Today's Featured Biography

 
Causes, alphabetized by category ZZZ

======SPECIAL TO OUR CLASS=======
THE GARY SHUPIN HOUSE:Following his death in 2008, the family of our classmate Gary Shupin donated the house in which he'd been able to live independently for 15+
years so that other disabled adults might have the same
quality of life of self sufficiency and dignity that Gary enjoyed. The Gary Shupin House is run by the Jewish Family and Children's Services organization; this first residential community for Jewish adults with disabilities in San Francisco was made possible by a generous gift from Gary’s uncle, Gerson Bakar, and his late mother, Barbara Bakar Shupin, who bought the building together many years ago: sites.google.com/site/garyshupinssite/home (Reid Dabney)

========HEALTH ISSUES=========
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE: The Alzheimer's Association. http://www.alz.org (Don Mulford)


CYSTIC FIBROSIS: The Joey Fund for Cystic Fibrosis Research, based in the Boston area and founded by our friends, Kathy and Joe O'Donnell, who lost their son to this disease. http://www.joeyfund.org/ (Amanda Orr H.)


EPILEPSY: "CURE (Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for epilepsy by raising funds for research and by increasing awareness of the prevalence and devastation of this disease. " (Founded by Susan &. David Axelrod in Chicago) http://www.cureepilepsy.org/home.asp (Ann McKeown G.)

JUVENILE DIABETES: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. (Leslie Bowman Marcus)
http://www.jdrf.org/

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS: My sister Elizabeth died of MS after a 16-year battle (which started right after high school). Today's research came too late for her, but there are others who are being helped right now: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/index.aspx (Ann McKeown G.)

MENTAL ILLNESS and SUICIDE PREVENTION: As much as my family's life has been saddened by all of the physical illnesses above, I think mental illness is sometimes the most devastating of all, and these two groups provide invaluable help to those who are suffering and their families. NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness; http://www.nami.org/ . "Erasing the Stigma" of suicide is the motto of the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center - http://www.didihirsch.org/ (Ann McKeown G.)


HEALTH CARE FOR THE WORKING POOR: The Valley Community Clinic has scores of doctors and other professionals who volunteer to provide "high quality, culturally sensitive primary medical care and related healthcare services to those in need, regardless of their ability to pay,"
http://www.valleycommunityclinic.org/ (Ann McKeown G.)

============OTHER==========

9/11 DISASTER ANALYSIS: .....www.ae911truth.org..... Architects and Engineers for 9/11 truth. The physical, technical causes for the collapse of the three large steel framed structures at New York's World Trade Center on 9/11/01 are scrutinized and analyzed by this group of architecture and engineering professionals. An objective, non-politicized, and thorough official investigation is called for... (Bob Nelson)

ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS: A non-profit humanitarian organization involving "the implementation of sustainable engineering projects... [using] a unique grassroots approach requires that all program proposals come directly from the communities themselves."
http://www.ewb-usa.org/ (Ann McK. Glass)

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY :http://www.habitat.org/ (Amanda Orr H.)

THE HEIFER PROJECT: http://www.heifer.org/ (AMANDA ORR H.)

PUBLIC RADIO/TV: .....www.kpfa.org "Free Speech Radio", the world's first listener supported secular radio station, in Berkeley California. (Robert Nelson)

THE CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE – www.ikat.org – an organization headed by Dr. Greg Mortenson which has built several hundred schools in the remotest areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan to teach local girls and boys a different way of life and a different way of viewing and interfacing with the rest of the world. The results are truly astounding. Dr. Greg has also written an extraordinary book detailing his efforts – “Three Cups of Tea – One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations…One School at a Time.” (Reid Dabney)

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