2ND PLACE 1ST PLACE3RD PLACE
THE ART OF ELYSIUM
2.0% of votes
SPCA LA
8.6% of votes
CHILDREN MENDING HEARTS
7.5% of votes
DOWNTOWN'S WOMEN CENTER
1.3% of votes
THE GENTLE BARN
GREEN DOT PUBLIC SCHOOLS
1.0% of votes
HEAL THE BAY
9.0% of votes
HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES
9.9% of votes
JONSSON CANCER FOUNDATION
1.8% of votes
LAST CHANCE FOR ANIMALS
2.4% of votes
UCLA UNICAMP
52.1% of votes
UNION RESCUE MISSION
3.1% of votes
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THE ART OF ELYSIUMThe Art of Elysium is a Los Angeles based non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization, founded in 1997, that encourages artists to dedicate their time and talent to under-served, at risk, and hospitalized children whose lives are constantly disrupted by hardship or chronic and often terminal illness. Every week we bring hands on workshops, led by local artists, free of charge to these children.
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SPCA LAspcaLA, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles, is dedicated to the prevention of cruelty to animals through Education, Law Enforcement and Intervention. spcaLA is an independent animal welfare organization serving Southern California since 1877. Programs and services include cruelty investigation, Disaster Animal Response Team (DART), humane education and a variety of shelter services. spcaLA believes that animals, as living creatures, have value beyond economic measurement, and are entitled to legal, moral and ethical consideration and protection.
CHILDREN MENDING HEARTSChildren Mending Hearts is dedicated to empowering disadvantaged youth through educational and arts programs that build empathy and global citizenry. Our goal is to directly engage the youth of America in global children's causes where they can positively impact the life of another child and ultimately realize their potential to effect change both in their own community and around the world.
DOWNTOWN'S WOMEN CENTERFounded in 1978, the Downtown Women's Center (DWC) is a nationally recognized organization that provides more than 50,000 meals, 71 permanent supportive housing units, and a wide array of health, education, and other supportive services to more than 2,500 homeless and very low-income women each year. The Center's mission is to provide permanent supportive housing and a safe and healthy community fostering dignity, respect, and personal stability, and to advocate ending homelessness for women. In the local Skid Row community, the Downtown Women's Center is the only resource that is exclusively for and singularly dedicated to serving the unique needs of this population.
THE GENTLE BARNThe Gentle Barn Foundation was established after a life-long dream of helping children and animals together. The goal is to teach people kindness and compassion towards animals, people and our planet. With the hands on experience that children get at The Gentle Barn, they learn that animals have feelings and need love just like people do, teaching people to be kind and compassionate to each other. We also want special needs children to have the chance to meet our special, therapeutic farm animals.
GREEN DOT PUBLIC SCHOOLSFounded in 1999, Green Dot Public Schools is the leading public schools operator in Los Angeles and an important catalyst for education reform, locally and nationally. Its mission is to transform public education in Los Angeles so that all young adults receive the education they deserve to be prepared for college, leadership, and life. Green Dot's work is directly focused on influencing Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to transform its failing high schools and helping the district reinvent itself as one of the best school districts in the country. Green Dot has already opened twelve successful charter high schools in some of the highest need areas of Los Angeles.
HEAL THE BAYSince 1985, Heal the Bay has been dedicated to making Southern California coastal waters and watersheds, including Santa Monica Bay, safe, healthy and clean. We use research, education, community action and advocacy to pursue our mission. Since our inception, Heal the Bay has made substantial progress in protecting California's aquatic habitats. Heal the Bay continues to strive to make California coastal waters safe and healthy for people and marine life by continually improving its educational programs, advocating for protective legislative measures and encouraging people to take an active role in environmental protection. Our programs include the Beach Report Card, Los Angeles County Coastal Cleanup Day, operating the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, and various educational programs.
HOMEBOY INDUSTRIESHomeboy Industries assists at-risk and formerly gang-involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement, training and education. Homeboy Industries traces its roots to Jobs For A Future, a program created in 1988 by Father Gregory Boyle while he was serving as pastor of Dolores Mission parish in Boyle Heights. Begun as a jobs program in 1988, offering alternatives to gang violence in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the city, the program soon grew beyond the parish. In 2001, Homeboy Industries became an independent nonprofit. Homeboy has had an important impact on the Los Angeles gang problem, with young people from over half of the region's 1,100 known gangs seeking a way out through Homeboy.
JONSSON CANCER FOUNDATIONThe Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation (JCCF) is a public benefit corporation that exists for the express purpose of raising and distributing funds to support leading-edge cancer research at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC). The JCCF was founded in 1945 by a group of volunteers dedicated to cancer research at UCLA. Their idea, using funds raised from private sources to invest in the work of promising young cancer researchers, resulted in the Seed Grant Program, which has helped the JCCC break new ground in the quest to defeat cancer. Although seed grants remain an important part of JCCF's mission, the Foundation today also supports numerous high-priority, multi-disciplinary cancer research efforts focused on rapidly translating discoveries made in the laboratory into improved screening, treatment and prevention.
LAST CHANCE FOR ANIMALSLast Chance for Animals (LCA) recognizes that animals have the ability to experience pain, and as such they deserve certain basic rights protecting them from pain caused by humans. LCA believes that non-human animals should not be subjected to suffering and exploitation by humans because alternatives exist for nearly every traditional "usage" of animals. LCA opposes the use of animals for scientific curiosity, entertainment, clothing, and food. LCA recognizes the use of non-human animals in medical experimentation as both immoral and of questionable scientific validity due to the tremendous biological difference between species. LCA's work advocates conscious and informed lifestyle decisions, and the organization is committed to disseminating truthful information about societal animal abuse to improve the treatment of animals.
UCLA UNICAMPUCLA UniCamp is the official student charity of the University of California, Los Angeles. UniCamp operates as an independently funded, secular, non-profit organization linking today's University students with the Los Angeles community. Each year, UniCamp inspires approximately 1,000 children from low-income families to envision brighter futures by sending them, along with 350 Student Volunteers, to its residential outdoor summer camp. UCLA UniCamp establishes a continuum of care - a structure in which children in need are given the opportunity to become a productive member of the community.
UNION RESCUE MISSIONUnion Rescue Mission (URM) is dedicated to serving people experiencing homelessness. Established in 1891, URM is one of the largest rescue missions of its kind in the United States and the oldest in Los Angeles. We provide a comprehensive array of emergency and long-term services to our guests, including: food, shelter, clothing, medical and dental care, recovery programs, transitional housing, legal assistance, education, counseling, and job training to men, women, children, and families. We embrace people experiencing homelessness with the compassion of Christ, giving hope and healing for a changed life, helping them to find their way home.
