Spotlight on National Hospice Foundation

“The National Hospice Foundation envisions a world where everyone facing serious illness, death, and grief will experience the best that humankind can offer.” For 17 years, NHF has been offering support to those facing serious illness and death.

The National Hospice Foundation seeks to increase the quality of hospice care as well as educate Americans on the benefits of hospice. NHF has helped many people come to realize that hospice is not a scary thing.

Tammy Frye learned about hospice when her grandmother needed the kind of care that hospice provides. Tammy wrote, “This is now what hospice means to me:

Having
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“My life has been changed by this experience,” Tammy said, “and I am going to look for ways to volunteer time to help those other special people feel love before they go.” The NHF helped Tammy gain this understanding and gave her grandmother the comfort that she needed and deserved.

Hospice is defined as, “Care to people in the final phase of a terminal illness and focus on comfort and quality of life, rather than cure. The goal of hospice care is to enable patients to be comfortable and free of pain, so that they live each day as fully as possible.” The importance of hospice is well stated by Kraemer Sims Becker when she explains why she made a donation to NHF. Kraemer says, “The hospice component was very important because the end point is so much larger than anyone can deal with by themselves. Hospice provides comfort and support to families during a critical, emotional time.”

The National Hospice Foundation has made a significant difference in the world of hospice. I think Tammy Frye says it best when she states, “Thank you so much for this wonderful organization (NHF) - I will never, ever be scared of the word hospice again.”

TisBest is very excited to be supporting this great cause through its charity gift card program.

- Breanna Edwards

The HSUS Fights Dogfighting

Dogfighting has received a great deal of attention since the arrest and conviction of National Football League player Michael Vick. High profile cases such as Vick’s bring more attention to problems that have existed, but often go unnoticed by many. The Humane Society of the United States ( The HSUS) is one of the organizations taking a prominent position in eliminating dog fighting in the U.S. One pledge Mr. Vick must fulfill in order to continue his transition back to the NFL is to work with The HSUS on community-based programs to reach at-risk youth about steering clear of dogfighting. You can read more about the work being done by The HSUS on their Animal Cruelty & Fighting website. We agree with Benjamin Franklin that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and we applaud the efforts of The HSUS.
Jon Siegel, Executive Director

Young Women's Leadership Network

Today we begin a series of posts that celebrate the work of the TisBest 250 Charities, as chosen by our staff.



Young Women's Leadership Network



The YWL Network is at the forefront of the nation’s school reform movement and is one of the most important forces in creating choice for students in urban public school systems.

We partner with school districts, parents and community leaders to create single-gender public schools and college access programs across the country. We are in the business of raising expectations, improving student performance, and inspiring leadership.

Since 1996, we have been opening girls’ public schools that offer single-gender college prep education to inner city students. Our first school, which made history and headlines, is the highly renowned and successful Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem in New York City. All of our schools are available to ordinary students who have a desire to achieve.

YWL Network believes that every student deserves the opportunity to build a strong foundation for his or her future. Our vision is to create first rate schools and programs that enable students to reach their fullest potential.

We are the creators of a network of all-girls' public schools and CollegeBound Initiative – a school-based college counseling service. The primary role of YWL Network is to build partnerships and support programs that enhance the educational experience of students.

More on Young Women's Leadership Network

TisBest Philanthropy is a 501c3 charity. Our purpose is to create and promote gifts of charity rather than gifts of "stuff." We operate www.TisBest.org, from which TisBest Charity Gift Cards may be purchased. Our Charity Gift Cards are fully customizable and elegant gifts that come from the heart, not the store.

JUMPING CRACKER BEANS TEAMS WITH TISBEST

TO INTRODUCE NEW GREETING CARDS THAT BENEFIT CHARITIES

San Jose, California, July 28, 2009 – At a time when charitable giving levels have dipped precipitously along with the economy, international Card of the Year winner Jumping Cracker Beans, LLC is teaming with TisBest Philanthropy to make it easy to give a one dollar donation whenever you send a holiday, birthday, thank you or all occasion greeting card. Each greeting card in this new 12-design collection comes printed on textured, core-dyed card stock with an elegant iridescent envelope, and features a one dollar TisBest charity gift card. Card recipients simply go to the TisBest website, www.TisBest.org, and select one of more than 250 charitable organizations to receive their one dollar donation.

Charitable organizations on the TisBest website include such mainstays of charitable giving as the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanities, UNICEF, Sierra Club, Doctors Without Borders, PBS, and the American Heart Association, as well as numerous other well-known and less well-known organizations working to make a better world.

Many charities can put a single dollar to good use for generic medicines, nails for shelters, food and other basic needs. At the American Humane Association, for example, a single dollar donation can feed a starving, abandoned pet for a day, provide a daily dose of antibiotics to an abused, suffering animal, or supply bandages for a pet hurt in a natural disaster.

