JustGive is launching a non-partisan initiative designed to empower donors with the tools and information they need to take meaningful action. At the heart of this effort is a first-of-its-kind database of defunded nonprofits—a comprehensive, living resource tracking nonprofit organizations that have lost government funding.

This initiative will:

• Get You Informed: Understand where federal funding has been cut, which organizations are affected, and what’s at risk.
• Get You Inspired: Explore stories of impact and resilience from nonprofits continuing critical work without public support.
• Get You Involved: Take immediate action through a trusted giving platform that directly supports these organizations.

We’ll also connect donors of all types—including individuals, DAF holders, and foundations—with targeted matching opportunities to maximize every gift.

Why This Work Matters

The U.S. government has long depended on nonprofits to deliver services that, in many other countries, are handled by the public sector: housing, healthcare, environmental protection, food security, and more. When government funding disappears without those responsibilities being taken back in-house, entire communities are left at risk.

Our platform aims to close that gap—providing clarity, connection, and the ability to respond effectively.

What We’re Building

We’re creating more than a database—we’re building a dynamic infrastructure for informed generosity. The JustGive platform will feature:

• A continuously updated list of defunded nonprofits and programs
• Details on the dollar amount lost and specific unmet needs
• A searchable interface by cause, geography, size, and impact
• Centralized research and efficacy reports from trusted sources
• A fast, secure ACH donation system to enable direct giving

Join the Movement

This is a time to give with focus, urgency, and trust. Whether you’re a first-time donor, a fund holder, or a foundation leader, you have a role to play in making sure essential services continue to reach those who need them most.

We invite you to be part of the solution. Bridging the gap with generosity starts with knowing what’s needed—and giving with intention.

Let’s give it everything we’ve got.

– Kendall Webb, JustGive Founder and Executive Director

With distribution centers being bombed, supermarkets are unable to distribute food and hungry Ukrainians are unable to reach food sources. Brave drivers have volunteered to navigate through dangerous and challenging areas to bring food to Ukrainians isolated and locked in bomb shelters in the country’s biggest cities.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK:

World Central Kitchen have quickly mobilized on the ground at the border crossing to ensure Ukrainians arriving at least receive a warm, nutritious meal.

Millions of Ukrainian civilians have fled to neighboring countries, Poland, Romania and Moldova. The situation for refugees leaving Ukraine is dire as they had to suddenly leave everything behind and travel on foot through the night in sub-zero temperatures to escape imminent danger.  Chef (and Chief Feeding Officer) José Andrés of World Central Kitchen has mobilized local chefs, restaurateurs, producers and supply chain figures to serve meals to refugees on the many borders as well as working desperately to reach those inside Ukraine.  “There are many ways to fight and some people fight by making sure that people are fed. Those are our people and we’re going to be supporting them in many ways” says José.

WEEKLY CHALLENGE:

Don’t Just Admire The Courage You See in Ukraine. Help get meals to them!

It’s inspiring to see the extraordinary courage of the Ukrainian citizens, spanning all ages and genders, and we can honor their courage by helping to support their bravery. Join the movement and take action to help these brave Ukrainians get food. Please help World Central Kitchen to get more meals to Ukrainians.

The People of Ukraine need your help now more than ever.

Imagine this holiday looks different, in the best possible way: the gifts we give to the people we care about help the causes and charities they care about. You’re combining giving presents and helping with needs—and this year in particular, needs have never been greater. For the price of a scarf, you can change someone’s life. 

Researchers have found a direct connection between donating to charity and your overall well-being. As Ariana Huffington said, “The biggest shortcut to happiness is giving.”

Why not give your friends and family money they can use to support a cause they care about? 

A charity product JustGive launched over a decade ago is growing in popularity and use: a Charity Gift Card. It’s a single gift that is personal and meaningful. With a Charity Gift Card, the giver makes a donation, and the recipient directs that donation to a charity of their choice. It is the easy & meaningful go-to gift I give during the holidays!!

Highlight of The Week:  20,000 FREE charity gift cards being given out

Ray wanted to share that experience, so in the first week of December, he gave away 10,000 free $100 charity gift cards. This $1 million helped over 2,000 charities in a single day. 

Now there’s a second-round giveaway of charity gift cards this Friday! With the help of Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, Arianna Huffington, Bridgewater’s CEO David McCormick, Goldman Sachs executive Dina Powell, Dr. Mehmet Oz, author and podcaster Jay Shetty, Ashton Kutcher, Gayle King and Mila Kunis, Dalio will donate another million dollars worth of charity gift cards for the second round of #RedefineGifting. The next batch of gift cards will be worth $50, so 20,000 people can pass along the charitable gifts.

Enter your contact information at redefinegifting.tisbest.org, and you’ll get a heads up before this giveaway goes live. And have your chance to receive and join the  give back movement this holiday season!

* Only available to participants who haven’t received a free charity gift card before. 

Ray’s message: There are no strings attached. My hope is simply that you will experience the joy of receiving a charitable gift rather than a traditional one, and you might consider giving charitable gifts to your friends, families, and colleagues. I promise that it will fill you with the holiday spirit, and I hope that you will pass this idea along to others who you think would appreciate it as well.

Challenge of the Week: Deliberately make charity a greater part of your holiday 

Let’s #RedefineGifting this holiday season. Instead of the gifts without meaning we sometimes feel compelled to give, give charity gift cards or make donations on behalf of friends & family. And ask that they do the same for you!

