2025
January $120 to the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) a group based in Chicago, that provides legal services for immigrants and people seeking asylum, and advocates for more humane US immigration policies. Below is a list of things they do, including coordinating volunteer lawyers to help (Paula). https://immigrantjustice.org
February Donation made to the Seldon K Smith Holocaust Education Foundation ($140.00). https://holocausteducationfoundation.org/about/ (Debbie)
April (From November 2024 BC at KEL residence) $150 to The Exodus Road, 501 c3 combating human trafficking through prevention, intervention and aftercare programs.
2024
January (and December '23) $200 to Be Like Tom, founded by Karen Leone in honor of her brother, Tom Havens, who passed in August, 2018. This organization supports the community of autistic adults and their families by providing financial assistance for adults with autism to attend residential camps and day programs designed for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and for caregivers to participate in respite opportunities. (Paula)
April 1, Debbie donated $150 to the Chicago Refugee Coalition, Who We Are - Chicago Refugee Coalition
April 1, Debbie also donated $150 to The Brigid Alliance, Home (brigidalliance.org)
June 6 Elizabeth donated $200 to &Rise: a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers women to be the best version of themselves by offering safe spaces to heal, learn, and grow.
We have seen first-hand the strength and power of trauma survivors when we join together to support and inspire each other. Founded by an abuse survivor in Chicago in 2018, &Rise has become an empowered voice for change and healing with a global reach. Jennifer Ramirez is dedicated to helping survivors of trauma and abuse! She founded &Rise to provide free support groups and free counseling to women survivors of trauma.
June 8 Jodi made a donation from our April meeting. $100 to the Sudan Relief Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing food, safe drinking water, clothing, shelter, medical attention and hope to the people of South Sudan and the Nuba Mountains of Sudan.
June 10 Paula donated $140 to RAINN:(Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE, online.rainn.org in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country and operates the DoD Safe Helpline for the Department of Defense. RAINN also carries out programs to prevent sexual violence, help survivors, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
July donation. Windy City Book Club supported the Chicago Abortion Fund again. They are stepping into the gap created by Dobbs to give women options, and this donation will help to keep those options safe, humane, and personal. (Jeanne $124.45)
November 2024, Karen donated $320 to Direct Relief. Since 1948, Direct Relief has worked to help people across the globe who confront enormous hardship to recover from disasters and improve the quality of their lives. The donation targets Hurricane Helene relief, as people in western North Carolina do continue to struggle terribly.
2023
March and November 2023, $250 to The Cradle Foundation was created in 2003 to raise and manage funds in support of The Cradle’s outstanding adoption and child welfare programs and services. (Elizabeth)
August 2023, $100 to World Central Kitchen, responding to natural disasters, man-made crises, and humanitarian emergencies around the world to get meals to the people who need them most. (Jodi)
May 6, 2023, $125 to Too Young to Wed, a non profit that uses visual storytelling to campaign against child marriages and provides humanitarian services in at-risk communities. (Paula)
April donation--$140.00 to The Joyful Heart Foundation. Since 2004, Joyful Heart has been a leading national organization with a mission to transform society’s response to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, and support survivors’ healing. While Joyful Heart is not exclusively for women, an estimated 91% of sexual assault victims are female, and globally, 1 in 3 women experience sexual or physical violence. So, the Foundations’s advocacy and programs overwhelmingly serve women in need of both. (Karen)
Also--Windy City Bookclub sponsored another CPC residency, for the 23/24 school year--$3,000!! thanks to all.
July donation: $130 to the Chicago Abortion Fund. (Jeanne)
2022
December 2022 - $140 to Feeding People Through Plants - a hands-on, relationship first organization that not only provides resources such as food, tents, heat, blankets, clothing and hotel stays to our Chicago neighbors experiencing homelessness to ensure people survive, but organization also helps connect people with employment, mental health resources (Jodi)
October 2022--$100 to Women Made. Woman Made Gallery. (WMG) supports, cultivates and promotes the diverse contributions of women and non-binary artists through exhibitions, membership and community dialogue programs. https://womanmade.org/about/ (Paula)
August: Planned Parenthood of IL (Liz)
July: $140 (+$4.37 in processing fees) to Chicago Abortion Fund, which serves "people facing financial, logistical, cultural, and political roadblocks to care." (Jeanne)
March 7 donated $100 to World Central Kitchen, Serving chef-prepared meals to communities impacted by natural disasters and during prolonged humanitarian crises. Over 16 million meals served and 8 million pounds of food delivered to families across Ukraine (Jodi)
February: Donated $100 to Covenant House, which provides housing and support services to youth facing homelessness, and has shelters in cities throughout the US including Chicago. (Paula)
Also February: Windy City Bookclub supported another Windy City Bookclub residency--$2500!