Cumulatively, such single dollar donations can add up to create significant support for charitable organizations. One of the new Jumping Cracker Beans charity donation greeting cards features a charity gift card with the image of a drop of water magnifying the tiny veins of a leaf. As the card’s message says: “a single drop …amazing…and with enough you can fill an ocean.”

Jumping Cracker Beans greeting cards are handmade in the U.S. by Goodwill, and all, including these new charity donation greeting cards, retail for $4.95. See them online at www.jumpingcrackerbeans.com, or request a printed wholesale catalog at info@jumpingcrackerbeans.com; or by phone: 408.416.1676; or toll free fax: 866-723-9092.

Thoughts on Memorial Day

When I was a kid growing up in the 60s in a tiny town in the Midwest, Memorial Day (we called it Decoration Day then) was a very big deal. Schools were out, of course, and practically the whole town turned out for the parade and speeches in the city park, and the inevitable reading of “In Flanders Fields.” Stores were closed. It wasn’t a day for sales and sidewalk spectaculars. You couldn’t even buy a carton of milk. Nobody thought of it as a vacation day.

It was common to see tears on many cheeks. Several had lost husbands or brothers or cousins in World War II or Korea. Some of the older ones had experienced the losses of World War I. My mother had a difficult time: my oldest brother was in Viet Nam during one of those Decoration Days. My dad, a decorated World War II Marine veteran, had much to remember. He’d seen the horrors of battle up close and been fortunate enough to survive his injuries.

Today, fewer of us Americans are personally touched by war. At no time in our nation’s history has a smaller percentage of Americans lost their lives in armed conflict. I think that’s why many of us don’t give Memorial Day the attention it used to get. Please understand: I’m not implying that war and its results today are less tragic or horrific than they used to be. I’m merely making a statistical observation. Most of us don’t know anybody personally who has died in combat.

That was hardly the case in the beginning. When Decoration Day was first observed just a few years after the conclusion of the Civil War, nearly everybody had lost either a family member or a close friend in the war. In that four year war, 620,000 soldiers were killed, and in a nation of only 31.4 million people. Not wounded or made homeless. Killed. There was indeed much to memorialize, and much to heal.

The vast majority of us today don’t have the same kind of memories as did the families who experienced the Civil War, the World Wars, or even the Vietnam War. But that doesn’t mean we should forget about the needs of the people who serve our country now or who served in the past.

Perhaps we can observe Memorial Day somewhat differently today. I encourage you to check out two of the charitable organizations supported by TisBest Philanthropy. The Paralyzed Veterans of America (www.SupportVeterans.org) provides Veterans suffering spinal cord injuries with advocacy, legal services, healthcare access and recreational activities. Soldiers’ Angels (www.SoldiersAngels.org) provides care packages, outreach and other comfort to active soldiers and military families. Perhaps we can remember and honor our nation’s fallen soldiers by helping today’ soldiers and veterans.

I trust that you’ll have a memorable weekend; and I hope you’ll take the time to reflect on the sacrifices made by so many in the service of this remarkable country.

Jon Siegel, Executive Director
TisBest Philanthropy

Pluck: a wheelchair in the slush

This past week has brought a lot of snow and cold weather to Seattle. The main downtown streets are empty of the usual cars and pedestrians. But our TisBest office is on the edge of downtown and near some of the shelters and so it is a different scene entirely. As I drove home on Friday through the dark slushy streets of Pioneer Square I had to slow down for a while because the traffic lane was occupied by a man in a wheelchair, doing his best to move along with the use of two arms and one leg. As I crept along behind I realized what was going on - the sidewalks were covered in ice and although the street had 5" of dirty slush, the street was better than the ice for a wheelchair. I don't know where this man came from or where he was going, but he was getting along, taking care of himself and doing what was necessary under adverse conditions. Last night I finished reading The Sea Wolf by Jack London - a story about Humphrey Van Weyden, a physically unfit intellectual coming to terms with the demanding physical conditions of the arctic ocean and then extricating himself from it. This morning I read in the news about Yann Elies, a singlehanded sailor who is in the Southern Ocean right now with a broken femur, waiting for rescue which is 5 days away and struggling to move 6' across his boat so as to access his store of morphine. And as I walked around in the business district last week I saw that people were staying home because it was cold and there was snow on the ground. I applaud the man in the wheelchair, Humphry and Yann. And I applaud everyone else who is out there making a go of it in the world, not looking for a bailout and offering a hand to others where they can. The word for this is 'pluck.' Pluck: the trait of showing courage and determination in spite of possible loss or injury. America and Americans used to have a lot of pluck. If America is going to be great again, each of us and all of us need to find our pluck. Charity is a very good thing, but the beneficiaries of charity must also, truly and honestly and with integrity, try help themselves with all of the pluck they can gather.

How do you choose TisBest charities?

