The mission of Action Against Hunger is to save lives by eliminating hunger through the prevention, detection, and treatment of malnutrition, especially during and after emergency situations of conflict, war and natural disaster. From crisis to sustainability, we tackle the underlying causes of malnutrition and its effects by using our expertise in nutrition, food security, water and sanitation, health and advocacy. By integrating our programs with local and national systems we further ensure that short-term interventions become long-term solutions.

Action Against Hunger-USA is part of the ACF International Network (ACF-IN), an agency established specifically to combat global hunger. Recognized as a world leader in the fight against hunger and malnutrition, the ACF International Network has pursued its vision of a world without hunger for three decades, combating hunger in emergency situations of conflict, natural disaster, and chronic food insecurity.

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At the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center are committed to finding solutions to end the AIDS epidemic. In the 25 years since HIV was identified, researchers have learned more about this virus than about any other in history. We remain optimistic that research will ultimately succeed in finding a way out of the crisis.A long road, however, still lies ahead and the challenge is extraordinary. Nevertheless, we consider it a great privilege to have the opportunity to contribute to the eradication of a plague that threatens the welfare of mankind.

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is a non-profit tax-exempt legal action antismoking organization based in the United States that has been solely devoted to the many problems of smoking for over 40 years.

Its principal activity is to serve as the legal action arm of the nonsmoking community, bringing or joining in legal actions concerning smoking, and insuring that the voice of the nonsmoker is heard. It also serves as an advocate of the nonsmokers' rights movement.

ASH's executive director, John F. Banzhaf, III, has been called the "Ralph Nader of the Tobacco Industry," "Mr. Anti-Smoking," and the "Man behind the Ban on Cigarette Commercials". He is perhaps the best known spokesman for the anti-smoking community, and has frequently discussed and debated many topics related to smoking. He has appeared frequently on news, talk-show, and debate programs including the McNeil-Lehrer News Hour, Today, Good Morning America, Nightline, Crossfire, Face The Nation, and many others. He has been a featured speaker at many World Conferences on tobacco, and has testified numerous times on topics related to smoking.

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The Touchmark Foundation is dedicated to providing programs to help assure that seniors have what is necessary to make their lives comfortable, satisfying, and pleasant. Its work focuses on two primary programs:

• Increasing the number of health care professionals in order to meet the health care needs of the growing number of seniors.

• Providing philanthropic support to low-income seniors to improve their physical, social, spiritual, and intellectual lives.

I. Health Professions Scholarship Program

Now, and in the foreseeable future, we face a severe shortage of nurses and other health care professionals. This shortage will be exacerbated as the “baby-boomer” generation ages.

To address this critical shortage, the Touchmark Foundation provides scholarships to those who wish to pursue an education leading to a certificate or degree in the health care professions. Those who are currently employed in health care field may seek financial help for the cost of tuition for course work or training that will specifically enhance their geriatric health care skills.

Scholarships for Nursing Instructors

An equally urgent need is for additional nursing instructors to teach the next generations of students, particularly in the field of geriatric nursing. Without additional faculty to teach, educational institutions will not be able to expand nursing programs and increase the number of students graduating with nursing degrees. Expanding the teacher ranks is a vitally important step in addressing our nation’s critical nursing shortage. For example, Touchmark Foundation is partnering with Oregon Health & Sciences University to support five Ph.D. nursing students in the John A. Hartford Foundation Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence.

II. Senior Benevolent Fund

The Senior Benevolent Fund will provide financial assistance to low-income seniors for the purpose of improving their physical, social, spiritual and intellectual lives. Individuals and non-profit organizations may apply for grants for materials, equipment, activities, and programs that are intended to enhance the well being of seniors who are experiencing financial difficulties. In this effort, the Touchmark Foundation will routinely seek out opportunities to partner with area providers of services for seniors.

One of our new project this year is the Low Vision Project. Through this program, the Foundation is placing video magnification systems in three communities to support seniors with macular degeneration and other low vision challenges. We are excited about the potential to build new program focusing on vision health. Based on the outcomes of these pilot programs, the low vision project may be expanded to additional communities.

A second important program is the Holiday Food Box program. In the U.S., more than one in every 10 households are hungry or unsure if they will be able to acquire enough food for their next meals. The statistic is startling, but, what does it really mean? It means that there are seniors and families all around us who must rely on food donations to avoid hunger. They are our neighbors. They are our community.

The Touchmark Foundation annual Holiday Food Box project is designed to help alleviate hunger. Boxes of nutritious, shelf-stable food are delivered directly to seniors and families in need. Thousands of boxes have been delivered since the inception of the project.

Why Support the Touchmark Foundation?

The Touchmark Foundation offers a well-managed vehicle to support programs for seniors. The Foundation has national outreach to select and support students in the health professions and nurse training programs. The Foundation has a highly qualified Board of Directors with years of experience in senior issues, finance and management. Your investment in the Touchmark Foundation will be combined with the support of others to build a national program to address critical needs for the health and security of seniors.

