A Better Community
The Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network engages and mobilizes millions of volunteers who are helping to solve serious social problems in thousands of communities. Through a variety of programs and services, the Foundation encourages people from all walks of life - businesses, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, low-income communities, families, youth, and older adults - to volunteer.
MENTOR is a national non-profit center for the promotion and support of those in the mentoring field. MENTOR works as a catalyst for mentoring programs by bringing together decision-makers from all multiple sectors, public and private, to develop strategies and organize resources. MENTOR seeks to advocate for money, both in the public and private sector, build infrastructure, promote quality mentoring, and simplify the process for individuals or organizations to get involved in mentoring. MENTOR combines the National Mentoring Institute, their resource arm, with the Institute for Public Policy and State Affairs, their advocacy arm. MENTOR commonly refers to itself as "Mentor's Mentor." Like many families we have worked with, the Elcano children have lost their father at a young age and organizations like MENTOR provide a supplementary resource for guidance and direction as they grown up. For more information on MENTOR, log onto www.mentoring.org.
The Mentoring Center - Seeking to improve the quality and effectiveness of mentoring programs and providing a direct service mentoring program model designed to transform the lives of the most highly at-risk youth. MENTOR believes that, with the help and guidance of an adult mentor, each child can discover how to unlock and achieve his or her potential. www.mentor.org
Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America - Helping children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with measurable impact. Big Brother and Big Sisters vision is successful mentoring relationships for all children who need and want them, contributing to better schools, brighter futures, and stronger communities for all. www.bbbsa.org
Boys and Girls Clubs of America - Inspiring and enabling all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. Club programs and services promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence. Boys & Girls Clubs are a safe place to learn and grow - all while having fun. They are truly The Positive Place For Kids. www.bgca.org
Youth Service America (YSA) - Resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people, ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally. Founded in 1986, YSA's mission is to expand the impact of the youth service movement with communities, schools, corporations, and governments. YSA envisions a global culture of engaged youth who are committed to a lifetime of service, learning, leadership and achievement. www.ysa.org
American Red Cross - Providing free assistance to victims of natural disasters nationwide and helping people prepare themselves, family and community for emergencies, "Together, we can save a life." The American Red Cross has helped people mobilize to help their neighbors for 125 years. Last year, victims of a record 72,883 disasters, most of them fires, turned to the nearly 1 million volunteers and 35,000 employees of the Red Cross for help and hope. Through more than 800 locally supported chapters, more than 15 million people each year gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their homes, communities and world. Almost 4 million people give blood-the gift of life-through the Red Cross, making it the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The Red Cross helps thousands of U.S. service members separated from their families by military duty stay connected. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, a global network of more than 180 national societies, the Red Cross helps restore hope and dignity to the world's most vulnerable people. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work. www.redcross.org
Habitat for Humanity International - Based in Americus, Ga., is an ecumenical Christian ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since 1976, Habitat has built more than 200,000 houses in nearly 100 countries, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than one million people. Together with Habitat for Humanity, your family can help others realize the dream of home ownership. Visit www.habitat.org to find out how you can make a difference.
Keep America Beautiful - Beautifying America by focusing on litter prevention, beautification and community improvement, and waste reduction. Keep America Beautiful involves millions of volunteers each year in hands-on community improvement activities, where they learn how to take personal responsibility for improving their local community environments and their quality of life. We teach young people how to care for, preserve, and protect our environment. www.kab.org
Take Pride in America - Helping preserve our nation's landmarks. A national partnership established by the U.S. Department of the Interior that aims to engage, support and recognize volunteers who work to improve our public parks, forests, grasslands, wildlife refuges, cultural and historical sites, local playgrounds and other recreation areas. Together we protect and enhance the special legacy all Americans share - our public lands that cover more than one in every three acres across the Nation. Take Pride
The Nature Conservancy - Preserving the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. www.nature.org
The Make-A-Wish Foundation® - Grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy. Born in 1980 when a group of caring individuals helped a young boy fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer, the Foundation is now the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 72 chapters in the U.S. and its territories. Granting more than 12,000 wishes a year and 132,000 wishes in the United States since inception, the Make-A-Wish Foundation celebrates '25 Years Making Wishes Come True" in 2005. For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit www.wish.org and discover how you can share the power of a wish®.
Special Olympics - Helping to offer a shining example of what people can achieve given the opportunity to unlock their potential and discover ability. www.specialolympics.org
Toys for Tots - Offering new toys to needy children during the holidays through a program of the United States Marine Corps Reserves. The principal Toys for Tots activities which take place each year are the collection and distribution of toys in the communities in which a Marine Corps Reserve Unit is located and in communities without a Reserve Unit that has a Marine Corps League Detachment or group of men and women, generally veteran Marines, authorized by Marine Toys for Tots Foundation to conduct a local Toys for Tots campaign. Local Toys for Tots Campaign Coordinators conduct an array of activities throughout the year, which include golf tournaments, foot races, bicycle races and other purely voluntary events designed to increase interest in Toys for Tots, and concurrently generate toy and monetary donations. www.toysfortots.org
American Library Association - Promoting the highest quality library and information services and public access to information. Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Chicago, the American Library Association -- the "voice of America's libraries" -- is the largest library association in the world. Its 66,000 members are primarily librarians, but also trustees, publishers and others who support the work of the association. The mission of the ALA is to promote the highest quality library and information services and the profession of librarianship, as well as ensure access to information for all people. ALA invites you to contact your local school, academic or public library to find out how you can help make a difference - whether that's volunteering your time, offering your expertise, joining a local Friends group, reading to children, or donating books and materials. For more information on how to become a library advocate, see the ALA Website at www.ala.org and click on "Issues and Advocacy."
