Helping People Thrive
Signature Programs That Help People Thrive
At the heart of GreaterGood's mission to help people, pets, and the planet is a rich variety of effective, carefully-vetted charitable programs. Several of our Signature Programs focus on amplifying the good by caring for vulnerable people in our communities and around the world.
When you click the “Click to Give” button on GreaterGood or play Games that Give and Trivia to Give, GreaterGood funds food, supplies, research, and medical care for people in need.
Learn more about all our signature programs that Help People Thrive below and how they are improving lives. See updates from these important programs here.
Signature Programs
Feeding the Hungry
There are an estimated 42 million people facing food insecurity around the United States alone, including 13 million children. That's about one in every eight people who go to bed hungry on a regular basis.
GreaterGood partners with Feeding America, the largest hunger relief organization in the U.S. to distribute food to some of the people in our country who need it most. With help from supporters like you, they work to make sure all people have access to nutritious food.
We also feed Burmese refugees in Thailand via contributions to the Mae Tao clinic, which is near the border with Myanmar. Aside from prenatal care and childbirth assistance, the clinic also offers other health services and nutritious food to those who need it.
These and other programs across the country and around the world help us feed those who are most in need.
Help us protect these futures!
Disaster Response
Whenever a state of emergency is declared for disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or flooding, GreaterGood responds, supplying food and basic necessities to those who need it.
We've provided food and supplies to people displaced by the 2019 Australian bushfires after thousands were left without homes and a means to cook or store food. We've also provided aid to people displaced by the 2021 earthquake in Haiti, the 2021 tornadoes and flooding in Kentucky, and Hurricane Ian in Florida and other parts of the southern U.S. We work with partners on the ground to ensure that everyone who has been affected by these storms has adequate food, emergency supplies, and shelter.
In events like these, we distribute Good Packs of basic necessities and supplies to people in need and fund grants for on-the-ground organizations to continue helping people work through these trying times.
We've also provided more than 4.1 million masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these went to healthcare workers in hospitals and nursing homes, as well as other frontline workers.
Find out how you can help those who have become victims of natural and man-made disasters!
Critical Supplies for People in Need
GreaterGood raises funds for the GOODS program, which provides food, supplies, clothing, housewares, toys, and more to people and animals in need. There has been an increase in poverty, food insecurity, and domestic violence over the past several years, meaning your support is more desperately needed than ever before.
“The GOODS program will be really looking to help people and animals, no longer just people helping animals,” said Tara Loller, Vice President, Pet Programs for GOODS. “So, it won't just be shelters. It won't be just rescues. It’s food banks. It's VAs, it's domestic violence shelters, and other non-profits and municipal organizations that really need the help in their communities. The giving will just increase.”
The GOODS distribution network consists of thousands of charitable partners, including animal welfare organizations, food banks, VA locations, and other qualified agencies.
The GOODS Program uses a fee arrangement similar to a food bank model. That is, the goods are donated, but freight, warehouse, and program costs are met by handling fees and donations.
Education
Teaching children in their own language and with their own culture in mind enhances their learning experience. That's the idea behind the innovative Matènwa Community Learning Center in Haiti. MCLC combines instruction in Creole, open-air classrooms, and an environment free of standards from other countries, in order to educate children in a nation in which most adults don't have more than 5 years of formal education.
Our partnership with MCLC has helped students graduate from this innovative school, with many hoping to bring further improvements to their community. Your contributions have also helped retain and train quality teachers and provide a variety of supplies, including textbooks, pencils, and notebooks.
The upper school at MCLC is funded entirely by GreaterGood donations, and we occasionally offer post-high-school scholarships there as well.
GreaterGood also donates school backpacks to underprivileged children who need them to have a successful year at school.
Our funding at the Mae Tao clinic also helps displaced Burmese children get the education they deserve at the clinic's Children’s Development Centre (CDC). There, children receive an accredited education and hands-on experience they might not otherwise be afforded.
