With the pandemic pushing our daily lives online with no clear sign of returning to
normal, the already popular Amazon Marketplace grows even more with thousands of
added online shoppers. As we go about our daily lives in this remote world, a whole
slew of new issues enters our lives as they never have before. Luckily, Amazon offers a
service that allows you to take one thing off your plate: charitable donations.
Through their Amazon Smile program, you can select a charity you believe in and make
a donation on your behalf as you make online purchases through the Amazon
storefront. The best part is that it doesn’t even cost you an extra dime. With Black
Friday deals and Cyber Monday just around the corner, it’s looking to be an especially
busy year for online shopping. We made a list of 5 of our favorite charities available on
Amazon Smile that you can support this holiday shopping this season.

1. Brades Place

Brades’ Place is a Utah based charity that offers palliative care to children with life-long
and life altering medical diagnoses. They don’t stop with the affected child however;
they also make a point of offering support to the rest of the family since they know the
difficult and life changing effects it can have on the whole family. This is Brades’ Place
mission statement:

“Our purpose is to empower children who have life-altering diagnoses and their families
to embrace their unique traits and to live each day with the holistic and comprehensive
medical care and support needed to meet their challenges and live well while facing
serious illness.

We envision a future where every child and their family living with medical complexities
has the support they need to thrive. We are committed to providing excellent,
individualized care, as well as advocating for and facilitating the essential and much
needed cultural shifts to accomplish this vision through accessibility, accountability, and
legislation.”

2. Dream Factory Utah

Dream Factory is a national organization that has a faction based out of Spanish Fork,
Utah. Dream Factory’s main objective is to help children with chronic illness reach their
dreams. Dream Factory is a non-profit that started in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1980 and
has now grown to 37 different chapters in various locations around the country. Dream
Factory relies on donations from people like you, to help children find hope by allowing
them access to their dreams.

Dream Factory reports through their website that “96.1% of all money raised by The
Dream Factory is used to grant the dreams of critically and chronically ill children.”
Dream Factory was raised on volunteers and remains open to assistance in bringing a
child one step closer to their dreams. Consider donating to them in association with your
Amazon Smiles donation.

3. Family Support and Treatment Center

Another Utah nonprofit on the Amazon Smile charity list is the Family Support and
Treatment Center based in Orem. Their primary purpose is to prevent and treat child
abuse while building a community of happy and healthy individuals and families.
With their expert therapists, they offer professional counseling for those whose lives
have been affected by child abuse, trauma, or personal and family issues. They also
offer resiliency training, parenting programs, presentations on abuse prevention, and
personal safety programs to help enhance children’s social skills, and respite for
parents.

To make a difference for the Family Support and Treatment Center, you can volunteer,
become a corporate sponsor, donate supplies or money, or make them your Amazon
Smile charity.

4. Special Olympics Utah

Since 1971 the Special Olympics has used the power of sports, improving physical
health, and increasing confidence to make a difference in the lives of special needs
children and adults alike. Their main goal is to focus on what they can do instead of
what they can’t do.

“The mission of Special Olympics is to provide 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.”

Special Olympics Utah has financial statements available to the public on their website
to ensure your donations are being used at their full potential.

5. Therapy Animals of Utah

Finally, we suggest donating to Therapy Animals of Utah. Since 1993, the organization
has been providing training and jobs to volunteer therapy animals and their handlers to
respond to the needs of all kinds of businesses and public services. This means that
schools, doctors, and shelters, as well as individuals, can request therapy animal
services as needed, when needed.

Therapy Animals of Utah operates under the national organization “Pet Partners” in
order to uphold the highest standard of animal care and handling. This means that all
the volunteers are trained on how to help the animal do their respective job in a safe
and calm manner. The animals are also kept in shape and good health and are given
medical treatment as necessary.

You can access more information about who this organization supports and what your
donation would mean to them on their website.

To wrap up

As the upcoming holiday season presents itself, we suggest considering donating to
charities as you purchase gifts and goodies for loved ones. Through Amazon Smile, you
will have the incredible opportunity to support nonprofits and help those in need as they
struggle through the many stumbling blocks of life.

Check it out for yourself through the link: https://smile.amazon.com, and improve
someone’s holiday season one donation at a time.