There’s no better time than Giving Tuesday to nudge the world an inch or two in a better direction. The ten New York-based charities I’m donating to this year all offer a way to push back against some of the bad news in the headlines these days — especially when it comes to the migrant crisis, the war in the Middle East, and attacks on democracy here at home.
The minute I saw stories and a video of those truly awful people gleefully harassing homeless migrant families on Staten Island last month, I knew my 2023 giving list would include groups that provide a welcoming hand to the newest New Yorkers.
As the Staten Island Advance reported, on multiple nights, a shelter in Midland Beach was recently targeted by “roughly 30 protesters blasting music, waving American flags, and shining lights both through the windows and on migrant residents as they entered and exited the facility. Other protesters were blowing whistles and banging on pots, metal signposts and police barricades in an effort to make as much noise as possible.”
You can’t shame people who lack a moral compass, but you can help neutralize their juvenile antics by donating to La Colmena, a community-based job center with offices in Port Richmond and Stapleton that has been connecting immigrants with employment for nearly a decade. La Colmena (Spanish for “The Hive”) offers classes and job placement in welding, carpentry and other construction-industry fields, as well as domestic worker and nanny training — and, of course, English classes.
“We will not let any noise distract us. We’re going to remain focused to ensure that every immigrant that comes to Staten Island knows that there’s a place dedicated for them,” the group’s Executive Director, Yesenia Mata, told me. “No one wants to make this journey, but they come here because they had to flee violence or some sort of conflict. Once they make it here, they say that ‘I’m here to provide for my family. Just give me that opportunity.’ And that’s what we’re doing.”
More power to them. Donate here.
Another way to support services to migrants is to help Samaritan Daytop Village, which is running several shelters, building on its many decades of helping New Yorkers who are struggling with substance abuse, homelessness, mental health issues, and other challenges. This nationally recognized organization serves 33,000 people a year through 60 facilities and has the expertise to help migrants get settled here. Click here to give.
Even with a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas and the release of some hostages, the horrific violence has claimed thousands of lives, making the work of Doctors Without Borders all the more necessary. The organization, which offered help to Israel in the wake of the October 7 massacre, has been providing reconstructive surgery and comprehensive care in Gaza for nearly a decade, and sent a team of 15 physicians into the area this month. The group has also arranged for tons of humanitarian relief in partnership with the World Health Organization. Donations made before November 28 will be matched.
Tragically, more than 50 reporters have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a human-rights organization that documents and protests against censorship and attacks on journalists. “This is the deadliest two-week period in any conflict that we’ve ever covered,” the organization’s president, Jodie Ginsberg, told me at the start of the war. “In a time of war, in a time of conflict, journalists should be treated as civilians and have access to the same kinds of safety that you would expect for civilians.”
Ginsberg says the killings are preventable. “The vast majority of journalists will be wearing insignia that clearly designates them as press, very large letters on their chests — you may have seen them in the reports — and press vehicles will be marked as press. Often, many of these journalists will travel in groups, and they should be clearly identifiable. Unfortunately, that is not a guarantee whatsoever of their safety.” Donate here to help protect the men and women who are risking their lives to bring us the truth about the war.
As our city heads into a difficult season of budget cuts and a rising tide of hunger and substance abuse, organizations that help people in need will be counting on your support more than ever. The Bowery Mission, which started more than 150 years ago, does not seek or accept government contracts, choosing instead to work with hungry and homeless New Yorkers the old-fashioned way, through charitable donations (in addition to credit card donations, the group now accepts cryptocurrency). Gifts will be doubled for Giving Tuesday.
Neighbors Together is a soup kitchen and community center that helps feed 10,000 people a year in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Ocean Hill, Brownsville, and Bedford-Stuyvesant. The group, which remained opened and fed hundreds throughout the pandemic shutdown, holds weekly meetings to help empower residents of one of New York’s worst food deserts. Donate here or sign up as a volunteer here.
The Brooklyn Rescue Mission Urban Harvest Center tackles hunger by operating a food pantry as well as a garden that provides food and a quiet healing space for families in Bed-Stuy, Bushwick, and Crown Heights. The group has traveled to Washington, DC as part of advocacy efforts to get more government support for anti-hunger initiatives. “Our Urban Farm has been in operation for over 18 years,” the group’s co-founder, Reverend Robert Jackson, told me. “Eating bad food allowed my community to have three dialysis centers. To bring that healthy food into soup pantries and bring healthy food in communities, brings about health and saves, in taxes, billions of dollars.” Donate here.
I recently spent a delightful few hours with students and educators at the Bedford-Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School, a K-8 powerhouse located in a building on Lewis Avenue that was the original home of St. Johns University. Last year, the students outscored other District 16 schools as well as citywide averages on math and English language tests. The school just got approved to expand into grades 9 through 12, and is raising funds to ensure a successful high school launch. Donate here.
If the rising threat of authoritarianism in America has you down, one good way to fight back is to support the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which has been busy filing lawsuits, organizing communities and publishing guidebooks on how to anticipate and resist voter suppression and election sabotage in advance of the 2024 elections. Donate here.
And while donations to the American Civil Liberties Union are not tax deductible, you should give anyhow. The group is filing friend of the court briefs in over ten cases currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, on everything from gun control to voting rights, disability rights, and free speech. The ACLU’s guide for high school students on how to start a banned book club is worth whatever you can spare.
That’s my list. What organizations are you giving to this year?
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