Whether your passion is protecting animals, improving literacy, preventing hunger, helping seniors or supporting the arts, there are 950 participating nonprofit organizations that you can choose to contribute to in the 2014 Annual Giving Drive, which kicked off September 24. 

Almost 100 new nonprofit organizations were approved to participate in this year’s Giving Drive across a range of categories. Some of the new participants include:

• Animals – Best Friends Animal Society (9132), Seattle Area Feline Rescue (9224)
• Educations and Literacy – Literacy Council of Seattle (9656)
• Food and Hunger – Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle & King County (9625), Thurston County Food Bank (9699)
• Senior Services – Eastside Friends of Seniors (9624)
• Arts – Museum of Northwest Art (9660), Velocity Dance Center (9702).

Meet four of this year’s new participating nonprofits (see full list of participating nonprofits here):

OPERATION: Sack Lunch (9369)

OPERATION: Sack Lunch is a meal and basic necessities provider serving the un-housed, no and low income, food insecure children, women, and men, who call Seattle their home. OPERATION: Sack Lunch serves the homeless, transitional, low- or no-income, and food insecure community, providing 220,000 meals a year – three meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days per year. It serves a diverse population, directly on the street at the Outdoor Meal Site and provides meals for five area shelters, three youth programs, and the Municipal Court of Seattle Community Court program.

The Goodtimes Project (9692)

Each year over 13,000 children in the US are diagnosed with cancer. The Goodtimes Project exists to offer Western Washington and Alaska families affected by childhood cancer a cost-free week of summer camp. Camp Goodtimes’ programming includes a no-cost pediatric oncology camp for patients, survivors and siblings affected by cancer.  it welcomes campers from western Washington and Alaska, ages 7-17, for two separate weeks of residential overnight summer camps and a weeklong kayak trip for young adult survivors, serving around 225 children and 15 young adults each year. It costs $400,000 to operate camp each year.

The WAVE Foundation (9697)

The WAVE Foundation: Women Against Violence Everywhere works to increase awareness of domestic violence and raise funds to benefit victims of abuse. Its grants support organizations that provide treatment, advocacy, crisis communication, and shelter to victims of domestic violence. In 2013, grants totaling $140,000 were awarded to organizations providing a continuum of services in eight Washington State counties. Funds were earmarked to support compelling programs for deaf and deaf/blind populations, financial empowerment for survivors, legal advocacy for victims, shelter refurbishment and ongoing shelter services, volunteer staff training, children and teen education prevention and general operating costs. These awards provide direct services for an estimated 11,000 individuals.

Courthouse Dogs Foundation (9623)

The mission of Courthouse Dogs Foundation is to promote justice with compassion through the use of professionally trained facility dogs to provide emotional support to everyone in the justice system. Since 2003 facility dogs have provided comfort to sexually abused children while they undergo forensic interviews and testify in court. These dogs also assist treatment court participants in their recovery, visit juveniles in detention facilities, greet jurors and lift the spirits of courthouse staff who often conduct their business in an adversarial setting. These expertly trained facility dogs specialize in assisting individuals with physical, psychological, or emotional trauma due to criminal conduct.