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  • How to Donate Safely After the Venezuela Earthquakes

    After two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela, donors around the world are looking for safe ways to help. This AP report, supported by IFRC’s official emergency appeal, explains which humanitarian needs are urgent and why donors should give through established, accountable organizations rather than unverified appeals.


    Illustrative photo: Rescue workers search rubble after an earthquake. Photo by samimibirfotografci via Pexels; not a photograph of the Venezuela earthquakes described in the article.

    Primary article:
    https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-earthquakes-red-cross-how-to-help-fc64bb65cd2da3c9206a37b74e89d3f7

    Official humanitarian source:
    https://www.ifrc.org/emergency/venezuela-earthquake-2026

    Related donor-safety article:
    https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2026/06/26/how-donate-venezuela-earthquake-victims-without-getting-scammed/

    Summary

    The Associated Press reports that governments, nonprofits, and Venezuelan diaspora communities are mobilizing after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela, collapsing buildings and leaving urgent humanitarian needs across northern parts of the country. AP says the quakes were magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, and that help is needed for search and rescue, emergency shelter, health care, safe water, sanitation, and later recovery.  

    The article is especially appropriate for Donate.com because it focuses not only on the disaster, but on how people can help responsibly. AP identifies responding organizations including Global Empowerment Mission, CORE, Direct Relief, the International Red Cross, Airlink, World Central Kitchen, and others. The report also quotes Charity Navigator’s advice that donors should avoid fraudulent campaigns by checking whether an organization has disaster-response experience, regional experience, and nonprofit registration.  

    The official IFRC emergency page adds direct humanitarian-source context. IFRC says the Venezuelan Red Cross is on the ground conducting search and rescue, assisting the injured, and assessing needs. IFRC has launched an emergency appeal to support Venezuelan Red Cross response activities, and says donations made to IFRC will be channeled to its member National Society with accountability for their use.  

    For Donate.com, the larger lesson is important: generosity after a disaster must be matched with care. Donors should move quickly, but not blindly. The safest giving usually goes through established organizations with local partners, transparent operations, and clear accountability. In a fast-moving emergency, a verified donation can become shelter, medical help, food, water, family-reunification support, and hope.

    Citation

    Primary article: Gabriela Aoun Angueira, “How to help those impacted by the Venezuela earthquakes,” Associated Press, updated June 26, 2026. Summary by Donate.com with credit and link to the original AP report.

    Official humanitarian source: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, “Venezuela: Earthquake 2026,” emergency appeal page, published/updated June 2026. Summary by Donate.com with credit and link to IFRC’s official emergency page.

    Related donor-safety reading: Harry Samler, “How to donate to Venezuela earthquake victims without getting scammed,” Atlanta News First, published June 26, 2026. Included as supplemental donor-vetting guidance.

    Safe Giving Reminder: Before donating after a disaster, verify the organization, give through the charity’s official website, be cautious with individual crowdfunding campaigns, avoid pressure tactics, and do not donate by gift card, cryptocurrency, wire transfer, or other hard-to-trace methods unless you have independently verified the recipient.

  • A $617 Billion Year of Giving: What Donors Supported in 2025

    This Associated Press report examines what donors supported through charitable giving in 2025 and what the new Giving USA data suggest about the future of philanthropy. Donations rose after inflation, while charitable bequests and very large gifts played increasingly important roles.

    https://apnews.com/article/giving-usa-report-philanthropy-2025-8363b76bc8cf854f6865c31129e8a4b1

    Official Giving USA 2026 Key Findings page:

    https://givingusa.org/product/2026-key-findings/


    Illustrative photo: A volunteer hands a donation package to an older adult. Photo by AI25.Studio Studio via Pexels; not a photograph from the Giving USA report.

    Summary

    The Associated Press, drawing on the new Giving USA 2026 report, says donors gave U.S. charities $617 billion in 2025. After inflation, total giving rose 3%, despite economic uncertainty and changes in public funding. Contributions increased across all four donor sources: individuals, foundations, corporations and bequests.