I am frequently asked "How do you choose TisBest charities?" There is never an easy answer to this question, but I wanted to share a recent email exchange that provides some interesting insight to that question as well as fodder for thought:

To: TisBest
From: "John Smith"

Hello! I have just become aware of TisBest Philanthropy and think it's fantastic! However, I'm disappointed that you include the Boy Scouts of America on your charity list. As you undoubtedly know, the Boy Scouts of America blatantly and outrightly discriminates against gays. For that reason, I would respectfully request that you reconsider including them on your list. To be honest, I'm not sure I'll use your organization until I know that this discriminatory and hateful group is not on your list. I had planned on using the giftcard idea for my holiday and birthday shopping on a forward-going basis. I appreciate your attention to my email.

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To: John Smith
From: TisBest

Hi John, Thank you for taking the time to write.

I will tell you an interesting story. We added 21 new charities to our list this fall and one of them was GLAAD, which provides a variety of support to the gay and lesbian communities, as you may know.

In response to our notice about adding the 21 new charities, I received an email from a woman who was irate that we had added GLAAD – it was entirely counter to her value system and she swore she would never give a TisBest Charity Gift Card again. I explained to her my theory on our list of charities. My goal is to be inclusive and to include a charity for most major interest groups so that everyone who receives a gift card will find something on the list for them. It was pointed out to us that we did not have a charity focusing on issues related to the gay and lesbian community and so we added GLAAD. My explanation was adequate for her and she decided that she would in fact continue to send our cards as gifts! I was pleased.

Now, you write from precisely the opposite perspective. I say to you what I said to her - we do not judge the substance of the charities on our list. We just try to be inclusive of all interest groups. And in the course of that, there are organizations on the list that anyone who is a strong thinker may disagree with. For me this is what makes America great – we have this amazing free expression of ideas and goals in a larger community.

TisBest does not stand for one or another goal of the charities on our list. We stand for the proposition that if all of America spent a little less money on material consumption, and a little more on trying to make the world a better place – whatever that means to them – then we would be a stronger nation for it.

Sincerely,
Erik Marks
Executive Director
TisBest Philanthropy

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To: TisBest
From: John Smith

Interesting perspective, Erik, and thank you for your prompt and thoughtful response. However, there is a big difference in the GLAAD woman's complaint and mine. Her complaint was based on GLAAD's mission running counter to her belief system: she simply doesn't believe gays and lesbians should not be portrayed positively in the media (I am a big supporter of GLAAD). My complaint is not necessarily based on the fact that BSA's mission is counter to my "value system." In fact, I was in the Boy Scouts for many years. My criticism is based on the fact that BSA blatantly discriminates against gay people, which in many states, including in Washington, is just illegal. If your goal is to simply be inclusive and find something for everyone, why wouldn't you include the KKK on your list?

Your mission is admirable and important. Yes, philanthropy is intended to better the world, but some philanthropies try to do so in the wrong way. Philanthropies that carry on their mission in discriminatory ways, such as BSA, are, in my opinion, not worth supporting. I'm not asking you to choose between me and the GLAAD woman, but perhaps you might consider reevaluating your criteria for including groups on your charity list to only include charities that do not discriminate in any manner whatsoever.

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To: John Smith
From: TisBest

John, Your point is a good one. I agree with you that the two perspectives are fundamentally different. With GLAAD it is a focus on the mission of the organization. With BSA you are looking at how the organization operates, and not its mission.

I fear that engaging in an analysis of either mission, or operation, would be a slippery slope for us. Another organization we have been criticized for is PETA. The purebred dog owners associations got wind that we had PETA on our list and inundated us with email criticizing us for it. They did not have a specific complaint about PETA but a wide array of complaints, with the underlying motive presumably being that PETA was opposed to all breeding operations. But in the course of their email they criticized PETA for engaging in euthanasia, for releasing zoo animals, for terrorizing research laboratories, etc. Those activities are allegedly part of PETA’s operations. Probably some or all of those activities are illegal.

America has a long tradition of free speech through activities that are at times illegal. The Boston Tea Party was illegal. Freeing slaves was illegal. The civil rights rallies were illegal. TisBest is neither capable of, nor entitled to, stand in judgment of whether or not nonprofit organization acts illegally, and if so, whether not that illegal activity is justified by the intended goals. We choose organizations that operate with internal integrity towards the beliefs of their members. We do not judge the moral quality or legal compliance of the organization’s mission or operations in advancement of that mission.

So why not the KKK? A fair question. The easy answer is that they are not a 501c3. But that is too easy. What if they were? We would not put them on the list of TisBest Charities because their substantive mission, as well as their operations, are supported by a tiny minority, and are criticized by a vast majority. In short, their mission is not supported by a critical mass of supporters, when looking at the country as a whole.

I hope you see that my focus in this regard is towards inclusion – precisely the goal you espouse. Our goal is that the voices and opinions of all of America’s diversity may be represented on our list of Charities.