2021
October: $300 to Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE), which is committed to ending sexual exploitation through the alliance of community engagement, prevention education, policy change, and survivor representation. CAASE provides legal services to survivors of sex harassment, rape, and sex trafficking, educates students in High Schools across the Chicagoland area, provides trainings to the community, fostering a better understanding of survivors' rights and needs and facilitates gatherings for survivors to heal and connect. (Elizabeth)
June 14 Donated $140 to UN World Food Program The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) feeds the world’s hungriest, most vulnerable people. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 for their efforts to combat hunger, to improve conditions for peace in conflict zones and to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war. (Jodi)
February Windy City Bookclub supported a poetry residency (and earned naming rights!) through the Chicago Poetry Center--$2500
2020
June 16 Elizabeth $100 donation to My Block, My Hood, My City. https://www.formyblock.org
April 27 BookZoom, Paula donated $100 to The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, to ensure residents have access to domestic violence support resources 24/7/365 – especially during this time of crisis.
January 23: Book Club, donated $100 to International Rescue Committee (Jodi) The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people affected by humanitarian crises—including the climate crisis—to survive, recover and rebuild their lives. Founded at the call of Albert Einstein in 1933, the IRC is now at work in over 40 crisis-affected countries as well as communities throughout Europe and the Americas. We deliver lasting impact by providing health care, helping children learn, and empowering individuals and communities to become self-reliant, always seeking to address the inequalities facing women and girls.
donations as of Aug 2019: $ 8,484
2019 $1130
2018 $1039
2017 $730
2016 $1,095
2015 $640
2014 $880
2013 $965
2012 $780
2011 $670
2010 $555
2019
November's bookclub, $150 to Reach Out and Read. The organization distributes children’s books to pediatricians, who prescribe reading to set up children for a better future. Inspired by Nicholas Kristof's "Forget the Scarf" article, 12.1.19 (Paula)
October's bookclub sent $250 to CAASE. A wonderful and impactful group in Chicago making progress on this most devastating issue of sexual exploitation and trafficking. I was drawn to their work several years ago with their ad campaign entitled "Real Men Don't Buy Sex" - they continue to do excellent work.(Elizabeth)
September Book Club, $100.00 to Woman at Risk International based in MI. They work worldwide to create circles of protection around those at risk for trafficking and abuse. Allstate matches 10%.
August bookclub, $120 to, Erie Neighborhood House is a local non-profit that sponsors the citizenship workshops. They provide a host of great services to the community, and are the oldest settlement house still operating in Chicago, providing many services related to immigration and social justice needs (Martha)
July, 2019 - $100 to Chicago Abortion Fund. I was inspired to donate our July gift to CAF after reading "How Illinois Became an Abortion-Rights Haven" in The New Yorker. From the website: "The mission of the Chicago Abortion Fund is to advance reproductive autonomy and justice for everyone by providing financial, logistical, and emotional support to people seeking abortion services and by building collective power and fostering partnerships for political and cultural change. We envision a world where everyone has the freedom and autonomy to create lives, families, and communities that are healthy, safe, and thriving and where the full range of reproductive choices, including abortion, are accessible and affirmed. CAF was founded 1985 by health care providers and members of Chicago's pro-choice community to provide low-income people with access to safe affordable abortion services. In 2010, CAF adopted a reproductive justice framework that promotes leadership, advocacy, and community engagement." http://www.chicagoabortionfund.org/ (Jeanne)
June 2019 - $120 to RAICES. RAICES is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees. (Debbie)
May, 2019 - $90 to Literature for All of Us. Literature for All of Us serves over 30 book groups in 14 Chicago schools and community organizations. The mission of Literature for All of Us is to use books and writing to facilitate circles of connection, healing and growth in the face of social inequity. By inviting participants to explore the transformative power of their own voices, the organization helps build resilience. "We open worlds by opening books." (Jodi)
April, 2019 - $200.00 to Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago mission is to ensure every young person in Chicago has an opportunity for a great future. Allstate matches my donations at 10%. 5% to the charity and 5% to the United Way.