    The growth was uneven. Education organizations recorded an 8.9% increase, public-society benefit groups 8.7%, and environment and animal organizations 8.2%. Health, human services, arts and international causes also gained, while inflation-adjusted giving to religious organizations slipped slightly.

    Large gifts played an important role. Giving USA counted $19.2 billion in “megagifts”—donations of at least $600 million—equal to about 4% of individual giving. At the same time, bequests rose nearly 17%, the third double-digit increase in four years. That may be an early sign of the long-anticipated transfer of wealth from older generations to families and charities, although researchers say more evidence is needed before declaring a lasting trend.

    The report also reveals a challenge: charitable giving is increasingly tied to financial markets and a relatively small group of very wealthy donors.

    Giving USA does not measure the number of donors, but the share of total charitable dollars contributed by individuals has fallen from 80% in 1985 to 64%.

    For Donate.com, the broader lesson is hopeful but practical. Giving remains a powerful way to support education, health, human services, the environment and communities—but resilient philanthropy also requires broad participation, planned gifts and sustained relationships with donors of every size.  

    Citation

    Primary article: Rasheeda Childress of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, “Donors gave U.S. charities $617 billion in 2025, according to the new Giving USA report,” AP News, published June 23, 2026. Summary by Donate.com with credit and link to the original article.

    Underlying research: Giving USA Foundation, Giving USA 2026: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2025, researched by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and released June 23, 2026.  

  • When Donation Gives Life Twice: A Teen’s Kidney Transplant Story

    This Direct Relief article broadens the meaning of donation to include organ donation, medical philanthropy, care coordination, and removing financial barriers to lifesaving treatment. It focuses on a Puerto Rico pediatric kidney-transplant program that has helped children reach transplant care.

    https://www.directrelief.org/2026/06/puerto-rico-pediatric-kidney-transplant-direct-relief/

    Kidney Transplant

    Summary:
    Direct Relief tells the story of Cris Santos, a Puerto Rico teenager whose life changed after chronic renal failure made a kidney transplant urgently necessary. The article explains that pediatric kidney care on the island is concentrated at Dr. Antonio Ortiz University Pediatric Hospital, the only place in Puerto Rico offering both dialysis and kidney transplants for children.

    The story is powerful for Donate.com because it shows donation in several forms. Cris’s mother, Arleen Bonilla, donated a kidney, giving her son what he later described as life a second time. Direct Relief also supported the broader system around the transplant through its Care Coordination Program, created in 2020 to help families overcome financial and logistical barriers. In Puerto Rico, families may need to produce $3,000 before getting onto the transplant waitlist to help cover post-operative care. For many households, that amount can put transplant care out of reach.

    The article also highlights the work of patient care coordinator Josué Leduc, whose role includes helping families navigate appointments, transportation, evaluations, paperwork, and follow-up needs. Before the program, the hospital completed only one or two pediatric kidney transplants per year. Since the partnership with Direct Relief began, the center has completed 17 successful transplants.

    This is a strong Donate.com article because it makes donation concrete and deeply human. A donated organ, charitable funding, nonprofit coordination, and family sacrifice all come together to restore a young person’s health, freedom, and future.

    Citation:
    Ruby Galuszka, Direct Relief, “A Kidney Transplant Program Gives a Puerto Rico Teen ‘Life in Abundance,’” published June 17, 2026. Summary by Donate.com with credit and link to the original article.

  • One Drop of Humanity: Why Voluntary Blood Donation Saves Lives

    This PAHO/WHO article is an excellent Donate.com fit because it shows that donation is not limited to money. Blood donation is personal, practical, and lifesaving, and the article connects individual generosity to public health across the Americas.

