VOTE: Which Finalist Charity Should the Fundraiser Benefit?

Stars, the five finalist charities are in! Scroll below for more info on each organization and cast your vote!

Last month we asked you to nominate a worthy organization working to benefit Ghanaians, and we were thrilled to receive close to 20 nominations! It's so exciting to discover how many different groups are doing good in and for Ghana.

Upon careful review of each nomination, we've cast our votes as Board Members to narrow the list down to these five finalists: The Leukaemia Project Foundation, OrphanAID Africa, The Rescue Foundation Ghana, Princess Umul Hattiyya Foundation, and Rural Communities Empowerment Center.

THE LEUKAEMIA PROJECT FOUNDATION
Leukaemia and other haematological neoplasm have attained debilitating proportions in Ghana. Convinced that we can, in our individual and institutional capacities, collectively contribute positively to halting this malignancy, The Leukaemia Project Foundation has committed itself to mobilizing resources to help educate for risk prevention, and
care for and cure Ghanaians living with leukaemia, lymphoma, and other related blood disorders. The foremost objective of the foundation is to mobilize resources for the construction and management of the Leukaemia Cancer Center in Korle Bu to be named “Ghana Center for Haematology and Clinical Genetics.”


ORPHANAID AFRICA
OrphanAid Africa (OA) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that supports orphans and vulnerable children in Ghana to ensure they grow up in a safe and permanent family setting, as opposed to getting lost in the orphanage system. They are the only NGO to be named an implementing partner with the Government of Ghana's National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, which seeks to transform the system from institutional care to family-based care by 2015. Over 80% of the orphans in Ghana have family nearby, but due to the burden of poverty and disease, families find it difficult to care for their children. OrphanAid Africa believes that poverty and ill health are not reasons for separating children from their families. They provide the most vulnerable families with basic needs such as food, clothing, safe housing, education and job training so that they can care for their own children--with the end-goal to eventually become autonomous. As of today, 459 children, once living in orphanages, have been resettled with their families or in foster care. Their programs will help the nearly 4,000 children currently living in institutions across Ghana transition smoothly into family-based care by 2015.


THE RESCUE FOUNDATION GHANA
Rescue Foundation Ghana is a non-governmental organization whose main aim is to: 1)Raise funds to support integrated projects and activities at the community level using Participatory Learning and Action techniques, and Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques, and 2)Advocate at the national level policies, legislation, and programs that will protect vulnerable women and children in Ghana through health prevention, education, employable skills, income generating activities, and the elimination of child labor and human trafficking.


PRINCESS UMUL HATTIYYA FOUNDATION
Princess Umul Hatiyya Foundation is a registered non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to improving access to education for the less privileged. The Princess Umul Hatiyya Foundation is run by accomplished individuals who are passionate about unleashing the full human potential for accelerated development and to give every needy child a fair chance to contribute to their nation's development. Only one in every two children in Africa is enrolled in Primary Education; large numbers attend schools that have no classrooms, no teachers, scarce learning materials, etc. In spite of good intentions, government is unable to provide adequate levels of educational facilities across all communities in the country. Hence, the focus of the Princess Umul Hatiyya Foundation to launch a crusade to solicit private/public sector support to increase access to Education for the less privileged. Click here to view the brochure.


RURAL COMMUNITIES EMPOWERMENT CENTER
When Philomena Amoako dreamed up the idea at her dining room table, to build a resource center outside her childhood home in Apirede Ghana, no one could have predicted how special the project would become, and how many lives would be affected. Rural Communities Empowerment Center (RCEC), a non-profit organization based in Ghana has changed thousands of lives. Conceived through the ingenuity, drive and passion of Philomena as a tribute to her parents, today two empowerment centers now stand as a testament to funding from such notable organizations as the World Bank, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), to list a few. Schoolchildren, adolescent school girls, and women are the main beneficiaries of the center whose goal is to provide its users with four core services: library, information and communication technology, children's facilities, tailoring training. The centers are built on the motto that it "Takes One Community at a Time.” Currently two centers are operating: Apirede Community Resource Center, and the ICT training center in Jumapo, RCEC’s second Resource Center).

Cast your vote now, and mobilize your network to support your choice. Email the link to this blog post or Facebook/Tweet it!

Don't forget to watch Facebook.com/Star100NewYork for news on the upcoming fundraiser. If you're not a member and want an invitation, email star100network.us@gmail.com to get on the list!