Safe Births
In many parts of the world, prenatal care is subpar or hard to find altogether, and birth services and neo-natal care have similar issues. So many mothers have complications before, during, or after delivery that could be remedied with the proper medical care, but it's simply not always available or affordable. Too many mothers and babies are dying or suffering severe health crises due to a lack of healthcare.
Along the Thai/Burmese border, infant mortality rates are five times higher and maternal mortality rates are 24 times higher than in the rest of Thailand. That's why your support of the Mae Tao clinic is so important; the staff there provides prenatal care and safe childbirth for women of Thailand and Burma.
We are also proud to sponsor safe births at the Partners in Health (PIH) Neo-Natal Center. The new “Maternal Center of Excellence” adjacent to the main hospital in Sierra Leone's Kono district is now under construction and will save the lives of many babies who would otherwise perish. Nearly 20,000 babies die during childbirth in Sierra Leone each year who would live if their mothers had access to the type of healthcare available in other countries. We aim to improve the odds and help more children survive and thrive.
Breast Cancer Research
Breast cancer affects one in eight women. It's so important that we continue to invest in developing new and better treatments for this life-threatening disease.
GreaterGood funds cancer research programs that are working to create new treatments for breast cancer and improve pre-existing ones. We're currently partnering with the University of Michigan to help fund their research team's work on metastatic breast cancer. Dr. Merajver and her team use a personalized approach to determine which cancer drugs are most likely to work for their patients, saving precious time for those patients who have little time to spare.
The more we understand about cancer and how it behaves, the better we can prevent and combat it and the better we can control the unwanted side effects of treatment. Your support allows us to move closer to better treatments and a cure, one step at a time.
War in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine has been an absolute disaster. The fighting has decimated homes and businesses, killed many people, and displaced citizens and their pets. Millions of people, fearing for their lives, have fled the country, and still others are hoping to ride out the storm at home but are running out of resources.
We’re distributing food and supplies to those in need in Ukraine and to refugees in neighboring countries. We've sent medical equipment to frontline fighters in Ukraine to save lives and support their fight for freedom. We've also funded the evacuation of exotic animals from zoos that were under threat, likely saving many of the animals' lives. Most recently, we've focused on donating blankets and food boxes to help people endure the winter in their war-torn nation. We're also funding pizza parties across the country to bring nutritious warm meals to those in need.
GreaterGood has an ongoing commitment to support the people and pets of Ukraine.
See what you can do to help the Ukrainians!
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Make an even greater impact by giving directly to all the programs we support to help people thrive.
Updates From the Field
Good Packs for Displaced Wildfire Victims in Maui
Your donations recently enabled our partners at Greater Good Charities to travel to Maui, where more than 5,000 people were displaced after the wildfires and many are still struggling months later.
GGC distributed more than 500 Good Packs full of socks, snacks, and toiletries to displaced and homeless people in the area. They also gave away pet subpacks for pets that included pet food, leashes, toys, and more. The people of Maui were immensely grateful for the assistance!
Help us send Good Packs where they're needed most.
Aid for Haitians During Civil Unrest
With more than 200 active gangs controlling about 80% of its capital, Haiti is in dire need of help. Police stations and government buildings have been burned, prisoners have been set loose on the streets, people have been driven from their homes, and humanitarian aid efforts have been thwarted. Millions of people are suffering from food shortages and violent attacks.
GreaterGood is now helping Greater Good Charities and partners on the ground to get medical supplies and food to the Haitian people. Your support is helping saving people from this truly devastating crisis.
Thousands of Blankets for Ukrainians in Need
Blankets are a key part of our mission to send aid to Ukraine. With the bombing of homes and critical infrastructure, many people have been left homeless or in damaged homes without heat and power. Blankets are one way we can ensure that Ukrainians stay warm this winter, even as their access to other heat sources fluctuates.
