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Recently, we asked our community to nominate youth-focused nonprofits to participate in the Give for Youth Challenge on GOOD Maker. Give for Youth, a Microsoft YouthSpark program in partnership with GlobalGiving, helps nonprofits reach new donors and crowd fund for their projects.


The community voted and selected the top 20 organizations, and each now has the opportunity to fundraise on Give for Youth. From March 18 to 27, Microsoft will match funds raised up to $100,000 across the 20 featured organizations. Now is your chance to help bring their projects to life. By making a donation on Give for Youth, you are supporting young people with opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship.

UPDATE: Due to the overwhelming response of donors, the $100,000 in matching funds was claimed in the first hour. Microsoft wants to continue to encourage donations and will be providing an additional $100,000 in matching funds.

Take a look at five of the top twenty finishers, and be sure to check back as we continue to highlight the inspiring organizations you voted for.

Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund

The Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) is hoping to improve low postsecondary education attendance rates in the Pacific Islands (PI). By raising funds to sponsor four PI students, the organization hopes they can empower these students to create a dialogue with key stakeholders around higher education policies and programs.” As the only national scholarship nonprofit supporting PI students, APIASF hopes to support and empower the next generation of PI leaders; find out how they plan to do so here.

To donate now, click here.

Break Away
With more than 160 college chapters across the U.S., Break Away offers alternative breaks to students, immersing them in service programs across the world. Students spend anywhere from a weekend to multiple weeks making impact in communities. Break Away hopes to raise funds to support alternative break students who want to do service with a school or education program.Participants work to improve the organization’s capacity or spend time with younger students. Learn more about Break Away and their students here.

To donate now, click here.

American Foundation for Children with AIDS

The American Foundation for Children with AIDS (AFCA) serves to connect the needs of HIV+ children in Sub-Saharan Africa with resources from the western world. The nonprofit works to train youths in animal husbandry and gardening, allowing young people to become self-reliant entrepreneurs through their own gardens and livestock, which they learn to sell, barter, consume and care for. Through funding, AFCA hopes to help even more kids, who can in turn share their knowledge and a portion of their herds and flocks with others in the community. Learn more about AFCA’s work here.

To donate now, click here.

ACT Today!

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ACT Today! offers a two-week film program for youths with autism spectrum disorders. While producing a 35-minute film, students learn social and job skills such as cooperation, negotiation, animation, set design, and budgeting. Upon completion of their film and the program the students premier their film at a red carpet event during the San Diego Film Festival. Through funding ACT Today! hopes to offer the program to more students this summer. Read more about their program here.

To donate now, click here.

Rock Paper Scissors Children’s Fund



Rock Paper Scissors Children’s Fund has two projects underway to help the youth of Cam Duc, Vietnam. The Fund works to offer art and music classes to poor children living in the area, including those at a local orphanage. The Fund’s goal is to provide the school’s music teacher, Tuan, with professional instruction as well as continue to provide art supplies and paper for their Dream of Art School and other community schools. Read more here on how the Fund plans to help youth living in poverty through art and creativity.

To donate now, click here.

You can donate to any of the causes above, as well as others from the Give for Youth GOOD Maker challenge on Give for Youth.



  • Man’s dog suddenly becomes protective of his wife, Internet clocks the reason right away
    Dogs have impressive observational powers.Photo credit: Canva

    Reddit user Girlfriendhatesmefor’s three-year-old pitbull, Otis, had recently become overprotective of his wife. So he asked the online community if they knew what might be wrong with the dog.

    “A week or two ago, my wife got some sort of stomach bug,” the Reddit user wrote under the subreddit /r/dogs. “She was really nauseous and ill for about a week. Otis is very in tune with her emotions (we once got in a fight and she was upset, I swear he was staring daggers at me lol) and during this time didn’t even want to leave her to go on walks. We thought it was adorable!”

    His wife soon felt better, butthe dog’s behavior didn’t change.

    pregnancy signs, dogs and pregnancy, pitbull behavior, pet intuition, dog overprotection, Reddit stories, viral Reddit, dog instincts, canine emotions, dog owner tips
    Otis knew before they did. Canva

    Girlfriendhatesmefor began to fear that Otis’ behavior may be an early sign of an aggression issue or an indication that the dog was hurt or sick.

    So he threw a question out to fellow Reddit users: “Has anyone else’s dog suddenly developed attachment/aggression issues? Any and all advice appreciated, even if it’s that we’re being paranoid!”

    The most popular response to his thread was by ZZBC.

    Any chance your wife is pregnant?

    ZZBC | Reddit

    The potential news hit Girlfriendhatesmefor like a ton of bricks. A few days later, Girlfriendhatesmefor posted an update and ZZBC was right!

    “The wifey is pregnant!” the father-to-be wrote. “Otis is still being overprotective but it all makes sense now! Thanks for all the advice and kind words! Sorry for the delayed reply, I didn’t check back until just now!”

    Redditors responded with similar experiences.

    Anecdotal I know but I swear my dog knew I was pregnant before I was. He was super clingy (more than normal) and was always resting his head on my belly.

    realityisworse | Reddit

    So why do dogs get overprotective when someone is pregnant?

    Jeff Werber, PhD, president and chief veterinarian of the Century Veterinary Group in Los Angeles, told Health.com that “dogs can also smell the hormonal changes going on in a woman’s body at that time.” He added the dog may “not understand that this new scent of your skin and breath is caused by a developing baby, but they will know that something is different with you—which might cause them to be more curious or attentive.”

    The big lesson here is to listen to your pets and to ask questions when their behavior abruptly changes. They may be trying to tell you something, and the news may be life-changing.

    This article originally appeared last year.

  • Throughout history, women have stood up and fought to break down barriers imposed on them from stereotypes and societal expectations. The trailblazers in these photos made history and redefined what a woman could be. In doing so, they paved the way for future generations to stand up and continue to fight for equality.

  • ,

    Why mass shootings spawn conspiracy theories

    Mass shootings and conspiracy theories have a long history.

    While conspiracy theories are not limited to any topic, there is one type of event that seems particularly likely to spark them: mass shootings, typically defined as attacks in which a shooter kills at least four other people.

    When one person kills many others in a single incident, particularly when it seems random, people naturally seek out answers for why the tragedy happened. After all, if a mass shooting is random, anyone can be a target.

    Pointing to some nefarious plan by a powerful group – such as the government – can be more comforting than the idea that the attack was the result of a disturbed or mentally ill individual who obtained a firearm legally.


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