Organizations Making a Difference in our Communities
Inspiration Kitchens
Lakeview Pantry
Bottom Line
Code Platoon
Off Their Plate
Meals for the NHS
College Possible
Curt’s Café
Metro Squash
Kid's First Chicago
Reading in Motion
Vocel
America Needs You
Open Books
Noble Family Support Fund
Cook County Hospitals
Greater Chicago Food Depository
Hesed House
University of Chicago Hospital Foundation
Northwestern Memorial Foundation
One Million Degrees
Hunter Health Clinic
Sewing Masks for a Safe Chicago
My Block, My Hood, My City
Resilience
Noble Network - Summer of a Lifetime
Code Nation
Koval Distillery
Inspiration Kitchens
Inspiration Kitchens creates opportunities for people affected by homelessness and poverty. With the help of Chicago chefs, Inspiration Kitchens teaches individuals skills that are useful for jobs in the culinary industry, and to date have placed their students in over 650 jobs after working in one of their kitchens. Learn more about Inspiration Kitchens here.
Lakeview Pantry
Lakeview Pantry’s goal is to eliminate hunger in Chicago by creating effective and innovative solutions to provide food to those in need. Additional goals are to raise awareness of social service programs as well as hunger and poverty in the community. Donations go towards food deliveries, job training, mental health counseling and more. Head to Lakeview Pantry's website for more.
Bottom Line
Through rigorous curriculum, personalized support, and one-on-one mentoring, Bottom Line helps low-income, students apply to and graduate from college. High school students receive ongoing support from their advisors, while college students receive on-campus mentoring up until graduation. This program ensures that these students receive the proper tools and resources needed to graduate with established career goals and plans. Learn more at bottomline.org.
Code Platoon
Code Platoon offers coding bootcamps, technical trainings, and career placement guidance to help veterans and military spouses gain the skills and experience necessary to apply for jobs after the military. With no technical background needed, this non-profit program teaches beginner and experienced courses with hands-on training and professional development. Learn more about Code Platoon’s program.
Off Their Plate
With the help of donations and volunteers, Off Their Plate works to bring meals to healthcare staff and families in need, while bringing work to restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. 100% of the funds raised goes directly towards the communities that Off Their Plate serves, with locations in Boston, San Francisco, New York City, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and Philadelphia. Learn more about Off Their Plate.
Meals for the NHS
Meals for the NHS started out as just a few friends wanting to help their community and local hospitals. However, that quickly turned into a group of over 90 people working together to turn donations into meals for NHS staff. All donations go towards meals for NHS staff and this organization is trying to get as many meals to as many mouths in the quickest ways possible, thanks to volunteers and donations. Find more details about Meals for the NHS here.
College Possible
College Possible strives to increase the rate of college admission and college degrees no matter a student’s class or income. College Possible’s programming is created based on four key objectives: coaching and mentoring, research-based curriculum, networking, and ongoing commitment to college success. Head to their website for more.
Curt’s Café
Curt’s Café is a restaurant as well as a training and learning program to help at risk or formerly incarcerated young adults gain the tools and resources needed to find a job. Students are referred to Curt’s Café by job centers, probation officers, social service agencies, students, and family and friends. The program teaches culinary and educational instruction courses either in classroom settings or on the café lines, led by volunteers and mentors. Learn more.
Metro Squash
Metro Squash brings squash and academics together to provide physical, emotional, and professional development for students. Through a 12-year pathway program, Metro Squash has served over 400 students with a 98% college enrollment rate, 100% postsecondary matriculation rate, and 88% college persistence rate. Read more about their mission here.
Kid’s First Chicago
With a mission to ensure high-quality education is available to all students, Kid’s First Chicago educates communities to advocate for access to high-quality public schools as well as provides data research to policymakers to shape education policies and systems. Learn more about Kid’s First Chicago here.
Reading in Motion
Reading in Motion focuses on building foundational reading skills from pre-kindergarten through first grade, with a mission to get every student reading at or above grade level. Reading in Motion teaches core literacy skills that can be utilized throughout children's entire education. They are continuing to provide distance learning while team members and children work and learn from home. Learn more.
Vocel
Vocel is a non-profit organization with a mission to bring quality learning to children. Vocel encourages young children’s brain growth through parent-child early learning, as well as emotional support in order to ensure children’s overall well-being in school and in life. Learn more at vocel.org.
