Last updated on March 26th, 2024
Featured image: Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to show generosity at a time when many need help | Image by yuliyashevtsova via Envato.
Your generosity can make a difference
by Carolyn Ray
As women, we have the power to make the world better through travel. Nowhere is this more evident than in the generosity of women to support non-profit organization. Giving Tuesday is a global movement that takes place the Tuesday after Black Friday and US Thanksgiving. It was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past 10 years, this idea has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
10 Organizations You Can Support on Giving Tuesday 2023
JourneyWoman and our readers have supported several non-profits for the past four years through event donations and JourneyWoman merchandise sales. In recognition of Giving Tuesday 2023 on November 28, 2023, here are 10 organizations that we actively support throughout the year. If you have one to suggest, please add it to the comments below.
An estimated 37 million U.S. adults participated in Giving Tuesday 2022, representing a 15% increase compared to GivingTuesday 2021, and a 25% increase since 2020. Over $3.1 billion was donated, a 9% increase from 2020. In Canada, over $50 milion was donated in a 24-hour period. (In the US, if you’re age 70½ or older, you can make a direct transfer from a traditional individual retirement account to a charity to reduce adjusted gross income.)
1. Education for All: Education for Girls in Morocco
How you can help: Donate here
Education for All provides boarding houses for girls so they can continue secondary school in Morocco. We first donated to EFA on the recommendation of Alice Morrison, author of “Morocco to Timbuktu: An Arabian Adventure”, which was our May 2021 Book Club pick.
On the night of September 8, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the High Atlas region where EFA’s boarding houses are located, creating significant damage. In addition to repairing the houses, EFA anticipates emergency and longer-term support for the girls and their families.
Alice told us that very few girls from the rural communities of the High Atlas Mountains get the opportunity of continuing their education beyond primary school. Secondary schools, mostly several kilometres away in larger towns, are not accessible to them because their parents cannot afford to pay for lodgings or transport near secondary schools and their parents do not have the confidence in existing facilities to entrust their daughters to be away from home.
2. Hawaii Wildfire Relief
How you can help: Donate here
On August 8, 2023, Lahaina, Maui was devastated by wildfires leaving only the foundations of homes, businesses, and sacred cultural sites. Over 5,000 people have been displaced and are rebuilding their lives. In Maui, there are several organizations that need both volunteers and financial support to help the island recover.
HandsOn Maui is coordinating opportunities for volunteers to help with food distribution, animals and wildlife and rebuilding homes with groups like Habitat for Humanity. Visit HandsOn Maui to learn how you can help.
There also many organizations that need financial donations, including Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund, which was created to provide community resilience with resources for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. The Maui Foodbank provides meals to the hungry, and the Maui Humane Society is working to extend a helping hand and paw to those affected.
JourneyWoman Advisory Council member Shawna Robins volunteered with the Red Cross in August in Maui and offers some tips if you visit Maui. Robins says,” Be respectful -106 lives lost with hundreds of people missing. Family homes are gone. Be mindful – I ask everyone I see how their family is doing. I get lots of tears, offer hugs and listen with empathy to their stories and grief. Don’t go into Lahaina or snorkel in the area. Find local businesses and spend your money there, like local grocery stores and farmer’s markets.”
3. ALLY Global Foundation: Human Trafficking Prevention
How you can help: Donate here.
Human trafficking is a topic we often overlook in travel, but it deserves much more attention.
In July 2022, we partnered with Wild Women Expeditions to host a Toronto-based Move for Freedom event to raise funds for Ally Global Foundation. This Canadian charity focuses on human trafficking prevention and provides survivors with resources to enable their healing process. Ally assists women with finding safe housing, educational opportunities and job training in Nepal and Cambodia.
For trafficking survivors, the security found in a safe home is the necessary foundation to begin building meaningful, healthy relationships and independence. As women work through their past trauma and gain confidence, they can also provide an encouraging, inspiring environment for their children.
We’re planning more events with Wild Women Expeditions and Ally for 2023, including a webinar on human trafficking and Move for Freedom events across Canada. Stay tuned!
Learn more about Human Trafficking here: What Women Need to Know About Human Trafficking
4. RISE Travel Institute
How you can help: Donate here.
RISE Travel Institute is a 501(c)3, volunteer-run nonprofit that inspires responsible, impactful, sustainable, and ethical travel through educating current and future generations of travelers. RISE envisions a world where travel is a force for positive transformation for both travelers and travel destinations.
By donating to RISE’s Step Up to RISE Up campaign, you can help strengthen their classes, trips, and scholarship offering. These programs are central in educating solo travelers, retirees, and other types of adventurers on how to travel with the most positive impact. (Please note: JourneyWoman partners and readers receive a discount.)
5. Ukrainian Relief Effort (United Nations Refugee Agency)
How you can help: Donate to UNHCR here. More options on the Canada Helps page here.
On February 24th, 2022, conflict erupted in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion and the lives of Ukrainians have been forever changed by the war. More than a year later, in 2023, approximately 17.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine. With no end in sight, the people of Ukraine continue to face ongoing food and water shortages, risk of physical injury, and lack of medical care and safe shelter.