My challenge to you: Send out Charity Gift Cards for most of your gifts this year. Make this the year you start your own tradition to include charitable giving as part of your holiday—and pass this idea on to your friends and family too. Chances are you’ll feel the joy of the true Christmas spirit!

We’d love to hear from you about how you are bringing charity into your holiday. Send us an email and you may see your idea promoted here.  

Kendall Webb, Executive Director, JustGive.org

Problem: Gifts we don’t want
Solution: Charity

There’s an alternative that’s much more rewarding and gets money to people who really need it in these challenging times—Why not give your friends and family money they can use to support a cause they care about? 

A charity product JustGive launched over a decade ago is growing in popularity and use: a Charity Gift Card. It’s a single gift that is personal and meaningful. 

You can buy Charity Gift Cards online, and customize them by amount and appearance–adding a family photo or corporate logo–and have them delivered one of three ways: by email, in print, or as an actual plastic card that ships the same day it’s ordered. This gift engages your giftee, and lets them redeem the card to any of more than a million charities. 

Imagine all the good we could do by swapping junk gifts for Charity Gift Cards. We’d fund immediate needs and causes, strengthen connections between us, and start more meaningful conversations. The gifts we give and receive would keep us more in the true  holiday spirit.

Imagine this holiday looks different, in the best possible way: the gifts we give to the people we care about help the causes and charities they care about. You’re combining giving presents and helping with needs—and this year in particular, needs have never been greater. For the price of a scarf, you can change someone’s life. 

And researchers have found a direct connection between donating to charity and your overall well-being. As Ariana Huffington said, “The biggest shortcut to happiness is giving.”

Highlight of The Week: A FREE $100 charity gift card for you

For more than 10 years, Ray Dalio has given Charity Gift Cards through JustGive and TisBest to his friends and colleagues, and has found it incredibly fulfilling. 

Now he wants to share that experience with everyone. This holiday, Ray is giving away $1 million in free charity gift cards. When you go to redefinegifting.tisbest.org that day, you’ll receive a $100 charity gift card. 

His message to you is:
There are no strings attached. My hope is simply that you will experience the joy of receiving a charitable gift rather than a traditional one, and you might consider giving charitable gifts to your friends, families, and colleagues. I promise that it will fill you with the holiday spirit, and I hope that you will pass this idea along to others who you think would appreciate it as well.

Challenge of the Week: Deliberately make charity more a part of your holiday this year

Let’s Redefine Gifting this holiday season. Instead of the gifts without meaning we sometimes feel compelled to give, consider giving charity gift cards or making donations on behalf of friends & family. And ask that they do the same for you!

My challenge is for you to make at least one of your gifts this season a Charity Gift Card. Include charitable giving as part of your holiday—and pass this idea on to your friends and family too! Chances are, you’ll feel happier you did.

Let us know how you’re integrating charity into your holiday! Just drop us an email (and watch for your actions to be shared here). 

Kendall Webb, Executive Director, JustGive.org

• A record 117 women were elected or appointed to Congress in midterm elections in November. 
• Ireland voted to repeal one of the world’s most restrictive abortion bans. Ethiopia appointed its first female president. 
• And women in Saudi Arabia were permitted to drive legally.

However, progress for adolescent girls has not kept pace, and COVID-19 has reinforced many of these gaps. Even though we’ve made progress in the last two decades to ensure every girl is able to grow and develop in good health, there is much still to do. 

Twenty-five years ago, some 30,000 women and men from nearly 200 countries arrived in Beijing, China, for the Fourth World Conference on Women, determined to recognize women’s rights as human rights. 

The conference culminated in the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: the most comprehensive policy agenda for gender equality and the rights of not only women, but also girls. It calls for a world where every girl and woman can realize all her rights, such as to live free from violence, to attend and complete school, to choose when and whom she marries, and to earn equal pay for equal work. 

Women have pressed this agenda forward, leading global movements on issues ranging from sexual and reproductive health rights to equal pay. But 25 years later, discrimination and limiting stereotypes remain rampant. Girls’ life expectancy has extended by eight years, yet for many the quality of that life is still far from what was envisioned. Girls have the right to expect more. 

Girls issues: Facts, stats and alarming practices
Twelve million girls are married before age 18 each year. One in five girls globally has experienced sexual violence. And more than 130 million girls are not in school.

While millions of girls aren’t able to go to school, millions more are fighting to stay there. As a girl grows older, getting an education becomes even harder. Her family must be able to afford and be willing to pay school fees. Yet, worldwide, girls ages 5 to 14 spend 160 million more hours (40 percent more) on household chores, and collecting water and firewood than boys of the same age.

Primary education provides children with the foundation for a lifetime of learning, while secondary education equips them with the knowledge and skills they need to become empowered and engaged adults. 

The benefits of secondary education for girls are significant. Compared to girls with only a primary education, girls with secondary education are: 

• Less likely to marry, contract HIV/AIDS, become pregnant as adolescents
• More likely to contribute to their country’s overall development 
• And if they become educated mothers, they are more likely to immunize their children and invest in their education

Instead of attending class, girls and women around the world spend 200 million hours each day, which is a colossal waste of their valuable time. 200 million hours is 8.3 million days, or over 22,800 years. This simple act is preventing them from living a life of basic meaning and worth.