America Needs You
This non-profit provides mentorship and career development programs for first-generation college students to help build the skills needed to better prepare for their careers. Mentor and career coaches work alongside students to help better prepare them for interviews, internships, and their future careers. Interested in helping? Head to the America Needs You website for more.
Open Books
Open Books serves to improve and transform students’ reading and writing skills through educational programs by providing continuous access to books, mentors, and engaging instruction. Programs include one-on-one reading sessions, novel-writing lessons, and even virtual meet-ups to ensure the learning continues even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about Open Books.
Noble Family Support Fund
The Noble Family Support Fund aids families experiencing hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations of this fund go directly toward supporting these families with financial assistance for everyday essentials such as groceries and medical bills. Learn more about how you can support this cause.
Cook County Hospitals
Four contribution organizations under Cook County Health organize fundraising activities and charitable donations for health-related programs. Learn more about these specific organizations and their support programs.
Greater Chicago Food Depository
Chicago’s food bank works toward ending hunger in the Cook County community. With the help of donations, food is provided to over 700 programs in the area. Learn more about how to donate or provide support.
Hesed House
As the second largest homeless shelter in Illinois, Hesed House aims to provide shelter, housing programs, and essential living items to individuals and families experiencing homelessness. As COVID-19 continues to spread, Hesed House is utilizing donations to assist in their ongoing mission to continue to serve vulnerable men, women, and children in the community. Learn more about their current needs.
University of Chicago Hospital Foundation
Through the support of donations, The University of Chicago Hospital Foundation is able to provide research, education, and ongoing care to its patients. To help support this foundation’s initiative to create breakthroughs in science and medicine, visit The University of Chicago Hospital Foundation website.
Northwestern Memorial Foundation
Healthcare workers at Northwestern Hospital are working around the clock amid the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that patients are receiving proper health care. The foundation raises funds to provide high-quality healthcare in the Northwestern community, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. Learn more about the Northwestern Memorial Foundation mission.
One Million Degrees
One Million Degrees is a non-profit organization with a mission to empower community college students by providing meaningful academic, professional, and financial support to scholars. With only one in four Illinois public college students graduating with a degree in three years, One Million Degrees dedicates their resources to ensuring opportunities and success in their scholars. Learn about how you can contribute to One Million Degrees’ scholars’ success and future.
Hunter Health Clinic
Hunter Health Clinic is a community health center providing patient-centered services and tailored plans to every patient in Wichita, Kansas. Hunter Health Clinic offers virtual visits, a critical necessity amid the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure patients are receiving ongoing access to their clinics and healthcare providers. If you would like to learn how you can support or donate to this health center, visit Hunter Health Clinic's website.
Sewing Masks for a Safe Chicago
This charitable effort uses 100% of the funds raised to produce high-quality cotton face masks for Chicagoans in need during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also providing work for seamstresses and tailors. If you would like to donate, please visit their Go Fund Me.
My Block, My Hood, My City
My Block, My Hood, My City gives children and young adults the tools and resources needed to build awareness of their community and understand the opportunities that are available to them, by encouraging them to step outside of their comfort zone to engage and explore new experiences, organizations, and communities.
Resilience
As a not-for-profit organization located in Chicago, Resilience provides sexual assault survivors with crisis intervention counseling, trauma therapy, as well as medical and legal advocacy. Resilience aims to provide positive change in policies related to sexual assault as well as improve the overall treatment and care of sexual assault survivors.
Noble Network – Summer of a Lifetime
Summer of a Lifetime supports Noble Network students by providing funding for summer academic programs at colleges across the country. Summer of a Lifetime continues their efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic, providing virtual support to over 200 students.
Code Nation
Code Nation is a non-profit organization that equips high school students with technical and professional skills, as well as workplace experience and confidence. Additionally, this organization provides coding courses and learning programs to students to help develop their skills and set students up for long-term success in their careers. Learn more about their mission here.
Koval Distillery
Hand sanitizer continues to be in high-demand as COVID-19 rapidly spreads across the United States. To help make it more accessible, Chicago's KOVAL Distillery is producing hand sanitizer in bulk for hospitals and healthcare workers, retirement homes, and other frontline workers experiencing shortages, free of charge. All donations go towards purchasing supplies to keep up with the demand. Learn more about Koval Distillery’s mission.