Promoting the Common Good

The NATCA Charitable Foundation (NCF) is proud to support the local communities of Philadelphia. NCF is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation with a mission to assist charitable, educational, scientific, and other activities that benefit the common good. NCF is a 100 percent volunteer organization, and the official charity of NATCA. The charity’s philanthropic efforts and programs stretch across the country with a volunteer network dedicated to making a difference in as many lives as possible. The foundation seeks to assist areas of need that go unfunded or may be missed through typical donor drives.

A hallmark of NCF is its low operating expense, largely due to its volunteers of all ages and professions. NCF’s operating expense ratio has remained below five percent since 1998. From 2011 to 2015, NCF has more than doubled the amount of money allocated to those in need from $91,000 to $200,000. In 2016 and 2017, NCF also allocated $200,000. For 2018, NCF has allocated $250,000 to be donated.

This week’s event continues an NCF tradition of helping local charities in the host convention areas. NCF raised over $30,000 in 2014 during NATCA’s 15th Biennial Convention in Minneapolis, which continued the “Show Your Roots” convention campaign that began in Denver in 2012. At Minneapolis, individuals, facilities, and areas within facilities sponsored 100 trees for the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. NCF also collected more than $10,000 in donations to benefit Finnegan’s Community Fund, which provides food for the hungry in the Midwest. NCF has also been a great resource for NATCA members to assist our nation’s veterans and military personnel. Veterans were highlighted at the 16th Biennial Convention in San Diego, which opened with a roll call honoring all of NATCA’s veterans and active military. NCF raised funds for local charities Shelter to Soldier, Snowball Express San Diego, United Soldiers and Sailors of America, Veterans Village San Diego, and Homefront San Diego.

Philadelphia is the nation’s birthplace and the heartbeat of labor and in that tradition, NCF will donate money raised this week to several charities in the local area – Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, Children’s Literacy Initiative, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Alpha Bravo Canine (ABC) – that honor the strong tradition of unions being there for their brothers and sisters and supporting their local communities.

NCF will host the solidarity event during NATCA’s 17th Biennial Convention this week at the Eastern State Penitentiary.

Alpha Bravo Canine: Awareness and Support

Alpha Bravo Canine (ABC) is a non-profit (501c3) organization that teams service dogs with U.S. veterans suffering from debilitating medical and psychological problems as a result of their active combat duty. It is estimated that 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or depression. Roughly 20 veterans a day commit suicide nationwide, according to data published by the the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2016 – a figure that demonstrates the disturbing mental health crisis gripping our nation. In a recent year, more than 7,400 veterans took their own lives, accounting for 18 percent of all suicides in America

ABC was founded by a mother and son team to help the local community of veterans. Jennifer Green, CPDT-KA is a certified dog trainer and Army wife, and her son Kevin Daly, USMC was deployed to Afghanistan twice with the 1st Battalion 8th Marine Regiment. Upon Kevin’s return home, they decided to combine their knowledge and experience of dog training and post deployment struggles to tackle these growing problems, and help to lower the suicide rates of U.S. veterans by providing emotional and physical support with trained service dogs.

Learn more about how the NATCA Charitable Foundation has supported ABC. ✪

Big Brothers Big Sisters: Changing Perspectives. Changing Lives.

For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation’s largest donor and volunteer-supported mentoring network, BBBS makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages six through 18, in communities across the country. Through these relationships, BBBS hopes to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.

An independent study conducted in 1994 and 1995 by Public/Private Ventures found that after 18 months of spending time with their Bigs, the Little Brothers and Little Sisters, compared to those children not in our program, were 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol, 52 percent less likely to skip school, 37 percent less likely to skip a class, and 33 percent less likely to hit someone. They also found that the Littles were more confident of their performance in schoolwork and getting along better with their families.

Learn more about how the NATCA Charitable Foundation has supported BBBS. ✪

Children’s Literacy Initiative: Reading = Opportunity

Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides educators with training and coaching in the most effective practices for early literacy instruction for pre-K through third grade. CLI workshops and institutes build teachers’ understanding of literacy and the art and science of teaching children how to read and write. CLI strives to create a sustainable, school-wide culture of literacy that introduces students to the joys of reading, writing, and lifelong learning.

CLI’s goal is to close the gap in literacy achievement between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers in an effort to build a nation where every child has the power of literacy and the opportunity for a lifetime of success. Visit www.cli.org to learn more.

Learn more about how the NATCA Charitable Foundation has supported CLI. ✪

Rebuilding Together Philadelphia: Together We Transform

Rebuilding Together Philadelphia (RTP) is a local, independent affiliate of Rebuilding Together, Inc., the nation’s leading nonprofit organization providing critical home repairs, modifications, and improvements for low-income homeowners. The Philadelphia chapter was founded as “Christmas in April of Philadelphia” in 1988. The chapter changed its name to RTP in 2004.

RTP’s mission is to repair homes, revitalize communities, and rebuild the lives of those in need by providing safe homes and communities for everyone. RTP is completely volunteer-based with nearly 100,000 volunteers who complete approximately 10,000 rebuilding projects annually. Learn more at www.rebuildingphilly.org.

Learn more about how the NATCA Charitable Foundation has supported RTP. ✪