Giving Tuesday

Hi Everyone!

The festive season is about to go into full swing, with celebrations for Channukah, Sinterklaas, Christmas and the New Year kicking off.  Today is Giving Tuesday, a day where we are encouraged to give back to the wider community and support charities with gifts and volunteering.

Today charities worldwide will be asking you to consider them for donations as they continue their missions. It’s important to help them do this, as many do incredible, amazing work.

It is not an easy decision to make about who to give your hard-earned money to, either! When you look at a charity, you should consider how it aligns with your values, how transparent they are about how they spend donations, what percentage goes to paying executives compared to how much is spent on achieving their goals. It can be so difficult, and sometimes even challenging to find the right fit.

This year, we achieved some fantastic goals, including funding a part-time TAPS researcher and many smaller projects.  But this Giving Tuesday, we’re encouraging you to support some wonderful charities who we think are deserving of your support instead.

Fetal Health Foundation

In the US, our first recommendation should come as no surprise.  The Fetal Health Foundation are friends, and incredible support to us.  Lonnie and Talitha and their team are just a fantastic resource, from the Fetal Think Tank project to supporting families in crisis – we’re in awe of their work.  Donate here.

The Superhero Project

The second incredible foundation we would love you to consider is The Superhero Project.  They create joy, one hero at a time by talking with kids who have serious illnesses and special needs, and turning them into the incredible superheroes that they are.  Artists turn these children’s stories into superhero drawings, and we think this is amazing.  Donate here.

Twins Trust Bereavement Support Group

Within the UK, undoubtedly we would be negligent without mentioning the incredible work of Twins Trust Bereavement Support.  The support and friendship and resources they provide families who have lost multiples is invaluable.  Donate here.

The Skye High Foundation

The second is the Skye High Foundation, who help families through the loss of a baby who was part of a multiple birth.  They created the purple butterfly cot card – an important resource for families in NICU to remember the loss of their twin or triplet. Donate here

Wish Upon A Star – Barwon Health Foundation

Australians, because this is my homeland, and a place dear to my heart – please consider a donation to the Barwon Health Foundation’s Christmas Appeal.  They are raising $250,000 to purchase a fetal ultrasound device to install in Geelong, in regional Australia. The faces of their campaign are Maisie and Imogen – a pair of TAPS twins, and their mother Jade is a member of our community. We can’t think of a better place for your donations than to help get vital screening into regional centers. Donate here.

Care4Neo

Eigenlijk voor onze Nederlanders.  Het spijt me, Nederlands is mijn tweede taal, maar ik moet oefenen. 

Onze keuze is Care4Neo, een stichting heel dichtbij onze harten. Onze fundraising coordinator, Mart Smit, is ook een vrijwilliger daar. Care4Neo is een belangrijke organisatie die families op de NICU ondersteunt, onderzoek ondersteunt en namens couveusekinderen pleit. Donate here.

The Hristianovici Family

And a final choice – if you would like your donation to have a personal impact, we would love you to read the story of Marieta and Gabriel, and their boys Filip and Dumitru. Dumitru is a TAPS donor, and we’ve been following his story since before birth.  Unfortunately, Dumitru, like many of our families, was severely impacted by TAPS. His family is raising funds to continue expensive therapies to help him with his cerebral palsy diagnosis.   Please, consider a donation to their gofundme.

Donations

This isn’t saying that we don’t want donations, of course, like every charity we do.  But it’s a season of goodwill and giving, and we have achieved so much this year and reached our own targets successfully, and then some.  The amazing Twin Run was our most tremendous success, and we have much to be grateful for.

This year, we want our gift to acknowledge other organisations making an impact and positive change and have a personal meaning to many of our own families and our community.  Kindness is acknowledging others and helping them out as well.

To all of you, a happy and safe holiday season, and thank you for your generosity – not only financially but also for your time and support this year. We would not have done half as much as we have without you.