So I had so much fun putting together my first set of local charities to give to, I’m putting together another set.

Reminder: Great Give Palm Beach & Martin Counties is a 24-hour online giving event designed to raise as much money as possible for hundreds of local nonprofits in a single day. This exciting community-wide event celebrates the spirit of giving and the collective effort it takes to strengthen our local nonprofits and better serve those in need – from children and seniors to the environment and animals!

Every online gift made during the 24-hour period will be amplified by additional dollars from a bonus pool raised by United Way of Palm Beach County. Your gift to the Bonus Pool will help every participating nonprofit- Visit the Bonus Pool page to GIVE NOW!

As of 12pm, 2,688 Great Give donors have given $705,893.21 to 360 Charities!!!

Here are 5 more local charities to give to (and a few bonuses).

1. Jack The Bike Man, Inc.

Putting a smile on a child’s face one bike at a time

• $20 Helmet for child
• $50 Bicycle for a youth
• $100 Would help an adult to earn a bicycle

Jack the Bike Man is a not for profit organization founded by Samuel H. “Jack” Hairston III in 2007, however Jack has been called Jack the Bike Man, since 1999. Throughout the year, Jack the Bike Man gives away thousands of bikes to underprivileged kids, the homeless, women reentering society from prison, recovering addicts in halfway houses and people living below the poverty line. For more than 20 years, Jack the Bike Man has fixed bikes and handed them out to needy children and adults in the area, especially around the holidays. All of this is made possible with the help of volunteers and contributions.

We benefit the community by providing free bicycles and helmets to children and adults in need of transportation through various programs, including an after-school program that teaches bike safety, bike repair and bike maintenance. We repair bicycles at our warehouse, which contains more than a dozen repair stations and thousands of bicycle parts, and provide community service hours to students and adults who learn basic bicycle mechanics. We also promote environmental sustainability by keeping used bikes out of the landfill, repairing them, using parts for other bikes and recycling those bikes that are unusable.

The community’s need for bicycles is never-ending, as is the organization’s need for funding, volunteers and used bikes that technicians can overhaul. The popularity of the organization has grown, and with it, the costs. Jack the Bike Man drives all over the county collecting bikes or donations of parts. We could use your help: Contributions of money, time, and bikes are needed to keep Jack the Bike Man rolling.

As appeared on The Palm Beach Post – Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017

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2. CROS Ministries

CROS Ministries has provided food and essential services to the most vulnerable in South Florida for 40 years. Its mission is to serve the hungry in Palm Beach and Martin Counties through community collaborations. Whether distributing food at our food pantries, serving a hot meal through the Caring Kitchen, offering a safe summer camp experience with lunch, a snack, and breakfast as needed, or just lending a listening ear, the organization is serving the hungry. Programs include seven community food pantries, a hot meal program; summer camp for children from families with low incomes, a weekend food program for children attending select Title I Schools, and gleaning, a food recovery program. All services are provided without regard to race, religion, national origin, marital status, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or age.

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3. Best Buddies International

Founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver, Best Buddies is a vibrant international organization that has grown from one original chapter at Georgetown University to more than 2,300 chapters worldwide, positively impacting the lives of over 1.1 million people with and without IDD. Best Buddies programs engage participants in each of the 50 United States, and in over 50 countries around the world.

We are the world’s largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

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4. Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society

As Palm Beach County’s only top-rated Zoological experience, we are home to over 550 animals, many of them endangered. Our mission is to inspire people to act on behalf of wildlife and the natural world.

Our unique tropical zoo showcases an animal collection (Malayan tigers, jaguars, Mexican spider monkeys, panther) from around the world, living in natural habitats. Enjoy shady paths, a colorful carousel, an interactive water play fountain, a full-service restaurant, and 11 daily shows and keeper talks where you can watch animal trainings, feedings and meet zookeepers. Book a behind-the-scenes animal experience and get up close and personal with a sloth, koalas, capybaras, anteaters, Aldabra tortoises or mingle with flamingos.

• $25 Host a Veteran at the Zoo.
• $50 Feed two of our critically endangered Malayan Tigers.
• $75 For our Florida Panther, Sassy, whose mother was killed by a car.
• $100 Support Lewis & Clark, black bears who were orphaned as cubs.
• $250 Aupport an animal physical for one of our animals.

There’s always something new at Palm Beach Zoo! Enjoy over 60 WILD events annually such as Safari Nights, Food Truck Safari, Boo at the Zoo, Breakfast with Santa, and Noon Year’s Eve.

Annual Zoo memberships are a great value and provide free admission year-round. We are open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, and parking is always FREE!

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5. Friends of Palm Beach

In May 2013, Diane Buhler, an avid scuba diver and environmentalist, started a Solid Waste Authority Adopt-a-Spot program of year-round, monthly beach clean ups to collect incoming trash off Palm Beach’s coastline. Local schools, universities and residents attend these continuing events.