Today, no matter where a girl lives, she is at risk of encountering violence in every space she occupies–in the classroom, home and community. 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence. 

Men in 18 countries even have the right to legally prevent their wives from working. And some jobs, such as domestic work, are entirely unpaid. “The global value of this unpaid care work each year is estimated at $10.8 trillion—more than three times the size of the global tech industry,” according to Oxfam.

And two widespread harmful practices toward females are still prevalant;  genital mutilation and child marriage. 

When we solve problems that girls have . . . 

• 750 million women and girls alive today have been married before the age of 18 = 23 girls every minute, according to Girls Not Brides. 
• Over 200 million girls have undergone female genital cutting, the United Nations says.

In 2011, United Nations General Assembly declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child to focus on the need to address challenges girls face, promote empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights. 

This October day helps raise awareness of what’s likely to happen when those problems are solved: Educating girls helps reduce the rate of child marriage and disease, and strengthens the economy by helping them gain access to higher paying jobs. 

My favorite video on the immense impact of investing in girls is The Girl Effect from Nike.

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential. Empowering women and girls and promoting gender equality is crucial to accelerating peace and sustainable development. 

Women hold the greatest potential for change in their communities. Yet, women and girls are disproportionately affected by violence and prejudices that limit their opportunities and prevent them from lifting themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty. 

Ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls is not only a basic human right, but it also has a multiplier effect across all other development areas. And yet many global development plans  do not include or consider girls, and their issues become “invisible.” 

If effectively supported during their adolescent years, girls have the potential to change the world–both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders. 

An investment in the power of adolescent girls upholds their rights today and promises a more equitable and prosperous future, one in which half of humanity is an equal partner in solving the problems of climate change, political conflict, economic growth, disease prevention, and global sustainability.

Generations of progress for women and girls could be lost due to the pandemic

That’s what the United Nations Chief António Guterres has warned. 

This year’s International Day of the Girl was marked by events all over the world, from India to Kenya to Washington to Paris, highlighting the disproportionate and devastating socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on women and girls globally. Guterres called for direct attention to prevent us from losing  “years, even generations” worth of progress on women’s empowerment because of the pandemic. 

Women play a vital role as healthcare workers, essential staff, teachers and carers, helping millions globally, both within and outside their homes. COVID-19 has thrown them into financial insecurity, without regular income or effective social safety nets. 

“The pandemic has exposed the extent of its impact on physical and mental health, education and labour force participation”, said Guterres. He made this statement amid disturbing reports from around the world of skyrocketing gender-based violence, “as many women are effectively confined with their abusers, while resources and support services are redirected.”

In humanitarian emergencies, gender-based violence often increases, subjecting girls to sexual and physical violence, child marriage, exploitation and trafficking. Emerging data shows that since the outbreak of the pandemic, violence against women and girls, and particularly domestic violence, has intensified. 

“The pandemic is exposing and exacerbating the considerable hurdles women face in achieving their rights and fulfilling their potential. Without a concerned response, we risk losing a generation or more of gains,” he cautioned. 

In 2020, a gender-equitable world is still a long way off. The next steps for change must meaningfully include girls as decision-makers and designers of the solutions to the challenges and opportunities they face every day. 

The world is home to more than 1.1 billion girls under age 18, who are poised to become the largest generation of female leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers of the world. It will take every one of us—advocates, elected officials, international leaders—standing in solidarity to end gender inequality and empower women across the globe.

Highlight of The Week: Malala Fund works to break down barriers

The Malala Fund is working for a world where every girl can lead and learn. With more than 130 million girls out of school today, the fund is tirelessly championing every girl’s right to 12 years of free, safe, quality education, even in remote areas. They want to break down barriers that hold girls back, creating a more equal world.

Every day, girls around the world are fighting for their freedom. Join them and raise your voice, sharing what #freedomforgirls means to you.

Challenge of The Week: Support, advocate and decide to help girls and women

There are plenty of community-based initiatives working to solve these issues and more for girls. Please give your time, energy and dollars to make change happen. 

• Help organizations leading efforts towards positive social change, including gender equality, in their communities and nations. 
• Sponsor a girl in Secondary School. I’ve worked for 10 years to help build a secondary school in Tanzania for vulnerable girls that would not otherwise be able to attend school. Consider sponsoring a girl directly: https://www.nurturingmindsinafrica.org
• Vote For Her: Use your voice and your vote in the midterm elections to elect champions for women and girls globally. 
• Participate in youth-led digital activation to raise the diversity of girls’ voices and their vision for a reimagined future. For example, join the social media campaign #TheGirlEffect inspiring people across the globe to share stories of defiant resistance
• Sign The Open Letter and stand up to end online harassment and abuse on your social media platforms #FreeToBeOnline.

— Kendall Webb, Founder and Executive Director

More than seven months into the coronavirus pandemic, millions of U.S. families are struggling to pay for basic necessities. Some families can’t afford diapers, and others are being threatened with eviction. One in every six households doesn’t have enough to eat. 

About 5 million school children live in a household where people can’t afford sufficient food. Many parents rely on free or reduced-price school lunches for their children, but with the increase in virtual schooling, they’re scrambling to provide additional meals during the week. 

About 10 percent of American adults, 22.3 million, reported they sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat within the past week, according to the August U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey. Recent disasters of rampant fires and destructive hurricanes have only intensified the need for help. 

