BioSand Water Filters in Haiti The United Nations estimates that each person needs 5-13 gallons of safe freshwater each day to cover the basic needs of drinking, cooking and cleaning. Over one in six people worldwide don't have access to this basic minimum amount of safe freshwater. Globally, diarrhea is the leading cause of illness and death, an unfortunate result of drinking unsafe water, and water-borne diseases are the primary cause of death for children under the age of five.
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UTOPIA GIFTS
The Utopia Foundation provides others with an alternative to traditional gift-giving, while supporting the many admirable and worthwhile projects and Champions that are doing good in the world. These resilient projects are global and domestic, and provide sustainable improvements in the livelihoods of others. Browse the compelling projects below, and choose an intentional gift for the good of the world.
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Care of a Northern Michigan Therapy Horse PEACE Ranch uses abused, abandoned, and "throw away" horses (horses with no training or "value") for equine therapy programs. The process of rehabilitating these horses can sometimes be lengthy, depending on the severity of the individual horse's condition upon arrival. Once horses are restored physically and mentally, they are trained for therapy programs serving children and adults with a broad range of mental and physical disabilities. These programs are offered in collaboration with area agencies to all in need. |
Ecological Sanitation Training and Composting Toilets in Haiti Currently, only 16% of rural Haitians and 50% of those in Haiti's cities have access to improved sanitation facilities, placing adults and children at a high risk of developing life-threatening water-borne diseases. Perhaps nowhere are these health risks as magnified as they are in the Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps formed within Haiti after its devastating 2010 earthquakeSustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) currently provides emergency sanitation services to over 15,000 people in IDP camps in Port-au-Prince. Through the process of ecological sanitation, human wastes are collected in specially designed toilets and converted into rich agricultural compost. |
Help Pave the Leelanau Trail The 15.5 mile Leelanau Trail is a non-motorized pathway connecting Traverse City and Suttons Bay, Michigan. Running through the last of Leelanau County's former railroad corridors, the Leelanau Trail creates the perfect setting for transportation, recreation and environmental education. The route stretches through rolling hills, lush forests, picturesque orchards, peaceful meadows and an aquatic medley of streams, lakes and ponds.The trail is currently paved for approximately 8.5 miles and unpaved for 7 miles. The unpaved surface is a hard-packed dirt two-track. Your support will help to complete the paving of the Leelanau Trail. |
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Local Fruits and Vegetables for Families in Need Double Up Food Bucks Northwest Michigan doubles the money available to individuals using SNAP Bridge Cards (formerly food stamps) to purchase healthy fresh fruits and vegetables in farmers markets. It provides a welcome economic boost to financially struggling families, regional farms, and the local economy. Launched by the nonprofit Fair Food Network of southern Michigan, the program doubles the money for families up to $20 per farmers market visit—providing $40 each visit to purchase healthy, locally grown food. This program will benefit more than 22,000 people (of whom, more than 40% are children) in Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, and Manistee counties. |
Providing Soccer Uniforms to African Children Wildlife and Nature Travel (WANT) Expeditions, is the world leader in highly personalized, conservation-oriented, small-group global travel. WANT Expeditions works hand-in-hand with the communities they visit to ensure a mutually supportive relationship. Over the past year, as WANT’s travel guides visited villages all over the world, they listened closely to the needs of the people. From the children’s mouths, they heard a cry for something that would give them a time and space to truly be children and forget the harsh realities of their world. For this reason, WANT Expeditions has partnered with the Utopia Foundation to bring 200 soccer uniforms to countries including Uganda, Ghana and Sao Tome. Already, over 100 soccer balls have been collected in support of this project by a guest of WANT Expeditions who, after a trip to Uganda, was so moved by this need that she organized the ball collection herself. These soccer balls and uniforms will be hand-delivered by WANT Expedition guides to villages throughout Africa. |
Student Tuition at a Technical School in GhanaAshesi University is an African-initiated private, secular, not-for-profit institution in Accra, Ghana. Its mission is to educate a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders in Africa and to cultivate within its students the critical thinking skills, the concern for others and the courage it will take to transform their continent. Ashesi University believes that a new Africa will require homegrown, ethical leadership and innovative thinking. |
The Covering Project: An Arena for PEACE Ranch
PEACE Ranch located in beautiful northern Michigan, uses rehabilitated rescue horses in equine assisted activities and therapy for people struggling with psychological, emotional and physical challenges. All equine therapy programs are currently conducted in uncovered outdoor arenas, limiting programs to approximately 12-16 weeks per year due to the cool and unpredictable climate of the area. This denies many—including schools and community organizations—the benefits of equine assisted therapy and education from September 1 to June 1 of each year.To remedy this problem, the Utopia Foundation, in partnership with PEACE Ranch, has begun The Covering Project to provide a covered arena that will allow children, schools, organizations, and others access to the services at PEACE Ranch throughout the school year. |
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The Pangea Project The Pangea Choir Project is bringing together young people to share the universal language of music through a virtual choir that is reaching around the globe. By April 2012, the Pangea Choir aspires to engage youth on every continent in a planetary performance of "Sing Me Universal," an original composition based on the transcendental philosophies of Wittman, Longfellow, and Thoreau. |
Utopia General Fund
Can’t decide which project to support because they are all so compelling? Donate to the Utopia Foundation's General Fund and the Board of Directors will choose the project or cause that has the most pressing and urgent need.
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Utopia Loved & Left Haiti. Japan. Indonesia. Just the mention of a nation's name can often elicit images in one's mind of a terrible natural or man-made disaster that has befallen it. During those times, we are reminded of humanity's unity and the compassion we have with one another as individuals and organizations from around the world rush to provide emergency aid services.At the Utopia Foundation, we applaud these selfless individuals and organizations doing the important work of meeting a region's critical immediate needs following a disaster. However, often after a few days or weeks, life goes back to normal for the rest of the world and the media spotlight quickly shifts to other events. As a result, the support for ongoing sustainable development efforts in these areas may be forgotten. |
Utopia Microcredit Microloans are the Utopia Foundation’s first love. Microcredit provides small loans to entrepreneurs that may not qualify for funding through conventional banking systems. This financial resource allows an individual to begin, or build the capacity of, a microenterprise, in turn leading to economic sustainability and independence. With existing programs in the Rural Western Highlands of Guatemala and locally in Leelanau County, Michigan, you can help the Utopia Foundation continue our impact. |
