Haley’s Hope

Haley’s Hope was launched in 2011 in West Fargo, North Dakota, and has served over 830 students. Haley’s Hope has worked to prevent the negative effects of dyslexia from limiting the potential of youth. The Haley’s Hope Dyslexia Learning Center is the region’s only facility providing tutoring and comprehensive services to North Dakota, North Eastern South Dakota, and Northwestern Minnesota. Kari Bucholz, the founder and Executive Director of Haley’s Hope, was inspired to launch the organization after witnessing the detrimental effects dyslexia had on her son, Haley, during a time when no resources were available to those struggling with this complex learning challenge. Over the last decade, Haley’s Hope has served more than 830 dyslexic youth through 1:1 structure literacy tutoring, small group study skill instruction, and multisensory math coaching, all while advocating for improvements to our education system’s treatment of the disorder, namely teacher training and screening processes.

How You Can Help?

“Your gift to Haley’s Hope allows kids once failing at reading, spelling, writing and math, to start soaring! Donations are readily used to; support existing program supply and tech implementation needs, build programs for deeper academic and social success, and remove financial barriers to allow access to these services to those in need. Your support is not an investment in things. It’s an investment in people. It changes each and every life that comes to Haley’s Hope. You will be helping to create HOPE for every child coming in our doors; launching them into lives of learning, confidence and success.” – Haley’s Hope

 

Jessy’s Toy Box Inc

Jessy’s Toy Box collects toys, books, gift cards, Kindles, iPads and other new items for kids who are in the hospital or who are receiving treatments. They deliver toys continually in five states and periodically in many other states. They work closely with the hospital and if they have a child life specialist, work closely to make sure that they can supply the hospitals with toys and other items needed for the playrooms. They also try to help families that need special items to aid with their child’s treatments. They have many volunteers, from those who allow toy boxes to be held in their business to 4H groups who help sticker the toys that will be delivered. They also have families who volunteer to help deliver the toys.

How You Can Help?

“Donating new toys, gift cards, books, blankets, and stuffed animals.” – Jessy’s Toy Box Inc.

TNT Kid’s Fitness & Gymnastics

TNT Kid’s Fitness is a non-profit 501(c)(3)organization founded in 2005. The TNT mission presented a bright idea to provide an inclusive space for physical activity to serve children with special needs as well as competitive athletes. TNT embraced providing inclusive settings to meet the physical, social, emotional and cognitive needs. The programs serve children starting at 0-99 years in age! Recreational and preschool programming, occupational therapy, special needs, school days out camps, no bummer summer camp, birthday and private parties, open gyms, SOAR after school program, USA team i.e.girls, boys, and USAF cheer, Rock Steady BoxingParkinson’s, Adult no limits fitness, and USA military veterans fitness.

How You Can Help?

“TNT Kid’s Fitness provides a wrap-around support program to offer adaptive movement opportunities for students with special needs. We collaborate with 36 local area schools within a 60-mile radius of the Fargo-Moorhead area. More than 435 students received TNT’s services with our unique movement-based programming in 2019-20. We are excited to get them all back for the 2021-22 school year after limited participation in the 2020-21 school year. TNT provides the least restrictive environment to foster each student’s potential and build their skills. We implement our movement curriculum designed to fulfill the development gap for those challenged physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally. In addition to the above focus areas and goals, this program has many residual impacts. TNT partners with area colleges to enhance their student learning opportunity and apply their knowledge with hands-on experience. Your support allows us to continue to grow this program.” – TNT Kid’s Fitness

 

FirstLink

FirstLink answers the 24-Hour 211 Helpline and National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for North Dakota and Western Minnesota. They are here 24/7 to help people struggling with mental health, suicide, financial and family concerns and much more. Their goal is to be available 24/7 to support people in all types of situations find help and hope. The organization was founded more than 50 years ago by a group of volunteers. They felt because more women were entering the workforce, that kids left at home may have less support and wanted to start an organization to help support those kids. Since that time, FirstLink has grown to be available 24-hours a day to support all people in our community

How You Can Help?

“People can donate to help cover the costs of operating 24-hours per day. $24.00 helps us cover the cost of one life-changing phone call.” – FirstLink

Box of Balloons – Fargo

Box of Balloons started as a small non-profit in Sun Prairie, WI in 2013. Since then, 56 more have made their way across the country, one of which was opened in Fargo in 2020. Their mission is simple–to spread birthday joy and cheer to children who wouldn’t otherwise be celebrated on their birthday. They partner with social workers, child advocates and educators to identify children in these circumstances. Once a request is received, they pull together a unique and customized Birthday Box for the specific child which includes: tableware, decorations, party game/activity, party favors, cupcakes and candles, and a birthday gift, card and necessary wrapping. They then provide the birthday box to the parent or caregiver, signifying their role in the child’s life and making them the birthday hero. The fundamental goal is to provide joy, hope and celebration for the child!

How You Can Help?