Food insecurity is as much about the threat of deprivation as it is about deprivation itself: A food-insecure life means a life lived in fear of hunger and the psychological toll that it takes. 

Like many hardships, this burden falls disproportionately on Black and Hispanic families, who are almost twice as likely to experience food insecurity as white families.

Over the summer there was a 60 percent average increase in demand for food assistance at Feeding America’s network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries across the country compared to the same time period last year. Americans who never saw themselves at risk of food insecurity are turning to private nonprofits that distribute free meals. 

“Never has the charitable food system faced such tremendous challenge, and we need all the resources we can get to help our neighbors during this terrible time,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America.

Every city across the nation is racing to fight hunger. Some have organized food drives and distribution sites to meet the increase in people seeking help. The queues waiting to pick up boxes of food extends for hours. People line up as early as 5 a.m. and wait as long as six hours at some of the larger distribution sites. Some sites run out of food and have to turn people away empty-handed. 

One morning, staff members of the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana saw a man standing in line with reusable grocery bags. After filling his bags, he was painstakingly considering how much food he could carry on his four-mile walk home. Then a member of the food bank’s staff recognized him and offered a lift. While such heart-wrenching scenes speak to the despair brought on by COVID-19, volunteers continue to step up.

Food banks have seen record increases in need even as donations and volunteers dwindle

Food banks across the nation are stretched thin from the burden of hunger as the pandemic has forced more families facing hardships to request help and the federal food stamp assistance has become more difficult for people to access (administrative volume). 

With the increased demand, food banks are adding to growing costs since they’re often leasing outside storage space at higher-than-normal rates and have brought on more workers to handle the goods. “The pandemic is putting pressure on a system that was already struggling to make sure all the food we are producing finds its way to people,” said Emily Broad Leib, director of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic.

In addition, social distancing guidelines have brought on tremendous logistical challenges to food banks. 

Before the pandemic, customers walked through and selected their own items. But requirements for social distancing and contactless handoffs required rethinking distribution. Volunteers now fill prefabricated boxes, a more laborious process, and deliver them to individual cars in a mega mobile food distribution channel. In some areas, volunteer drivers are delivering food directly to homes or to institutions in need.

Even though the food banks need more volunteers to pre-pack the meals, almost all have reported a decline in volunteers—partly because volunteers tend to be retirees, older people who are more vulnerable to the coronavirus. The nonprofits in Feeding America’s network have lost nearly 60 percent of their volunteers. Food banks are so desperate that they’ve started asking food recipients to be helpers when they’re not looking for work. 

Food sources and outside distribution channels are challenged or non-existent now

The pandemic has complicated the sourcing of food to the food banks. 

In ordinary times, millions of dollars worth of food per month comes from corporate contributions — generally, items donated by grocery stores once the stores think they can’t sell it. But now, stores are donating only one-fourth of what they used to give. 

And many food banks are experiencing lags in supply because of the multiple hurricanes and California wildfires. To replace the missing donations, and fill the needs of far more consumers on top of that, food banks have to buy food.

“No crisis has ever strained our ability to serve those in need as much as coronavirus,” says Derrick Chubbs, president of the Central Texas Food Bank. His organization didn’t have money set aside in its operating budget to purchase food to replace disappearing grocery donations. The cancellation of a major Austin music festival, which usually raises about $200,000 for the food bank, has intensified the financial strain. 

If that’s not enough, many distribution partners, like soup kitchens and shelters, are closed. 

City Harvest has seen more than 85 of the 400 food programs it works with in New York shut down. In response, City Harvest has created seven emergency relief sites to bring food to vulnerable neighborhoods, with plans to introduce 22 more.

Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, projects a 6 billion to 8 billion meal shortfall in the next 12 months, a deficit that may be magnified with federal food assistance programs set to expire soon. Feeding America estimates the total need for charitable food over the next year will reach 17 billion pounds, more than three times last year’s distribution.

The pandemic has presented a disaster unlike any other, and there is no established plan to help food banks manage it. 

In this podcast, CEO of Feeding America Claire Babineaux-Fontenot talks about the added urgency of hunger in the midst of a pandemic and the policies that need to change to tackle food insecurity in our country. She states that 40 percent of the people who have turned to Feeding America this year have never relied on a food system before. Sadly, more than 20 million of those in need are kids (40 percent of the estimated 50 million people Feeding America will serve this year). 

Providing food for those who are food insecure is a very complicated and daunting issue. What we do know is this pandemic has revealed new helpers: individuals, showing us the best of humanity, who have discovered practical ways to help.

Highlight of The Week: Creative distribution of farm-fresh food 

When George Ahearn heard farmers were destroying unsold produce, he arranged for trucks to deliver tons of it to food banks.

The pandemic has seriously backed up food supply chains, and farmers often have to throw away ton after ton of excess product that can’t reach restaurants or grocery store shelves. 

In Washington state, a unique non-profit is helping re-route all that farm-fresh produce to people who need it. A few months ago, George Ahearn, who grew up in the farming town of Othello, Washington, got the idea to connect farmers in the eastern part of the state with food banks and meal programs in the west. 

He soon discovered that idea meant finding and managing volunteers to help clean and bag the food too, which the nonprofit has figured out how to supply. To date, EastWest Food Rescue has delivered eight million pounds of produce to help people in need. 

