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	<description>Broadening the opportunity to give</description>
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		<title>North Korean Hospitality</title>
		<link>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/19/north-korean-hospitality/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/19/north-korean-hospitality/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:28:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Global Impact</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Global Impact]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Member Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Success Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charitiesatwork.org/?p=3116</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[North Koreans have harvested almost 4 million tons of food-not nearly enough to adequately feed a nation. They plant crops everywhere-from flood-recovered fields to rooftops to rocky hillsides. Children spend 12-hour days following harvesters in search of fallen grain. Despite damaging cuts in livestock feeding and heroic personal sacrifices, the food stored in North Korea&#8217;s granaries will only last for seven months. As part of a food-monitoring consortium, a Global Impact member agency spent three months in North Korea. Team members tell stories of quiet deprivation, sickness, and desperation: &#8220;Standing on a bridge, overlooking a muddy little stream was a skinny boy of about 7 years inching along, catching minnows with his hands and holding his prize of three tiny fish skewered on a stick held firmly between his teeth. That evening, when we visited a home in the nearby village, which we knew to be doing pretty badly, we were amazed to find at least 15 different dishes laid out for us, each holding a tiny portion of food. Everyone in the village had chipped in what they had, including those three tiny minnows lying on a plate.&#8221; Where food aid reached, daily intake rose from an average 3.5 ounces to between 8.75-14 ounces per person-still well under the recommended daily minimum of 15 ounces per person, but enough to make a significant difference in people&#8217;s resistance to prolonged deprivation. Visitors to North Korea stress that international aid has been a deciding factor in preventing a disastrous, full-blown famine.]]></description>
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		<title>Circle of Life in Appalachia</title>
		<link>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/19/circle-of-life-in-appalachia/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/19/circle-of-life-in-appalachia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:28:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Global Impact</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Global Impact]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Member Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Success Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charitiesatwork.org/?p=3114</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The idea of day care is still pretty new in Appalachia. There are big extended families and family ties mean everything. But divorce is becoming more common, and people have to work longer hours to make ends meet. Even when families are intact, there&#8217;s need here-kids are hungry and cold. An Global Impact member agency runs a daycare center in Appalachia and the most they charge is $11 a day-many families can&#8217;t even afford that. The daycare&#8217;s primary job is to make sure that the kids are warm and fed. But the program forms a foundation in learning and self-esteem that lasts a lifetime. Hallie&#8217;s thin, exhausted-looking mother brought her to daycare one winter day; Hallie&#8217;s hair was unclean and matted. She didn&#8217;t say a word and looked about three years old. Hallie&#8217;s mother and father were divorced, she had very little money, and she didn&#8217;t have the strength to raise a small child alone. Hallie was bathed and bundled in some warm clothes that first day, and was bathed and clothed whenever necessary. She ate warm, nutritious food. Once she was cleaned up, warm and fed, she came to life. From a timid little mouse who kept to her self and didn&#8217;t seem to know simple, three-year-old things, she blossomed into a sweet girl who&#8217;s learning her ABCs and numbers. The philosophy behind the program believes that all life is a circle: self, family, community, country, world, and universe. Every one of us is important because we are part of a bigger whole. And we are all responsible for what happens in our world. Teach this to a child who has nothing and you help create a mature, contributing adult.]]></description>
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		<title>Estella Can Fix Anything</title>
		<link>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/19/estella-can-fix-anything/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/19/estella-can-fix-anything/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:27:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Global Impact</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Global Impact]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Member Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Success Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charitiesatwork.org/?p=3112</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Estella is known locally as someone who can fix anything. She repairs items found in the nearby city dump and resells them for a steady income, but she lacks collateral. Considered a &#8220;high risk&#8221; borrower by local banks, she has difficulty obtaining credit for loans. Yet with the help of a Global Impact member agency and a local church organization, Estella&#8217;s business prospects are good. The reason: she is not alone. Estella and her friends, Olga Gomez, Raquel Parrales and Candida Davila, can secure small loans when they pledge to guarantee one another&#8217;s businesses. The four women help each other with labor and credit. If one falls behind in payments or has trouble, the others are responsible to help her. As partners, they refer clients and regularly check up on each other. One time, Candida took out a loan to expand her business, but then fell ill and had to use some of the money for medical bills. While she recovered, her partners and her daughter stood beside her. The Global Impact member charity stood beside them as well.]]></description>
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		<title>A Familiar Fear</title>
