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Give BIG Today - and Always


Today is the day for Give BIG fundraisers all across the country. It's the chance to donate to causes and organizations you'd like to support and make a BIG difference. We've got some links and suggestions for ways to make that BIG difference, and always feel free to add your own.

First, we'll start at home with Give BIG San Bernardino County. This 24 hour campaign matches you with more than 100 worthy causes and organizations, ranging from the Morongo Basin Humane Society, to the Mojave Desert Land Trust. There are matching funds available that help make your donations go farther, and prizes to encourage you to make that donation today.

While all the organizations are worthwhile, here are some of our top picks for those who truly go above and beyond to make us proud:

1. Reach Out Morongo Basin. Started in 1998 to fill in the gaps in services to seniors and disabled residents that allow our neighbors to remain in their own homes safely and with dignity, Reach Out Morongo Basin serves an enormous geographic territory - more than 520 square miles of the hi-desert! They also operate their Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors program and administer volunteer caregiving programs, providing thousands of hours of service to more than 1,100 seniors and disabled hi-desert residents.

They help provide a better quality of life for people here, whether it's by shopping for groceries, picking up and delivering prescription medication, providing personal business assistance, running a reading program, helping with light house work and heavy yard work, home repairs, and transportation services for medical and social services appointments. This is an incredible organization that deserves our support every day of the year.

2. Morongo Basin Unity Home. Unity Home helps victims of domestic violence in numerous ways. They have made an enormous positive impact for our hi-desert communities in every way from counseling to providing secure safe lodging for victims who could otherwise be in danger from their abuser. They provide critically needed services to help rebuild the lives of domestic violence victims and there is no "thank you" big enough for their dedicated staff and volunteers.

3. Morongo Basin ARCH (Aligning Resources, Challenging Homelessness). Formed in 2008, this all volunteer organization partners with other groups and churches to provide food, clothing, laundry services, welfare checks, and sober living housing for the homeless of the hi-desert.

4. Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Desert. No effort to make our communities better can go without including our children. For more than 30 years, the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Desert has offered after school educational programs, a summer session food program, delinquency prevention programs, a teen round table, career launch, SMART Girls, Date SMART, and Triple Play programs. There's absolutely no doubt that these programs make a great positive difference in our hi-desert communities.

5. Morongo Basin Humane Society. Of course, when we talk family and community, we include our non-human community members, and Joshua Tree's no-kill shelter is at the forefront of caring for what we consider to be our extended family. They receive no federal, state, county, or city funding, so it's up to all of us to keep them going, and to ensure their mission of finding forever homes for our family members continues.

6. Mojave Desert Land Trust. Finally, we also need to care for the land that sustains us and our wildlife, and perpetuates the quality of life that, well, frankly, makes us feel spoiled yet grateful. The MDLT doesn't just work to protect valuable wild desert lands in the hi-desert, but across the desert as well. This year, they're working to protect a 630 acre parcel of land called Juniper Canyon and they have matching donations to help reach their goal. They even have some raffle prizes for donors, so what are you waiting for?

We have one more cause that isn't included in San Bernardino County's official Give BIG fundraiser, and that's Mara's Tender Loving Christmas. Mara Cantelo, who really should be made a saint, died this fall after more than 30 years of making sure nobody was alone or hungry on Christmas in the hi-desert. It is truly an astounding achievement. This year, volunteers are working to keep Mara's Christmas tradition going and they could use our help. Please call them at (760)628-8298 to find out how you can be a part of making real Christmas magic in the hi-desert!

Thank you for making our communities a better, safer, happier, and healthier place to live! If you are outside of our home in the hi-desert, please support the organizations in your communities, from the Navajo Nation to Tucson, Hopi to ABQ. Thank you.

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