In 2023, with your help, we distributed 36,000 Ukrainian-made blankets and 3,000 scarves to people and pets in Ukraine. We're also off to a strong start in 2024 with 5,400 blankets donated (for a total of more than 50,000 over the course of the war)!
In order to further support industry and jobs in Ukraine, we’ve also purchased Ukrainian-made blankets to sell in our online stores, making GreaterGood the exclusive distributor of VLADI wool scarves in the USA. From September to December 2023, we sold 642 blankets, 605 scarves, and 127 shawls. With our Buy a Blanket, Give a Blanket program, every purchase of a Ukrainian-made blanket, shawl, or scarf also provides a blanket to a person in need in war-torn Ukraine.
Thanks for your help funding this important work!
Breast Cancer Research Breakthrough
Dr. Sofía Merajver, MD, PhD, is an internationally recognized oncologist and a professor of international medicine and epidemiology at the University of Michigan. GreaterGood helps fund her research on metastatic breast cancer.
Dr. Merajver’s team has the largest collection in the world of brain metastasis samples. They are also the only team on the planet that can currently match a cancerous tumor's DNA to the best possible treatment plan within just a few days so that patients who are fighting for their lives can get the right treatment as quickly as possible.
Dr. Merajver and her team have also recently discovered a mechanism by which cancer cells are able to pass through the blood-brain barrier into the brain. This new discovery is the first step toward finding a way to prevent and treat this deadly type of metastasis for future breast cancer patients.
Help fund more cancer breakthroughs!
Rescue Rebuild Saves People and Pets from Domestic Violence
In October, Rescue Rebuild brought 26 volunteers to Liberty House in Albany, Georgia, for 13 days to replace a dilapidated shed with a fenced play yard and a new structure that houses three separate pet retreats for the dogs and cats of domestic violence survivors.
The separate suites of the “Paws Playhouse” each have pet beds and other living-room-like furnishings, AC, toys, and access to covered outdoor spaces. The space is also ADA-accessible.
Future residents of Liberty House won’t have to choose between staying in an unsafe situation or leaving their pets behind in one. Instead, they’ll have safe on-site housing for their dogs or cats where they can spend time with their pets every day. The new structure offers 1095 nights of safety for the pets of Liberty House guests.
Your donation can help make more builds like this one possible.
Summer Camp for Ukrainian Children
The war in Ukraine has been difficult for all its citizens, but it's an especially stressful time for children. Young people don't deserve to be feeling the pressures of war when they should be focused on playing, learning, growing, and enjoying their childhoods.
Summer camp is one way that we can help kids deal with the stress of a war in their country. GreaterGood recently paid for three children to attend a summer camp in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. They've had a wonderful time making new friends, swimming, dancing, taking classes, eating good food, and more! We're so happy to have been able to provide them an opportunity to just be kids for a while.
Help us continue to provide for Ukrainians in need!
Linens for Struggling Mothers and Children
A home has recently been opened for mothers and children in Ukraine who are in difficult situations and need a place to stay. The residence currently houses 35 individuals, but in the future there will likely be even more.
GreaterGood is helping to furnish this house and make it more of a home by supplying enough pillows, blankets, and bed linens for each of the people living there.
All the items we brought to this home were made in Ukrainian factories, so the purchase helps to keep businesses up and running and people employed.
See what you can do to support mothers and young children in Ukraine further.
Blankets for Babies in Ukraine
New mothers and families in Ukraine have been some of the hardest hit by the effects of the Russian attacks, such as resource shortages and supply-chain bottlenecks. New babies continue to need all the same things they have needed for thousands of years, but now many families are in a tough spot and cannot provide some of the bare necessities for their little ones.
GreaterGood is committed to helping people thrive, including the newest members of this world! In that spirit, we've donated several baby blankets and newborn care sets to the Zaporizhzhia maternity hospital to help new mothers care for their babies.
Help us support mothers and babies with our Mother & Infant Care Packages!
