 170 pilgrims reached the outskirts of the sacred city of Lhasa, Chinese Security Forces refused to let them enter the city. Instead, the police loaded them into trucks and interrogated them for hours at a police holding center.
After changing course to Mount Kailash, most of the pilgrims decided to escape to freedom in India.
Winter had begun and the group was ill equipped. They did not have winter clothing, proper shoes, or even enough food to eat for such an expedition. The journey took 27 days.
Forty-two nuns arrived in Dharamsala seeking sanctuary and a nunnery in which to study and practice.
This archival photo shows Delek Palmo, one of the nuns who escaped from Tibet, sitting on a donated bed frame. Over 700 Tibetan nuns in India continue to need your support for such basic necessities as food, shelter, and education. Photo courtesy of Susan Lirakis.
Yes, I would like to help a nun.
Tibetan nuns continue to need help with the necessities of life. Their needs are very simple—basic food, a roof over their heads, a bed to sleep in, nuns’ robes, education, and a safe place to practice their religion.
Will you consider sponsoring a nun today? The cost is just under $1 a day and will provide a nun with the support she needs to reach her potential.
The nunneries in India have gone through annual enrollment and we need many more sponsors.
If you are unable to commit to a full sponsorship, please consider becoming a monthly donor at any amount or making a single gift to our area of greatest need.
Sadly, we are not able to change the situation inside Tibet, but you can help save the Tibetan religion and culture by supporting the Tibetan Nuns Project.
As one nun said, “Inside Tibet you can wear red, but you can’t fully practice.” To study Tibetan Buddhism, you need freedom—safe and free access to study and to receive the teachings.
Thank you for helping these dedicated, brave, and compassionate women!
Our first 35 new sponsors will receive a lovely thangka print!
This photo shows the impact of sponsorship gifts. Taken earlier this year, these are some of nuns from Lithang whose escape is described above. They were some of the first nuns in our sponsorship program. Three of them are now Geshemas, including Delek Palmo (back far right and in the B&W photo above).
Please consider becoming a sponsor or monthly donor today. THANK YOU!
DONATE on their site at https://tnp.org/
Top photo courtesy of Olivier Adam.
Copyright © 2017 Tibetan Nuns Project, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Tibetan Nuns Project
815 Seattle Boulevard South #216
Seattle, WA 98134
These nuns arrived destitute, mostly illiterate, traumatized, and in ill health. They arrived to a refugee community in Dharamsala with little or no resources to receive them.
The Tibetan Women’s Association and the Tibetan Nuns Project sprang into action to help them. Today some of these women are teachers, leaders, and Geshemas, holding the highest academic degree in their tradition.
Their story reflects the power of your support.
These nuns, and hundreds like them, escaped on foot over the Himalayas in search of a safe place to practice their religion.
However, the escape of this group was just part of their epic journey together.
In 1989, they were part of a large group of pilgrims from Lithang whose aim was to visit the sacred sites in Lhasa, a distance of 1,200 miles. For centuries, such rigorous pilgrimages have been practiced in Tibet as a way to transform one’s consciousness and to gain merit.
Walking from Lithang to Lhasa would be an extraordinary feat by itself. However, the pilgrims had decided to travel the entire distance by doing prostrations—stretching out full length on their fronts and then getting up and stepping to where their hands had been and then repeating that hundreds of thousands of times.
The nuns in the top photo did hundreds of thousands of prostrations on their epic journey, covering a distance of 1,200 miles. This photo, courtesy of Olivier Adam, shows a Tibetan nun and lay people doing prostrations in front of a holy site.
“The pilgrimage to Lhasa took two years to complete because we did prostrations all along the way,” says Delek Palmo, who earned her Geshema degree in 2016.
“We would do prostrations in the rain and our clothes got wet and dirty and we could not wash them out every day.”
Tragically, the lack of religious freedom and basic human rights in Tibet meant that the pilgrims could not reach their goal.
When the 170 pilgrims reached the outskirts of the sacred city of Lhasa, Chinese Security Forces refused to let them enter the city. Instead, the police loaded them into trucks and interrogated them for hours at a police holding center.
After changing course to Mount Kailash, most of the pilgrims decided to escape to freedom in India.
Winter had begun and the group was ill equipped. They did not have winter clothing, proper shoes, or even enough food to eat for such an expedition. The journey took 27 days.
Forty-two nuns arrived in Dharamsala seeking sanctuary and a nunnery in which to study and practice.
This archival photo shows Delek Palmo, one of the nuns who escaped from Tibet, sitting on a donated bed frame. Over 700 Tibetan nuns in India continue to need your support for such basic necessities as food, shelter, and education. Photo courtesy of Susan Lirakis.