Friends of Palm Beach’s crew consists of clients of The Lord’s Place, a homeless advocacy group, and Vita Nova, which assists young adults coming out of the foster care system transition to independence. These individuals work hard to gain their independence. To date, 21 individuals have gone through FPB’s transitional work program.

Friends of Palm Beach is working from a shoe string budget, providing their services all along the Palm Beach coastline from the Palm Beach Inlet to Sloan’s Curve on a regular basis with limited donors.

To date, Friends of Palm Beach has removed just over 80,1000 pounds of trash and unnatural debris from the beaches, this includes monthly and weekday cleans. In 2017 alone, Friends of Palm Beach removed over 30,000 pounds of trash and unnatural debris from our coastline. The majority is innocuous plastics that fit in trash bags, at times there are large items that wash ashore and present a safety hazard if left there. More and more medical waste is washing ashore and our method removes it and disposes of it properly to the Fire Department.

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Bonus: Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches & Treasure Coast, Inc.

Header picture is Junior Achievement gathering donations at Subculture Coffee at Great Give 2016

The mission of Junior Achievement is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Junior Achievement is dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. Junior Achievement’s programs focus on financial literacy, work readiness, entrepreneurship and seeks to ignite the spark in young people to recognize the opportunities and realities of work and life in the 21st century.

Since 1981, Junior Achievement of the Palm Beaches & Treasure Coast has inspired the next generation to be financially capable and tenacious, equipped with the tools to solve problems creatively, manage risk effectively, and welcome opportunity. Through our innovative and experiential financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurial K-12 programming- taught by volunteer role models from the community; we inspire the next generation to navigate their path towards their dreams.

We empower youth with authentic, relevant real-world experiences, challenging them to envision what’s possible if they work hard and dream big. We do it through our proven, experiential financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship programs taught by JA Hero role models, and with the help of an unparalleled network of educators, volunteers, and partners. Junior Achievement has been promoting business education since 1919, first through an after-school secondary program: the JA Company Program®, and later through in-school partnerships with educators. Our programs now reach far beyond traditional business lessons and focus on inspiring students to be financially capable and tenacious, equipped with the tools to solve problems creatively, manage risk effectively, and welcome opportunity. Without our region’s educators, our work to take learning beyond the classroom and show students its relevance would be impossible.

$56 – JA Programming provided to one student
$250 – JA programming provided to an entire classroom
$1,000 – JA BizTown provided to 50 students
$2,000 – JA programming provided to an entire grade level.

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Bonus #2: Path to College

Path to College has taken on the mission of securing the acceptance of as many bright and motivated, low-income students as possible into the college’s of their dreams.

We will uplift the academic aspirations of these students by:

• Surrounding them in a fellowship of academically motivated peers
• Connecting them with community members who will support their dreams. Each student is matched with a one-on-one mentor who is committed to supporting their academic success.
• Providing targeted SAT tutoring.
• Offering Career exploration, exposure, and job preparation through professional speakers, field trips and hands-on work shops.
• Molding our students into leaders by a commitment to education and service. Our students serve as tutors to struggling elementary students, as well as design and implement their own community service project as a send off from our program.
• Our model is a targeted and comprehensive way to develop our students into the types of applicants colleges are eager to accept.

Please help us provide a high-quality, long-term academic experience for these students so that their most audacious dreams do not go unrealized. We ask you to help us UNLEASH the GENIUS in our neighborhoods because a mind uncultivated is like silver in the mine. We need to come together to cultivate this much-need resource- the higher learning success of our children- for the long-term benefit and advancement of our communities.

• $50 – Your donation provides enrichment materials
• $100 – Your donation provides 4 hours of expert SAT tutoring.
• $500 – Your donation supports one year of mentoring services.
• $1,500 – Your donation provides a year of our comprehensive program

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Puppy Bonus: Destiny for Dogs

Destiny for Dogs is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Florida Dog Rescue Organization dedicated to assisting senior citizens in keeping their beloved dogs in their homes. Destiny assists “qualified” seniors with dog food, monthly heartworm/flea preventative, annual wellness visit to our veterinarian, plus the rehoming of their beloved dogs if necessary. Destiny for Dogs is a non-breed specific, small, foster-based, no-kill rescue and is active in rescuing dogs from shelters, owners, or families who can no longer care for their deceased family members’ dog. Our goal is to find loving forever homes for rescue dogs regardless of age, health, or corrective behavioral issues. All Destiny’s dogs are fully vetted, sterilized, up to date on shots, microchipped, receive a wellness check by our personal vet prior to being placed in a foster home. Once in foster, he or she will be evaluated, loved and nutured to prepare them for a second chance to live the “Happily Ever After” life that they so deserve. Plus, provide love and joy to their new family.

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