Challenge of The Week: Donate or volunteer to help feed the hungry

Food banks, as private operations, don’t get federal money and are supported by individual donations or corporate dollars. But it’s much more difficult to fundraise during the pandemic. The best way to help right now is to either volunteer or donate money. 

Volunteer for one of the weekly mobile distribution events that need a lot of hands-on help to run smoothly. There are assignments of all sorts, ranging from directing traffic to loading groceries into families’ cars. Right now there are volunteer shortages, so check with your local food bank to see what they need. 

There are also a number of other worthy nonprofits that can use your donations:

• Save the Children is delivering meals to kids during the pandemic. 
• Blessings in a Backpack helps provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise not have enough to eat.
• World Central Kitchen purchases meals from local restaurants and delivers them to people who need them. 

GiveDirectly, has partnered with Propel, a company that uses technology to help SNAP recipients (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program once known as food stamps) manage their benefits, and gives cash to people chosen at random, like a lottery. Recipients must receive SNAP benefits and also use Fresh EBT, a food stamp balance smartphone app.

The pandemic has created a crisis for so many families when it comes to feeding their children and themselves. Let’s step up, and give our time or our money to help meet the need! 

Kendall Webb, Executive Director

It’s very disconcerting to be barraged with negative news every single day, and to feel so powerless. But our country offers us the chance to make it different: every citizen has a voice in the nation’s narrative, even when we feel helpless. 

The US Census Bureau reported that in 2008 only 64 percent of all registered voters actually voted. That doesn’t seem too bad, until you realize that only 72 percent of America is even registered to vote. In reality, only 45 percent of America is voting in these elections, even though they determine the fate of our country. 

The whole purpose of democracy is for every person to have a say in what goes on.

The only way to preserve our government’s representation “of the people, by the people, for the people”—which President Abraham Lincoln described in the Gettysburg Address in 1863—is for “the people” to participate in the election of our representatives. That means every one of us. 

Voting is a privilege we can’t take for granted.

Voting is not an every-four-year event when the excitement of a presidential election stirs our interest. The down ballot (with lower-profile political candidates not as popular and prominent as presidential choices) and “off-year” elections are just as important . . . those decisions govern everything local from education to public safety. They’re issues that have an everyday impact on our lives and deserve our attention. 

Every vote counts

Many young people feel as though their vote doesn’t count and use this as the reason for not participating in elections. Millennials reported feeling especially disillusioned by both presidential candidates before the election in 2016, and many chose to sit out the election altogether as a result. 100 million people who had the legal right to vote that year simply decided it wasn’t worth the hassle. 

Your vote always matters.

If you think that just one vote in a sea of millions can’t make much of a difference, you’re wrong. Consider some of the closest elections in U.S. history:

• Bush won Florida by 0.009 percent of the votes cast in the state, or 537 votes. Had 600 more pro-Gore voters gone to the polls in Florida that November, there may have been an entirely different president from 2000–2008.
• Minnesota senator Al Franken won by just 312 votes in 2009. 
• In 2016, Clinton won the national popular vote by nearly three million votes, but the margin of victory for Donald Trump in the swing states that he won was less than 1 percent.

In an America perhaps divided more than ever, every vote counts, Not just for the presidential candidate, but for all the seats in the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the governorships. Even if you’re in a state where it’s likely that one of the two major presidential candidates will win because it’s a ‘safe state’ (a state that almost always votes a certain way), there are other down-ballot races that are not necessarily safe and predictable. Your vote makes a huge difference.

A Portland State University study found that less than 15 percent of eligible voters were turning out to vote for mayors, council members, and other local offices. Low turnout means that important local issues are determined by a limited group of voters, making a single vote even more meaningful.
While young people make up a large portion of the voting-eligible population, they’re much less likely than those who are older to get out and vote. Millennials represented nearly 50 percent of the entire voter population in the 2016 presidential election but only 19 percent of people aged 18 to 29 cast their ballot versus 49 percent of people aged 45 to 64 who voted.

Young voters notoriously neglect the importance of voting, but their voice is an important one—on both sides of the aisle. Key issues in every election increasingly relate to the concerns of students and professionals between the ages of 18 and 29, making it essential for members in that age group to educate themselves on political issues and take to the polls.  

For many millennials, adulthood brings many new challenges, like college, marriage, buying a house, paying for your own health insurance, and/or starting a business, all of which could radically change your perspective on political issues. While you can’t predict who or where you’ll be in four years, you can be sure the political officials elected into office and the policies they implement will impact your life in the coming months and years. 

Millennials have been credited with the decisive vote in the 2012 election of Barack Obama for a second term as president; Obama won 67 percent  of the national youth vote in crucial states such as Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio (over his opponent Mitt Romney). 

If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain about anything the government does. The situation won’t be changed by sitting idle and allowing others to make major political decisions. 

Voting turnout gaps limit our ability for a real democracy—one that truly represents our country

Our democracy has far too many missing voices, particularly among those who are already less advantaged due to racial and class barriers in our society. 

By excluding so many eligible voters, our election systems do a very poor job of giving voice to the full diversity of viewpoints in our electorate. The viewpoints of lower-voting populations are almost entirely ignored in elections and policy making, in no small part because they’re missing at the polls. 

Clearly—and urgently—we need to close the voting gaps to ensure greater balance in electoral and policy outcomes so all Americans (not just white Americans) enjoy the fruits of democracy. 

