The National Association of Police & Lay Charities (NAPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) charity started in 1997 in Washington, D.C. [1]
The mission statement of NAPLC began simply enough, but in time was expanded to allow partnerships with various secular, lay charities. The NAPLC mission broadened into helping reduce the recidivism rate in U.S. prisons, fighting the illiteracy of American school children, and even into helping Deaf people learn a SignWriting modality, [2] that aids in developing their literacy.
After the emergence of NAPLC, the organization began its long association with the Teddy Bear Cop's Program, wherein teddy bears are given by policemen, fire fighters, and emergency rescue workers to children in traumatized situations. [3]
According to Charity Navigator, only 21.4% of the income went to the target program in 2006 (72.6% went to fund raising and 5.9% to administrative expenses). [4] The Better Business Bureau reports that NAPLC did not respond to their requests for information. [1]
The mission of the Teddy Bear Cops program is to get teddy bears into the hands of police, fire and emergency officials across the country, so that they can give teddy bears to a child or children at the scene of incidents. A similar program is run in the UK by the metropolitan police in partnership with the Great British Teddy bear company who have together created a range of police teddy bears that are given to children at the scene of incidents.
Over a decade ago NAPLC started a car donation program on the Internet to raise funds for purchasing teddy bears in large quantities and shipping them to various police and fire officials to forward the Teddy Bear Cops Program. [5] [6]
The NAPLC website has developed into a large and informative site, especially with data regarding charitable vehicle donations. The website provides accurate historical and contemporary information about the Internal Revenue Service laws and changes regarding car donations.
In the early years of its formation it was found that many donors wished to assist the charity but could not benefit by a tax deduction and so the recycling program was launched to always give something back to those that contributed in any way to the Teddy Bear Cops Program.
The NAPLC website has grown to include all the information needed to participate in the US taxpayer vehicle donation program, as well as title transfer information.
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear, named after President Theodore Roosevelt, became a popular children's toy and has been celebrated in story, song, and film.
Easton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 7,605 at the time of the 2020 census. Easton contains the historic district of Aspetuck and the Plattsville census-designated place. Part of the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, which is in turn a part of the New York metropolitan statistical area, it is bordered by the towns of Fairfield, Connecticut to the south, Redding to the north, Weston to the west, and Monroe and Trumbull to the east.
ChildFund, formerly known as Christian Children's Fund, is a child-focused international development organization that provides assistance to children facing poverty and other challenges in 24 countries, including the United States. ChildFund's headquarters are located in Richmond, Virginia, United States.
The New York City Police Department Auxiliary Police is a volunteer reserve police force which is a subdivision of the Patrol Services Bureau of the New York City Police Department. Auxiliary Police Officers assist the NYPD with uniformed patrols, providing traffic control, crowd control, and other services during major events.
Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. It was founded in 1947 by reservist Major Bill Hendricks.
The International Union of Police Associations (IUPA) is a North American police union, and is chartered as a national union that represents law enforcement and support personnel with the AFL–CIO.
The Maryland State Police (MSP), officially the Maryland Department of State Police (MDSP), is the official state police force of the U.S. state of Maryland. The Maryland State Police is headquartered at 1201 Reisterstown Road in the Pikesville CDP in unincorporated Baltimore County.
Feed the Children, established in 1979 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization focused on alleviating childhood hunger. Its mission is "providing hope and resources for those without life's essentials." The organization provides food, essentials, education supplies and disaster relief to those in need across the United States and in 8 countries around the world. Domestically, Feed the Children operates five distribution centers located in Oklahoma, Indiana, California, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, or Port Authority Police Department (PAPD), is a law enforcement agency in New York and New Jersey, the duties of which are to protect and to enforce state and city laws at all the facilities, owned or operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), the bi-state agency running airports, seaports, and many bridges and tunnels within the Port of New York and New Jersey. Additionally, the PAPD is responsible for other PANYNJ properties including three bus terminals, the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, and the PATH train system. The PAPD is the largest transit-related police force in the United States.
Citizen Corps is a program under the Department of Homeland Security that provides training for the population of the United States to assist in the recovery after a disaster or terrorist attack. Each local Citizen Corps Council partners with organizations, volunteers and businesses to organize responders, volunteers and professional first responders for an efficient response so efforts are not wasted by being duplicated. By training in Incident Command, volunteers know whom to report to and how the incident is organized. This prevents sites from being inundated by untrained and unprepared personnel preventing operation. Citizen Corps also works in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service in promoting national service opportunities for promoting homeland security needs.
Direct Relief is a nonprofit humanitarian organization whose mission is to improve the lives of people in poverty or emergency situations by providing the appropriate medical resources. The charity provides emergency medical assistance and disaster relief in the United States and internationally. The organization is headed by an independent board of directors and its president and CEO, Thomas Tighe.
Christian Blind Mission (CBM) is an international Christian development organization, committed to improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities in the poorest communities of the world. It is considered one of the world's oldest and largest organizations working in this field. CBM was founded in 1908 by the German pastor Ernst Jakob Christoffel, who built homes for blind children, orphans, physically disabled, and deaf persons in Turkey and Iran. Initially CBM's efforts were focused on preventing and curing blindness but now cover other causes of disability.
The Emergency Service Unit(ESU) is part of the Special Operations Bureau of the New York City Police Department. The unit provides specialized support and advanced equipment to other NYPD units. Members of ESU are cross-trained in multiple disciplines for police, first aid, and rescue work.
Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an American charity and veterans service organization that operates as a nonprofit 501(c)(3). WWP offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans who incurred a physical or mental injury, illnesses, or co-incident to their military service on or after September 11, 2001. Military family members and caregivers are also eligible for WWP programs.
Resala, also known as Resala Association, is a non-profit organization based in Egypt.
Harvard E. "Pete" Palmer Jr. is a prominent national authority on promotion and operation of car donation programs for charitable causes. He is "arguably one of the individuals with the broadest knowledge of the far-flung vehicle donation industry." He is a spokesperson for the Vehicle Donation Coalition. His writing includes an op-ed piece in The San Francisco Examiner about how to choose a worthy cause for donating a car, citing California's State Registrar of Charitable Trusts as a source for checking the records of particular charities soliciting in that state.
Kars4Kids is a Jewish nonprofit car donation organization based in Lakewood, New Jersey in the United States. Kars4Kids is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that states that its mission is "to fund educational, developmental and recreational programs for low-income youth" through programs largely facilitated by its sister charity Oorah, which focuses on Jewish children and families. It was founded in 1994 and is currently headed by Eliyohu Mintz.
The Police Athletic League (PAL) is an independent, nonprofit youth development agency in New York City. PAL is funded by a combination of private donations and public funding sources and is a designated charity of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Robert M. Morgenthau, the late former New York County District Attorney, served as Chairman of the Board of Directors beginning in 1963. PAL is open to all New York City children.
Child Aid is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Portland, Oregon, working to promote literacy in Latin America. According to Child Aid's mission statement, the organization works to "create opportunity for Latin America's rural and indigenous poor through childhood literacy and education programs."
Family Promise is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States, founded by Karen Olson in 1988. Family Promise primarily serves families with children who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, with the mission of "help[ing] homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence through a community-based response."