Six Worthwhile Charities to Donate to!

Illustration of hands up in the air
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Previously we have mentioned several charitable organizations that Howard Fensterman choose to donate to, and in this article, we will expand out to a broader view of charitable organizations across the globe. 

Since there are so many causes that need donations as well as volunteer work, we have picked five that we feel deserve notable attention.

That does not mean that you agree with our picks, as you may have some in mind that you believe are more worthwhile to donate to, and that’s perfectly fine! But we are sure the ones that we have selected here are worthwhile as well, so we simply ask that you read about them and then make your decision. Let’s begin.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospita

$1.8 million per day! That’s what it cost St. Jude to care for these children and they charge the families zero dollars! What’s more precious than a child? What could be more painful than parents who see their child suffer from cancer? Or worse, actually being that child with cancer!

You’ve heard the expression “Let’s stamp out cancer in our lifetime”. Thanks to the superb efforts of St. Jude Cancer Hospital, that may become true! 

Established by Danny Thomas, St. Jude works with top scientists and doctors to research, understand, and subsequently treat children with cancer, as well as other life-threatening diseases. 

Pediatric cancer is St. Jude’s major research and care and the young patients may be there for quite a while. Possibly up to three years or more, and the costs can be astronomical with an average price tag of around $425,000 but can be up to $1 million or more.

With that said, no family ever pays a penny to St. Jude, but if the family does have insurance, St. Jude will bill the insurance company, but that’s it. No copays or deductibles are ever asked for.

Shriners Children’s Hospital

Let’s stay with children’s charities just a bit more. The Shriners Children’s Hospital provides exceptional pediatric care for children suffering from diseases or injuries. They have locations throughout the United States on both coasts and middle America, as well as, one in Hawaii.

Some of the care they provide is orthopedic therapy, gastrointestinal conditions, burn care, rheumatic therapy, sports medicine, and pediatric surgery.

Consider donating to this worthy cause. 

Tunnel to Towers 

We selected Tunnel to Towers because it represents folks who sacrificed more than anyone would want to-to sacrifice. The charity provides new homes free of charge to first responders, law enforcement members, and the American military who have been permanently injured in the line of duty. Tunnel to Towers also provides homes to gold star families who have lost a loved one. 

These homes are state of the art with all the ‘smart’ features necessary for those who have difficulty managing daily home living.

Created by Frank Siller who lost his brother firefighter at the World Trade Center on 9/11. 

While you’re at it, you might want to also consider a donation to Paralyzed Veterans of America

We should never forget the sacrifices our military and first responders have given for our country!

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network 

Pancreatic cancer is one of the scariest cancers to acquire. Over 62,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with this disease in 2022 and it is one of the most difficult to manage almost 49,000 people will die from this cancer this year!

Pancreatic cancer is not easy to diagnose and there are no specific symptoms that occur in the early stages of the disease. Unfortunately, the result is that pancreatic cancer is not found until the later stages, which means that it has already spread through the body, and surgery at that point is not a valid alternative.

That is why we choose the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network as one of our top charities to donate to. 

Care

Most of us have heard about Care. An international organization is driven to help hunger strife families throughout the world.

As per their mission statement: “CARE provides quality, gender-focused and localized humanitarian assistance to 10% of those affected in major crises, reaching at least 50 million people by 2030.”, their goal is to help more than 50 million people from external factors such as war, natural disasters, climate change, and migration that cause homelessness and humanitarian food crisis around the world. 

Care would like to stamp out hunger once and for all. When you donate to Care you know you are helping families that are in dire need of food and shelter.

Camp Good Mourning 

Children fishing at Camp Good Mourning
Photo SS

A local (NY area) 501c3 nonprofit organization that caterers to children who have lost a parent or sibling. Camp Good Mourning is a bereavement organization.

As per their website: “Camp Good Mourning! supports, educates, and empowers grieving Long Island children in a traditional summer camp setting . . . with something EXTRA SPECIAL . . . the ability to connect with other ways who harass experienced the death of a parent and/or sibling!”

When visiting the camp as we have done, the most prominent aspect that we noticed were the smiling faces of the children as they participated in their activities.

If you have suggestions for us to donate to a worthwhile charitable organization, please let us know!

Is Your Business Website ADA Compliant?

What is ADA Compliance?

The (American Disabilities Association (ADA) defines a person with a disability as having a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities”.

The American Disabilities Act is a broad set of rules and has been put into place for American businesses to follow so that proper access can be available for disabled persons. These rules apply to anything that a disabled person might need access to, from fair housing to voting to access the World Wide Web. Under the Act of 1990, businesses and governments are required to make accommodations for persons who are legally disabled.

Providing wheelchair access, reserved parking, improving accessibility in work areas, and websites providing accommodations for the vision and hearing disabled are just a few of the examples that corporations need to be ADA compliant. 

In this article, we will be focusing on what business websites need to provide on their websites for the disabled.

What Can Happen if My Website is Not ADA Compliant?

Violations of websites that maintain inaccessible technologies and do not accommodate persons with disabilities may be subjected to legal action and lawsuits

The concern here is – how to determine if your website is ADA compliant and what can be done if it is not? Those that do not adhere to the ADA rules could be subjected to legal action and lawsuits. Believe it or not, there are lawyers that surf the web looking for non ADA compliant websites and notify the business of their noncompliance.

In the end, there usually is a settlement, but in actuality, it amounts to nothing more than a shakedown for cash. With that said, there are of course legitimate cases where a handicapped person or group of people run into a frustrating situation because they cannot retrieve the information they are looking for on a website and consequently, a lawsuit may materialize. The monetary damages can run from $25,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars. More information about  ADA compliant lawsuits can be found here.

How Do We Begin to Make Sure a Website is ADA Compliant?

Disapbled woman in wheel chair with laptop
Photo by SHVETS production from Pexels

For starters, a compliant website would need to address the issue of font sizes and color variances for those that are partially blind and access to an audio screen reader for those that are legally blind. But it doesn’t stop there. There are changes in the HTML code that are needed; such as, providing code that ensures images are audio compliant, meaning that the picture that cannot see or cannot see correctly is being read back to them in a descriptive format. For a more elaborate description of the software technologies needed to ADA compliance can be found here.

Regardless of the legal aspect, it is surely beneficial for businesses to provide accommodations for those that are disabled in any manner required. 

How Can I Help?

There are many organizations that provide monetary and other assistance for the disabled.

      • 4-Paws for Ability provides service dogs to those who are in need.
      • Family to Family Network is for children with disabilities and their families and provides information, referrals, training, and support in areas of education, health care, and social services. 
      • Tunnel to Towers is a phenomenal organization that offers assistance to first responders, law enforcement officers, and veterans who have become physically disabled while in the line of duty. Tunnel to Towers is currently providing mortgage-free homes for these heroes.

        These are just three of a wide range of charitable assistance that you can donate to help the disabled. You can Google “Charities for the disabled” for information on more of these organizations. 

Please consider a donation today!