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The Myelin Project aims to accelerate research on myelin repair. Myelin can be destroyed by hereditary neurodegenerative disorders such as the leukodystrophies, and by acquired diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Since myelin loss leads to the reduction or blockage of nerve impulse conduction, myelin regrowth would logically restore conduction in diseases for which therapies capable of halting demyelination have already been found (e.g., phenylketonuria, Refsum's disease, which are treatable, mainly through restricted diets). But regenerating myelin may also be beneficial in demyelinating diseases for which no effective treatment has been developed (e.g., multiple sclerosis). Indeed, the new myelin may well be able to withstand attack by the primary demyelinating agent, either permanently or for a long period of time.

To attain its objectives, The Myelin Project relies on three major strategies: prompting researchers to work as a team and coordinating their research efforts, promoting interaction between researchers and laypeople, and rapid financing of practically oriented experiments.

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Detailed Description: In thirty years there have been no major medical breakthroughs on metastatic melanoma. This is unacceptable and without hesitation we at Live, Love and Laugh Foundation affirm that we are going to make a change in that statistic by addressing the above areas through the Foundation’s programs.

This Foundation was created with an underlying vision of including every person who wants to make a difference in our Foundation community. We are as excited about a 50 cent donation as we are a $50,000 donation. We are not just building a funding base at Live, Love and Laugh Foundation, we are building a community of concerned citizens who are willing to take a stand against this destructive disease.

We would like to welcome you to a community built around recognizing the joy of living, loving and laughing – a community that does not take this for granted and works everyday to ensure that families around the world do not have to be faced with the realities of metastatic melanoma. We built, and continue to build, our organization around enjoying life and giving back. So it is with this spirit that we give our time and energy to Live, Love and Laugh Foundation.

Our experiences in the war against this cancer might differ, but at Live, Love and Laugh Foundation, we recognize that we all want the same things in the end: increased awareness, outreach, up to date and visible information on new and innovative treatments, and a cure.

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Our mission is to provide financial assistance for educational opportunities and bereavement counseling to children that have experienced the loss of a parent. Statistics estimate that by age 15, over 3 million children in the United States will experience the loss of a family member. Moreover, research suggests that approximately 90% of students will experience the loss of a family member before finishing high school (Ewalt & Perkins, 1979). In 1983, research found that by age 16, one child out of five will have lost a parent.

A Caring Hand is a not-for-profit granting organization which raises funds to provide educational opportunities and bereavement counseling to children that have lost a parent and therefore, have lost the ability to afford a quality education. We plan on helping such children with educational levels from pre-school to graduate school. Education helps shape our children and prepare them to be our leaders. Without giving children the opportunity to obtain a quality education, we are jeopardizing our children's future. A child that loses a parent has already lost enough without having to lose the opportunity to receive a quality education.

The organization was launched as a direct result of the death of Billy Esposito on September 11, 2001.

Our vision is to help children that have lost a parent and, as a result, have lost the opportunity to receive the educational opportunities and bereavement counseling they deserve.


The A Caring Hand, Billy Esposito Bereavement Center
Program Summary

A Caring Hand, The Billy Esposito Foundation is opening a long needed, free standing, comprehensive bereavement center in New York City. The goal is to meet a child and family's needs in a caring environment. The program will focus on remembering, coping, and community building - the essential components of grief work.

The new center will need help from all sectors of New York City to bring much needed services to the bereaved families in their midst. The program is being developed by, and requires the true partnership of, professionals and volunteers from the public as well as private and corporate communities.

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Physicians have not traditionally engaged in the public debate over personal choice, family planning, abortion, teenage pregnancy and sexuality education issues. Yet it is doctors who deliver (or don’t deliver) these services and provide critical information on these issues to their patients on a daily basis. PRCH’s mission is to enable physicians to become more active and visible in support of universal reproductive health. We believe that all people should have the knowledge, equal access to quality services and freedom of choice to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions. A large number of our physician-members practice in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, but many are pediatricians, fertility doctors, cardiologists, neurologists, radiologists and others. They belong to other medical associations but look to PRCH to voice their concerns regarding reproductive choice and health. Click here for information on how to become a physician-member.

PRCH, in turn, works with medical and women’s health organizations that share an interest in expanding and improving the medical options and quality of services available to American women and their families. We aim to enhance and complement, not duplicate, services provided by these groups.

Our History

PRCH was founded in 1992 by a small committee of concerned physicians in New York City, where we opened our first national office in 1995. We also maintain an office in San Francisco, which enables us to conduct our recruiting, organizing, advocacy and educational activities at the grassroots level. The organization is steered by a Board of Directors comprised of leading physicians in reproductive healthcare, as well as resident and medical student representatives.

Our Programs

PRCH has three interconnecting program departments that respond to the needs of our physician-members and the public for information and services: Public Policy and Community Organizing, Communications, and Medical Education. These departments provide opportunities for physicians to become more involved in the public discussion on contraception and abortion, to educate doctors about their responsibility to do so, to monitor state and national legislation tied to our mission, to communicate our message to the media and to expand medical education in reproductive health.

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