		<link>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/19/a-familiar-fear/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/19/a-familiar-fear/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:27:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Global Impact</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Global Impact]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Member Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Success Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charitiesatwork.org/?p=3110</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When Mrs. Yong Eng stepped on a land mine, she lost one leg and injured the other. &#8220;Sometimes, forgetful of my maimed state, I spring to catch my little child,&#8221; she says, &#8220;and then I fall to the ground, the bones of my leg aching.&#8221; Her story is all too familiar in Cambodia. One out of every 236 Cambodians has stepped on a landmine. In the wake of war, millions of mines still lie buried, waiting to ambush villagers working in fields, gathering firewood, or herding livestock. Fear of being killed or maimed by the mines keeps many farmers from planting food for their families and many children from playing near their homes. An Global Impact member program works to clear mines in a rural area north of Phnom Penh. The mine clearance benefits 15,000 displaced people by allowing them to resume farming their land.]]></description>
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		<title>A Cow is a Treasure</title>
		<link>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/19/a-cow-is-a-treasure/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/19/a-cow-is-a-treasure/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:25:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Global Impact</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Global Impact]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Member Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Success Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charitiesatwork.org/?p=3108</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Give me a cow,&#8221; said old Halil. &#8220;That&#8217;s all I need. If we had cows, we could take care of ourselves again.&#8221; So a Global Impact member agency encouraged a group of 24 displaced families living in Slatina, outside of Sarajevo, to put together a plan. With funding from the Global Impact member, four veteran farmers of the group went to the area livestock market. They returned with 10 hearty cows, nine of which were pregnant. Families with the greatest need received the cows, and the others receive a share of the milk and cheese. In addition, the group made an &#8220;in-kind&#8221; payback by providing milk and cheese to a local group for distribution to Sarajevo&#8217;s neediest. Amir, chair of the Cow Committee who saw his 11-year-old son killed by a grenade put it this way: &#8220;Now I feel like a human being again,&#8221; he says seriously and with his head held high, &#8220;because now I can help others who are even worse off than we are.&#8221;]]></description>
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		<title>Natural Resources Defense Council and Audubon Society</title>
		<link>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/18/natural-resources-defense-council-and-audubon-society/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/18/natural-resources-defense-council-and-audubon-society/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:18:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>EarthShare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[EarthShare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Member Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Success Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charitiesatwork.org/?p=3089</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Both organizations recently renovated their headquarters buildings in New York City to be &#8220;green&#8221; buildings. These are energy-efficient structures that aim to limit environmental impact through the use of design techniques and choice of materials. Their example has helped to set a trend that other developers are now following. For example, the Durst Organization Inc.&#8217;s new office tower at Four Times Square will be a more environmentally friendly skyscraper. It will include gas fired heating and cooling systems, which rely on natural gas rather than electricity generated by burning of fossil fuels, larger windows to allow for reduced use of interior lighting, and dedicated disposal shafts for ease of recycling. Other elements will improve air quality to avoid the &#8220;sick building&#8221; syndrome. Click here to visit the Natural Resources Defense Council website Click here to visit the Audubon Society website]]></description>
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		<title>American Farmland Trust</title>
		<link>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/18/american-farmland-trust/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/12/18/american-farmland-trust/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:14:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>EarthShare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[EarthShare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Member Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Success Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charitiesatwork.org/?p=3087</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[American Farmland Trust, which promotes farmland preservation, released a study in 1998 showing that farmland in a region including Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware was among the most vulnerable in the nation to suburban growth and development. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, between 1982 and 1992, 1.1 million acres of farmland in both Virginia and Pennsylvania were developed, while Maryland lost 334,000 acres and Delaware lost 666,000. In an effort to combat this trend, American Farmland Trust has sponsored and helped to create a Farmers&#8217; Market at Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. This allows local area farmers to sell fruits and vegetables without having to give up profits to the middleman. The Trust for Public Land&#8217;s motive is to put more money in the pockets of local farmers so they have an economic incentive to maintain their land &#8211; and keep it from real estate developers. The market is a great success and benefits both the farmers and customers.]]></description>
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		<title>Center for Health, Environment &amp; Justice (CHEJ)</title>
