Vote to help us pick the next Match Rugby Fund donations. In a collaboration with Ashoka’s Youth Venture we’ve selected 30 organizations, of which 15 will receive a $1000 grant. The Ralph Lauren Foundation will weigh voting on this page as part of the process of choosing those 15 winners. After the jump, learn more about each of the finalists, and through June 30 place your votes as to which organizations you’d like to see win the cash. ‘Cause you always look good when you give back.
ALMAS
ALMAS Latina members overcome family and social pressures through mentorship, goal setting, career exploration and encouragement. College-age women provide mentorship to high school students who in turn act as mentors to eighth graders.
The Awakening Project
The Awakening Project is a suicide prevention and awareness organization run by teens, for teens. Through their website and fundraising events the organization works to increase awareness about suicide and prevention.
College Bound Latinos (CBL)
College Bound Latinos works towards giving young Latinos a goal to strive for after high school by showing them the opportunities available for continuing education. CBL informs the Latino students about important steps in the college application process, organizes college visits and exposes the students to the college environment.
Dig Deep
Everyone in the world should have access to clean water; Dig Deep is working to make this possible. Their goal is to raise $10,000 for the construction of a water system in a rural village in Ethiopia.
Dreams Come True
The Dreams Come True campaign integrates the collaborative community service into Houston area schools with a fresh and innovative way to bring "fun" into charity work. Among other initiatives, they host AIDS panels, charity concerts, fashion shows and fundraising parties called “Party for a Purpose to Live” at sponsoring nightclubs.
Feroce
High-school sophomores Satya and Audris are raising social consciousness about the Greenpoint, Brooklyn, oil spill. The mission of Feroce is to educate and spread awareness about the many health risks associated with the toxins in the subterranean pools of oil.
Health Advocacy Program (HAP)
With the aim of lessening the burden of chronic disease that falls disproportionately on minorities and the economically poor, HAP links local middle school students with college students and actively engages them in fun activities like cooking competitions and grocery shopping trips — empowering young students with the knowledge and skills to advocate for their own health, as well as the health of their peers and community.
Heart to Heart
Heart to Heart is a student organization dedicated to the prevention of high blood pressure in New York City. By partnering with community organizations and student volunteers, Heart to Heart provides blood pressure screenings, educational brochures and referral information to communities who are at high risk for hypertension.
The HIV Testing Initiative
The HIV Testing Initiative at New York University provides progressive HIV screening services, education and advocacy at the largest private university in the country. The initiative serves as an advocate for sexual health and HIV-related resources on campus, engaging the NYU community in an active dialogue on HIV/AIDS.
The Kilimanjaro Health and Education Fund
The Kilimanjaro Health & Education Fund works towards reducing the rural-urban inequality in access to health care and to make significant changes within the Tanzanian health system.
Know Your Status
Know Your Status (KYS) is a student-run organization started at Duke University in 2005. The program encourages all students to be aware of their HIV status by offering free, confidential and rapid HIV tests on a weekly basis at student centers and dormitories.
Lincoln Book Splitters
Lincoln Book Splitters is striving to change the stigma associated with book-reading in the community and get youth interested in reading. The organization publishes and distributes a magazine and is in the process of planning a book club to be held at the local Boys and Girls Club as well as a community Book Fest and a community sponsored read-a-thon.
Little Engine Creations
Little Engine Creations is designed to bring the joys of team sports and the arts into the lives of special needs children. By playing on a baseball team and participating in the production of theatrical performances, these children will have the opportunity to interact with their peers and grow in confidence and expression in a supportive environment.
LiveGreenLearnGreen
LiveGreenLearnGreen is an environmental service organization that looks to improve the standard of living of low-income families in Montgomery County, Maryland, with a focusing on energy efficiency. Funds are raised through a coalition of tutors and babysitters who contribute 100% of their income and are compensated in community service hours to fulfill school graduation requirements. Through this earned-income model, LiveGreenLearnGreen purchases energy-saving products — such as weather-stripping, door sweeps, light bulbs and more — for insulating and “greening” homes of low-income families at little or no cost to the families.
Multi-Cultural Learning Program
The Multi-Cultural Learning Program explores the foundation of different cultures and helps to promote multi-cultural unity and academics. Their completely volunteer-run program provides mentors and tutors for youth and encourages students to learn about differing backgrounds from guest speakers and social gatherings.
