Socially conscious gifts

If you’re looking to donate to a nonprofit organization in the name of a loved one, whether you’re giving in solidarity with a marginalized community, or in protest of the innumerable injustices that abound, there are many ways to empower the underserved by supporting organizations that work directly with them.

RAICES: Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services
RAICES “promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees in Texas.”
https://www.raicestexas.org; info@raicestexas.org

Grassroots Leadership
The nonprofit organization works for a more just society where prison profiteering, mass incarceration, deportation and criminalization are things of the past.
https://grassrootsleadership.org; (512) 499-8111

American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
“The ACLU of Northern California is an enduring guardian of justice, fairness, equality, and freedom, working to protect and advance civil liberties for all Californians.”
aclunc.org; (415) 621-2493; TTY: (415) 863-7832; Fresno office: 559) 554-2994; Legal assistance: (559) 374-2766

Equal Justice Initiative
The organization works to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment, challenge violent and inhumane prison conditions and confront the history of racial inequality and injustice in America. It created a memorial dedicated to “legacy of enslaved black people, people terrorized by lynching, African Americans humiliated by racial segregation and Jim Crow, and people of color burdened with contemporary presumptions of guilt and police violence.”
www.eji.org; (334) 269-1803; 122 Commerce St., Montgomery, AL 36104

Southern Poverty Law Center
The organization is committed to “fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society.” It also has a “Teaching Tolerance” program for schools.
www.splcenter.org, 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36104

Heifer International
The organization gives farm animals to needy people worldwide, from chickens, rabbits, goats and cows, as well as bees and now trees.
www.heifer.org/marketplace/index.html; (855) 848-6437

— contributed by Satsuki Ina and Chizu Omori