Tough decisions

Wow, so this process took a lot of planning, lots of cross-outs, brainstorming and a lot of talking to myself! With making this decision I kept in mind what was important to me, what my issue areas are (health and education). So my final 5 are VINES, Catholic Charities, Make a Wish, Mothers and Babies Perinatal Network and SOS Shelter.

I like VINES because it not only deals with education but in incorporates the environment as well. It provides youth development and  training through its Employment Program while educating them on food production systems. I think that we should donate a couple thousand dollars to support their growing community gardens. 

Despite the name “Catholic Charities,” to those of you who are not Catholic, if you read about their work you can see that they reach out to anyone in need in the community. They provide housing programs for the homeless, they support the development of skills toward self-sufficiency and they assist with job preparation. I really like how this organizations supports the empowerment of people and sets them on the right track. 

I was touched when reading over the Make A Wish application, I love how we have the chance to grant a cancer patient with a wish to experience the good and beautiful things in this world. I like how if we do consider this organization that they can bring a wish child to speak to us.

The Mothers and Babies Perinatal Network does a lot to help better family lives by providing programs on health insurance education, they provide referral services and emphasize on adolescent pregnancy prevention and SIDS prevention. Their PAL Centers focus on community awareness to promote the healthy development of families and the community. Our donations could support this and fund programs for over 300 families. 

My fifth pick is the SOS Shelter which assists families that are threatened with domestic violence, it gives the community a sense of security, if a woman or child has an abusive family they have somewhere to escape to for safety. They have advocacy services to facilitate the solutions to their problems and provides access to legal remedies. Our donations could help strengthen their security systems to protect the neglected women and children. 

I think that donating to these organizations would help better the community and make positive differences in people's lives.