Medicare is a federal health insurance program in the United States for people age 65 or older and younger people with disabilities, including those with end stage renal disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It was begun in 1965 under the Social Security Administration and is now administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
A telethon is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other cause.
The Terry Fox Run is an annual non-competitive charity event held around the world to raise money for cancer research in commemoration of Canadian cancer activist Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope.
The Rock Eisteddfod Challenge, also known as the Australian Rock Eisteddfod Challenge, was an Australian dance and drama challenge for government-funded high schools that was active between 1980 and 2012. Initiated by the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge Foundation as part of the Global Rock Challenge, the aim of the event was to promote healthy lifestyle choices, particularly abstinence from drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. The event started in Sydney, New South Wales in 1980 and subsequently spread to other States and territories of Australia and a small number of other countries.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young adults for completing a series of self-improvement exercises modelled on Kurt Hahn's solutions to his "Six Declines of Modern Youth".
Drug courts are problem-solving courts that take a public health approach to criminal offending using a specialized model in which the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social service, and treatment communities work together to help addicted offenders into long-term recovery. Instead of punishment, their purpose is to address one of the underlying drivers of crime and, in the process, reduce the use of imprisonment, potentially leading to substantial cost-savings. Drug courts aim to do this by incentivizing or mandating offenders into addiction treatment combined with frequent drug testing and regular monitoring by the judge.
The Northwestern University Dance Marathon, commonly known as NUDM, is a philanthropic dance marathon held every March at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1975, NUDM is one of the nation's most established and largest entirely student-run philanthropies. NUDM is one of the only annual Dance Marathons in the country to continually change its primary beneficiary. NUDM has raised over $23 million for its beneficiaries in its 50-year history, and involves over 1,000 students participating as dancers and committee members. Since 1997, the Evanston Community Foundation has been NUDM's secondary beneficiary.
The Livestrong Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that provides support for people affected by cancer. The foundation, based in Austin, Texas, was established in 1997 by cancer survivor and former professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong, as the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The Livestrong brand was launched by the foundation in 2003. Armstrong resigned from the foundation in 2012 after his admission of doping, leading to the rebranding of the entire organization as Livestrong Foundation.
St John of God Health Care is a Catholic provider of health care services in Australia, with 24 hospitals and facilities comprising more than 3,400 beds. The group operates in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and New Zealand.
Movember is an annual event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's suicide. It is a portmanteau of the Australian-English diminutive word for moustache, "mo", and "November". The Movember Foundation runs the Movember charity event, housed at Movember.com. The goal of Movember is to "change the face of men's health."
The Hawkesbury Canoe Classic is an annual marathon canoe race taking place on the Hawkesbury River in Northwest Sydney usually at the end of October. The Hawkesbury Canoe Classic consists of a 111 km paddle downstream starting in Windsor and finishing in Mooney Mooney. The race is Australia's fourth-longest annual canoe race after the 404 km Murray Marathon, the 208 km Riverland Paddling Marathon on the Murray River between Martins Bend and Morgan in South Australia and the 133 km Avon Descent in Western Australia. The Hawkesbury Canoe Classic has over 300 paddlers each year. Around 300 paddlers travel 111 km in moonlight, down the Hawkesbury River from Windsor to Brooklyn, to raise money for Charity. Over the years the Hawkesbury Classic has developed into a great event. Paddlers, their land crew and hundreds of volunteers converge on the banks of the Hawkesbury River at Windsor on the day of the event to enjoy the fun and competition of an overnight paddle, and the now famous camaraderie and spirit of the event. Paddlers leave Windsor between 4pm and 4.30pm on Saturday and pass 18 safety checkpoints during the night. The fastest craft arrive at Brooklyn on Sunday morning in less than 10 hours, but the average time is closer to 15 hours. The classic began in 1977 and is made possible by volunteers who put in hundreds of hours of time throughout the year, the landowners who allow the use of their land for the weekend and the paddlers and their support crews. The Classic has raised more than $4.5 million for medical research, the major beneficiary continues to be will be the Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation.
Positive Pedalers is a non-profit 7 corporation for people with HIV/AIDS or supporters of people living with HIV/AIDS, which organizes bicycle-related activities.
Famine events are localized events of voluntary fasting for 30 or 40 hours depending on the region to raise money and awareness for world hunger. These events are usually coordinated by one of various World Vision organizations and are done by youth in church organizations. They have spread internationally, notably the international 30 Hour Famine, also the regional 40 Hour Famine in Australia and New Zealand and the 24 Hour Famine in the United Kingdom. The 30 Hour Famine is the most popular amongst all, spreading across 21 countries.
The Leukaemia Foundation is a national charity in Australia dedicated to helping people who have been diagnosed with leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma, MDS, MPN, Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia, aplastic anaemia, or amyloidosis.
Swim Across America Inc., (SAA) is a nonprofit dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research, prevention, and treatment. It does so by hosting charity swims and donating the proceeds to a hospital. Since its founding, SAA has granted over $100 million to fund cancer research and clinical trials. More than 100,000 donations a year are made to support participants in Swim Across America charity swims to meet their fundraising goals. The proceeds from SAA charity swims are granted to fund cancer research at world-renowned hospitals such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins.
Hair for Hope is a charity event in which participants have their heads shaven in order to raise funds for the Children's Cancer Foundation whose mission is to "improving the quality of life of children with cancer and their families through enhancing their emotional, social, and medical well-being."
BAPS Charities is an international, religious, charitable organization that originates from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) with a focus on serving society. This focus on service to society is stated in the organization's vision, that "every individual deserves the right to a peaceful, dignified, and healthy way of life. And by improving the quality of life of the individual, we are bettering families, communities, our world, and our future." BAPS Charities carries out this vision through a range of programs addressing health, education, the environment, and natural disaster recovery. The organization's worldwide activities are funded through donations and are led by a community of over 55,000 volunteers who are mostly members of BAPS. The volunteers work with local communities and other charities and the organization's activities are mainly based out of their mandirs.
Dry January is a campaign delivered by Alcohol Change UK where people sign up to abstain from alcohol for the month of January. The term "Dry January" is a registered trademark with Alcohol Change UK and was first registered in 2014.
The Robert Connor Dawes Foundation is an Australian not-for-profit organisation that facilitates funding in brain research, care and development in Australia and the United States. The foundation was created in June 2013 by Liz Dawes and Scott Dawes in memory of their son Robert Connor Dawes who died from a brain tumour in April 2013 at 18 years of age. As of July 31, 2015, they changed their name from Robert Connor Dawes Fund to Robert Connor Dawes Foundation.
