NJ places that deserve your help on #GivingTuesday

Giving Tuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) is a global movement to create a day of giving at the beginning of the Christmas and holiday season. There's plenty of local organizations that would benefit from a charitable mindset this week, so let's take a look at a dozen around New Jersey. The following are highly rated (90 and above) by Charity Navigator. You can check these and other NJ based charities and non-profits by clicking here.

Have a NJ group or organization that you think deserves support? Please share it with us! Just tweet@nj1015 or email me at erin.vogt@townsquaremedia.com.

HomeFront
1880 Princeton Avenue, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
HomeFront provides a network of services for the poor and homeless in Mercer County. The mission is to meet the immediate needs of food, shelter and safety and to help troubled families break from the cycle of poverty.

Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey
1347 Perrineville Road, Monroe Township, NJ 08831
Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.  since their inception in 1983, have granted over 7,000 wishes. The New Jersey Chapter serves the entire state.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey
31 Evans Terminal, Hillside, NJ 07205
The Community FoodBank of New Jersey fights hunger and poverty  by assisting those in need and seeking long term solutions. In Fiscal Year 2017, the FoodBank distributed more than 50 million pounds of food a year to more than 1,000 partner agencies. Through combined efforts (with volunteers, donors and partners) the FoodBank helps feed more than 900,000 hungry people in New Jersey every year.

Fulfill
3300 Route 66, Neptune, NJ 07753
Fulfill (formerly The FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties), provides access to nutritious food and resources to end hunger in Shore area neighborhoods. Fulfill serves over 300 pantries, soup kitchens and other feeding programs with over twelve million pounds of food, including 2 million pounds of fresh produce, annually. Fulfill offers hunger-ending resources including kids meals and backpack programs, mobile pantries and a Culinary Training Program for job seekers.

Ronald McDonald House Charities New York Tri-State Area
111 Wood Avenue South Suite 400, Iselin, NJ 08830
Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey
550 Mickle Road, Camden, NJ 08103
Ronald McDonald House Charities support regional Ronald McDonald Houses, which are "homes away from home" allowing families to stay close to their seriously ill, hospitalized children. There's also support for NJ's Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, for families to rest and regroup right at the hospital. The organization also provides college scholarships and community grants to organizations serving children in the areas of medicine, crisis intervention, social and civic services, education and the arts.

Special Olympics New Jersey
1 Eunice Kennedy Shriver Way, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Special Olympics New Jersey provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

ArtPride New Jersey Foundation
432 High Street, Burlington, NJ 08016
Your donation supports programs that raise awareness about the vital role the non-profit arts industry plays in our state’s economy, in schools, in the healthcare field and in our hometowns.

United Way of Central Jersey
32 Ford Avenue, Milltown, NJ 08850
United Way of Hunterdon County
4 Walter East Foran Boulevard, Flemington, NJ 08822
United Way of Monmouth and Ocean Counties
1415 Wyckoff Road, Farmingdale, NJ 07727
The United Way provides leadership to create opportunities for a better life for people living or working in our community who are needy, at risk and vulnerable. We achieve this by mobilizing people, organizations and financial resources to create and sustain programs that achieve targeted outcomes and lasting change through volunteerism, partnerships services and advocacy.

Deborah Hospital Foundation
212 Trenton Road, Browns Mills, NJ 08015
Deborah Hospital Foundation's mission is to: provide substantial funding to support the highest quality of patient care by Deborah Heart and Lung Center; to provide for treatment of children with congenital heart disease and to provide for clinical research for cardiac and pulmonary disease.

The Valerie Fund
2101 Millburn Avenue, Maplewood, NJ 07040
The Valerie Fund's mission is to provide support for the health care of children with cancer and blood disorders. Since starting in 1976, there are now seven Valerie Fund Children's Centers for Cancer and Blood Disorders in major hospitals in the tri-state area, bringing state-of-the-art treatment centers close to home, providing counseling and child development activities and hosting a summer camp experience for children with cancer.

Clean Ocean Action
18 Hartshorne Drive Suite 2, Highlands, NJ 07732
Clean Ocean Action (COA) is a coalition of over 115 active boating, business, community, conservation, diving, environmental, fishing, religious, service, student, surfing, and women's groups. COA works with 'wavemakers' to clean up and protect ocean waters along Jersey's coast, from Cape May Inlet to Montauk Point on Long Island.

Advocates for Children of New Jersey
35 Halsey Street Second Floor, Newark, NJ 07102
Advocates for Children of New Jersey is an independent voice putting children's needs first, for more than 30 years. The organization works with local, state and federal leaders to identify and implement changes that will benefit NJ's children. ACNJ are strictly non-partisan and accept no government funding for advocacy.

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