Reusable Pads for Rwandan Girls
Many women in developing countries do not have consistent access to hygienic period products for their monthly cycles. Not being able to take proper care of this issue often causes young girls to have to stay home from school, which means they often miss out on their education and are held back from future opportunities.
In July, GreaterGood distributed more than 100 personal hygiene kits containing eco-friendly and reusable cloth pads to girls from five schools in two different areas of Rwanda. These hygiene items will help young girls ensure that they get to go to school every day and that they don't miss out on what their peers are learning.
Click here to help us send more hygiene kits to women in Africa!
One Million Pizzas in Ukraine!
We're excited to announce that we have officially cooked and distributed our one-millionth pizza in Ukraine!
Our partners with Siobhan's Trust and Greater Good Charities arrived on the ground in Ukraine in March of 2022, the very month after the invasion occurred, and immediately started helping provide hot meals and other supplies to the people most in need of them. They've traveled to various parts of the country, including some dangerous locations close to the Russian-occupied territories - always with smiles on their faces - to make sure that as many people as possible are provided with nutritious food.
These volunteers have been unstoppable in their pursuit to bring food to hungry people, and, as of early July, 2023, we have officially cooked our one-millionth pizza for the people of Ukraine! That's one million hearty meals for people who might otherwise have had to go without.
Help us provide more food to Ukrainians in need!
Toys for Children in Need
GreaterGood recently donated a large number of toys and children's products to the Boys and Girls Club of the North Valley in California. The club used many of these toys as rewards as part of their Club Buck Stores program for kids to earn through good behavior, doing chores, and being kind or helpful. Items that were not needed for that age group were distributed to other charities that help new moms in need, youth in foster care, and victims of domestic violence. In total, more than 250 children were served by this gift.
"These toys have brought great joy to our students," the club reports. "Not only were our students able to earn these exciting products on their own, but they were able to learn valuable life skills in the process! Through the club buck store, we are able to see students with significant behaviors transition to a place of kindness and helpfulness around the club!"
Tourniquets for Ukrainian Military Members
Over the last several months, requests have been coming in for tourniquets and medical supplies to help save the lives of Ukrainian military members. We’ve made a few shipments of medical supplies to Ukraine and have even received messages of thanks from those who received them.
This time, GreaterGood CEO Tim Kunin met a request from Natali Popova and her charity, MARLOG, for tourniquets by bringing them over himself, many of them right in his own suitcase. On his first day in the country, he distributed more than 200 tourniquets, and he will continue to do this throughout his trip.
Help us send more medical supplies to military members and emergency crews in Ukraine!
Food Relief During Ukraine Floods
In early June, Russian forces destroyed the Nova Kakhovka dam and the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, placing 80 settlements and more than 16,000 Ukrainians in harm's way by pouring 18 billion cubic meters of water down on them. We're working to bring food to the people on the liberated side of the river, which is the only accessible part of the flooded area. People there cannot travel between buildings except by boat, and they do not have electricity or any estimated time for it to be turned on again.
GreaterGood Charities assisted Siobhan's Trust volunteers in cooking and transporting pizzas via boat to people trapped in their homes without any way to procure or cook food. We served 12 villages in the Kherson region and plan to continue helping until the flooding subsides and the power is restored. We also continue to hope that the non-liberated side of the river will soon be more accessible so we can offer our support there.
Help us continue to offer food assistance to those in need!
Pizza for Ukrainian Military Members
In early June 2023, our teams partnered with Ukrainian authorities to put on a live concert for Ukrainian military members and cook and serve them Siobhan's Trust pizzas - one full pizza for each person and plenty of moral support to go along with it!
Recently, we also presented Good Packs to Ukrainian military heroes who are not currently fighting due to their injuries. The Ukrainian military is making a heroic effort against the Russian invasion, and we're proud to support them in any way we can.
Support our Good Packs program here!
