These are a few of the charitable organizations that I care about. All are established non-profits so that donations to them are tax deductible, to the best of my knowledge. I do not have direct links here to their donation pages. Just go to their homepage links given below, learn a bit about them, and then navigate to the donation pages on their websites.
The order of listing here is simply alphabetical. All are important.
ArtReach St. Croix
“ArtReach St. Croix is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting the St. Croix Valley community and the visual, literary and performing arts. ArtReach sponsors community arts events, supports the work of artists and other arts organizations, and provides arts leadership within the St. Croix Valley community.”
ArtReach St. Croix has distinguished itself in the number of creative ways it manages to make art accessible to the widest possible audience. Especially, it has been outstanding in demonstrating how art can connect people to nature, which is near and dear to my heart. I view the world through a scientific lens. Art and science are the two great creative human endeavors. Both seek unity in variety in novel ways (see Jacob Bronowski, 1956. Science and Human Values). In my estimation, art is the symbolic representation of emotion, and its purpose is to evoke emotion, i.e., to make you feel something. To feel emotion is to be human. Hence, art magnifies humanity.
First Presbyterian Church of Stillwater, Minnesota
The First Presbyterian Church of Stillwater, Minnesota, is a progressive congregation with a strong sense of mission to both the local and global communities. From their Welcome Statement:
We believe all people are created in the image of God, and God’s love and grace extend to all. We welcome, affirm, and embrace all people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, faith history, age, family structure, physical or mental ability, economic circumstances, education levels, or any other labels placed on humanity. Come just as you are and join us as we seek to follow Jesus as creators of justice, joy, compassion, and peace.
The church helps to support the Daylight Center orphanage and school in Kapenguria, Kenya, and the HopeLight women’s shelter in South Kinangop, just to the north of Nairobi.
All are welcome at our table.
Freshwater
“The mission of Freshwater is to inspire and empower people to value and preserve our freshwater resources.”
Freshwater (also known as the Freshwater Society) is a policy, education, and research institution that has had tremendous success in helping to wisely manage our limited freshwater resources. With increasing populations and demand for clean water, with increasing climatic variability and uncertainty, and with increasing geopolitical disputes, we are entering an era of continual clean-water crises. Help Freshwater to identify and solve these crises, one step at a time.
Wild Rivers Conservancy
“The Wild Rivers Conservancy of the St. Croix and Namekagon is the official nonprofit partner of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway,” and its mission is to “[i]nspire stewardship to forever ensure the rare ecological integrity of the St. Croix and Namekagon Riverway.”
The St. Croix and Namekagon Riverway was among the first of eight riverways designated for protection under the 1968 National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, authored by senators Gaylord Nelson and Walter Mondale, back in the days when good politicians worked together to protect our natural resources. Wild Rivers (then called the St. Croix River Association) was not only there from the start, it actually pre-dates the official congressional act by about 50 years. The St. Croix Valley is blessed to have such a beautiful, federally-designated riverway coursing through its heart, bridging Minnesota and Wisconsin and administered by the National Park Service. The mutually beneficial collaboration between federal, state, and local institutions within the St. Croix Valley is inspirational.