One of the best parts of the Nice News community is that we’re not only sharing positive stories — we’re creating them.
In December 2022, our parent company Pardon launched a year-end fundraiser for Family-to-Family, a grassroots, hunger-relief effort dedicated to providing food and other necessities to American families. We shared that fundraiser with Nice News readers, and you blew our expectations out of the water, helping to raise a whopping $11,675 (which, thanks to a $10,000 match from Pardon, actually ended up being $21,675).
That inspired us to launch the Cause of the Month initiative in February. Every month since, we’ve handpicked a different charitable organization to share with this community, and every month since, you’ve been incredibly generous. To date, our total amount raised has reached $43,760, an achievement we truly could not be more proud of.
In honor of Giving Tuesday, scroll down to look back on each 2023 fundraiser and see how you’ve helped make the world a better place over the past 12 months. (And consider helping us meet our goal for the November Cause of the Month to make our total tally even bigger!)
Chicago Eco House: $2,581
Chicago Eco House is a Black-led nonprofit with a mission to alleviate poverty through sustainability. It operates four flower farms and a flower shop in the Windy City, as well as one farm in Detroit — all of which employ local residents, particularly at-risk youth. Flowers are sourced from farms with a commitment to renewable energy and the utilization of rainwater irrigation systems; organic material is composted onsite; and the company uses recyclable, reusable, and biodegradable materials wherever possible.
All of its profits go directly toward the mission of combating poverty in Chicago’s communities through sustainable practices, including providing job training for at-risk youth. These young gardeners are employed to transform unused and unsightly corners of the city into lots of life and color: They create bouquets for sale, work in flower shops, tend to plant beds, and even make and package honey.
Impact100 Global: $1,500
Impact100 Global has been empowering women to transform their communities since 2001. Founded by Wendy Steele, a Nice News reader, the organization operates around 65 chapters around the world, all of which embody its mission of uniting women “to fund solutions to the most pressing problems facing humanity.” Under the Impact100 model, at least 100 women come together to help a local charity, donate $1,000 each, and award the charity a combined $100,000 grant. To date, the nonprofit has donated more than $123 million to worthy causes, each of which receives the support of a team of dedicated women in addition to the grant.
“They get a legion of women who understand and support their work in other ways, connections to new donors, and increased visibility in the community,” Steele told Nice News.
The Nature Conservancy: $1,876
In honor of Earth Day, Nice News’ April Cause of the Month was The Nature Conservancy. From densely populated urban environments to remote rainforests and coral reefs deep below the surface of the sea, the wide-reaching nonprofit is dedicated to “advancing effective, lasting conservation in more than 70 countries and territories.”
And its scientists are working on a strict deadline: The Nature Conservancy has six goals to achieve before 2030 to help prevent further global warming and lessen the effects of climate change. They include reducing carbon emissions, helping 100 million people at severe risk of climate-related emergencies, and conserving 9.9 billion acres of ocean, 1.6 billion acres of land, 621,000 miles of river systems, and 74 million acres of lakes and wetlands.
Every Mother Counts: $3,050
An estimated 287,000 women worldwide die every year as a result of complications of pregnancy and childbirth — and almost all of those deaths can be prevented. Every Mother Counts, founded in 2010, “envisions a world where all women have the opportunity to enter motherhood and not only survive, but thrive,” and operates based on four key principles: placing mothers at the center, strengthening healthcare workforces, facilitating access to resources, and advancing proven models of care.
So far, Every Mother Counts has invested over $24 million in public education, community engagement, and grantmaking; touched the lives of more than 1 million people (including women, babies, health workers, and community members); and released dozens of educational films on the topic of maternal health care.
The Trevor Project: $4,081
The Trevor Project is a nonprofit that provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning young people. The organization was founded in 1998 as the Trevor Lifeline, the first national crisis intervention and suicide prevention lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth. The hotline is still in operation — helping hundreds of thousands over the years — but the Trevor Project has also expanded, pursuing its goal to end suicide in the queer community through crisis services, peer support, education initiatives, research, and advocacy.
Beyond donating, you can support this important endeavor by reading more about the organization’s work, accessing resources on everything from understanding sexuality to learning how to be a strong ally, or signing up to become a volunteer for the call, text, and chat lifelines.
Disabled Hikers: $1,250
Founded in 2018 by Syren Nagakyrie, Disabled Hikers is an entirely disabled-led organization that celebrates disabled people’s experiences in the outdoors and helps facilitate those experiences with information, resources, and events, including trail guides and group hikes.
Its overall mission is to make the outdoors more inclusive and accessible to all — if you’re interested in accessing the nonprofit’s myriad resources, you can explore its hiking guides and learn more about the trail rating system.
AdoptAClassroom.org: $2,505
With a mission to advance equity in education, AdoptAClassroom.org is a national nonprofit that provides classroom funding to teachers and schools throughout the U.S. The organization’s flexible funding model means that teachers who receive donations and grants can decide what supplies they need and when they need them.
“I think oftentimes people aren’t sure how to help when they hear about the struggles that teachers are facing, and AdoptAClassroom.org is a really easy way to just donate,” Cristina Easton, a former teacher and current program strategy manager at AdoptAClassroom.org, told Nice News. “You know that those funds are going to go to a classroom with a teacher who knows exactly what they want to do with that money.”
The Jed Foundation: $2,170
Honoring National Suicide Prevention Month and Self-Care Awareness Month in September, Nice News partered with The Jed Foundation to fundraise and highlight its mission to make youth mental health a priority and prevent teen suicide.
JED, founded by parents Phil and Donna Satow in 2000 after their youngest son Jed died by suicide, empowers young adults by helping them build resiliency and life skills, promoting social connectedness, and encouraging help-seeking and help-giving behaviors. The nonprofit has worked with more than 9,000 high schools, colleges, and universities to strengthen their mental health and suicide prevention safety nets.
If you are in need of help, or know someone who is, check out the organization’s robust mental health resource center.
First Nations Development Institute: $2,381
The First Nations Development Institute improves economic conditions for Native Americans through direct financial grants, technical assistance and training, and advocacy and policy. The nonprofit was founded in 1980 and began its grantmaking program in 1993. Since then, First Nations has successfully managed 3,052 grants — totaling $64.7 million — for Native American projects and organizations in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and American Samoa.
Those projects are spread across six key areas: stewarding Native lands; nourishing Native foods and health; advancing household and community asset-building strategies; strengthening tribal and community institutions; investing in Native youth; and achieving Native financial empowerment.
Hilarity For Charity: $691
Actors Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen founded Hilarity For Charity, or HFC, in 2012, a few years after Lauren’s mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It started with one comedy fundraiser and has since grown into a sweeping organization: Today, HFC helps fund new technology and prevention-focused research; educates people on brain health via social media and a dedicated digital platform; and provides support and resources to caregivers who are looking after loved ones with the disease.
And it does it all through a lens of levity, something that came naturally to the duo. “We’re comedians and all of our friends are comedians … and so the idea of doing that to raise awareness and money for Alzheimer’s was just very organic to who we are,” Seth told Nice News. He added: “It is such a dark disease, and I think bringing light and bringing levity is maybe a little more necessary with Alzheimer’s than it is with some other aspects of life.”
Learn more about the organization and read brain health tips from one of its science advisors, Dr. Annie Fenn.
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