Food & Linens for the Poor & Homeless in Ukraine
On May 11th, Greater Good Charities visited Malokaterinivka, in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, an area that was recently shelled for more than two hours by the Russians. The urban settlement incurred massive damage, including more than 100 houses, a few of which were completely obliterated. Many people are working on repairing their homes or are seeking temporary shelter and resources. Our teams were able to supply them with humanitarian aid in the form of food kits, pillows, bed linens, and blankets.
On the 25th, they were able to answer the call of Ukrainian police to send food boxes to the individual homes of large poor families and people with disabilities in several towns in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Help us continue to bring warmth to those in need.
Reconstruction Efforts in Ukraine
Ukrainian officials have been asking the team to come to Borovaya for some time, but the destruction of bridges in the area made it impossible for quite some time. On the 19th of May, however, they were finally able to cross the reconstructed bridges and enter the village to help those in need with hot meals and supplies.
You can help us continue to support the Ukrainian people by clicking here.
Record-Breaking Ukraine Pizza Party
On May 15th, the largest-ever team of Siobhan's Trust and Greater Good Charities volunteers cooked pizza for the people of war-torn Kyiv. Twenty-two people cooked pizzas out of 18 pizza ovens in three different vans at a rate of 400 pizzas per hour.
We are so happy to be able to provide not just food but also hot and comforting food during this terrible time. We would love it if you could join in this fight as well. Hunger is one of the greatest plagues of our time, and it's a remediable problem that no one deserves to suffer through.
Can you help support our mission to feed those in need? Click here!
Celebrating One Year of Liberation for Ukrainian Towns
The war is far from over, but there are small victories to celebrate for many villages in Ukraine. These towns were once under Russian control but have now been liberated for one full year!
Tsyrkuny, located about 10 km from Kharkiv, is one of the villages that Russian forces invaded early in the war, and the small town quickly became a stronghold from which the Russians sent out tank and artillery attacks on Kharkiv and the northern Saltivka district until its liberation in May of 2022. Novomoskovsk, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, is another city that has been liberated from Russia for one full year.
To celebrate, creative teams performed in national Ukrainian costumes. Borscht and special breads were prepared and eaten. There was music, dancing, and all-around merrymaking. Our partners cooked thousands of pizzas for the festival goers.
Sending Aid to the Frontlines in Ukraine
With the help of Greater Good Charities and Siobhan's Trust, we've been able to get food, blankets, and a variety of supplies to those who have been displaced after Russian attacks destroyed their homes in various parts of Ukraine. Here's one example:
In late April, 2023, our partners visited Berezovo, Ukraine, which is only 15 km from the frontlines. That area of the country experiences daily shelling episodes. Bombings have destroyed their school and cultural center, and many stores and businesses have closed, leaving residents almost completely reliant on volunteer organizations to bring them food and supplies. There are often power outages due to the attacks, and families spend most of their time in their basements for safety.
Around 500 families used to reside in Berezovo. Now only 150 remain. Our team brought in 150 food boxes to feed those families for about a month, along with 300 blankets.
Donate now to enable us to continue helping those in crisis!
Help for Displaced Blind Ukrainians
In April, we visited a shelter for the blind in Dnipro, Ukraine. The shelter is located inside a factory that was originally established by the Ukrainian Association for the Blind and used to employ the visually impaired in making railway tracks. Now the director has turned it into a home for blind and visually impaired people who have been displaced from their homes during the war, mostly in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions.
Nina Yevtushenko, GreaterGood's on-the-ground representative in Ukraine, visited the facility with Greater Good Charities. She reports that the facility is very clean and well-run, but it is still crowded, with 10-15 people living in a room together. She helped distribute food boxes and hot pizzas to the residents of the factory.
Send a food box to someone in need today!
Ukraine Mother & Infant Aid
Children are among those suffering the most during the war in Ukraine. Because of resource shortages and the fact that people's belongings are often being destroyed or left behind in the chaos of war, families sometimes cannot find formula, baby food, clothing, and other products needed to keep their young ones safe, warm, and fed.