The freedom to vote is America’s most valuable and hard-won right. The United States Constitution, as originally written, established how the new country would vote but did not define specifically who could or could not vote.

In the early years of our country, only white landowners could vote. It was not until the 15th Amendment was passed in 1870 that black men were allowed to vote. But even then, many would-be voters faced artificial hurdles like poll taxes, literacy tests, and other measures meant to discourage them from exercising their right to vote. 

These hurdles would exist until the ratification of the 24th Amendment in 1964—which eliminated the poll tax—and the Voting Rights Act of 1965—which ended Jim Crow laws. 

Women were denied the right to vote until 1920, when the long efforts of the women’s suffrage movement resulted in the 19th Amendment.

With amendments removing the previous barriers to voting (particularly sex and race), theoretically all American citizens over the age of 21 could vote by the mid 1960s. Later, in 1971, the American voting age was lowered to 18, building on the idea that if a person was old enough to serve their country in the military, they should have the right to vote.

While no longer explicitly excluded, voter suppression is still a problem in many parts of the country, as some politicians try to win reelection by limiting the number of specific populations of voters (such as African Americans).

We cannot waste this hard-won privilege

Voting in the 2020 election is especially tricky. Social distancing rules—coupled with an anticipated high turnout of voters (as seen in the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 primary elections)—will make poll lines much longer. Millions of people, some for the first time, will vote by mail, and not every state is equipped to handle the projected volume of absentee ballots. 

To guarantee that your vote counts, you’ll have to plan more than usual. First, look to your state’s website for voting information and instructions for how to register to vote—and do it now.

A few tips:

• Officials expect postal delays may occur again, so request your ballot as soon as possible.
• Find out where your local ballot drop boxes are located (they’re locked boxes) and return your ballot there if you can.
• Fill in your ballot very carefully. Be sure to sign your ballot, and do so legibly. A lot of ballots aren’t counted because they are unsigned or the signature looks wrong. Don’t forget the proper envelope or a witness signature where it’s necessary. If you make a mistake, such as the wrong zip code or omitting an apartment number, your ballot might not be counted. 
• If you’re mailing your ballot, send it in as early as possible. An NPR analysis found that within the 2020 primary elections held so far “at least 65,000 absentee or mail-in ballots were rejected because they arrived past the deadline, often through no fault of the voter.”
• Allow a lot of extra time if you are voting in person. If your state has early in-person voting, take advantage of it in order to prevent long lines on election day on November 3.
• And be sure to complete your census to give your local community the accurate funding and electorate counts.

You can personally make America a stronger country—simply by voting.

Highlight of the Week: The power of the youth vote

Youth voters who want to inspire change need to show their support for the candidates they feel best represent their needs. 

No one else is going to vote in the interest of young people . . . except young people. The youth of America have the power to make decisions that affect the country. 

Challenge of the Week: Get involved and work to get more people to vote

There are many ways to get involved and help voter turnout. 

I’m working with a few nonprofits, such as Rockthevote.org and moveon.org, to dial for voters and answer questions for citizens seeking answers. By volunteering I am helping voters find their polling place, discover how to check if they’re registered, know how to apply for absentee ballots and to confirm mail-in deadlines, and learn all their voting options.

Use your social media to remind everyone to vote and give them this link to confirm they’re registered (laws regarding the registration process vary by state). 

Think about people you know that may need information on getting information on Absentee and early voting. Think about any youth and college kids that may need prodding to get registered at their college location or to get an absentee ballot. 

You can also volunteer to be a poll worker, which is needed more this year than any other. Here are more ways to help.

And most importantly, make a plan with lots of extra time to vote yourself!

Kendall Webb, Executive Director

The news of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death on September 19th brought Americans from across generations together to honor her life. Our nation is in mourning for the loss of such an inspiring leader, thinker, trailblazer and role model. She was instrumental in breaking down piece by piece gender discrimination woven deep within American law to build a stronger democracy.

There was an outpouring of Americans in front of the Supreme Court and across the nation within hours of her death. Sidewalks across the country were covered with tributes of flowers, lit candles, chalk messages and handwritten notes, and about 2,500 people attended a vigil on the steps of the Supreme Court that evening. They even adorned the Fearless Girl in NYC as her.

She was soft spoken and barely 5 feet but she was a warrior and larger than life — “petite and tiny in size, but huge in impact,” described Nancy Pelosi.

She played a substantial role in laws for divisive social issues 

Serving more than 27 years as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, she consistently delivered progressive votes on the most divisive social issues of the day, including abortion rights, same-sex marriage, voting rights, immigration, health care and affirmative action. 

She was one of nine women accepted into Harvard Law School, where the Dean admonished those women for taking a man’s spot. Even while caring for her children and husband, who was recovering from cancer, all through law school, she became the first woman on the Harvard Law Review. 

Ginsburg even faced discrimination when she graduated top of her class and could not get a job in a law firm, simply because she was a woman. She worked tirelessly for more than 34 years as a teacher, litigator and jurist and, in 1993, she became just the second woman to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. Even in her death, she is making firsts: She will be the first Jewish person and the first woman to lie in state at the Capitol.

Ginsburg was well-known for the work she did before taking the bench, when she served as an advocate for the American Civil Liberties Union and became the architect of a legal strategy to bring cases to the courts that would ensure that the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection applied to gender. Her premise was that “sex, like race, has been the basis for unjustified or unproved assumptions concerning an individual’s potential to perform or contribute to society.” 

