Naples Nonprofits and Charities

When I was 8 I went to an inclusive summer camp at NTRC and fell in love. I wanted to be just like the teenage volunteers, but you had to be 12 to volunteer with NTRC. The day after my 12th birthday I was trained as a sidewalker. That was in 2006 and I am still a volunteer today! In college I volunteered at a therapeutic riding stable in New Smyrna Beach and one in England (when I studied abroad)! Because of NTRC I found my passion for working with children with special needs and became a special education teacher nine years ago! I now am so lucky to get to volunteer at NTRC with some of the students I teach and not only see their progress in my classroom, but the amazing things they do on horseback as well!

As soon as they came into my condo I knew they where not going to take the leather couch. The women picked at the fabric and claim the supervisor texted her to decline the pickup. I was standing right there no text message was sent. I would never donate to them. The couch was in great condition. It was a sleeper sofa never used she didn’t want to move it. Lazy. They told me to put it on market place for $200

In the last 4 years LI2Day has awarded Strength for Life $56,900, we promote the event to others because of our wonderful experience with them, aside from the financials. From year one we have been in awe of the accomplishments, professionalism and camaraderie of the LI2DAY team. <br><br>As you know, The LI2DAY Walk was originally founded in 2004 responding to the critical need for funding of community-based organizations that provide assistance to Long Islanders with breast cancer. Funds raised go to local grassroots breast cancer and other women’s cancer organizations, breast cancer research and the LI2Day Scholarship Fund. The LI2Day Walk is a volunteer-based community event like no other with a constituency of over 1,000 active and enthusiastic participants. LI2DAY is committed to Long Islanders who are fighting breast cancer. LI2DAY has raised over $6 MILLION to assist Long Islanders with medical expenses, transportation, prosthetics and wigs, physical therapy, child care, research and education. NEW: In 2014, LI2DAY expanded its mission to include funding for all cancers.<br><br>Strength for Life is a non- profit organization providing FREE exercise classes and wellness retreats to cancer patients/survivors on LI. Our immediate purpose is to help cancer patients feel their absolute best, to regain their ‘strength for life’, improve their daily functional activities, quality of life and self- esteem. The ultimate mission is to educate the medical community on the benefits of adding exercise to the treatment and recovery plan. In 2010 the American College of Sports Medicine changed their guidelines for cancer patients to “avoid inactivity” and to date there are many studies touting the benefits of exercise. The medical community needs to be more pro-active in adding an exercise prescription to their treatment plan. Strength for Life is committed to make classes as accessible as possible to all cancer patients/survivors in Nassau and Suffolk counties by seeking donated space at a location convenient to the group to eliminate the travel burden from the survivors. We provide the equipment for each to keep and continue the exercises at home. Strength for Life maintains these programs at no cost to the survivor to eliminate any financial burden.<br><br>Wellness Retreat offers 20 survivors an overnight stay at a local hotel, meals and a variety of classes introducing them to different modalities of exercise and complementary therapies, and the necessary equipment to continue their exercise prescription at home. Classes include but not limited to Zumba, Strength Training, Yoga, Tai Chi, Reiki, Sound Healing, Art / Writing Therapy, Feng Shui for Healing in addition to presentations by Doctors of Naturopathic and Osteopathic Medicine along with other Holistic Healers. Our programs can best be described by testimonials on our Great Non Profits page. (http://greatnonprofits.org/org/strength-for-life-inc)<br><br>Strength for Life has volunteered to run the 'Serenity Tent' during the walk, it is a beautiful respite to honor our Loved Ones that we have lost.<br>

Broken hearted for my mother in law who passed a couple of days ago in the "care" of Avow. She suffered horribly for hours when no staff showed up despite our phone calls. Her house was equipped with morphine etc but family members were never educated on how to administer them. In fact, my husband and I who were with her for the last year of her like never even met an Avow staff person and their communication was only with my other in law (the sick patient) and her husband with Dementia. Really? My father used Vitas when he was dying 3 years ago. VITAS WAS FANTASTIC- compassionate, kind and educational; exactly what a family wants and deserves when their loved one is terminal. We family members knew the staff and they were present around the clock. What a completely opposite experience for two different hospices with stellar reputations. I will only use Vitas for other family members and myself included when that day comes. We reported our experience to the team nurse in person yesterday and although she apologized she was more concerned with defending her staff as being busy. No one deserves this experience!

Wonderful organization that's been around for 40 plus years. They take in abused, neglected and abandoned kids, ages 6-17 and get them counseling, provide a safe and nurturing environment.

I am proud to volunteer at Hope for Haiti. I cannot think Hope for Haiti enough for the extraordinary work being done in Haiti, the country where I was born. <br>May God bless the Founder, the President/CEO, the Executive Director, the Donors, the Staff and all the Volunteers of Hope for Haiti. MESI ANPIL! <br> <br>Monique

Over several years I donated to the YMCA's strong kids campain. I strongly believed in this charity. However over the past 2 years thng have changed. I have noticed with millions of dollars in donations from the community and other organizations. The money is not being used. First the facility is falling apart (literally). Also the children have playgrounds filled with broken toys. The playgrounds are unsafe. Next community members may apply for scholarships, however the guy in the parking lot with a new BMW will be the one to recieve the scholarship. This YMCA only helps and reaches out to people in the community who in return will help them. They give the YMCA a bad name, and this is unfortunate because most YMCA's are a help to the community!

Global Help Foundation is dedicated to the protection all sentient beings and the conservation of the environment. We have chosen Nicaragua, a country that has the smallest and youngest population in Central America and is the second poorest nation in the western hemisphere, to create a wildlife sanctuary, rescue, rehabilitation, re-release and education center. The wildlife sanctuary will be dedicated to the Nicaraguan people, employ locals and will strive to be a self sustaining project. We are working with an international group (WSPA) and local conservation groups, government and community members to in preserving Nicaragua's precious bio diversity through education at all levels. By creating educational materials in English and Spanish we hope to make it easy for teachers to spread the word to everyone as we all work together towards a better world.