above photo by Sharon Mccutcheon
CHARITABLE GIVING
There are many wonderful charities regionally and abroad that do good work, charities we’ve all heard of: Doctors Without Borders, Planned Parenthood, ACLU etc.
We will not be donating to these.
Instead our monthly tithings will go to organizations that fly a bit more under the radar. We will highlight lesser known charities to give them a boost and also to increase local awareness of the wide variety of charitable organizations both within our own communities and worldwide. All of our donation recipients will be heavily vetted to meet the highest standards of integrity, effectiveness, and fiscal transparency. We will be choosing 12 charities a year by committee. If you would like to join our charitable giving research team, or if you have a suggestion, please get in touch.
Every month 25% of our events’ proceeds will be donated though our tithings program.
February’s tithing
:: Free yezidi foundation ::
The Free Yezidi Foundation is a politically independent non-profit organisation designed to assist Yezidis in need. It was founded shortly after terrorists attempted to eradicate the Yezidi people in August 2014 in Iraq. The Free Yezidi Foundation seeks to implement projects to protect and support the most vulnerable members of the Yezidi community. It also tries to create international awareness of the plight of the Yezidis and how to ethically address their concerns.
January’s tithing
:: medical aid for palestinians ::
For over 30 years, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has been reaching out to Palestinian communities, striving to deliver health and medical care to those worst affected by conflict, occupation and displacement.
DEcember’s tithing
:: Equality Health Center :: NH
“Who we are, what we do and the way we do it, is a story that goes back to 1973 and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing abortion.
After the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, activists throughout the country celebrated the end of illegal, unsafe abortion and the suffering and death it had caused for decades. But the Supreme Court’s decision was only the beginning: making abortion legal didn’t make it immediately available or affordable. At that time in New Hampshire, abortions were expensive and performed mainly in hospitals, and people were given little information and virtually no emotional support.
Soon a group of feminist in Concord began meeting to figure out how to address the needs of New Hampshire citizens for accessible, affordable abortion services. Their vision – a radical one for the time – was of a non-profit, freestanding clinic where abortion care would be nurturing, compassionate, empowering, and respectful of the dignity of every person. This vision was realized on October 19, 1974 when New Hampshire Women’s Health Services – later to be renamed Concord Feminist Health Center – opened its doors at 38 South Main Street in downtown Concord.
Over the 4 decades since we opened, our services expanded to include a wider range of reproductive health care. We also expanded the clients we serve to all people who need reproductive health care. In order to better reflect the organization’s broader healthcare commitment and give the public better insight to the recent expansion of services to men and the LGBTQ community, it was important to find a name that was inclusive and one that all of our patients would resonate with. In 2016, we proudly changed our name to Equality Health Center.
Our goal is continue to provide the highest quality of treatment to our community far into the future and ensure that those who turn to us for care leave feeling accepted, empowered, and dignified.”
NOvember’s tithing
:: the pad project :: India
THE ISSUE: MENSTRUAL EQUITY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF GIRLS’ EDUCATION
Women and girls around the world, especially in low income communities, often face a lack of access to menstrual products. Without proper sanitary supplies, they may resort to using leaves, dirty rags, and even ashes to manage their periods. The combination of period poverty, stigmatization, and inadequate reproductive and sexual health education has major consequences for girls’ wellbeing. It can also prevent girls from staying in school therefore ending their education.
WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT FOR GIRLS TO STAY IN SCHOOL?
If girls receive seven full years of education, they will marry an average of four years later and have 2.2 fewer children. If they attend just one additional year of secondary school, their lifetime wages could increase by up to twenty percent, consequently raising their countries’ GDPs by billions of dollars. If India enrolled just one percent more girls in school, their GDP would rise by 5.5 billion dollars. It’s simple; educating women and girls has a concrete economic and social impact on individuals, communities and nations.
Through innovation, education, and advocacy, The Pad Project aims to help move towards a world where girls feel empowered in their bodies, achieve economic independence, understand their reproductive and sexual health options, and harness the power to shape their lives.
OCTOBER’S TITHING
::COALITION to stop violence against native women::
“We strongly believe that actions influence policies. The Coalition is committed to assisting our tribal, local, state and federal leaders and partners to develop and promote legislation and policies that work to improve response, services and support to Native women and children who are impacted by violence. Good laws and policies create better outcomes. One fundamental role played by CSVANW is to advance policies to eliminate violence against Native women and children and advocate for social change. We change public policy and redirect conversations by:
Identifying and strengthening the violence against Native women and children movement
Supporting adequate funding for victim service advocacy programs, tribal law enforcement and community response
Building stronger systems that create improved responses to violence through effective laws and policies
CSVANW provides annual briefings to tribal leaders and decision makers on the status of violence against Native women and children through sharing data and centering the experiences, strengths and needs of survivors of violence. We work to ensure our communities have the data and recommendations for public safety, services and support so that they can make the best-informed decisions for their communities. CSVANW diligently works to create, shape, influence, and enhance policy that impacts survivors, their families, and our communities.”
SEPTEMBER’S TITHING
The Mauna Kea indigenous Land Protectors via
::KAHEA’S aloha ‘aina support fund::
On July 10th, Governor Ige announced that the transport of earth moving machines for the construction of TMT on Mauna Kea will begin on Monday, July 15. Your support for Mauna Kea and its kia`i over the years has been steadfast and deeply appreciated -- and is needed now, more than ever. KAHEA is announcing a new fund, the Aloha ‘Āina Support Fund, which prioritizes frontline logistical support for non-violent direct actions taken to protect Mauna Kea from further industrial development.
