Last Updated October 31, 1996
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"We must not only give what we have;
we must also give what we are."

--Desire Joseph Cardinal Mercier

Nonprofit groups, the focus of this week's cover story, challenge society to become greater that the sum of its parts. We offer a small listing that reflects the diversity of the nonprofit world and invite you to Make a Difference.

Some of America's Favorite Nonprofits are:

• American Humane Society is a national network that works to prevent cruelty, abuse, neglect and exploitation of children and animals.

• American Heart Association funds research and education.

• American Cancer Society provides funding for cancer research, public education and patient assistance.

• American Red Cross responds to some 60,000 disasters annually, handles nearly half the nation's blood supply and last year trained more than 12 million Americans in CPR, first aid and swimming safety.

• Amnesty International operates campaigns against human rights violations around the world.

• Boy Scouts of America teaches life skills and leadership to boys.

• Care aids people affected by natural disasters and war and works to prevent conditions that lead to future disasters by assisting those in need find solutions to their problems.

• Catholic Charities USA provides food, shelter and clothing to mre than 10 million poor and homeless people annually.

• City of Hope operates a hospital which, in 1994, treated 19,300 patients in financial need.

• Covenant House sends out volunteers in vans each night to bring in homeless and runaway youth. Provides food, clothing, shelter, medical help and counseling.

• Father Flanagan's Boy's Home, also known as Boy's Town, houses more than 500 children with troubled backgrounds and operates a toll-free hotline for teens which last year fielded 576,229 calls.

• Feed the Children, a Larry Jones International Ministries project, collects donated food, textbooks and other supplies, and delivers them in a fleet of 18-wheelers to disaster areas.reached needy people last year.

• Girl Scouts of the United States of America teaches life skills and leadership to girls.

• Goodwill Industries operates 1,400 thrift shops and is the countries largest nonprofit provider of employment training for the disabled and poor.

• Habitat for Humanity International provides housing for the poor through sweat equity. Has built more than 40,000 homes for low income families.

• Literacy Volunteers of America is an educational organization, operated by professionals, which delivers tutoring services through a network of more than 50,000 volunteers nationwide.than 300,000 adult learners nationwide.

• MADD, or Mothers Against Drunk Driving, works to "stop drunk driving and support the victims of this violent crime."

• National Resources Defense Council utilizes its expertise in environmental law as advocates for protection of the environment.

• Nature Conservancy protects threatened species and habitats by acquiring land and turning it into nature preserves.

• National Easter Seal Society funds camps and rehabilitation programs and other programs that increase the independence of people with disabilities.

• Public Broadcasting System provides TV programming and related services to 345 noncommercial stations. Their focus is to be a leader in quality children's cultural, educational, nature, news, public affairs, science and skills programming.

• Salvation Army receives more donations than any other charity, which it channels through more than 6,000 U.S. facilities from drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers to group homes for unwed mothers.

• Second Harvest -- is a national network of 185 food banks, feeds 26 million people a year, including nearly 11 million children.

• Unicef USA is an organization in which "kids help kids" work for the survival, protection and development of all children worldwide through education, advocacy and fund raising.

• United Way of America offers this collection of resources for information about their "national system of volunteers, contributors, and local charities built on the proven effectiveness of local organizations helping people in their own communities."

• World Wildlife Fund protects endangered species, habitats and ecosystems.

• World Vision International aids the world's sick and needy through emergency relief and long-range development projects.

• Wycliffe Bible Translators enlists 5,200 missionaries in 50 countries to translate the Bible into different languages and then makes these Bible available to the native peoples.

  Some Denomination-Sponsored Charities:

• Catholic Relief Services

• Church World Service/CROP

• Disciples of Christ National Benevolent Association

• Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Domestic and International Disaster Response

• Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention

• General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church

• Mennonite Central Committee

• United Church of Christ Global Ministries

• The World Council of Churches

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