Yes, I would like to help a nun.
Tibetan nuns continue to need help with the necessities of life. Their needs are very simple—basic food, a roof over their heads, a bed to sleep in, nuns’ robes, education, and a safe place to practice their religion.
Will you consider sponsoring a nun today? The cost is just under $1 a day and will provide a nun with the support she needs to reach her potential.
The nunneries in India have gone through annual enrollment and we need many more sponsors.
If you are unable to commit to a full sponsorship, please consider becoming a monthly donor at any amount or making a single gift to our area of greatest need.
Sadly, we are not able to change the situation inside Tibet, but you can help save the Tibetan religion and culture by supporting the Tibetan Nuns Project.
As one nun said, “Inside Tibet you can wear red, but you can’t fully practice.” To study Tibetan Buddhism, you need freedom—safe and free access to study and to receive the teachings.
Thank you for helping these dedicated, brave, and compassionate women!
Our first 35 new sponsors will receive a lovely thangka print!
This photo shows the impact of sponsorship gifts. Taken earlier this year, these are some of nuns from Lithang whose escape is described above. They were some of the first nuns in our sponsorship program. Three of them are now Geshemas, including Delek Palmo (back far right and in the B&W photo above).
Please consider becoming a sponsor or monthly donor today. THANK YOU!
DONATE on their site at https://tnp.org/
Top photo courtesy of Olivier Adam.
Copyright © 2017 Tibetan Nuns Project, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Tibetan Nuns Project
815 Seattle Boulevard South #216
Seattle, WA 98134
Support Walk MS Event, April 9, 2016
Move us closer to a world free of Multiple Sclerosis with a Walk MS event in Charlottesville, VA.
Your gift today will help support MS research, programs and services, and more. Please make your tax-deductible donation on http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/VARWalkEvents?team_id=460923&pg=team&fr_id=27374
Team Soul Patrol Is Stepping Out to Stomp MS.
When: Saturday, April 9, 2016 (9 AM-12 PM)
Where: University Hall, Charlottesville
Wear: Anything & everything ORANGE! (Team T's available for purchase.)
Your Commitment? Raise a Minimum of $25 to help support local programs & services for MS patients & their families & to advance research for a cure.
Goodies for You! Uber-cool MS awareness bracelet! Exercise! Refreshments! AND the satisfaction of knowing you’re helping to create a world free of MS!
Questions? Please contact Angela Shaw at sole.patrol@comcast.net
Gift Information
Ending multiple sclerosis for good will take all of us. It’s why Walk MS matters so much. And it’s why you matter so much. Thank you for your donation. Your gift today will help support MS research, programs and services, and more. Please make your tax-deductible donation today at http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/VARWalkEvents?team_id=460923&pg=team&fr_id=27374
Your gift today will help support MS research, programs and services, and more. Please make your tax-deductible donation on http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/VARWalkEvents?team_id=460923&pg=team&fr_id=27374
Team Soul Patrol Is Stepping Out to Stomp MS.
When: Saturday, April 9, 2016 (9 AM-12 PM)
Where: University Hall, Charlottesville
Wear: Anything & everything ORANGE! (Team T's available for purchase.)
Your Commitment? Raise a Minimum of $25 to help support local programs & services for MS patients & their families & to advance research for a cure.
Goodies for You! Uber-cool MS awareness bracelet! Exercise! Refreshments! AND the satisfaction of knowing you’re helping to create a world free of MS!
Questions? Please contact Angela Shaw at sole.patrol@comcast.net
Gift Information
Ending multiple sclerosis for good will take all of us. It’s why Walk MS matters so much. And it’s why you matter so much. Thank you for your donation. Your gift today will help support MS research, programs and services, and more. Please make your tax-deductible donation today at http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/VARWalkEvents?team_id=460923&pg=team&fr_id=27374
Gompaservices.com: Wonderful New Online Puja Sponsorship Service
Prayer sponsorship has come into the 21st century! Tibetan Monastery Services, based in Dehradun, India announces the auspicious launch of their new convenient online services on their gompa website: www.gompaservices.com.
Here, you can sponsor prayers and pujas. You can request the monastery or nunnery in India or Nepal in which you would like to have the services performed from one of 50 major gompas. They represent seven different sects: Kagyu, Gelug, Nyingma, Sakya, Jonang, Rime and Bon.
After selecting the gompa, you can select the purpose of service you would like performed: Long Life, Removing Obstacles, Overcoming Illness, General Benefit, Success in Activities and Caring for the Deceased and Dying. Each purpose then offers categories of services. This is followed by a menu with a donation price list from which you can choose Extensive, Middling or Less Extensive ceremonies.
