Emeralds donates a portion of the proceeds of each sale to the following charitable organizations to help them carry out their missions:
Our mission is to help American Indian people meet their immediate survival needs - food, water and shelter - while implementing and supporting programs designed to create opportunities for self-sufficiency and self-esteem, particularly for tribal youth. Our goal is to build the capacity of communities, grassroots Indian organizations, and individuals to leverage their strengths to solve problems. Through long term development programs such as organic gardening, housing, water resource development, nutrition and health care, we strive to foster self-sufficiency in Indian communities across the United States. Running Strong programs are designed and implemented by local Indian people, with our Advisory Board, composed almost exclusively of American Indians, acting as a resource to preserve, promote and respect Indian culture and values within each program.
Since 1951 the Animal Welfare Institute has sought to reduce the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by people. In the organization’s early years our particular emphasis was on the desperate needs of animals used for experimentation. In the decades that followed we expanded the scope of our work to address many other areas of animal suffering. AWI works to minimize the impacts of all human actions detrimental to endangered species, including the destruction of natural forests containing ancient trees, and pollution of the oceans destroying every kind of marine life.
The Guide Dog Foundation provides guide dogs, free of charge, to people who are blind or visually impaired and seek the increased independence, mobility and companionship that a guide dog provides. Students come to them from all over the United States and many foreign countries. Their trademark small classes and individualized instruction often attract students who may have special requirements. They have successfully trained hearing-impaired blind people as well as many physically challenged people. The Foundation has a lab for breeding as well. Volunteer families called "Puppy Walkers" raise the puppies in their homes for one year. Then the puppies return to the Foundation to begin their formal guide training. Students come to the 8-acre Smithtown, NY, campus for a 25-day in-residence training program. Over the course of the training, the students and their dogs bond and learn how to work together as a team. Students also learn about the proper care of their dog, from grooming to exercising. Transportation to the Foundation from anywhere in North America, as well as room and board for the duration of the training program, is provided free of charge. After the team graduates from the program, a member of the training staff usually conducts a home visit. Assistance and after-care services are always available.
The Foundation also takes steps to promote guide dog use throughout the U.S., building public awareness for the work they do and teach people about etiquette for interacting with a guide dog. Their website features news and information about guide dogs and the essential access laws that give them the right to go everywhere the public is allowed.
Child Find of America is a national not-for-profit organization that:
Locates missing children through active investigation
Prevents child abduction through education
Resolves incidents of parental abduction through mediation.
Founded in 1980 by the mother of a missing child, Child Find has helped locate, positively impact and return to a legal environment thousands of children.
Child Find of America offers :
Free investigation & location services
Free kidnapping prevention programs
Free mediation services for parental abduction cases
Compassion International is a Christian child development organization dedicated to releasing children from poverty. Their ministry is two-fold: they work through local churches to provide child development programs to deliver children from economic, physical, social and spiritual poverty; enabling them to become responsible, fulfilled adults. And they speak out for children in poverty – informing, motivating and equipping others to become advocates for children.
The hallmark of Compassion's work is one-to-one child sponsorship. A sponsor is someone who has made the decision to personally invest in the life of a child in need. Through sponsorship, children are able to participate in a church-based program that offers life-changing benefits that range from educational opportunities to health care.
Compassion has four very distinctive values:
Christ-Centered. Without coercion, they teach the life-changing gospel to every child in a culturally relevant way.
Child-Focused. Their ministry directly engages each child as a complete person.
Church-Based. They choose to partner with churches as a local group of believers who can teach, train and mentor children. This is done in partnership with parents and the community.
Committed to Integrity. They commit to excellence and integrity to best benefit the children they serve. They commit to help children, families and churches create relevant child development activities. They commit to the highest professional and biblical principles.
Compassion has discovered that changed circumstances rarely change people's lives, while changed people inevitably change their circumstances. Community development is important work that addresses the external circumstances of poverty and is an important complement to their work. However, their primary focus is individual child development—an inside-out, bottom-up approach that recognizes the God-given value and potential of each individual child.
Children are welcome to participate in a Compassion project regardless of their faith. Compassion's program, however, is unapologetically Christian and every Compassion project is connected to a Christian church or ministry. They want children to have the opportunity to see living faith in action, hear the gospel and be taught in the ways of Christ. But neither they nor their families are under any compulsion to become Christians.
The mission of Save the Children is to create lasting, positive change in the lives of children in need. Save the Children works to achieve this mission through community-based programs designed to ensure sustained improvements and benefits for children, families and communities. Save the Children works in more than 40 countries around the world, including the United States. Development programs focus on improving basic conditions and potential futures for children through basic education for girls and boys, maternal and child health services and income generating opportunities. In countries experiencing emergencies, political upheaval, war, or violence, Save the Children helps provide protection and long-term recovery. In nearly 200 sites throughout the United States, Save the Children focuses on improving literacy, nutrition and physical activity, during and after school, for children and youth of rural poverty. Save the Children's primary program areas include: child and maternal health, HIV/AIDS prevention and support, basic education, developing income-generating opportunities, and providing humanitarian assistance and establishing long-term food security during crises and emergencies, such as wars and natural disasters. Save the Children serves over 15 million children and families who have the greatest need in developing countries around the world.
