Charitable Giving

As a new year starts, and no, it’s not a new decade, the topic of new year’s resolutions is popular. While I don’t do this, a common one I hear is wanting to give back to others, either through volunteering or financial support. Being fortunate to have a well-paying job, I am able to make regular donations to several non-profits that I’ve either volunteered with in the past or support causes that are important to me.

If you aren’t giving back to your community, I’d suggest you consider it as you start into the new year. There’s lots of resources online for finding good non-profits that can really use the support if you don’t already have one (or more) in mind. And, it’s pretty common these days to be able to setup a monthly donation, so it’s easy to spread out your giving throughout the year, rather than one large chunk all at once. Just think of it as another monthly “subscription” like you may already have for a streaming or gaming service, but helping out the community.

Here are a few of the non-profits that I support on a regular basis:

• Hermitage Cat Shelter
  A no-kill cat shelter in Tucson, AZ that I volunteered at for several years. In addition to being a shelter, they are also a sanctuary and take in cats that many other shelters won’t, and ensure all the cats have a chance for a good home.
• The Trevor Project
  From their site, a “national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25”.
• Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation
  Another non-profit I’ve volunteered with that has many different programs focused on education, prevention, outreach, and care for those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.
• KANW
  One of the local NPR stations here in Albuquerque, NM.