2018
+
December, 2018 - $140 given to American Indian College Fund. (Paula)
July 2018 -- $80 to Planned Parenthood. (Jeanne)
June 2018 - $159 given to Planned Parenthood & Planned Parenthood Action Fund.(Elizabeth)
May 2018 - $100 given to Southern Poverty Law Center.(Paula)
April 2018 - $110 given to Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights. The Young Center was founded at the University of Chicago Law School in 2004. It's mission is to promote the best interests of unaccompanied immigrant children with due regard to the child’s expressed wishes, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and state and federal law. (Jodi)
April 2018 - $200.00 $200.00 to Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago mission is to ensure every young person in Chicago has an opportunity for a great future. Allstate matches my donations at 10%
March 2018 - $60 given to Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). KIND is a 501(c)(3) with a threefold mission: (1) Ensure that no child appears in immigration court without high quality legal representation; (2) Advance laws, policies, and practices that ensure children’s protection and uphold their right to due process and fundamental fairness; and (3) promote in countries of origin, transit, and destination durable solutions to child migration that are grounded in the best interests of the child and ensure that no child is forced to involuntarily migrate. .(Jeanne)
February 2018 - $90 given to Refugee One.(Debbie)
January 2018 - $100 given to Shared Hope International, which strives to prevent the conditions that foster sex trafficking, restore victims of sex slavery, and bring justice to vulnerable women and children. (Paula, from Dec hosting)
2017
September 2017 - $100 spent on Christmas gifts for children in need in on the west side of Chicago, including West Humboldt Park, Garfield Park and Austin through the Healing Corner - https://www.facebook.com/TheHealingCornerChicago/ (Martha)
AUGUST 2017 - $150 to MASK (Mothers/Men Against Senseless Killings) http://ontheblock.org/ (Elizabeth)
JULY 2017 - $110 to Planned Parenthood, because duh... (Jeanne)
APRIL 2017 - $100 to HIAS, to support Syrian and other refugees and in honor of Passover. HIAS works around the world to protect refugees who have been forced to flee their homelands because of who they are, including ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. For more than 130 years, HIAS has been helping refugees rebuild their lives in safety and dignity. Go to hias.org for more (Paula)
April 2017 - $200.00 $200.00 to Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago mission is to ensure every young person in Chicago has an opportunity for a great future. Allstate matches my donations at 10%
MARCH 2017 - $70 (matched 100% by Hilton) to Room to Read https://www.roomtoread.org/ a non-profit supporting literacy and girl's education. "We work in collaboration with communities and local governments across Asia and Africa to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the life skills they’ll need to succeed in school and beyond." (Jodi)
2016
DECEMBER 2016 - $150 donation to InSTEM Program http://www.instematdpu.com/ Chicago non-profit summer camp to Inspire STEM in Middle School Girls (Elizabeth)
November 2016 $180 donation went to the Dreamcatcher Foundation which helps fight trafficking of women here in Chicago (this from January 2016 meeting, plus interest). http://thedreamcatcherfoundation.org (Debbie)
October 2016 - donation of $100 went to the ACLU. (Paula)
September 2016 - donation of $90 went to Erie Neighborhood House http://www.eriehouse.org/ a local non-profit which has served immigrant communities since 1870. Their mission is to promote a just and inclusive society by strengthening low-income, primarily Latino families through skill-building, access to critical resources, advocacy and collaborative action.(Martha)
July 2016 - donation of $100 went to the ACLU, because of course... (Jeanne)
June 2016 - donated $200.00 + $20.00 from Allstate to the Boys and Girls Club of Logan Square. My purpose is to support a local non-profit that helps the kids in my community. Allstate matched 20% (Liz Brune)
MAY 2016 - $100 donation to The Dovetail Project - . http://thedovetailproject.org Chicago based non-profit - Our Mission - We give young African American fathers – ages 17 to 24 – the skills and support they need to be better fathers for their children and better men in their communities. (Elizabeth)
April 2016 donation of $70 made to Room to Read (https://www.roomtoread.org), a non-profit supporting literacy and girl's education. "We work in collaboration with communities and local governments across Asia and Africa to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the life skills they’ll need to succeed in school and beyond." (Jodi Wine)