Volunteers of America helps more than 1.5 million people each year. From rural America to inner-city neighborhoods, Volunteers of America engages its 11,000 professional staff and more than 30,000 volunteers each year in designing and operating programs that deal with today's most pressing social needs. They are a major provider of long-term nursing and health services. They are the nation's largest nonprofit provider of quality affordable housing for families, the elderly, and people with disabilities. They provide a wide range of programs for children and youth. Volunteers of America’s goal is to show through its programs and services that "there are no limits to caring". More than 88 cents of every dollar Volunteers of America spends goes directly to services for individuals, families, and communities. Their programs help abused and neglected children, youth at risk, the frail elderly, the disabled, homeless individuals and families, and people needing emergency services. Volunteers of America also provides day care, after school programs and foster care for children. Substance abuse programs include both residential and outpatient treatment for alcohol and drug addiction as well as preventive education programs. Their mental health programs are community based and include counseling, hotline services, and supported independent living. The organization strengthens community life through volunteer training and placement. Homeless programs address the root causes of homelessness through job training, and transitional and permanent housing. Health care services include nursing home care, therapy, home health care, and outpatient clinical services. Programs for people with developmental disabilities promote independence through job training and placement, life skills training, and supported and assisted living. Volunteers of America runs correctional programs designed to rehabilitate offenders through halfway houses and re-entry programs, work release programs, and mediation services.
The mission of The Humane Society of the United States is to create a humane and sustainable world for all animals, including people, through education, advocacy and the promotion of respect and compassion. They are dedicated to protecting all animals through active programs in companion animal and equine protection, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research, farm animals and sustainable agriculture.
Their companion animals and equine protection efforts include offering numerous services to the nation's animal shelters, which are independent from The HSUS. They help shelters run better through training programs, educational materials and consultation services. They promote responsible pet ownership to benefit animals and communities and are experts on topics such as dangerous dogs and exotic pets. They offer comprehensive pet behavior information for pet owners and promote the benefits of pet ownership.
Their wildlife and habitat protection efforts include our Urban Wildlife Sanctuary Program, The HSUS Wildlife Land Trust, two wildlife rehabilitation training centers, and advocacy programs on fur, trapping and captive wildlife. They are active on marine mammal issues, including commercial whaling and the Canadian seal hunt.
In the area of farm animal welfare, they work with farmers to improve the treatment of animals raised for food. They educate the public about the plight of farm animals in industrialized factory farms and draw attention to the horrific conditions under which the vast majority of food animals are raised in America.
In the area of research animals, their Pain and Distress initiative is designed to work with researchers and regulators to develop a plan to end the suffering of research animals by the year 2020. They work to give students the right to opt out of animal dissection exercises in anatomy and biology courses. They urge consumers to avoid personal care products tested on animals and urge researchers to consider alternative approaches to traditional animal models.
Other programs include their highly regarded animal in disaster rescue efforts and Remote Area Veterinary Services, which brings veterinary services to impoverished areas in the United States and Central America. Their First Strike program addresses animal cruelty by offering rewards and lobbying for strong animal cruelty laws. The HSUS is the leading organization in combating animal fighting. They have successfully worked to strengthen state and federal laws and worked with law enforcement to investigate and prosecute cockfighting, dogfighting and hog-dog fighting.
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is a non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The CCR uses litigation proactively to advance the law in a positive direction, to empower poor communities and communities of color, to guarantee the rights of those with the fewest protections and least access to legal resources, to train the next generation of constitutional and human rights attorneys, and to strengthen the broader movement for constitutional and human rights. The CCR’s mission is to continue to be at the forefront of legal thinking, using the law creatively in the service of justice, and serving as a model to other progressive legal organizations both here and abroad. They work to ensure that globalization does not mean rampant exploitation of the world's people. They also work to complete the unfinished civil rights movement, targeting racial profiling and other modern-day manifestations of racial intolerance. Through efforts such as their Supermax Litigation Project and Immigrant Workers' Rights Project, they are vigilant in defense of the rights of those in our society who have the fewest resources and the least access to justice. As society changes, new social problems are constantly arising, even as old ones are solved. CCR will continue to evolve with these changes, seeking out new threats to the rights and well-being of citizens and devising new strategies in their defense.
PCRM seeks to promote informed giving, advocate higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in health research, and enable the public to make sound, compassionate giving choices. Many people do not realize that when they donate to a health charity, they may be helping to fund disturbing experiments that have little to do with helping those in need. Most people prefer to support charities with human-centered research programs that directly benefit the populations they serve. PCRM aims to keep you informed about the research policies of various charities, enabling you to give according to your conscience.
Those concerned about the treatment of animals and who want research relevant to human health are unlikely to find the words of charities that fund animal experiments comforting. A wide range of charities fund exclusively non-animal research, effective prevention programs, and/or direct services to patients. Many of us feel more comfortable supporting these charities instead of those that continue to fund troubling animal experiments. PCRM has joined with other research modernization and animal protection organizations to form the Council on Humane Giving. The Council on Humane Giving has developed the Humane Charity Seal of Approval, which is awarded to health charities that fund only nonanimal research and programs. The Humane Charity Seal of Approval is the easiest way for donors to spot charities that are committed to providing vital services and care to patients or advancing research without the use of animals. For more information, a complete list of approved charities, or to search the database of approved and unapproved health charities
The National Alliance to End Homelessness works to unify and mobilize the nonprofit, public and private sectors of society to address the root causes of homelessness and challenge society's acceptance of homelessness as an inevitable by-product of American life. The main areas of our work include: informing policy makers at the federal level about ways in which they can help to end homelessness across the nation; providing assistance to service providers, advocates, and public officials in developing and implementing plans to end homelessness in their communities; and increasing the number of Americans educated about the issues, causes and solutions of homelessness and engaging them to pursue its permanent end.
