In Kansas City, Missouri, Patriot Homes and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital recently broke ground on the 2023 Kansas City St. Jude Dream Home. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom 2,600-square-foot home will belong to a lucky ticket purchaser next year, yet the winner isn’t the true beneficiary—it’s the families and children who receive life-saving treatment free of charge at St. Jude.
Supporting the St. Jude mission of finding cures and saving children, the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway program is one of the longstanding fundraisers for St. Jude nationwide, raising more than $600 million since 1991. Brian Tebbenkamp, owner and general manager of Patriot Homes, says, “It’s truly an honor to have been chosen as the builder for the 2023 St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, and we’re thrilled to welcome this incredible event back to Kansas City [since 2017].
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Patriot Homes, our trade partners and our community to support the lifesaving work happening at St. Jude and improve the lives of children everywhere.” While the St. Jude Dream Homes result in life-saving funds raised nationwide, there are many nonprofits also raising funds to build shelters and homes for vulnerable populations.
As another giving season has arrived, businesses and individuals can support nonprofits who are doing good year-round by lending their time, skills, or dollars. Whether you’re looking to give a donation or your time, here are four additional nonprofits to consider.
Operation Homefront
Through GivingTuesday, donations to Operation Homefront are being matched up to $50,000. That’s money going toward military families for transitional and permanent housing, urgent needs, and family support services to prevent long-term struggles.
Currently, the national nonprofit’s 13th annual Holiday Meals for Military program is underway. With a goal of putting meals on the tables of over 17,000 military families by Christmas, the program provides junior- and mid-grade enlisted military families with grocery items needed to prepare a traditional holiday meal. “For many Americans, the end-of-the-year holidays are about sharing time with loved ones, but we cannot forget many of our nation’s military families are serving far from their friends and family,” says retired Brig. Gen. John I. Pray Jr., president and CEO of Operation Homefront.
“Sadly, many military families face additional financial hardships that make this time of year particularly stressful. The good news is, with the enthusiastic support of our many caring individuals, corporate and foundation donors, and thousands of amazing volunteers, we can help alleviate their financial burdens and make this special season brighter for this very deserving group of our fellow citizens.”
Meals, in the form of a gift card or traditional meal kits, will be distributed at more than 80 events across the U.S. this holiday season concluding Dec. 17. Since the program began in 2010, Holiday Meals for Military has served over 600,000 individual family members. operationhomefront.org.
Habitat for Humanity
Since its founding in 1976, Habitat for Humanity has worked with families and individuals in need of a hand-up partner to build or improve a place to call home. Because everyone deserves a decent place to live, the nonprofit works across all 50 states in the U.S. and in over 70 countries.
This holiday season, several Habitat corporate partners have banded together to support its mission of building homes and hope by raising funds to make affordable homeownership more accessible. “At Habitat, we understand the value and the importance of giving back to the causes people care about, especially during the holidays,” says Julie Laird Davis, vice president of corporate and cause marketing partnerships at Habitat for Humanity International.
“We are grateful to our partners for their continued support of our efforts to build or improve housing around the world.” For various lengths of time, Habitat’s partners will engage with customers online and in store to raise funds for Habitat. Partners include At Home, Giving Good, HOBO, Kidde, Wayfair, and many more. To find a full list of partners and how to participate, visit habitat.org.
Operation Tiny Home
Supporting people who are struggling with severe housing instability, Operation Tiny Home aims to help individuals maintain a life of dignity through high-quality tiny housing solutions and empowerment training programs. Assisting veterans, natural disaster victims, the chronically homeless, Native Americans, and those who are housing unstable, the nationwide nonprofit manages several programs to support various walks of life.
“This year a generous donor has pledged a matching grant making this GivingTuesday an excellent opportunity for people to double their impact up to $2,500,” says Taylor Richardson, programs assistant at Operation Tiny Home. “Every dollar raised provides housing support for veterans and natural disaster survivors in need.”
Its Pathways to Tiny Housing program offers affordable permanent housing solutions at below-market pricing, while its Building a Better Future for Veterans program offers nationwide tiny home building workshops to empower veterans. Operation Tiny House accepts building material donations in addition to monetary and volunteering. operationtinyhome.org.
HomeAid
For the month of November, HomeAid aims to raise awareness about homelessness. Believing that housing is a human right, the nonprofit develops, builds, and preserves a variety of housing from emergency to supportive permanent through its 19 affiliates in 13 states. The monthlong awareness campaign encourages individuals to learn, act, and share about the issues concerning homelessness and focus on those individuals and populations who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
"As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, most people take time to consider what they're thankful for and donate some of their time, attention, and resources to others. In the spirit of thankfulness and giving, each year HomeAid initiates this 30-day campaign," says Scott Larson, CEO of HomeAid. "By becoming a part of this daily campaign, you are not only raising awareness, but you are strengthening the national movement to building a future without homelessness in every community across this country."
With a value of more than $315 million, HomeAid has completed 1,043 housing and outreach projects and has served over 520,000 previously homeless individuals. Last year, BUILDER caught up with Stacy Greer at HomeAid to learn more about their work and how builders can get involved. homeaid.org.