March 2016 donation of $85 went to the James Baldwin Foundation, to save and preserve the James Baldwin House. The house, slated for demolition, is the sole geographic legacy of James Baldwin, an irreplaceable part of literary and civil rights history, a writer who shaped the very course of our culture. Distanced from his home country by the racial and social tensions of the time, James Baldwin settled in St. Paul de Vence, France in 1970. His home of seventeen years, a house overlooking the Cote d’Azur, served as a gathering place for a range of luminaries - Josephine Baker, Nina Simone, Beauford Delaney, Miles Davis, and Ray Charles are just few of many iconic artists who were welcomed at his table.(Paula)
2015
November 2015
October 2015 $100 donation to Woman & Children Bookstore – Women’s Voices Fund www.womenandchildrenfirst.com/womens-voices-fund
The Women’s Voices Fund was established in November, 2005, to help support feminist programming at Women & Children First. The Women’s Voices Fund will ensure that events featuring women writers, fostering discussion of feminist issues and culture, and nurturing children’s delight in books will continue to play a vital role in Chicago’s intellectual, literary, and political life. (elizabeth blinderman)
September 2015
August 2015 - $100 to the Raktrul Foundation's Himalayan Medical Project. "Our goal is to create network of health clinics throughout the Himalayas specializing in integrated medicine. After 3 major earthquakes in the region in the past 5 years, the need is critical. Our strength lies in our teams of volunteers. After six missions to Tibet, we now have the opportunity to start our first full-time clinic." (Paula's acupuncturist is on the board and also has participated in mission trips).
July 2015
Our June 2015 donation of $60 went to Apne Aap International an organization that works to empower girls and women in India to resist and end sex trafficking by organizing marginalized women and girls into small self-empowerment groups, where they work collectively to access their legal, social, economic, and political rights. http://apneaap.org/ (Jodi Wine)
June 2015 we donated $200.00 + $20.00 from Allstate to the Boys and Girls Club of Logan Square. My purpose is to support a local non-profit that helps the kids in my community. Allstate matched 20% (Liz Brune)
May 2015
In April, 2015, we donated $60 to the Red Cross for disaster relief in Nepal, where a recent earthquake has devastated Kathmandu. (Martha Pampel)
In March, 2015
In February, 2015 $100 donation to Final Salute Inc. www.finalsaluteinc.org. The mission of Final Salute Inc. is to provide homeless women Veterans with safe and suitable housing. We were established to identify and meet the unique needs of homeless women Veterans. (elizabeth blinderman)
In January, 2015
2014
In December, 2014, we donated $120 to Genesis at the Crossroads to promote peacebuilding through arts and education around the world. (Liz Willock)
In October, 2014, we donated $100 to a project to support the education of Turkish girls via Global Giving. Forty-five percent of girls in Southeast Turkey cannot read or write. This project will education 14 girls in high school. Public schooling in Turkey is free; scholarships are stipends to provide families with funds to pay for lunches, books and supplies. Also, families are educating on the long term benefits of allowing their daughters to study. $100 helps one girl go to school for one semester. (Paula Belnap)
In September 2014, we donated $100 to to Reach out and Read http://www.reachoutandread.org/ an evidence-based nonprofit organization of medical providers who promote early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud. Kristoff noted this organization in his most recent op-ed piece on poverty http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-the-way-to-beat-poverty.html?_r=0 (Martha Pampel)
In August 2014, we donated a shiny new backpack stuffed with school supplies (pens, pencils, a pair of Master padlocks, a 16g flash drive, a Pack-It freezable lunch container, 3-ring binders, spiral notebooks, dividers, paper, folders, post-its, a pencil box, erasors, etc.), altogether valued at $140 to the "Sponsor-A-Student Backpack Drive" run by State Senator Heather Steans (7th District) and State Representative Kelly Cassidy (14th District). The seventh annual "Sponsor-a-Student" is a partnership with Care for Real -- Edgewater's food and clothing pantry, Howard Area Community Center, Housing Opportunity for Women, and Family Matters to provide school supplies for children in Rogers Park, Edgewater, and Uptown. For more information about the "Sponsor a Student" program, e-mail cathy@heathersteans.com or call 773-769-1717. (Jeanne Barr)
In June 2014 we donated $100 to A Better Chicago www.abetterchicago.org, which provides funding and management support to a portfolio of high-performing nonprofit organizations that are dramatically advancing opportunities for our region’s low-income population. (Elizabeth Blinderman)
In June 2014 we donated $200.00 + $20.00 from Allstate to the Boys and Girls Club of Logan Square. Allstate matched 20%.