NETwork Against Malaria
NETwork Against Malaria raises funds to purchase insecticide-treated malaria bed-nets for Ugandan families to reduce mosquito bites, a cause of malaria. NETwork has provided 350 bed-nets to girls in secondary school in Hoima, Uganda, and 50 bed nets to the surrounding village of Bwikara.
New Global Citizens Team
The New Global Citizens' team advocates the eradication of discrimination on the basis of medical impairment. In addition to their advocacy work, the members of New Global Citizens have raised over $3,000 for the Simón Palacios Intriago Foundation — enough to purchase new rehabilitation equipment, influence the government to pay the salary for a new physical therapist, and construct additional outdoor open-air classrooms for occupational therapy in Pedernales, Equador.
Planeta Jeune Kuai Le (Planet Happy Youth)
Planeta Jeune Kuai Le (Planet Happy Youth) aims to get young people to exercise, have fun, learn from others, develop team work, get away from drugs and violence and take advantage of time off during the summer through cultural exchanges. The organization targets kids living in New York and in the Dominican Republic, where team members spent six weeks doing community service work in a rural village during the summer of 2008.
R.E.A.C.H 4 Books
While visiting Peru, the organization’s founders saw first-hand the lack of books in communities along the Amazon River. R.E.A.C.H. 4 Books aims to provide 10,000 Spanish books to children in the region, as well as fund and build a new library on the River.
Redemption, Inc.
A community-based non-profit organization that serves disadvantaged and underserved youth between the ages of 13 and 19 residing in New York City, Redemption, Inc. provides youth with educational and social development tools through leadership and service learning programs. Redemption supports schools, students and parents struggling in substandard educational environments by increasing their awareness about the possibilities available to them.
Supporting Initiatives for the Redistribution of Unused Medicine (SIRUM)
SIRUM is a nonprofit start-up that connects clinics with medical donors to ensure that billions of dollars worth of usable medicine helps reach communities in need. Based at Stanford University, SIRUM utilizes information technology to aggregate and then match excess medication and supplies from donors with demand from free clinics.
The Solidarity Project
In response to the Virginia Tech tragedy, The Solidarity Project was created to bring students from across America together in the name of preventing violence on college campuses and standing up for education. Through fundraising efforts, they hope to establish a scholarship fund in memory of each of the victims.
SPINALpedia
SPINALpedia helps people with recent spinal cord injuries (SCI) and their families to transition to a productive life through the power of the stories and experiences of others who have overcome similar challenges. SPINALpedia will be the first online interactive social network of its kind with open-source content-sharing features for the SCI community.
Stand Up Fists Down
Stand Up Fists Down is a group of young people from West Des Moines, Iowa, who recognize the need to address the issue of violence within their community as well as the unhealthy lifestyle of teens. The team publishes print and web-based monthly newsletters for teens highlighting an anti-violence message and recommendations for living a healthier lifestyle.
UR Tours Jr.
With the goal of increasing Rochester’s high school graduation rate (currently below 50%), UR Tours Jr. provides an opportunity for Rochester City students in grades four through six to visit the University of Rochester River Campus. UR Tours Jr. targets students who might otherwise never have the opportunity to visit a campus or dream of attending college on their own.
Women In Science and Engineering (WISE)
WISE was developed on the Middle Tennessee State University campus to encourage and help young women prepare for, and become involved with, science- and math-related careers. Their main goal is to assure women of their importance in all scientific and technical fields, as well as to promote equal opportunity and treatment of women in science.
Write On!
Write On! is a nonprofit literacy organization dedicated to the mission of helping kids discover joy, improved confidence and a means of self-expression and connection with others through reading and writing. Initiatives include a holiday book drive, a Web site, the Write On! Summer Camp and Write On! scholarships.
Youth Action
Youth Action is committed to community involvement and are on a mission to enlighten, encourage and empower fellow youth to improve their lives, their community and our world. As Youth Action has grown over the years into a non-profit organization led by young people, its focus has expanded to not only include issues of teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS awareness and education, and acting as mentors for young people, but also to social and economic challenges that youth are facing in urban communities.
Youth Overpower Foundation
Youth Overpower Foundation encourages teens to take an active role in their health and wellness. This fitness program, with over 20 current participants, has professional trainers who work with teens to determine their fitness level, create a personalized health and wellness plan for the duration of the program and track participants’ progress to help them achieve their goals.
Undergraduate Pathways
Undergraduate Pathways provides young people with a better understanding of, and access to, higher education through mentoring events that create dialogue between high school students and college students.