She argued six landmark cases on gender equality before the Supreme Court and won all but one of them. “Society would benefit enormously if women were regarded as persons equal in stature to men,'” she said in a commencement speech in 2002.

Early on, she strategically honed in on economic gaps to make the case for equal rights, focusing on small cases so she didn’t ignite the opposition. However, these small cases changed legal history in the United States forever, because when she set a precedent for a single case, it prompted legislation to review hundreds of state and federal laws. 

She also strategically showcased men harmed by gender discrimination to exemplify the unjust nature of discrimination overall. 

Much of what we as women are able to do today, is paved directly by her laws, including applying for a credit card, bank account, and a mortgage without a male co-signer. 

Ginsburg ultimately did share the Supreme Court with three other women, but said her most lonely days were when she was the only female on the Supreme Court in 2006 and in 2007 after Sandra Day O’Connor retired. She said “When I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say, ‘When there are nine,’ people are shocked. But there has always been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”

Ginsburg was known for clear dissents and respectful arguments

She was renowned for her powerful judicial dissents, often involving civil rights or equal protection. “Dissents speak to a future age. It’s not simply to say, ‘My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.’ But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that’s the dissenter’s hope: that they are writing not for today, but for tomorrow.” 

Once she took the bench, Ginsburg had the reputation of a “judge’s judge” for the clarity of her opinions that gave straightforward guidance to the lower courts. 

Justice Ginsburg epitomized the art of powerful yet respectful argument; that you can disagree with someone without being disagreeable to them. This was most deeply exemplified by her friendship with Justice Scalia who despite their ideological differences, was her best friend on the bench. Her friendships with conservatives makes her a shining model of civility and decency.

| She would say “fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” 

And in case you were wondering, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s lace collar was not an accessory. It was a symbol, with all sorts of meanings woven into each one, carefully chosen for the day. 

From her iconic bejeweled “dissent” neck collar to more understated lace, RBG had a look for every court decision. Ginsburg always wore her notorious “dissenting collar” whenever she wanted to communicate her condemnation. (The day after Trump’s election, she wore it to sit on the bench, even though the court didn’t issue any decisions that day.) 

Her private life was untraditional too (for the times)

Ruth Bader Gindsburg had a true love story, marrying Marty Ginsburg, a partner with unwavering support of her career and the willingness to actively take on an equal share of daily family responsibilities. When they met, they agreed that they would both build their careers and not take on traditional gender roles. 

She states that “women will have achieved true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.” When the teachers used to only call Ruth, interrupting her very busy work day to ask if she could pick up their child, she finally said, “This child has two parents, please alternate calls. It’s his father’s turn.” Their marriage uniquely allowed her to be the ambitious professional and fearless warrior she became. 

Privately, Ginsburg faced a number of health complications. In 1999, she was diagnosed with colon cancer.  A decade later, she was treated for pancreatic cancer.  In 2014, she underwent a heart procedure to have a stent implanted. And in 2019, she had surgery for lung cancer. But it never slowed her down for long. The longest she was out was 18 days and in all 27 years, and she only missed one argument when she was recuperating from cancer surgery in 2019.  

Her death—less than seven weeks before Election Day—opens up a political fight over the future of the court. RBG’s dying words to her granddaughter were “my most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” Yet GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell is vowing to vote on Trump’s expected nominee as soon as possible—even though he blocked President Barack Obama from filling Scalia’s seat in 2016. 

At that time, Republicans invented the principle that the Senate shouldn’t fill an open seat on the Supreme Court before a new president was sworn in. Obama, in a statement mourning Ginsburg, implored Republicans to uphold the standard they set in 2016 when they blocked his nominee: “A basic principle of the law—and of everyday fairness—is that we apply rules with consistency, and not based on what’s convenient or advantageous in the moment.”

And he concluded “Justice Ginsburg helped us see that discrimination on the basis of sex isn’t about an abstract ideal of equality; that it doesn’t only harm women; that it has real consequences for all of us. It’s about who we are—and who we can be.” 

Ginsburg will long be remembered as one of the greatest legal minds in recent history, radically changing how we understand gender equality and the Equal Protection Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution today. Her memory will be that she was a fierce advocate and inspiration to generations. 

Justice Ginsburg burst into popular culture and became an internet sensation after a law student proclaimed her the Notorious R.B.G., a play on the nickname of a famous rapper. 

She was the subject of two movies—a fictionalized drama of her early life in which she juggled work and motherhood, and a documentary that let women into her personal life as a wife, mother and grandmother. Ginsburg was known to pose the question, “What is the difference between a bookkeeper in the Garment District and a Supreme Court Justice? Her answer: ‘One generation. . . from my personal experience” 

She never forgot where she came from, or those who sacrificed to help her grow into the historic icon we all revere. About her legacy, she said, “To make life a little better for people less fortunate than you, that’s what I think a meaningful life is. Our lives are not just for oneself, but for one’s community.”

Justice Ginsburg’s work helped bring about greater equality for women and secure rights for the disabled. She will continue to influence our nation for generations to come—as a transformative figure whose impact is deeply woven into the fabric of our democracy. The pioneering Supreme Court Justice has passed on, but her words remain to inspire and challenge us all.

Highlight of The Week: Honoring her—it’s on us now to take up the fight for our freedoms 

The nation poured out their grief, anger and defiance as they honored this transformative figure, donating millions, gathering at memorials, and vowing to fight for RBG as she fought for them. 