GreaterGood's new Mother and Infant Aid Kits aim to help ensure babies and children in Ukraine have all their basic needs met. Our kits contain items like bottles, formula, diapers, wipes, socks, mittens, pacifiers, soap, toothbrushes, toys, and blankets.
Stand with these mothers and their innocent children!
Partners In Health
Recently, GreaterGood's CEO and cofounder, Tim Kunin, traveled to Sierra Leone to learn how we can best use our charitable giving to assist mothers and children in the country with the highest infant mortality rate and the 4th highest child death rate in the world.
On top of helping to fund the construction of the new Maternal Center of Excellence, which will reduce infant death rates, we're working on getting a high-energy infant formula into mothers' hands to prevent malnutrition in their babies and children.
Every life matters, and we're working to save as many of them as possible.
Ukraine Pizza Parties
As the war in Ukraine rages on, more and more refugees have returned to be reunited with their families, creating an even larger need for assistance in war-torn areas where resources are scarce and infrastructure systems are not as reliable as they once were. In partnership with Greater Good Charities and Siobhan's Trust, we're funding as many as 2,000 personal pizzas per day to be cooked and distributed in various areas of the country that have been hit hardest by the fighting.
This isn't just a warm and nutritious meal - for many people, it's also a chance to socialize and raise their weary spirits. It's a chance to restore their faith in humanity and watch children joyfully dance to the music. It's a sign of hope and a welcome respite in the midst of disaster.
Help us continue this mission!
Ukraine Food Assistance
Recently, our non-profit partners at Greater Good Charities were on the ground and able to offer direct assistance to first responders in the aftermath of a Russian bombing. On March 2nd, 2023, at 1:45 in the morning, two Russian rockets hit a five-floor residential building in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. The building was badly damaged, and at least thirteen people have been reported killed.
Rescue crews from all over Ukraine worked around the clock for five days to pull the remaining survivors out of the rubble. During that time, GGC joined with volunteers from the Charitable Foundation M.R.I.Y.A. and Siobhan's Trust to cook pizzas and other food for all the first responders, volunteers, displaced people, and anyone else in need of sustenance. GreaterGood continues to fund these pizzas and other food and supplies as needed.
Help ensure Ukrainian families are fed in their time of need!
Earthquakes in Türkiye
After the February earthquakes in Türkiye devastated several cities in southern Türkiye and neighboring Syria and took nearly 50,000 lives, we immediately began raising funds for the people and animals who were left with limited access to food and shelter in frigid winter conditions.
With our support, our non-profit partner, Greater Good Charities, has been on the ground in the weeks following this disaster, distributing upwards of 5,000 hot meals per day to those who are hungry. We've also funded pet food for them to give out to people with pets and to stray or displaced pets found wandering around near the decimated buildings.
See how you can continue to support the recovery of these survivors!
Matènwa School
Our yearly commitment to the Matènwa Community Learning Center funds the teacher salaries for the upper school and various other things the students need, including scholarships, school supplies, computer classes, hands-on science labs, and other learning tools. We are so grateful for your help as we continue working to give these children the best education possible.
We are also partially funding tuition for two nursing students in their second year at the Wesleyan University in Lagonav. These students will go on to earn a solid income for their families and make a difference in their communities!
Thank you for helping these students thrive!
Ukraine - One Year In
It's been one year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The UN estimates that over 5 million Ukrainians, many with pets, have registered as refugees in neighboring countries, while over 8 million are internally displaced.
In the course of a year, we've raised $1.3 million for the Ukrainian cause. We've delivered 4 million hot meals and other supplies to people in 100-plus locations in Ukraine and Poland. We’ve also contributed 35,000 Ukrainian-made wool blankets and 268 life-saving medical kits to areas that needed them. 1,200 toys have been donated to Ukrainian children in Poland and Ukraine, and more than $27 thousand went to fund the rescue and relocation of wildlife out of war-torn areas. We’ve even distributed 9.5 million pounds of nutritious kibble for hungry pets who’ve been caught up in this devastating war as well.