Gompaservices.com also offers a statue-making service of your "Kyetak", which is a representation for your auspicious rebirth. "This statue, which will be of the deity chosen on the basis of traditional Tibetan astrological divination, will be inscribed with your name and consecrated and will remain in your chosen monastery or nunnery for as long as you wish."
Also on this site, you can also pre-arrange prayers, practices and sacred rituals for your loved ones or yourself. Sponsorship funds for these can be made in monthly installments over a five-year period. What could be easier? www.gompaservices.com
One more service: There will be announcements on the site of webcasts of special events including teachings, empowerments and ceremonies. Other new services such as the Diamond Path Service will also be available soon.
For the benefit of your family and friends, yourself, the gompas that you help support with your sponsorship, and ultimately the benefit of all sentient beings, go to www.gompaservices.com and get started today.
Here, you can sponsor prayers and pujas. You can request the monastery or nunnery in India or Nepal in which you would like to have the services performed from one of 50 major gompas. They represent seven different sects: Kagyu, Gelug, Nyingma, Sakya, Jonang, Rime and Bon.
After selecting the gompa, you can select the purpose of service you would like performed: Long Life, Removing Obstacles, Overcoming Illness, General Benefit, Success in Activities and Caring for the Deceased and Dying. Each purpose then offers categories of services. This is followed by a menu with a donation price list from which you can choose Extensive, Middling or Less Extensive ceremonies.
Gompaservices.com also offers a statue-making service of your "Kyetak", which is a representation for your auspicious rebirth. "This statue, which will be of the deity chosen on the basis of traditional Tibetan astrological divination, will be inscribed with your name and consecrated and will remain in your chosen monastery or nunnery for as long as you wish."
Also on this site, you can also pre-arrange prayers, practices and sacred rituals for your loved ones or yourself. Sponsorship funds for these can be made in monthly installments over a five-year period. What could be easier? www.gompaservices.com
One more service: There will be announcements on the site of webcasts of special events including teachings, empowerments and ceremonies. Other new services such as the Diamond Path Service will also be available soon.
For the benefit of your family and friends, yourself, the gompas that you help support with your sponsorship, and ultimately the benefit of all sentient beings, go to www.gompaservices.com and get started today.
Help Nepal Recovery Efforts
24 June 2015 – Since the devastating earthquake in Nepal on April 25 ago, help efforts have shifted from emergency response to repair and long-term recovery. Thousands of Sherpa porters are helping with relief efforts. Oxfam, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and other relief agencies have started a "cash-for-work program". 
This program has enabled 20,000 Sherpa porters, who lost their work due to the sudden end to the trekking season, to earn an income by delivering supplies and repairing trails to remote villages cut off by the quake.
They have already helped build 9,000 transitional shelters and help farmers work in their fields.
Relief agency operations in Nepal still need US$74 million to keep providing assistance until the end of the year. This includes not only food, medical and building materials, but also the air and land transportation to deliver them as well as telecommunication services.
There are many relief agencies to which you can donate. However, follow safe guidelines to ensure your donation will be put to good use:
(1) Check out the charity. Large charity organizations can be checked out through such websites as Charity Navigator, Guidestar and the Better Business Bureau.
(2) Target funds for a particular purpose. For example, the dropdown menu at InterAction's Nepal webpage will direct you to organizations in a number of areas including medical assistance, food aid, and supplies for shelter.
(3) Don't send used clothes or supplies. Air transportation and cargo space are currently limited. Donated funds can help relief agencies buy local goods, which will help rebuild the economy.
Thank you! Every little bit helps.
This program has enabled 20,000 Sherpa porters, who lost their work due to the sudden end to the trekking season, to earn an income by delivering supplies and repairing trails to remote villages cut off by the quake.
They have already helped build 9,000 transitional shelters and help farmers work in their fields.
Relief agency operations in Nepal still need US$74 million to keep providing assistance until the end of the year. This includes not only food, medical and building materials, but also the air and land transportation to deliver them as well as telecommunication services.
There are many relief agencies to which you can donate. However, follow safe guidelines to ensure your donation will be put to good use:
(1) Check out the charity. Large charity organizations can be checked out through such websites as Charity Navigator, Guidestar and the Better Business Bureau.
(2) Target funds for a particular purpose. For example, the dropdown menu at InterAction's Nepal webpage will direct you to organizations in a number of areas including medical assistance, food aid, and supplies for shelter.
(3) Don't send used clothes or supplies. Air transportation and cargo space are currently limited. Donated funds can help relief agencies buy local goods, which will help rebuild the economy.
Thank you! Every little bit helps.
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