“Aside from financial donations, we are always in need of party supplies, and also have a “build-abox” program in which we provide you with a child’s name, birthdate as well as all the empty box and all the info you need to pull it together from start to finish!” – Box of Balloons, Fargo

 

Legacy Children’s Foundation

The Legacy Children’s Foundation (LCF) is a grassroots after-school youth resource in the Fargo, ND metro area for motivated, yet fragile teens seeking to excel in school, serve their neighbors and thrive as productive leaders. Launched in 2011 by discouraged teens, LCF fills in gaps of academic and life resources to rebuild skills, confidence and relationships so all teens can reach their full potential. Learning, serving and leading are the pillars of their mission. Building a sense of belonging through meaningful relationships with peers and adults elevates youth to embrace their strengths and drill into their weaknesses to gain confidence and motivation to positively impact their place and time in the community. LCF seeks to be innovative agents of change to bridge the gap of opportunities for vulnerable youth with abundant resources from caring members of the community.

How You Can Help?

“Legacy believes in the value of relationships! We strive hard to build a solid bridge of healthy belonging between our youth and the community. Seven project based volunteer activities are established to offer meaningful time together. Investors can also share financial gifts.” – Legacy Children’s Foundation

 

Matthew’s Voice Project

Matthew’s Voice Project (MVP) is a community effort to assist students in the community’s public schools who are identified as experiencing homelessness. Much of MVP’s focus is on unaccompanied youth (no parents or guardians in their lives), providing them with the support and encouragement they need to complete high school. Over the past several years, their continued goal is to assist homeless students with more pressing day-to-day needs like housing, quality shoes to last, clothing needs to include dress clothes for work, winter/snow gear, and more, cell phones and pre-paid minutes, technology needs such as jump drives to store homework to transfer between computers, YMCA memberships, gas cards and taxi fares for transportation to their jobs and gift cards for food and daily needs. Monetary donations are made directly to Matthew’s Voice Project, a 501(c)(3) organization, and dispersed to the local Homeless High School Liaisons to help take care of the needs of the students so they can succeed and graduate from school.

How You Can Help?

“On our Matthew’s Voice project webpage, we have a donate button, or people can reach out directly via matthewsvoiceproject@gmail.com to see what needs the liaisions are searching for at that time. We also have amazon wish lists for all three schools that individuals can access. The liaisons will post immediate needs and if a community member decides to purchase, it will be sent directly to the liaison for the student in need.” – Matthew’s Voice Project

 

We The People North Dakota

We the People is a civics education curriculum that promotes teaching and learning about the Constitution and Bill of Rights. They work with social studies teachers throughout the state to incorporate the curriculum into their classrooms and to prepare their students for the state competition. As on organization, We the People conduct in-state professional development for teachers, partners with other states for professional development opportunities and hold simulated Congressional hearings for secondary students. The winning school qualifies to compete at the National level which is sponsored by the Center for Civic Education. They also provide free textbooks for schools who participate. The work is supported by Humanities North Dakota, the State Bar Association of North Dakota and many lawyer and educator volunteers who help judge and facilitate the state competition.

How You Can Help?

“Individuals can donate to We the People to help fund textbooks and the summer teacher institutes, cover the costs of the state competition and to send the winning team to nationals. They can also serve as a judge for the state competition or serve as a facilitator for the simulated hearings. We also need constitutional scholars that are willing to teach our professional development sessions.” – We the People North Dakota

The Human Family

The Human Family promotes human rights and social justice through film and art. They founded the North Dakota Human Rights Film and Arts Festival, which travels throughout the state providing forums of dialogue and connection on important community topics, They are also stewards of the Fargo-Moorhead LGBT Film Festival, the state’s only celebration of queer cinema. They also founded the North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival to encourage discussion around climate change, renewable energy, climate migration, and the intersections between environmental rights and human rights. Additionally, The Human Family also produces original content and is wrapping production on a multi-part series about the homelessness crisis in North Dakota. The series “Home” will premiere in the second quarter of 2022. The mission of The Human Family is to create awareness, educate and facilitate community change through empathy.

How You Can Help?

“Individuals can support The Human Family at our website at www.Human-Family.org. They can also support our work by attending any of our in-person or online screenings of films or community conversations.” – The Human Family

Jasmin Child Care and Preschool

Jasmin Child Care and Preschool started in 2015 to address the early childhood education needs of low-income families and provide a culturally competent child care service to the growing diverse population in Fargo. Since the beginning, thier philosophy has been to empower families through holistic care of their kids and provide support and connections to other resources in the community. Serving kids ages 6 weeks to 12 years, their volunteers love working with kids by mentoring and tutoring in both academics and life skills. They want to work with the community and other organizations to make a difference in the lives of at-risk kids. They aim to eliminate disparities in early childhood education through fostering innovation and providing quality affordable, convenient and dependable child care services. And most importantly to provide a nurturing environment. They embrace teamwork, communicate openly, seek to understand effectively, respect diversity and support families. Currently, they have kids from ten different ethnicities and the staff speaks a total of nine languages.

How You Can Help?

