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Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund Supports Child Life Ruth Lyons, best known for her work as a local WLWT-TV5 talk show personality and host of the 50-50 Club, was the driving force behind a fund that has been supporting Cincinnati Children’s for nearly 75 years. The Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund helps to brighten the stays of children in the hospital by supporting the Division of Child Life. Ruth Lyons visits a Cincinnati Children's patient in an iron lung in the late 1930s. Funds from the Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund are used to purchase toys and other materials for playrooms throughout the medical center. Because of the many generous donations of Ruth Lyons and her supporters, more than $20 million has been given to benefit hospitalized children throughout the Tristate. Generous contributions from The Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund, and other supporters, have helped our Division of Child Life become the world’s largest and most comprehensive program of its kind. The 80-year-old program focuses on preparing children and their families for hospitalization and procedures by providing age-appropriate information and therapeutic support through play and role playing. “Ruth Lyons cared very deeply for the health and well-being of children. Her generosity is so inspiring. In the 75 years collections have been taken in her honor, so many kids have been given birthday gifts, hospital welcome gifts, toys, games and crafts,” says Sharon McLeod, senior clinical director of Child Life and Integrated care. The gifts from the Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund help kids find some joy while they are in the hospital, from crafts to interactive games, patients can find something they are interested in and that is appropriate for their age and educational levels. “I often have adults share with me their memories of receiving a doll or truck when they were a patient here at Cincinnati Children’s. The gifts gave them a fond memory during an otherwise difficult time,” Sharon says. “We are so grateful that we can provide those memories. Without the generous support of the Ruth Lyons Children’s Fund, we wouldn’t be able to do that.”

Children of Armenia Fund (COAF) works to secure a future for children in Armenia’s impoverished rural villages through improved education, healthcare, community life and economic conditions. Our programs create and sustain opportunities for growth and progress.

First Day Shoe Fund is dedicated to providing new athletic shoes to school-age children in Kalamazoo County who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. We believe all children should start school on equal footing.

The mission of Washington's National Park Fund is to raise private support to deepen everyone's love for, understanding of, and experiences in Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Parks. Our vision is that our parks remain strong and vibrant, youthful and everlasting.

Bread & Roses Community Fund believes in change, not charity. We organize donors at all levels to support community-based groups in building movements for racial equity and economic opportunity. We support movements and their leaders through fundraising, grantmaking, capacity building, and convening.

The Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund offers high school scholarship assistance and programmatic support to Chicago students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. DMSF makes a powerful difference in the lives of Murphy Scholars by providing them with the best opportunity for high school, college, and life-long success

Founded in April, 2016, VELA Youth Fund, Inc. is dedicated to improving the present and future lives for as many African American, African, and Caribbean Children as we can, by supporting their spiritual, health, educational and financial needs to the greatest extent feasible. Their goal is to assist in the positive development of Black Youth.

Na’ah Illahee Fund is a community-based organization whose mission is to advance sustainable Indigenous cultures in the Pacific Northwest. Through the engagement, education and resourcing of Native women and girls, we facilitate the fulfillment of our responsibilities to Na’ah Illahee, our mother the earth and the circle of life she sustains.

Global Fund for Children envisions a future where all children and youth enjoy equal resources and opportunities in society, and live free from violence, discrimination, and exploitation. Our mission is to partner with community-based organizations around the world to help children and youth reach their full potential and advance their rights.

The Idjwi Island Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission of providing a better school for children in the village of Buhumba on Idjwi Island in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Idjwi Island, located in Lake Kivu on the eastern border of the DRC, has seen a dramatic increase in its population in recent years, much of which is the result of refugees fleeing violence in Rwanda and the DRC. A substantial number of these new residents are children, including many orphans. Approximately 400 children attend the existing primary school. This makeshift school is overcrowded, has a leaky roof, and does not provide desks or even books for the students. In 2009, Them Nyamunongo, who grew up on Idjwi and now works in Washington, D.C., returned to visit family on the island. During his stay, he gave gifts to children that he met in Buhumba. As he spent time with the children, he learned about the extremely poor conditions at the school, including how it has become overcrowded due to the increase in refugees and orphans. The children told him that their true wish was for a school with a roof so that they were not sent home every time that it rained. When Them returned to Washington, D.C., he and his wife, Safi, approached a friend who is a director at a local preschool. From this meeting in late 2009, the Idjwi Island Education Fund was formed. In just over eighteen months, the Idjwi Island Education Fund has obtained property in Buhumba for the new school (which was donated by Them's family), met with and conducted a needs assessment with the director of the existing school, and provided some interim support for the facilities at the existing school. The Fund has recruited a board of directors that includes professionals with experience in international development and project management. The Fund has also conducted a series of fundraising events through which it has raised more than $15,000, in gifts ranging from $20 to 1,000, from more than 100 different donors. With this foundation in place, the Fund is intensifying its efforts on the design program for the new school, interviewing representatives of other non-governmental organizations with experience with similar projects in the region, and identifying local organizations to collaborate in the building process. The ultimate goal of this effort is to provide improved facilities, desks, books, and a safe-haven for more than 400 primary school children in this isolated community.

The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) is dedicated to creating pathways of opportunity for low income people and communities. Serving the poorest of the poor, LIIF is a steward for capital invested in housing, child care, education and other community-building initiatives. In so doing, LIIF provides a bridge between private capital markets and low income neighborhoods.

Transparent Fish Fund is a 501(c)(3) US non-profit organization founded in 2011 in Palo Alto, California, established exclusively for charitable purposes to connect credible Chinese and East Asian grassroots NGOs with individuals from the West. The greater mission behind this work is to foster a sustainable long-term NGO culture in East Asia, and in doing so, spread a global spirit of philanthropy.