There are several occasions throughout the year when I am looking for non-profit organizations to support. Causes related to food or agriculture will always be important to me and his is especially true for efforts to address hunger relief. With such a wide variety of occasions such as Small Business Saturday, Giving Tuesday, or just wanting to make a donation in honor of a friend’s birthday, I thought I’d share a few of the food and agriculture non-profits I love to support.
Make an impact now by helping to support my favorite non-profit foundation for Giving Tuesday! The fundraiser is live now and is ready for your donation to support hunger relief efforts.
Through the years, one of the most memorable non-profit efforts I’ve been involved in was a toy drive for kids. In 2015, animal rights activists attempted to label a toy cattle truck as a “slaughter truck,” demanding it be taken off store shelves. So, I collaborated with a few friends to raise over $7,025 to purchase the toys en mas. With the help of the farm community, we donated them all to Toys for Tots efforts across the country.
Non-Profits for Hunger Relief
Heifer Project (Heifer.org) is a program I have supported since I was a kid in Arkansas (also where Heifer is based). Heifer works in 21 countries around the world to provide farmers training “so they can improve the quantity and quality of the goods they produce, and connections to market to increase sales and incomes.”
You can make a cash donation, or you can contribute to buy shares of an animal (goat, heifer, chickens, sheep), solar-powered clean water systems, or send a child to school. Heifer Project then takes these tools to help farmers and communities in impoverished nations to help them learn techniques that move them from farming just to survive to farming to provide a living for their family and community.
Feeding America (FeedingAmerica.org) is a non-profit network supporting over 200 local food banks across the country. Each year, their efforts support more than 1 in every 7 Americans and 98% of donations go directly to helping people in need.
Supporting food banks is more than canned food drives. Along with providing support to the local food banks most in need of food or resources, Feeding America leads national programs that help families with tools to learn about healthy eating patterns and find long-term solutions. Their work on the national scene drive efforts to address changing community needs and advocate for programs that support our hungry families.
Supporting Agriculture Non-Profits
Agriculture Non-Profit Foundations abound all around us. Most national agriculture organizations have an affiliated non-profit foundation that raises funds to support community education and relief efforts, or specific causes important to their respective missions.
The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture works to address agricultural literacy by providing resources for youth and educators. Cultivating Change Foundation and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) support diversity and inclusion efforts for LGBTQ+ and minority communities in agriculture.
If you want to support and agriculture non-profit that is local to you or the causes you care about, I recommend looking locally. Connect with your local or state agriculture association to ask about their foundation work. Many state livestock or commodity groups have non-profit foundation arms. And these can often support causes important to your local communities.
How to support Agriculture Non-Profits
There are many ways to support food and agriculture non-profits related to the causes most important to you. the most direct path is to visit the non-profit’s website to make a cash donation. You can also drop off canned foods at your local drive to support hunger relief efforts.
Amazon Smile is an easy way to contribute to your non-profit of choice throughout the year. When you shop on Amazon, navigate to the site smile.amazon.com instead of the normal URL. The shopping experience is the same, and at no additional expense or cost to you, Amazon will donate a portion of every eligible sale to your chosen non-profit. Amazon Smile is easy to set up on your browser or mobile app. Set it and forget it and your donations will add up throughout the year.
Facebook Fundraisers is another easy way to lead a fundraiser for your non-profit of choice. Many people choose to celebrate their birthdays or special occasions by raising funds for their favorite non-profits using Facebook Fundraisers. Facebook will collect the donations, send them to the non-profit and does not charge fees for efforts benefiting non-profits.
Donate now! Want to make a contribution right now? I’ve started a Facebook Fundraiser this week to support my favorite food-related non-profit for Giving Tuesday. Head over to my Facebook page to learn more and make your contribution now.
How do you support food and agriculture non-profits throughout the year or during the holiday season?
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