The holiday season has arrived and I want to flash back to My Monthly Charity November 2008 and feature the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York again.

The mission of the Regional Food Bank is to alleviate hunger and prevent food waste. We work toward this mission by ensuring that all products available for donation reach the Food Bank and are distributed judiciously to our member agencies; by practicing responsible stewardship; and by actively participating in the community to increase awareness of hunger and poverty. – Regional Food Bank Mission

Fight hunger and make a difference in any of the following four ways with the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York:

• Donate Money
• Donate Time
• Food Drives
• Donate Food

Visit http://www.rfbneny.com/index.php/ to learn more about the Regional Food bank and everything they do.

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It’s all about Pink this month. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it’s been the cause I’ve featured in my October Monthly Charity the past 3 years because this cause is near and dear to me. Again Susan G. Komen for the Cure will be featured in My Monthly Charity.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is the largest and most progressive movement in the fight against breast cancer at all stages. See my previous post about Susan G. Komen or visit http://ww5.komen.org/ for information on what they do and how you can help in the fight against breast cancer.

The pink ribbon is everywhere and the NFL has dedicated the entire month to breast cancer with pink gloves, cleats, pompoms and much more. Check out some pictures from PicApp of all the pink in the NFL this month.

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On Friday night I watched the Stand Up 2 Cancer (SU2C) fund raising broadcast featuring a star studded cast helping raise money for cancer research. This was the biggest fund raising event I’ve ever seen. It was broadcasted across the 4 major networks, ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS, at the same time.

SU2C started in 2008 by the Entertainment Industry Foundation to raise significant money for cancer research and in their first telecast they raised over $100 million for cancer research.

The thing I love about SU2C is that they have brought scientific dream teams together in the search for a cure for cancer.  Not only have scientist come together, the patients, clinicians, children and parents, lawmakers, basically everyone that has been affected by cancer has come full circle to help find a cure. It’s really great to see everyone come together with a common goal of curing cancer.

This is a great cause and you can find out more about it at SU2C.org. You can also watch the entire main event below.

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The charity that I have selected this month is the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in response to the floods that have affected some 20 million people now in Pakistan.

This is Pakistan’s worst flooding in 80 years with millions of people losing their homes, crops and livestock in this disaster. What is the IRC doing? The IRC is delivering the necessities like blankets, clean water, shelter, sanitation, health care to the people in need. Another very important thing that the IRC is doing is working on preventing the outbreak of waterborne diseases.

Who We Are
The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster.

At work today in over 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, the IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home. – Who We Are http://www.theirc.org/about

Our commitment
When an emergency arises, the IRC arrives on the scene within 72 hours with urgently needed supplies and expertise that protect people caught in the midst of chaos. We commit to stay as long as we are needed, helping survivors to heal, recover and rebuild their communities to be stronger, more stable and more democratic. In the United States, the IRC has helped hundreds of thousands of refugees thrive in the country that gave them sanctuary and a new beginning. – Our Commitment http://www.theirc.org/irc-a-glance

Learn more about the IRC and find out how you can the help Pakistan >>

For other charities and ways to help see Yahoo’s News Blog Pakistan Floods: How to help

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There’s still a lot of work to be done for the Gulf oil spill clean up, so the charity that I have selected for this month is Oceana to follow up my June 2010 Monthly Charity featuring 13 organizations aiding the clean up efforts. Founded in 2001, Oceana is protecting the world’s oceans and it is ever so important while there’s still oil in the ocean. Oceana campaigns for changes like the ending offshore drilling to prevent disasters like the Gulf oil spill.

Oceana, founded in 2001, is the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation. Our offices in North America, Central America, South America and Europe work together on a limited number of strategic, directed campaigns to achieve measurable outcomes that will help return our oceans to former levels of abundance. We believe in the importance of science in identifying problems and solutions. Our scientists work closely with our teams of economists, lawyers and advocates to achieve tangible results for the oceans.

– What We Do http://na.oceana.org/en/about-us/what-we-do

Oceana seeks to make our oceans as rich, healthy and abundant as they once were.

– Our Vision http://na.oceana.org/en/about-us/what-we-do/our-vision

Our ecosystem is becoming more and more fragile and we as a world need to make changes. Oceana is taking on the problems with our oceans head on by fighting for change to preserve our oceans. Oceana works on stopping ocean pollution, promoting responsible fishing, protecting marine wildlife, climate and energy and preserving special places to hopefully fulfill their vision of returning our oceans as they once were.

Visit Oceana.org to see you how you can help our precious oceans.

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In the midst of the Gulf oil spill I have found a list of charities aiding the Gulf oil spill clean up that have been approved by the Better Business Bureau or BBB to be featured in My Monthly Charity this month.

Charities Assisting the Gulf Oil Spill Clean Up

• American Bird Conservancy
• Defenders of Wildlife
• Ducks Unlimited
• EarthShare
• Environmental Defense Fund
• Friends of the Earth
• Greenpeace Fund
• International Fund for Animal Welfare
• National Audubon Society
• National Wildlife Federation
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Nature Conservancy
• Oceana

The Gulf oil spill is one of the worst disasters that I’ve ever seen. I can’t see how the spill can be completely contained while oil continues to leak into the ocean. As hurricane season comes full swing the problem will only become exacerbated. Hurricane Alex has already brought the spill to many Gulf Coast beaches. Help the Gulf out today by donating to any of the charities approved by the BBB above.

One major complaint I want to make about the Gulf oil spill is why the hell we didn’t treat this disaster with more urgency with government intervention from the beginning and bring in other oil companies to solve the problem! I understand that BP caused the problem and is the responsible party but this is one of the problems that needed to solve asap. There’s oil leaking into our oceans for crying out loud. It is BP’s responsibility but we really needed to come together on this one to stop the leak then call blame and repayment. Today is the 72nd day of oil spilling into our oceans and it doesn’t look like it is stopping anytime soon. If we don’t stop the leak oil will spread to the oceans around world if it hasn’t already started.

You can track the oil spill on CNN with its day to day animated oil slick spread, oil spill estimates and closed fishing areas at http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/29/interactive.spill.tracker/index.html.

We have a difficult task at hand as a nation to aiding the Gulf oil spill clean up. Be aware of scams whenever you’re making a charitable donation, especially when disasters happen like the Gulf oil spill. All the charities listed above have been identified to meet the BBB Wise Giving Alliance’s Standards for Charity Accountability.

Help the Gulf Oil Spill Clean Up Now

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