Third quarter begins with new slate of beneficiaries

Thanks to our 510 contributing members, the second quarter of 2010 ended with over $22,500 raised for our second slate of beneficiaries — nearly double the amount raised in the first quarter. We are now tallying the totals for each charity and will announce final numbers next week.

Starting this quarter, we will also bring you specific reports of how our donations are being spent by our featured charities to alleviate suffering and to improve this life and this world.

The third quarter begins with a dynamic new slate of featured organizations, including Uganda Humanist Schools Trust, an IHEU initiative providing secular schooling in a country riven by decades of religiously-fueled conflict. “We are determined to protect students from any form of indoctrination,” says Deo Ssekitooleko, founder of the Humanist Academy. “Instead they will be exposed to various world views. They will be encouraged to think freely, to be rational and skeptical, to value and respect humanity and be tolerant towards others.” 

Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary is a top-rated organization currently working to protect and rescue birds affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster. Mountain Fund focuses on poverty in mountain regions. We will earmark our donations for a specific poverty abatement project in Asia or Africa with member input. Compassion and Choices is one of the premiere organizations working for the individual right to control end-of-life decisions. Gift of Adoption provides grants to cover the cost of adoption and includes a specific statement renouncing religious requirements for prospective parents.

As you know, the Foundation has always welcomed nominations of organizations founded in any worldview so long as they do not proselytize. Our first quarter featured the Bergen County Sanctuary Committee, a consortium of humanist and religious communities aiding political asylees in New Jersey. This quarter we are proud to support Quaker Peace & Social Witness (UK) in the Peace category. Quakers (aka Society of Friends) are utterly non-dogmatic, holding that no individual can tell any other what to believe — the essence of freethought. So it’s no surprise that they include many nontheists in their ranks and that Quaker activists have shown up on the progressive side of nearly every major social issue for centuries, from slavery to women’s rights to racial equality.

We are also very proud to support Camp Quest, a system of summer camps for freethinking families, as well as the innovative grassroots Energy Action Coalition and the National Association of Free Clinics, helping to close the remaining gaps in the U.S. health care system.

For more details, click on Current Beneficiaries.

Members: See an organization that especially moves you — or one you’d rather not support? Remember that you can change the distribution of your monthly donation at any time. Simply click on Manage Donation in the sidebar (while logged in).

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