These 7 Charities Make It Easy for You To Help Disadvantaged Children

According to the World Hunger Education Service, nearly 800 million people experienced persistent hunger in 2014 and 2015. That’s just over 10 percent of the global population—down significantly from the early 1990s, when nearly 20 percent of the world went hungry, but still far too many.

Tragically, hundreds of millions of the affected are children, many of whom are orphans. The scale of the problem can seem insurmountable, and the worst part is that it’s not nearly the only issue affecting children’s well-being around the globe. Poor or nonexistent educational resources, entrenched poverty, civil unrest, domestic violence and many other ills afflict kids everywhere—including right in our own backyard, in the American communities we call home.

Governments and private charities are fighting back. These seven organizations find themselves on the forefront.

Many of the entries on this list come from an excellent Parents Magazine roundup of great children’s charities operating in the U.S. and around the world, but there are plenty of others doing amazing work in every corner of the globe. And they’re just waiting for you to offer your support.

1. Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

The Canadian International Development Agency, or CIDA, isn’t a nonprofit charity. It’s backed by the full resources of the Canadian government. CIDA is therefore able to exercise tremendous influence around the world.

CIDA is particularly active in Kenya, where it’s worked for years to “secure a future for children and youth by improving primary education and strengthen democratic governance by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector.” CIDA’s work benefits orphans and young parents in a country still reeling from the AIDS epidemic.

Many Americans work alongside CIDA and its partners on the ground in Kenya. Nashville-based executive William Michael Keever, a practicing Christian and dedicated philanthropist, believes CIDA’s work can make a lasting, positive impact on Kenya’s economic and social fabric.

“Kenya is in a better place than many other African nations,” says Keever, “but that doesn’t mean it’s free of serious social ills. Every show of support and contribution of resources, no matter how trivial, can make a difference.”

2. Share Our Strength

Share Our Strength fights hunger close to home, in American inner cities and rural hamlets where families can’t put enough food on the table. The organization partners with local food banks and community support organizations to feed vulnerable children. A separate education arm provides free classes and seminars on nutrition and cooking, while a government services portal helps families enroll in public nutrition assistance programs like SNAP.

3. Youth Law Center

Youth Law Center advocates for vulnerable children affected by abuse or neglect at shelters—places they’re supposed to feel safe and welcomed, no questions asked. YLC uses the power of the law to compel regulators and private watchdogs to act against sketchy shelters.

4. Reach Out and Read

Affluent children take books for granted, but disadvantaged children don’t have that luxury. Reach Out and Read empowers primary care physicians to “prescribe” books for young children reading at or below grade level—giving busy or disinterested parents a leg up and keeping vulnerable kids from falling behind before they’ve even had a chance to shine.

5. Project Linus

If the Peanuts series taught us one thing, it’s that every child deserves a blanket. Enter Project Linus, a scrappy charity that’s given hundreds of thousands of homemade blankets to needy kids since its inception in the mid-1990s.

6. Doctors of the World

Doctors of the World serves children and mothers in conflict-ravaged areas. The organization’s courageous volunteers and support staff brave downright dangerous situations to deliver critical care to the most vulnerable members of society, often in states with little to no functioning government. Doctors of the World is especially active in the former Yugoslavia, where the aftereffects of post-Soviet civil war resonate.

7. YMCA

The YMCA isn’t your typical mom-and-pop charity. The organization, really more of a loosely affiliated network whose member facilities share a common vision for positive social change, has supported vulnerable children in historically underserved neighborhoods for decades.

Though the “Y” has grown far beyond its philanthropic beginnings and is now as much an upscale gym as a community resource center, it hasn’t forgotten its roots. Every week, tens of thousands of children benefit directly from the Y’s athletic, after-school and day care programming. Its sister organization, the YWCA, provides direct support for girls and young women, including single mothers who lack the resources to provide adequately for their kids.

These certainly aren’t the only organizations doing great work for kids around the world. What’s your favorite charity for disadvantaged children?