Charities of the Month(s) - March and April 2019

Charity of the Month is a way Team Tizzel is helping to support some very worthy organizations. As part of this program, we will dedicate a post to a charity that we will sponsor through the month by donating Holly's training run money.

In January and February we supported Hawaii Wildlife Fund and Pacific Historic Parks by donating cash online.   We picked these charities based on some of our experiences in Hawaii.

March and April Charities

Lower 9th Ward Market

Homes for our Troops

Lower 9th Ward Market: This pick is a little unconventional for us.  Usually we pick 501(C)(3) charities for our features.  This time we found inspiration from a podcast.  We may be latecomers to the Burnell Colton story of how he opened a grocery store to help his neighbors in New Orlean’s Lower 9th Ward living in a post-Katrina food desert.   Burnell goes to Wal-Mart to buy groceries to sell in his store so his neighbors can get food without traveling a great distance.   Many other sources have picked up his story, including The Ellen Degeneris Show.  We learned about Burnell on Phil Keoghan’s Buck-it podcast.  Dave listened on his way home from work and said he really wanted to send some money to help him and his community.  Below is the link to the video podcast episode.  You can search for more documentaries about Burnell on YouTube.

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Homes for our Troops:  Following the theme of rebuilding we decided to look for another charity that helps to rebuild lives.  Homes for the Troops seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  From their website:

Homes for our Troops (HFOT) is a  nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post – 9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives. Most of these Veterans have sustained injuries including multiple limb amputations, partial or full paralysis, and/or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). These homes restore some of the freedom and independence our Veterans sacrificed while defending our country, and enable them to focus on their family, recovery, and rebuilding their lives. Since its inception in 2004, nearly 90 cents out of every dollar spent has gone directly to our program services for Veterans. HFOT builds these homes where the Veteran chooses to live, and continues its relationship with the Veterans after home delivery to assist them with rebuilding their lives.

Our tag line is “Building Homes, Rebuilding Lives”. Rebuilding Lives is the most important aspect of our mission, therefore, we stay with our Veterans after home delivery. Homes For Our Troops provides a pro-bono financial planner for three years to assist in financial planning and household budgeting, in addition to homeownership education and warranty coverage to ensure that the Veteran is set up for long-term success as a homeowner. 

Please check out these charities to learn more.