		<link>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/08/01/center-for-health-environment-and-justice/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2011/08/01/center-for-health-environment-and-justice/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:36:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>EarthShare</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[EarthShare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Member Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Success Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.charitiesatwork.org/?p=1</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Debbie Hindla is a single, working mother of four and a resident of a beleaguered industrial ghetto in South Baltimore. In May of 1998, the FMC plant near her home on Wagner&#8217;s Point sent a cloud of toxic gas over her neighborhood, adversely affecting dozens of residents. When Hindla&#8217;s 10-year old son began exhibiting signs of medical distress, she turned to the Fairfield and Wagner&#8217;s Point Neighborhood Coalition and Center for Health, Environment and Justice for help. For more than two years, the groups have worked together to win relocation benefits for 100 families living in the polluted community. Debbie Hindla&#8217;s home and the homes of her neighbors are surrounded by more than 20 chemical plants, a sewage treatment facility, an oil refinery, ship loading docks and other industrial facilities. Fairfield has no sewer pipes, and illegal dumping is a serious ongoing problem. Since November of 1997, Lois Gibbs, who led the negotiations for buy-out of homes at Love Canal twenty years ago, and other staff at the Center for Health, Environment and Justice have assisted the community in defining their strategy for obtaining relocation and negotiating with government officials. The Center helps them make their case for a government buy-out at the rate of comparably sized dwellings in more suitable residential neighborhoods. In early July of 1998, during a highly publicized tour of the neighborhood and televised debate, Hindla succeeded in securing assurances from both Baltimore&#8217;s mayor and its Congressional Representative to help secure public financing for a buy-out of residents&#8217; homes. In addition, because of her role in the Wagner&#8217;s Point Neighborhood Association, Hindla was able to contact officials at FMC and obtain reimbursement for all of her son&#8217;s medical expenses. Without the well-publicized community struggle and resulting political pressure, Hindla would probably have had to foot those bills alone. The Center for Health, Environment and Justice continues to work closely with the Neighborhood Coalition to help parents like Hindla and enable them to move to a neighborhood where children can grow up safely.]]></description>
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		<title>Make-A-Wish Reaches Out to Little Dreamer</title>
		<link>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2010/07/26/make-a-wish-reaches-out/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2010/07/26/make-a-wish-reaches-out/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:12:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>America's Charities</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[America's Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Member Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Success Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ghostpool.com/wordpress/magnifizine/?p=400</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For almost a year, Kathryn had been undergoing discouraging and painful treatments for leukemia. She had been hospitalized five times. Her energy and her spirits were low. In her dreams, she escaped by flying off to Hawaii, where she would snorkel or relax as the gentle trade winds warmed and soothed her body. And she would swim and play with dolphins in the crystal clear blue-green water. But in reality, Kathryn and her family lived in Alaska, where there was no Make-A-Wish chapter. And with their finances stretched to the limit and beyond by her illness, such an odyssey was out of the question. Or was it? Since 1989, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America has operated an Outreach Fund that makes it possible for children like Kathryn, who have life-threatening illnesses, but who live in areas not yet covered by Make-A-Wish chapters, to see their dreams fulfilled. Outreach is funded by the Make-A-Wish Foundation with the help of private donors and corporate partners. The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Washington State sent Kathryn, her parents, and her younger sister to Hawaii, where Kathryn got to live her fantasy. With the guidance of experts, Kathryn coaxed the dolphin to roll over so she could rub its tummy. For a few magical days, Kathryn and her family were able to forget hospitals and treatments and just enjoy life. &#8220;It was a carefree week &#8211; no worries, no concerns,&#8221; dad said. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to put into words what a mental boost that trip was &#8211; not just for Kathryn, but for the whole family.&#8221; A new chapter was chartered in Alaska not long after Kathryn&#8217;s trip, and her parents were among the first &#8211; and most dedicated &#8211; volunteers.]]></description>
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		<title>“I Have A Dream” Foundation Turns Students&#8217; Dreams Into Reality</title>
		<link>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2010/07/25/i-have-a-dream-foundation/</link>
		<comments>http://www.charitiesatwork.org/2010/07/25/i-have-a-dream-foundation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:08:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>America's Charities</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[America's Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Member Charities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Success Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ghostpool.com/wordpress/magnifizine/?p=65</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Arturo Zepeda, a child of Mexican immigrants, was “dying on the vine” when &#8220;I Have A Dream&#8221; Foundation (IHAD) adopted his class, said John Horan, Executive Director of IHAD&#8217;s Chicago office. Evidence showed that Arturo was far beyond his class in potential. So IHAD worked to secure him a scholarship at the Latin School in Chicago, stuck with him through high school and helped him get into Notre Dame University. Now, Zepeda &#8211; who is helping undocumented workers get their citizenship &#8211; wants to be a lawyer. Zepeda is one of thousands of students who could have become a drop-out. But with IHAD&#8217;s help, he is a productive citizen. IHAD sponsors &#8220;adopt&#8221; an entire grade from a public elementary school or a group from a public housing development and give them a year-round program of academic, social and cultural activities, from elementary school through high school, followed by college or vocational scholarship. And IHAD&#8217;s success rate in graduating students from high school is impressive. Seventy-two percent of &#8220;Dreamers&#8221; from Chicago who have gone through the program graduate on time, compared to the normal 35% rate for children from the same areas IHAD targets. And about 64% of those who graduate go on to college, while only 18% of those who have not been exposed to IHAD move on.]]></description>
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