The Aloha ‘Āina Support Fund will prioritize funding for frontline logistics, including provision of bail where appropriate, supplies, transportation, technical services, and community meetings convened for such purposes. This fund will be administered by KAHEA board and staff, and distributed to groups, other nonprofits, and individuals organizing non-violent direct actions. Individuals arrested during non-violent direct actions protecting Mauna Kea and in support of kia`i Mauna and Aloha ‘Āina for expenses, bail, and organizing will be eligible. Funds may also be used to support the same efforts as those funded by MKLDF and MKEA, after a reasonable time has passed beyond a threat of imminent construction on Mauna Kea.
AUGUST’S TITHING
::RAINForest foundation::
From the website::
OUR MISSION
We protect the rainforests of Central and South America
by working with the indigenous communities that call them home.
The Rainforest Foundation works on-the-ground to secure land rights for indigenous people. We strengthen indigenous land security and train indigenous communities to use technology to protect their forests. By investing directly in indigenous communities, we connect people who are deeply motivated to conserve their ancestral lands with the tools, training, and resources necessary to protect their rainforests.
WHY WE DO IT
Human life depends on our rainforests. They are vital to the stability of our climate. Rainforests are carbon sinks that surpass our most sophisticated technology; they absorb 30% of the world’s CO2 emissions each year.
Rainforests are also home to more than half of the world’s animal and plant species. They are a constant source of life-saving medicines. Millions of indigenous peoples depend on the forest for their survival, including our planet’s last uncontacted cultures.
Despite rainforests importance, they are disappearing. Today, we have lost more than half of earth’s original rainforests—every year we lose an area of tropical forest the size of New York State.
But together we are making a difference. To date, we have protected more than 33 million acres of rainforest. Indigenous communities of the rainforest are fighting back, holding the front line for all of us. With your support, Indigenous communities can protect the forests we all depend on for generations to come.
JULY’S TITHING
We are a nation of immigrants on stolen land. The least we can do now is honor our words. Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Avalon North donates 25% of it's proceeds from events and workshops to a different charity every month.
Our July tithing is RAICES.
Please consider adding to our donation using the easy peasy link below.
Founded in 1986 as the Refugee Aid Project by community activists in South Texas, RAICES has grown to be the largest immigration legal services provider in Texas. With offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, RAICES is a frontline organization in the roiling debate about immigration and immigrants in the world. As an organization that combines expertise developed from the daily practice of immigration law with a deep commitment to advocacy, RAICES is unique among immigration organizations. A diverse staff of 130 attorneys, legal assistants, and support staff provide consultations, direct legal services, representation, assistance and advocacy to communities in Texas and to clients after they leave the state. In 2017, RAICES staff closed 51,000 cases at no cost to the client. Our advocacy and commitment to change are driven by the clients and families we serve every day as our attorneys and legal assistants provide legal advocacy and representation in an immigration system that breaks apart families and leaves millions without pathways to legal status.
JUNE’S TITHING
During the month of June, 25% of event proceeds will be donated to the NYC based
Ali Forney Center
Please consider joining in our donation drive by clicking the donate link
"Our mission is to protect LGBTQ youths from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently.
Our organization's namesake, Ali Forney, was a gender-nonconforming teen who fled his home at 13. He entered the foster care system where he was bounced around to several homes, and was beaten and abused. Ali ended up living on the streets at the age of 15. Ali was dedicated to helping other young people and publicly advocated for the safety of homeless LGBT youth. Tragically, in December of 1997, Ali was murdered in Harlem—shot in the head and left for dead.
Committed to saving the lives of LGBTQ young people, in 2002 Carl Siciliano founded the Ali Forney Center (AFC) in memory of Ali. Since AFC's launch with just six beds in a church basement, the organization has grown to become the largest agency dedicated to LGBTQ homeless youths in the country—assisting nearly 1,400 youths per year through a 24-hour Drop-In Center which provides over 70,000 meals annually, medical and mental health services through an on-site clinic, and a scattered site housing program."
MAY’s Tithing
Avalon North is proud to support the efforts of The Ainu Women's Conference-Menokososhi in Japan. Run by Ryoko Tahara, this organization seeks to keep centuries-old Ainu traditions alive through collaborative arts and performative work, while simultaneously working against long-held discriminations against this indigenous population.
The Ainu Women's Conference-Menokososhi
APRIL’s TITHING
25% of proceeds from all April events at ::Avalon North:: will go to the National Mama’s Bail Out Day just in time for Mother’s Day
Read the 2018 statement by National Bailout
“This Mother’s Day we are bailing out mamas in cities around the country to give incarcerated mothers an opportunity to spend Mother’s Day with their families. National Mama’s Bail Out Day is coordinated effort by more than a dozen organizations to reunite families on Mother’s Day and bring attention to the true costs of money bail and mass incarceration. In the tradition of literally buying our people’s freedom, we are setting Black women and femmes free from the jaws of incarceration.
The impact of money bail on Black families cannot be understated. The two billion dollar bail bond industry is profiting from the separation and destruction of Black families. At least 80 percent of women caged behind bars are mothers and most of them are not found guilty. Many never will be. Yet, they are still in jail and separated from their families because they are simply too poor to afford bail. We are taking Black matters into Black hands and bailing out unconvicted women across the country.
Last year, we were able to bail out over 100 Black moms and caregivers. This year we are going even further. In February, we published a toolkit so communities across the country could join our efforts. Individuals and organizations across the country have been signing up to free Black mamas and they need your support.”