Heath Haussamen
I’ve been meaning for awhile to urge you all to donate to a cause you deem worthy during this holiday season, if you can afford it.
Here are a few of my favorite New Mexico charities and nonprofits:
Child Crisis Center of Southern New Mexico
This organization serves as a crisis shelter for children, in addition to providing counseling and other help for kids facing issues such as abuse and homelessness. It will also provide help for their families.
This is such an important organization. When I was a reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News I wrote about several child-abuse deaths, including the heartbreaking Baby Brianna case that has received international attention. I wish some of those parents who killed their children could have had the option of taking them to a crisis center to help diffuse tense situations.
The Child Crisis Center is still in its infancy, but in its first year it has taken care of 112 children up to age 11. That’s impressive, but it’s not enough. The Child Crisis Center needs to grow, and it needs your help.
You can take a donation of money or clothing to the center, which is located at 999 W. Amador Ave. in Las Cruces. Click here for more information about making a donation.
You can also help by shopping at the children’s store Tutti Bambini, located at 300 El Molino Blvd. Proceeds benefit the Child Crisis Center.
Roadrunner Food Bank
As stated on its website, this organization and its partner groups “are helping nearly 40,000 different hungry people in our state weekly. That figure is equivalent to feeding a city the size of Farmington every single week.” And through the end of the month, donations are matched by PNM, up to $31,000.
There are lots of hungry people who could use a warm and filling meal. Here’s more information about the need, from Roadrunner’s website:
- New Mexico ranks 5th in the nation for the number of people who wonder when they will have their next meal.
- Hungry people make difficult choices. For example, more than 54 percent choose between paying for utilities and food.
- The average income among those Roadrunner serves is $900 a month.
- 51 percent of food pantries report turning people away due to lack of food.
- Many believe that the homeless are the only people who need help with food, but only 8 percent of those served by Roadrunner are homeless.
- Food assistance programs in New Mexico are experiencing demand that has not occurred since the Great Depression. Agencies to which Roadrunner provides food say increases are as high as 30-40 percent.
Click here to make a donation.
New Mexico Foundation for Open Government
Regular readers of NMPolitics.net know about my passion for open government and my concern about how far we are from full transparency. The latter is why the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government needs your help.
FOG exists solely to help you understand and exercise your rights under the First Amendment and state and federal sunshine laws. You have the right to access all sorts of government information, but there are always forces trying to keep you in the dark.
This is a nonpartisan issue that, in the words of FOG’s website, is simply a “core value in a democracy.” In my mind, without sunshine we don’t have democracy. Transparency is that critical to protecting our system of government and our way of life.
Click here to make a donation.
New Mexico First
New Mexico First aims to “build consensus between groups and inspire positive legislative action in New Mexico,” according to its website. In such partisan times, we need a greater focus on getting past division to find solutions to our serious problems.
The group holds town-hall meetings, sponsors congressional debates that are known for their thoughtful questions and citizen involvement, and truly works to bring people together. Former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican, and retiring Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat, cofounded the organization.
Its core values include meaningfully engaging New Mexicans in public policy, building consensus, pursuing and respecting diverse viewpoints, ensuring inclusion and transparency, rising above partisan politics, changing policy to improve people’s lives, creating an informed and motivated citizenry, reaching out statewide, partnering with others, promoting civility, and demonstrating democracy at its best.
In other words, it’s a good group of people who are passionate about improving New Mexico and seeking ways to work together.
Click here to donate.