In May 2014, we donated $100 to Global Goods Partners www.globalgoodspartners.org a nonprofit organization that sells handmade,fair trade products in order to improve the economic status of women in marginalized communities around the world. Its online store offers goods from nearly 40 artisan groups which collectively employ over 3,000 women in close to 20 countries and are changing women’s lives by helping them to build sustainable livelihoods. (Jodi Wine)
2013
In December of 2013 we donated $115 to the Afghan Institute of Learning via Global Giving. Only 26% of Afghan women are literate. The Afghan Institute of Learning provides high quality education and health care, services that open a whole world of opportunity to the nearly 20,000 students (70% of whom are women) taking classes in AIL’s Learning Centers, and the 250,000 Afghan women and children who visit AIL's clinics each year. (Paula Belnap)
In November 2013 we donated $80 to The All Stars Project of Chicago which brings innovative, performance-based development opportunities to youth in Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. http://www.allstars.org/content/all-stars-project-chicago (Martha Pampel)
In August 2013 we donated $150 to Chicago Books to Women in Prison, http://chicagobwp.org/get-involved/donations/ (Elizabeth Blinderman)
In August 2013 we donated $100 to Edpowerment. See linik for more about their advocacy in Tanzania: http://www.edpowerment.org/News_-_May_2013.html (Liz Willock)
In July 2013, we donated $100 (from the May meeting) to 10x10 global campaign for girls' education and creator of the film Girl Rising. See http://10x10act.org/ (Jodi Wine)
In June 2013, we donated $200 + $20.00 (from Allstate) to the Boys and Girls Club of Logan Square. Allstate matched 20% (same as lat year). That was from my April 2013 Book Club. I selected Yes Chef by Marcus Samuelsson. (Liz Brune)
In March 2013, we donated $100 to CAASE (Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation) and the END DEMAND ILLINOIS campaign ( Elizabeth Blinderman )
In February 2013 we collected $100 to donate to the Hillary 2016 campaign (Jeanne Barr)
In December 2012--just before the year ended--we donated $200 ($100 from us, $100 a corporate match) to Save Our Children (Paula Belnap)
2012
In September 2012, we donated $70 to GEMS, a domestic organization which provides services to girls and young women who are victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking. http://www.gems-girls.org/ . (Jodi Wine)
In July 2012, we donated $200 + $20.00 (from Allstate) to the Boys and Girls Club of Logan Square. Allstate matched 20% (Liz Brune)
In June 2012, we donated $100 to Apne Aap – a grassroots movement to end sex trafficking... check out their website http://apneaap.org and their “Cool Men Don’t Buy Sex” campaign (Elizabeth Blinderman)
In May 2012 we donated $90 to Shared Hope International, which works to prevent and eradicate sex trafficking domestically and internationally. (Paula Belnap)
In February 2012, we donated $100 to The Population Council (http://www.popcouncil.org/), an organization recommended by Nick Kristoff. The Population Council confronts the most difficult issues facing people in the developing world—from stopping the spread of HIV and expanding contraceptive choices to improving reproductive health and ensuring youth lead full and productive lives. (Jeanne Barr)
2011
In December 2011, we donated $90 to the Girls Educational and Mentoring Service ("GEMS"). GEMS is a New York organization which provides services to girls and young women who are victims of sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking, and sponsors the "Girls Are Not For Sale" Campaign to raise awareness of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking of children. (Jodi Wine)
In October 2011, we donated $140 to EngenderHealth, an organization that seeks to transform lives around the world through programs in family planning, maternal health, and HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment. (Jeanne Barr)