    Blood Donation

    https://www.paho.org/en/news/12-6-2026-paho-calls-strengthening-voluntary-blood-donation-americas

    250-Word Summary:
    PAHO’s article, published ahead of World Blood Donor Day on June 14, calls for stronger voluntary blood donation systems across the Americas. The report says the region has made progress, but still depends too heavily on replacement donations, where relatives or friends donate because a specific patient needs blood. PAHO says only about 51.5% of blood donations in the region currently come from voluntary donors, while the average donation rate is about 15 donations per 1,000 people, below what many countries need for self-sufficiency.

    The article highlights Panama as the regional host for World Blood Donor Day 2026, recognizing efforts to build safer and more sustainable blood systems. This year’s campaign theme, “One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood. Save Lives,” emphasizes that blood donation is a direct act of human solidarity.

    The piece explains why regular voluntary donors matter. Blood transfusions are essential for emergencies, childbirth complications, surgeries, cancer treatment, chronic diseases, trauma care, and other life-saving medical needs. Systems based on regular unpaid donors are more predictable, safer, and better able to respond when hospitals need blood quickly.

    This is an excellent fit for Donate.com because it shows that donation is not limited to money. Donating blood is personal, practical, and lifesaving. The article gives readers a clear takeaway: communities need people who give before a crisis happens, so safe blood is available when someone’s life depends on it. For readers, the message is simple: consider becoming a regular blood donor if they are healthy and eligible locally.

    Citation: Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization, “PAHO calls for strengthening voluntary blood donation in the Americas,” published June 12, 2026. Summary by Donate.com with credit and link to the original article. World Blood Donor Day theme credited to WHO.

    Related Reading: A separate Times of India article explains why blood donation remains irreplaceable despite advances in laboratory science. While lab-grown blood may become more useful in the future, patients today still depend on human donors for transfusions involving trauma, surgery, cancer treatment, childbirth complications, blood disorders, and rare blood types. Source: Ananya Podder, The Times of India, “Why blood donations remain irreplaceable despite advances in science,” updated June 14, 2026.

    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/why-blood-donations-remain-irreplaceable-despite-advances-in-science/articleshow/131718480.cms

  • Can a Restaurant Run on Donations? A Minneapolis Café Says Yes

    This article is about a real-world donation-based model, community support, food access, and whether voluntary giving can sustain a business.  

    “Minnesota Restaurant Stops Charging Customers for Food — and Says Business Is Thriving”


    URL: https://people.com/minnesota-restaurant-thrives-after-switching-to-donation-only-model-11994466


    Source: PEOPLE, written by Angelique Brenes and published June 9, 2026. The article reports on Post Modern Times, a South Minneapolis café that removed menu prices and began operating on donations in February 2026.  

    Cafe restaurant

    250-word summary:
    A Minneapolis café is testing an unusual question: can a restaurant survive without charging set prices? PEOPLE reports that Post Modern Times, formerly Modern Times, removed prices from its menu in February 2026 and began operating entirely on donations. Customers can eat without paying, contribute what they choose, or support the restaurant through community giving.

    Owner Dylan Alverson said the decision began as a political protest, but it has also become an experiment in food access and the economics of independent restaurants. According to the article, Alverson had struggled for years to make a traditional restaurant model work, even though the café generated significant sales. Under the donation-only model, he told The New York Times that the business is doing better than it did as a conventional operation.

    The model is not simple. PEOPLE reports that 40 to 50 percent of diners currently do not pay for their meals, while staff members are working on a volunteer basis supported by shared tips and donations. Some neighbors have raised concerns, and the owner describes the restaurant as still being in a “creation period.”

    For Donate.com readers, the story is newsworthy because it shows donation-based giving outside the usual nonprofit setting. The café is asking whether trust, generosity, and shared responsibility can support a public-facing business while feeding people regardless of ability to pay. Whether or not the model can spread, Post Modern Times has created a live case study in mutual aid, community funding, and the power of voluntary giving.


    Summary based on: Angelique Brenes, “Minnesota Restaurant Stops Charging Customers for Food — and Says Business Is Thriving,” PEOPLE, June 9, 2026. Original article: https://people.com/minnesota-restaurant-thrives-after-switching-to-donation-only-model-11994466