December 01, 2011
Every year I select a charity to share in my good fortune during the month of December and when most people shop for gifts. This year I've selected ACF International. ACF International is an international humanitarian organization committed to ending world hunger. For the month of December I will be donating 20% of the jewelry proceeds I sell in both my ArtFire (shop is closed) and Etsy shops to ACF International.
I decided to focus on hunger this year, because it reached out and grabbed me while I was editing photos for a previous blog post. There has never been a time in my life that I've not had enough to eat. My father remembered going hungry in his youth and so it was something he made sure we never faced. After I left home I always had money for food and shelter. I am very grateful that I have never wondered how I was going to pay for groceries or find something nutritious to eat. Seeing the photos and reading the stories of those who are experiencing hunger breaks my heart.I selected ACF International, because it is secular and focused on long term solutions.
In their words:
Our comprehensive solutions to global hunger are context-specific, needs-based, and customized through direct community participation. While the programs we run may vary from one country to the next, they all share this defining set of characteristics:
- Comprehensive Approach: ACF integrates activities in emergency nutrition, longer-term food security, and water, sanitation & hygiene. To tackle the underlying causes of hunger, we address a range of social, organizational, technical, and resource concerns essential to a community’s well-being.
- Lasting Solutions: ACF works to ensure that our programs can be sustained without us. By integrating our programs with local and national systems, we transform effective, short-term interventions into sustainable, long-term solutions.
- Community-Centered: A community-centered approach is central to building local capacity to manage and maintain our programs. Through training, technical workshops, and mentoring, Action Against Hunger builds local capacity and cultivates community know-how.
- Independent & Impartial: As a humanitarian agency we are apolitical. But when it comes to human suffering, we are not neutral: We strive to deliver effective humanitarian assistance wherever it’s most needed.
- Full Accountability & Transparency: We directly oversee the implementation of our programs, requiring full access to the communities we assist. We are committed to a policy of transparency and disclosure by ensuring that key financial information is publicly available and that our programs undergo external impact evaluations.
- Efficient & Cost-Effective: We consistently receive top marks from rating agencies like the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator (their highest 4-star rating), the American Institute for Philanthropy (an “A” rating), the Independent Charities of America (as a “Best in America” nonprofit), and Guidestar.
I think we all hope that some day no one will go hungry except by choice.