“Your donations can ensure we can help the most vulnerable and that underserved families and children have access to quality affordable early childhood education. Your support and donations can help reduce educational disparities and have a lasting impact on the children providing them with the tools and resources to become academically successful in school and life. Give monthly to help support the most at-risk kids who have access to quality care and become more involved with our community work. You can also contribute by becoming an Ally. Advocate and show your support to ensure we provide an inclusive environment and opportunity for the children of the Fargo Moorhead community. We also welcome volunteers who want to tutor kids or offer professional skills.” – Jasmin Childcare and Preschool

The Moorhead Police Athletics and Activities

 

The Moorhead Police Athletics and Activities League aim to serve at-risk and underserved youth in the Moorhead area with a variety of programs aimed at building relationships between law enforcement and youth. They build positive relationships with youth in the community through mentoring and one-on-one contact. Through several programs, like Shop-with-a-Cop and Bikes for Kids, they have had direct contact with youth that have unfortunately become victims of crime later down the road. These existing relationships helped with investigations and having that existing relationship put the children at ease during the investigation.

How You Can Help?

“Most volunteer opportunities are designed for our officers to have direct contact with kids. The most pressing need is financial to cover program costs and administrative needs.” – The Moorhead Police Athletics and Activities

Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum

The Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum (FMSM) started as an idea several years ago, and now, through some major donations is moving into hiring an Executive Director. Their motto is: “Breaking barriers to ignite the curiosity in all of us. We are working towards creating a science museum in the Fargo-Moorhead area that will appeal to all.” FMSM is a community project to design and build a place where curious minds–adults and children alike–can explore and engage in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, subjects collectively known as STEM. The museum will feature hands-on interactive exhibits and programming that promote science literacy and facilitate learning for visitors of all ages.

How You Can Help?

“You can donate on the www. fmsciencemuseum.org page.” – Fargo Moorhead Science Museum

31:8 Project

31:8 Project’s mission is to educate individuals and communities across North Dakota and the Midwest about the realities of human trafficking. Since 2016, 600 victims of human trafficking have been served in North Dakota, with 80% of the individuals being residents of this state. Founded in 2015, 31:8 Project offers programming statewide, serving both urban and rural communities. 31:8 Project focuses programming in three different, and distinct, areas: provide audience-appropriate educational training and awareness campaigns regarding human trafficking and its related issues, their Bravery Backpacks program oversees the collection and distribution of supplies and backpacks to children ages 0 to 12, and by offering a mentorship program to enable survivors to become familiar with necessary life skills and personal achievement goals.

How You Can Help?

“31:8 Project strongly believes that no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. Those who are able to give their time or expertise are always welcome to volunteer with us during informational or fundraising events. As our survivor mentorship program grows, we will be seeking mentors with specific skillsets to assist our survivor mentees. Our mission is to provide our communities with accurate information about human trafficking. Advocates can help us by sharing our social media content; educating themselves by attending informational webinars and presentations or reading our monthly newsletter; or, you can offer to host a presentation. Finally, we accept donations in many forms. Our Bravery Backpacks program is dependent on the donation of backpacks and supplies. Monetary gifts can assist with everything from helping a school provide a class with educational materials, to providing survivors access to emergency funds for necessities. Every donation we receive goes back into North Dakota communities or to directly support a local individual in need.” – 31:8 Project

Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe

 

Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe is a nonprofit, social entrepreneurship that serves local and fresh food and operates under a pay-what-you-can model. They are committed to addressing food insecurities, building communities and providing delicious food to nurture body, heart and soul. In 2016, they started having pop-up community cafes, partnering with businesses and community agencies throughout the Fargo-Moorhead area. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pop-up cafes were suspended, but they were able to prepare sack lunches for community members who didn’t have access to a weekend meal due to the pandemic. They continue to prepare and deliver a sack lunch every other week for community members in need of a weekend meal. Their goal for summer 2022 is to travel with their food truck to reach neighborhoods they haven’t previously been able to.

How You Can Help?

“Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe is always looking for volunteers to help prepare meals, serve meals or help make lunches. We are always looking for volunteers to make cards that go in our sack lunches. Donations are also appreciated. $10 can help cover costs for 3 lunches or a meal to someone in need. $500 can sponsor one of our Food Trailer meals. Any amount is appreciated. Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe can cater your event for breakfast or lunch up to 12, 250 meals. All profits go back to our mission to serve everyone a meal regardless of their means. Follow us on Facebook and share with your friends. Come and join us for a meal! We guarantee you will leave with a nourished body, heart and soul!” – Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe

Tri-City United Soccer Club

Tri-City United Soccer Club is Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo’s soccer community with over 3,000 member players. As the largest soccer entity in North Dakota, they welcome soccer players of all ages, skill levels and athletic aspirations. They’ve had dozens of players start young and stay with the program until they began their college careers. They’ve also had hundreds of New Americans and other underserved community members play in the club for years, playing a key role in welcoming New Americans to the community. Tri-City provides all the positive outcomes you can achieve through sports like friendships, teamwork, achieving collective goals, developing a strong work ethic, and providing daily structure-through soccer.

How You Can Help?

“Our website is set up for donations at www.tricityunited.org. We have several fundraisers throughout the year and we always welcome donations to our Scholarship Program.” – Tri-City United Soccer Club