What NPO do you love?

I understand the usefulness of large ONG, their weight allows them to achieve important objectives.
But I really appreciate the small organizations with a human scale, which are done in an artisanal and human way. A group of people who decide to do good. They don't have a name.

In addition to First Descents, I also love Prison Fellowship. They are an amazing NPO that support incarcerated individuals and their families. They run art therapy programs, warden exchange & education programs, summer camps and Angel Tree for children who have incarcerated parents. They also advocate for positive law changes and re-entry to society with the support of local communities (to name a few things). 

A lot of church groups do the same admirable and faceless work. 

I like and support Union of Concerned Scientists, which brings scientific expertise and advocacy for many of the local and global environmental issues we are facing.

Our local Science Center is a NPO. I volunteer there in their exhibits space, with exhibit building and helping them with their IT questions, since they don't have a full time IT person. The Jayces's are another great community based local NPO that I was active in for years, before aging out. LOVED all the things that org did for our small communities! 

I run a nonprofit with two missions:  

IT4Nonprofit (www.it4np.org) provides technical consulting, planning, cost review and other pro-bono services exclusively to other nonprofit organizations.  

Future Tech Skills (www.ftsi.org) provides entry level technical certification scholarships to aspiring future tech leaders.

I started IT4NP in 2017, after providing consulting to a number of nonprofits for over a decade.  I decided to make it official, and set off on an amazing journey.  Over time, I found that many of the NPOs that I help support (many of which are not local) really need hands-on assistance on occasion.  That's when the idea of Future Tech Skills was born.  It's a great combination, where we can include our students in our technical assistance providing experience and real-world methods to enhance their training.

Kind of late to the party, but here's one that I love a lot: International Friendships Inc.

This is an organization that helps international students at U.S. college campuses settle in to life in the U.S., make connections, find support and fellowship, and meet other needs often overlooked by university services to internationals. I think it's really cool that the one at Ohio State University helps students drive around to yard sales and shops after arrival, purchase items, and then sends around a truck IFI has rented to collect items (beds, sofas, etc.) and deliver them to students who often don't have cars or other means of getting their purchases home. Plus they connect people to host families for holidays and other get togethers, and I can say from experience that has been an awesome way to connect with people.

Having been an international student overseas and seeing first hand what its like for my friends who have been international students in the U.S., this ministry of IFI fills a much-needed gap in the current approach of many universities. This is something my wife and I would love to start or participate in the future once we settled down out of our schooling cycle. I can't say enough good about it!

There are tons of other ones out there, but the above is one that speaks personally to me and my family in a deep way.

I give to Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is an addiction treatment and advocacy organization that was created in 2014 with the merger of the Minnesota-based Hazelden Foundation and the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California.

Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.  Currently supporting refugees coming into the US from Ukraine.  And consistently teaching the Bible.