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I've always had trouble finding secular charities to donate to so I thought I'd start a list. Several new ones have recently formed. Here's my current list. Please
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me if you have suggestions for others or have any experience (positive or negative) with the charities in the list. * The starred charities are directly assisting in Haiti or have created Haiti specific funds: Local: CVIM is a non-profit corporation whose primary mission is to understand and serve the health and wellness needs of uninsured individuals who live in Centre County, Pennsylvania. CVIM provides access to free primary and preventive medical and dental care to residents of the county that meet certain eligibility criteria.
The State College Area Food Bank provides emergency food to those in need in the State College area and supports the network of food pantries in Centre County. Clients receive a large supply of groceries, sufficient for about a week. The size of the food order corresponds to the number of people in the household.
National or International: In response to ongoing abuses of women's rights in the name of fundamentalist Islam, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and her supporters established the AHA Foundation in 2007 as a charitable organization to help protect and defend the rights of women in the West against militant Islam. Through research, the dissemination of knowledge and outreach, the Foundation aims to combat several types of crimes against women, including the abridgement of the education of girls, female genital mutilation, forced marriages, honor violence, and honor killings Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization working in more than 60 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Here's how it works: public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org. Requests range from pencils for a poetry writing unit, to violins for a school recital, to microscope slides for a biology class. Then, you can browse project requests and give any amount to the one that inspires you. Once a project reaches its funding goal, we deliver the materials to the school.
Foundation Beyond Belief is a non-profit charitable and educational foundation created to focus, encourage and demonstrate the generosity and compassion of atheists and humanists. Members join the Foundation by signing up for a monthly automatic donation in the amount of their choice, then set up personal profiles to indicate how they would like their contribution distributed among ten categories.
FreeThoughtAction works to educate the general public about the personal, social and practical benefits of free and rational thought and action based on logic, reason and the scientific method as opposed to unquestioned acceptance of ancient tradition, religion and superstition. By raising awareness of these benefits, our hope is to encourage the continuing growth, open engagement, and public acceptance of a Freethought community in American society. Humanist Charities, an adjunct of the American Humanist Association, specializes in benevolent aid and action to further the health and welfare of humankind. Its purpose includes applying uniquely humanist approaches to those in need and directing the generosity of American humanists to worthy disaster relief and development projects around the world. The ICRC is an independent, neutral organization ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of war and other situations of violence. The ICRC has a permanent mandate under international law to take impartial action for prisoners, the wounded and sick, and civilians affected by conflict. With its HQ in Geneva, Switzerland, the ICRC is based in around 80 countries and has a total of more than 12,000 staff. In situations of conflict the ICRC coordinates the response by national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies and their International Federation. The ICRC is at the origin of both the International Red Cross / Red Crescent Movement and of international humanitarian law, notably the Geneva Conventions. Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend to unique entrepreneurs around the globe. Spurred by the horrific suffering in Haiti, the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (RDFRS) has joined forces with 13 other freethought groups or associates, to collect donations to non-religious relief organizations. Those participating are Atheist Alliance International, Atheists Helping the Homeless, Atheists United, The British Humanist Association, James Randi Educational Foundation, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, New Humanist magazine, Pharyngula, Rationalist Association, Reasonable New York, The Reason Project, The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, The Skeptics Society and Unreasonable Faith. The Center for Inquiry is accepting Haiti earthquake relief donations through their S.H.A.R.E. programSkeptics and Humanist Aid and Relief Effort) to support Doctors Without Borders. The CFI will not retain any operating costs — 100 percent of S.H.A.R.E.’s Haiti relief donations will go to Doctors Without Borders, which lost all three of their Port-Au-Prince hospitals in the quake. While not charities, if you care about freethought issues such as separation of church and state, science education, critical thinking, etc. please considering supporting these groups as well.
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