In September 2011 we donated $120 to Nazareth House Apostolate, which has built a school and is completing in new social service compound in Kabala, Sierra Leone. From the NHA blog: James and Kadijah are frantically packing and moving the possessions they have, including the humanitarian aid supplies they have for distribution. They have no idea where they will go for now, but are heading towards Kabala where – as soon as payment is made – the construction of our new NHA Compound will be completed and they will be allowed to move in. At this writing we still must come up with over $14,000. Once that money is in the hands of the Contractor, he promises he can make the place safe and “move in” ready in 30 days. This means, if we came up with the money today, James and Kadijah and family must still find shelter for 30 days. They are willing to suffer this, they are used to making sacrifices in order to help others. That is what NHA is all about. However, after all they have done to be our hands, arms and legs in administering the humanitarian aid to those in need. Once they are moved into the compound, there are the normal household adjustments, chores and fix ups that I am sure will be required, not to mention the need for a generator. There is NO electricity in Kabala. There is much required of James and Kadijah in this move. Our school is thriving and at this point we spend $600 per month on teacher salaries and another $100 for supplies. A very limited budget; we want to do more, but for now we are accomplishing a lot with the little that we have. (from Paula Belnap; I know this is wordy! the NHA blog is a bit breathless; it tells much in photos if you are interested: http://www.nazarethhouseap.org/photos/
In July 2011 we donated $100 to Girls Helping Girls. Founded in 2007 by then 15 yr old Sejal Hathi, now a sophomore at Yale, it remains a grassroots organization committed to social change – Girls Helping Girls is an international nonprofit organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area that partners girls in the United States with girls in schools and community organizations in developing countries to jointly identify problems in their communities and develop social change through micro lending projects to address those issues. (Elizabeth Blinderman)
In April 2011, in response to reading the book Cutting for Stone, we donated $120 to The Fistula Foundation. The Fistula Foundation's mission is to raise awareness of and funding for fistula treatment and prevention programs worldwide. They are active primarily in Africa, but also in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. More info atwww.fistulafoundation.org. (Farley Kern)
In April of 2011, in response to the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan we donated $100 to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief fund and Allstate matched our donation at 5%. (Liz Brune)
2010
In December 2010, donations were made to the Shay and Meh families, $60 to each family, via the Howard Area Community Center in Chicago. Both families are new immigrants--new to Chicago and to the U.S. Prior to coming to this country, members of the Shay and Meh families spent 17 years in refugee camps. (Paula Belnap)
In September 2010, $25 raised at our August book club meeting was loaned to Jane Wangari Mwangi via a Kiva microloan through the Kenya Agency for Development of Enterprise and Technology (KADET), a partner of World Vision International. Jane has run a food stall in Naivasha town for the last two years. She is 30 years old, married to Michael Mwangi, and they have four children. She was introduced to KADET by her friend and this will be her first loan. She plans to use the cash to buy beans, maize and peas in bulk to later sell to her customers who buy in small quantity. Jane also plans to start supplying cereals in the future as this will boost her income. An additional $85 was donated to Beyond the 11th (http://www.beyondthe11th.org/), a non-profit organization that provides support to widows in Afghanistan who have been afflicted by war, terrorism, and oppression. (Jeanne Barr)
In June 2010, we donated $160 to Opportunity International, a well established microloan organization that brings donors together with hard-working entrepreneurs in need around the world. http://www.opportunity.org This donation is earmarked as a pledge for a virtual walk to raise money for loans to women in Uganda. (Jodi Wine)
In May 2010, we donated $105 to Pennies for Peace. (Elizabeth Blinderman)
In March 2010, we donated $120 to Women for Women International. Women For Women is dedicated to helping women who have been victims of war make the transition from survivors to active citizens. The organization currently is working in Afghanistan, Bosnia + Herzegovnia, the Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda and Sudan. You can read more about it at Womenforwomen.org. (Farley Kern)