Giving Back to Albuquerque on Giving Tuesday

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In 2012, an initiative began that started a worldwide movement . . . Giving Tuesday! The organizers of #GivingTuesday decided to harness the power of social media and the desire most of us have to do good. Hey, look at that! Something good can come from social media!

Giving Tuesday AlbuquerqueGiving Tuesday is the Tuesday that follows Thanksgiving and the shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It only seems right that a few days after we focus on gratefulness, we choose to give back to others who are less fortunate than we are.

We don’t have to look very far to see the brokenness in our city. But there are many amazing organizations that are doing great things to meet needs, fill in the gaps, perpetuate justice, and work upstream to change the system. But anyone who works in the non-profit world will tell you that finances are often the thing that keeps organizations from doing all the good they want to do. Let’s use Giving Tuesday to help these organizations!

I polled the ABQ Mom team to find out some of their favorite non-profit organizations. If you’re looking for some great #GivingTuesday options, you can’t go wrong with the ideas below.


All Faiths Children’s Advocacy Center

All Faiths Children’s Advocacy Center is the trusted advocate for children and families affected by trauma. They focus on the prevention, intervention, investigation, and treatment of childhood trauma.


The Barrett Foundation

The Barrett Foundation provides shelter for women and children experiencing homelessness and housing programs for individuals and families.


Burqueños for Education and Empowerment

Burqueños for Education and Empowerment, also known as BEE or BEE Scholarships, is a 501(c)3 non-profit whose goal is to provide college scholarships to students of New Mexico to increase access to higher education.


Carrie Tingly Hospital Foundation

The Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation strives to assist families with their medical and daily living needs and offers long-term assistance, education, and programs through funding for research scholarships and quality of life programs. They believe that children with special needs should have the same opportunities as children who are typically developing.


Catholic Charities

Catholic Charities services are encompassed in their six centers of excellence: Children’s Learning Center, Center for Educational Opportunity, Center for Self-Sufficiency and Housing Assistance, Center for Immigration and Citizenship Legal Assistance, Center for Refugee Support, and Center for Community Involvement. They provide services to those in need regardless of faith.


Cuidando Los Niños

The mission of Cuidando Los Niños is to break the cycle of homelessness for children and families. They do this by providing high-quality early childhood education, therapeutic services, supportive housing, and parent education.


Domestic Violence Resource Center

Domestic Violence Resource Center is a trauma-informed agency whose main focus is to help victims of domestic violence break the cycle of abuse in their lives. Each department (advocacy, case management, and counseling) provides resources, help, guidance, and support to help victims get safe, become independent, and heal. 


Dress for Success Albuquerque

The mission of Dress for Success is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire, and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.


Feed New Mexico Kids

New Mexico Ranks first in childhood hunger (25% of children in NM live in food insecure homes). Feed New Mexico Kids aims to get weekend food to any child in NM who has need whether or not they have a home, a responsible adult in their lives, or are simply in a season where the family has fallen on hard times. Together, as a statewide community, we can feed our smallest and most vulnerable members of society.


Heading Home

Heading Home programs have collectively transitioned more than 3,000 individuals into housing since 2011. Their programs include transitioning homeless individuals and families to housing, serving homeless veterans, providing emergency shelter, and keeping homeless families together.


Locker #505

Locker #505’s goal is to provide appropriate school clothing to K-12 Bernalillo County students in need. Locker #505 is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that has established a student-focused facility where children can try on and choose outfits that they feel good about wearing.


Lutheran Family Services

The Lutheran Family Services Refugee & Asylee Programs have helped people who have been uprooted by persecution and violence work towards self-sufficiency through essential resettlement services, including housing, employment, English language, and cultural orientation.


Mandy’s Farm

Mandy’s Farm is a nonprofit organization that assists individuals with Developmental Disabilities to achieve goals by structuring a positive, purposeful, and caring environment for living, learning, and working in the community.


New Mexico Dream Center

New Mexico Dream Center provides free compassionate services to the underserved and marginalized people of Albuquerque. This population includes youth experiencing homelessness, survivors of sex trafficking, trafficked minor children, and trafficked immigrants.


Origins Pregnancy Care Center

Origins Pregnancy Care Center is a faith-based organization that provides support to expecting mothers, including diapers, maternity clothing, baby clothing, baby food, educational classes, blankets, and more.


PB&J Family Services

PB&J Family Service’s mission is to help at-risk children to grow and develop to their full potential in nurturing families within a supportive community.


Rio Grande Community Farm

Rio Grande Community Farm‘s mission is to “connect people, earth, water and wildlife in an urban setting by farming sustainably, enhancing wildlife habitat, educating our community, and providing fresh, naturally grown food to diverse populations.” This organization operates a community farm, distributes organic produce to various groups in Albuquerque, and hosts training and education opportunities in the area of sustainable farming.

Roadrunner Food Bank

Roadrunner Food Bank‘s mission is to end hunger by providing food to hungry and needy people. They help 70,000 hungry people in our state weekly.


Ronald McDonald House of NM

One of our contributors recently experienced the benefits of the Ronald McDonald House of NM when her son was in the NICU. Here’s what she says: “The only reason I was able to stay [with my newborn in the NICU] at the hospital was because of the Ronald McDonald House area at Presbyterian that had sleeping rooms and a lounge with a little kitchen and couches. We are so grateful that they were there.” 


Shine Partnership

Shine Partnership facilitates long-term committed relationships between a church and a school with the goal of meeting the needs of students, families, and teachers. Shine seeks to bring together the mission and needs of the school with the resources of the church for the common good. Shine has a formal MOU with APS and is not a proselytizing organization.


Steelbridge

Steelbridge provides compassionate care to Albuquerque’s homeless population through numerous programs including crisis care, residential recovery programs, transitional and long-term housing, and practical needs (food, clothing, etc.).


St. Felix Food Pantry

St. Felix Food Pantry has been providing free food, education, and referral services for nearly 30 years in our community. They are located in Sandoval County and serve over 1,000 people per week.


Street Safe New Mexico

In 2009, the bodies of 11 women were found buried on the West Mesa of Albuquerque, NM. The women had all been living on the street and had disappeared almost six years earlier, yet no one in the public even knew they were missing. Christine Barber and Cindy Jaramillo met soon after and got to talking about why the women had been so ignored. Cindy shared her story about life on the street and her kidnapping by David Parker Ray, the Toy Box serial killer, then said, “All I want is for there to be a group that pays attention to the women on the street.” So they started Street Safe.


Vitalant New Mexico

Many areas are experiencing critical blood shortages at this time. Blood donation through Vitalant is easy, free, and life-saving.


Watermelon Mountain Ranch

Watermelon Mountain Ranch is one of the premier not-for-profit facilities in the Southwest. The 10-acre facility has become New Mexico’s largest no-kill animal shelter.


We’d love to hear all about your favorite non-profits to support on Giving Tuesday! Tell us all about them in the comments.

The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ABQ Mom, its executive team, other contributors to the site, its sponsors or partners, or any organizations the aforementioned might be affiliated with.