More than 8 million refugees from Ukraine are recorded across Europe, and more than 5 million people are estimated to be displaced inside Ukraine. In response to the massive humanitarian crisis caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine, UNHCR is working with national authorities, UN agencies, displaced communities and local and international partners to provide urgently needed assistance.
According to UN Women, an estimated 54% of people in need of assistance from the ongoing crisis are women, and women and girls are consistently disproportionately affected by conflict. More than 1.5 million people – two thirds women and children – have been internally displaced since the start of the conflict in 2014 and now suffer from a lack of access to healthcare, housing and employment. These numbers will increase rapidly. Read more here.
“The human suffering and hardship that has been caused by the war is beyond comprehension. With a third of Ukraine’s population forced to flee their homes, the situation remains unpredictable. We must continue to respond to the needs of the displaced and ensure their safety until they can return home.” — Pascale Moreau, UNHCR’s Regional Director for Europe.
6. Days For Girls Charity
How you can help: Donate here.
Founded on the belief that everyone has a right to quality menstrual care, health education, and opportunity, regardless of their circumstance, Days for Girls has been working tirelessly to make this vision a reality since 2008. Days for Girls is dedicated to providing reusable and sustainable menstrual hygiene products and education to menstruators in need.
According to Bonnie Hirschberger from Broad Escapes, millions of women and girls worldwide face challenges in managing their menstruation, from a lack of access to sanitary products to social stigmatization. This inequity often keeps them from education, work, and full participation in society.
To date, Days for Girls Canada Society has distributed 134,603 sustainable kits. Worldwide our organization has impacted millions of lives, breaking down barriers and fostering the empowerment of menstruators worldwide. And we’re not finished yet!
While our kits are sewn and distributed by our generous volunteers across Canada, we rely on donations to purchase the material and sewing supplies required to create the kits. By donating to Days for Girls Canada, you will be contributing to the global movement to end period poverty and stigma. Your contribution, whether big or small, will help build a world where every woman and girl has access to quality menstrual care and the opportunity to thrive.
Learn more about Period Poverty in our webinar here.
7. NO MORE Foundation
How you can help: Make a donation here.
The NO MORE Foundation is dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault by increasing awareness, inspiring action, and fueling culture change. In our article on women’s safety, Women’s safety expert Tracey Breeden recommended that solo travellers consult NO MORE, a non-profit organization that provides a global directory of resources to report harassment in every country around the world when. wetravel. You can find it here.
The Foundation creates and provides public awareness campaigns, educational resources and community organizing tools free-of-charge for anyone wanting to stop and prevent violence. First launched in 2013, NO MORE has brought together the largest coalition of advocacy groups, service providers, governmental agencies, major corporations, universities, communities and individuals, all under a common brand and a unifying symbol in support of a world free of violence.
Learn more about NO MORE here.
8. The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund
How you can help: Donate here.
For the past two years, we’ve raised funds for this non-profit which aims to build cultural understanding and create a path toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. Gord Downie was the lead singer of the Tragically Hip, and dedicated his films and songwriting to reconciliation and awareness. Gord passed away in 2017. Born in Ogoki Post on the Marten Falls Reserve in 1954, Chanie Wenjack fell victim to Canada’s colonization of Indigenous Peoples. Learn more about Chanie’s story and this non-profit organization here.
Learn more on our Indigenous Tourism Resource page here. Find an Indigenous Tourism experience in our Women’s Travel Directory here.
9. Food Banks
Food banks across North America will enter this holiday season with their resources strained as a result of rising inflation, soaring food prices and a drop in donations. We’ve supported food banks at our last three Holiday Socials to help put food on the table over the holidays and will be doing so again this year.
According to USA Today, some food banks report they are busier than they were during the worst of the economic shutdown during the pandemic in 2020, reporting increased demand for services as food prices increase.
Feeding America
How you can help: Volunteer or donate here.
Food Banks of Canada
How you can help: Volunteer or donate here
10. Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ACTF)
How you can help: Make a donation to fund local projects engaged in the conservation of unique natural and cultural resources of adventure travel destinations here.
As a media member of the ATCF, JourneyWoman supports the mission of the ACTF to protect threatened communities, cultures, and wild places to preserve their cultural and recreational integrity.
For last year’s Sustainable Travel webinar with Anna Pollock, Norie Quintos and Shannon Guihan, we donated proceeds to the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund (ACTF). Members include adventure travel and outdoor industry leaders who have come together and step forward to advocate and support projects that allow sustainable adventure tourism to grow into the future. Learn more about this non-profit organization here.
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Carolyn Ray
In March 2023, she was named one of the most influential women in travel by TravelPulse, has been featured in the New York Times, Toronto Star and Conde Naste as a solo travel expert, and speaks at women's travel conferences around the world. She leads JourneyWoman's team of writers and chairs the JourneyWoman Women's Advisory Council, JourneyWoman Awards for Women 50+ and the Women's Speaker's Bureau. She is the chair of the Canadian chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), board member for the Cultural Heritage Economic Alliance (CHEA) in support of Black and Brown businesses, a member of Women's Travel Leaders and a Herald for the Transformational Travel Council (TTC). Sometimes she sleeps. A bit.
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