In the spirit of the holidays, there is nothing more significant of this season than the act of giving.  Over the next couple of months, we tend to lose ourselves in the holiday craze.  We are pulled in endless directions; buying gifts, attending events, visiting with family and friends…it is the season of craziness for sure.  Through all of this endless festive fever,  we still like to find a way to give back.  Here at Anyvent we love donating to a cause.  After coming off a busy wedding season, we embrace the months of November and December when we can take time to reflect on how thankful we are for our clients and make sure to pay it forward.  We put together a list of our team’s favorite charities to help inspire you to think about yours!

Saida’s Pick: UN Refugee Agency

The UN Refugee Agency helps and protects refugees and people displaced by violence, conflict and persecution.  They work to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum  and find safety having fled war at home.  The UN Refugee Agency and its partners provide lifesaving essentials including shelter, water, food, safety and protection.  Around the world they help refugees survive, recover and build a better future for themselves.

Krystal’s Pick: Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation

This foundation is near and dear to our planner Krystal’s heart.  She has first hand experience with this disease as a parent of a child who struggles with this debilitating condition.  The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for this disease; fueled by their volunteers, they are constantly working to improve the lives of children and adults battling this illness.

Savannah’s Pick: Little Brinks

Little Brinks was started by Danny and Kathy who fostered a child and through the process witnessed the immense lack of  resources and care that were available first hand for foster children in South Africa.  This foundation relies solely on donations and they work tirelessly to provide housing, clothing, food and safety for any child that gets left on their doorstep.  These children have often been physically and mentally abused by their own parents.  As the children and the population of Little Brinks grows, their needs change and often require more funds to keep the organization afloat.  On Savannah’s last trip to visit family and friends in South Africa, she stopped by the orphanage to lend a helping hand and to make a donation in the name of Anyvent.  

Eliana’s Pick: Wounded Warrior Project

The Wounded Warriors Project began in 2003 as a small grassroots effort to provide simple care and comfort items to the hospital bedsides of the first wounded service members returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.  From there, this amazing organization has evolved into a much bigger effort, offering programs in mental health, career counseling and long term rehabilitative care.  Along with the advocacy efforts made available by the organization, WWP has improved the lives of millions of warriors and their families.

Jackie’s Sister: Birth Sisters of Charlottesville

An organization that is dear to Jackie’s heart is the Birth Sisters of Charlottesville.  This organization offers doula services to women based on collectively supporting them through the journey of pregnancy into motherhood.  The goal of this beautiful organization is to focus on the resiliency of women of color through the trying times of motherhood  in regards to prenatal care, lactation support, postpartum guidance and labor and delivery assistance. This organization is deeply rooted in teaching through shared experiences, common values and deeply rooted legacies. 

Hannah’s Pick: Hope’s Legacy

An organization that is dear to Jackie’s heart is the Birth Sisters of Charlottesville.  This organization offers doula services to women based on collectively supporting them through the journey of pregnancy into motherhood.  The goal of this beautiful organization is to focus on the resiliency of women of color through the trying times of motherhood  in regards to prenatal care, lactation support, postpartum guidance and labor and delivery assistance. This organization is deeply rooted in teaching through shared experiences, common values and deeply rooted legacies. 

Monai’s Pick: Santa Council

The Santa Council is a non profit organization based in Virginia that provides meals and non-perishable goods to struggling families locally. The goal of this organization is to have every struggling family receive a box of non-perishable food and the ingredients for a holiday meal, as well as, clothing and toys for the children.  Today, nearly 600 families receive holiday assistance through the Santa Council which is solely financed from donations in the community.  The spirit of the community really shines in the Santa Council, the idea of adopting a family and giving them the opportunity to experience the joy of Christmas is really what the season of giving is about. 

Melanie’s Pick: The Ronald McDonald House

The idea of keeping families together is the foundation of the Ronald McDonald House. There are times when a child needs to leave home to receive important medical treatment. The Ronald McDonald house gives families the opportunity to be together, enjoy home cooked meals and receive compassionate hospitality and support from the Ronal McDonald community. The goal of the Ronald McDonald House organization is to help reduce stress and financial burden for families when they have to travel from home to access medical care for their children. The Ronald McDonald House program promises to provide all of the comforts of home, while the family focuses on providing support for their loved one.  

Jazmin’s Pick: The Rainbow Place of Rockville

The Rainbow Place is an emergency shelter in Rockville, Maryland whose primary focus is to keep the women they serve safe during the harsh winter months and help to transition them out of homelessness.  All of the guests of the Rainbow Place receive a warm safe place to sleep, three meals a day, a shower, laundry facilities, access to case management and referrals to local social service and treatment programs.  Rainbow Place serves approximately 100 women every season and has become a vitally important and highly respected part of the local care-giving community.

Giving back is at the heart of Anyvent’s success; whether we sponsor walks, show our support in adopting a family during the holidays or repurpose wedding flowers to cancer centers and women’s shelters; helping is in our nature.   We believe in the power of community and coming together to help.  We are so thankful for our thriving company and we wouldn’t be where we are today without our amazing clients.  We are doers, we help bring visions to life and give people their dream wedding day…to us, giving is second nature.  Because of our fantastic clients we are empowered to pay it forward and lend a helping hand whenever we can.  We can only hope we inspired you to do the same. Happy Season of Giving!