Democrats raised more than $71 million in the hours after her death, demonstrating how her passing has energized political participation and activism. Her death is galvanizing people to stand up and lend a voice to protect their freedoms; it’s turned into a rallying cry for people to vote. 

Many of the young people at rallies say they are there to thank Ginsburg and to promise they would take up her fight.”We have a lot of work to do and a lot of fighting to do in the next 45 days,” said Kiley Boland, 25, who clutched a book on Constitutional law under one arm.

“It’s on us now. She can rest; we got this.”

Challenge of The Week:

Many fear that the Supreme court’s majority will roll back equality protections that have taken decades to fight for. “It’s up to the masses to continue her fight. It’s our time to fight, this is our future, and the future of  the next generation.” Kamala Harris voiced.

The threat to everything Ginsburg fought for is at stake: health care, women’s rights, abortion, voting rights. 

Get involved, make calls, vote not only for federal but for your local seats. And make sure you complete and return your census .

So be active—Live her Legacy!

Kendall Webb, Executive Director

It’s wedding season, but large gatherings aren’t permitted, few people are flying and most venues are closed for business. And the few weddings that have dared to violate state guidelines, have proven the immense risk of bringing your nearest and dearest together — like the wedding in Maine in August that resulted in 175 covid cases and seven deaths. Weddings have been hit particularly hard by the global pandemic, but unlike concerts and sports events, love can’t wait. 

Weddings are usually a chance for couples to carefully personalize every detail of the day, but COVID has made brides and grooms think more deeply about what’s most valuable to them. The “dream wedding” is canceled—gone are the distractions of getting a cake, planning music, and choosing a perfect venue . . .  So what’s most important?

Remembering what weddings are really about

Many weddings during COVID are more personal and intimate than they ever would have been with a big formal ceremony. They are less about the dress and venue, and more about the bond between two people. 

Most couples are having these personal ceremonies, realizing it’s not the size of the event that matters. 

Some are celebrating among strangers, focusing on the importance of the vows themselves instead of the friends watching.  Faith Albers and Adrian Gerber embraced the idea of a very small, intimate ceremony by marrying at the County Courthouse in Leesburg with just their officiant.

The bride (pictured above) commented, “I lost sight of what was really important, and that is me and Kingsley spending the rest of our lives together,” says Cameron. “This really put the focus on why we were gathering: for us.”

A few examples of the creative weddings and celebrations couples are having:

• In March, when New York City was in complete shutdown, one couple got married on the street by their friend who officiated from the fourth floor, reading passages from In the Time of Cholera, with strangers cheering. 
• One Oklahoma couple decided to have their wedding like a drive-in movie where guests got popcorn and listened from their car radios. 
• A couple in Alabama shrunk their wedding list but the guests decided to surprise them with a parade and they had their first dance in the street in front of all of them.  
• Carlos Muniz contracted COVID-19 the week of his wedding. When he beat it, the staff at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio celebrated by throwing him a wedding from his hospital bed.

Some couples are going BIG and having larger virtual wedding events, hoping to share this moment with everyone in their community: One couple in Georgia had a wedding with 700 attendees joining them during a Facebook Live Stream.

A few years ago, when Sarah Cummins and her fiance, Logan Araujo, called off their engagement only a week before their summer wedding in Carmel, Indiana, they were too late to get out of their contract for a $30,000 reception at the Ritz Charles. Instead of letting the reception go to waste, Cummins decided to donate the $30,000, 170-person dinner and party to the homeless. Local businesses also donated suits, dresses, and spring clothing for homeless guests to wear to the reception and keep afterward. 

The coronavirus is giving us an opportunity to hit the reset button on how we celebrate, taking the focus off what we do to mark special occasions. Some of the best events I’ve attended were simple affairs where we sat around and talked or played games. There were just enough in attendance that you could have meaningful conversations.

The point isn’t to eliminate the celebrations but to shift away from over-done events. The conspicuous consumption that goes into celebrating far too often takes away from the “why” of the gathering.

Maybe, in the future, we can remember the value of this year’s event changes and consider putting money for these big events to more meaningful uses. 

Highlight of The Week: One couple serves the homeless their wedding meal

Melanie and Tyler Tapajna paid in advance for their August wedding, but in early July, the Ohio couple got an email saying their venue wouldn’t be open because of the pandemic. Instead of having the wedding somewhere else, they decided to donate the food to Laura’s Home, a Cleveland shelter for single women and mothers with children, and arranged to have their caterer deliver a meal worth about $2,000 to 135 people. 

Then they personally volunteered to serve the food, dressed in their wedding attire. 

Challenge of The Week: Help others with money you would have spent on an event or trip 

You can turn any situation around.

My family planned to travel this summer but we had to cancel due to the pandemic.  We decided to use the money we would’ve spent on our trip to buy gift cards for food for local individuals who’ve lost their jobs due to COVID. 

With so many events canceled this year, including birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, vacations and weddings, why not give some of the money that we’d have spent to attend and celebrate to someone in need? I know times may be tough, but if you can, give and help someone else. Your heart will thank you.  

And in case you need to cancel your wedding and have prepaid for key items, here are some ways to donate and help others. 

Let’s turn dark skies into silver linings.

Let’s pay it forward.

Kendall Webb, Executive Director