Ahead with Horses is an organization that works with handicapped children by using equine-therapy to help them learn to adjust to their challenging lives and become more mobile. The stories of these children—some of whom struggle with autism and many of whom have such severe physical handicaps that they can’t even walk—will inspire you.  Every day, Ahead With Horses works to maximize the potential of disabled, disadvantaged and special-needs children by providing the opportunity to experience the measurable improvement - physically, mentally, socially and emotionally - that can give them the chance to be a child.

Camp Max Straus: For many young children of all races and denominations, the struggle to have a safe and happy childhood is an overwhelming challenge.  Camp Max Straus offers both a traditional summer camp program and High Sierra backpacking to underserved children in Los Angeles County.  They participate in evening astronomy experiences, hands-on ranch and garden programs, archery, swimming, horseback riding, drama, music, crafts and so much more.  Almost 50,000 children have benefited since 1938, regardless of a family's ability to pay.

Children's Hospital Los Angeles: Children's Hospital Los Angeles is one of only eight children's hospitals in the U.S. good enough to be ranked 'Best' on the prestigious U.S. News & World Report 'Honor Roll'. Our Mission: To make a world of difference in the lives of children, adolescents, and their families by integrating medical care, education and research to provide the highest quality care and service to our diverse community.

The Painted Turtle: is the only multi-disease medical camp of its kind in California.  Our mission is to create life-changing experiences for children with serious medical conditions.  In addition to running a year-round camp, we also have a hospital outreach program.  All children attend The Painted Turtle free of charge.

The Hollenbeck Police Activities League (PAL) was founded in 1992 to implement sports activities for high-risk youths in response to the juvenile crime increase in the area. PAL’s mission is to bring hope and opportunity to the communities of Los Angeles’ east and northeast areas by offering character-building, educational, and life-enhancing programs to its youth, and encouraging and nurturing young people to become responsible, productive, and law-abiding citizens.

Starlight Children’s Foundation: When a child is diagnosed with a serious illness, the day-to-day joys of childhood take a back seat to the rigors of treatment and hospitalization. For nearly 30 years, Starlight Children’s Foundation has dedicated itself to improving the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses and life-altering injuries by providing entertainment, education and family activities that help them cope with the pain, fear and isolation of prolonged illness.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. St. Jude is the first and only pediatric cancer center to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. Founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatments not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family's inability to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fundraising organization.

4sight4children The mission of 4sight4children (formally known as the blind baby fund) is to aid families from all parts of the world that lack financial resources to undergo crucial eye surgery. 4sight4children assists these families by providing lodging and/or transportation during their lengthy stays in San Diego, as well as the urgently needed eye surgery. After surgeries, these children go on to lead productive lives with the ability to see.

Asian Pacific American Legal Center Founded in 1983, APALC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for civil rights, providing legal services and education, and building coalitions to positively influence and impact Asian Pacific Americans and to create a more equitable and harmonious society. APALC is a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, which also includes Asian American Institute (Chicago, IL), Asian American Justice Center (Washington, DC) and Asian Law Caucus (San Francisco, CA).

Camp Soaring Eagle provides a special place where children from all over the southwest United States who are living with fatal or life threatening diseases can forget about their illness and play like kids again in a medically safe environment.

Covenant House California (CHC) is a non-profit agency whose mission is to reach out to at-risk homeless youth living on the streets and offer them hope and opportunities to turn their lives around. We help abused or neglected youth who have nowhere else to go. A large number have been thrown out of their homes while others have aged out or left the foster care system with no family, no support, and no one to turn to. Since 1988, CHC has impacted the lives of more than 160,000 homeless youth out of our Los Angeles and Bay Area locations. More than 80% of our funding comes from private donations.

Friendly House LA, established in 1951, was the first treatment center for women recovering from drug addiction and alcoholism in the U.S. We have given thousands of women the resources to lead productive and meaningful lives by providing personalized care in a supportive environment.

The Friends and Helpers Foundation offers assistance to those affected by domestic violence, regardless of age, sex, religion, or ethnicity. We work with several specific abused women and children’s centers throughout Los Angeles and Orange County and focus on Christmas, Chanukah, Mother’s Day, Easter, back-to-school, and provide for general needs throughout the year.

Horses4Heroes, Inc. is the leading family horseback riding non-profit organization that enriches lives and empowers our youth and their families by offering able-bodied, affordable horseback riding programs that emphasize fun and safe activities with horses, mounted and un-mounted for all ages.  Participants learn valuable leadership and teamwork skills, make new friends, and develop a lifelong love of horses!  Our organization serves the families of all servicemen and women, First Responders and other heroes in communities across the country.  Our programs include HorsePlay (a "Mommy and Me" activity for 2-6 year olds), Operation Free Ride, a weekly, hosted FREE horseback riding session, and StayStrong, a support program for families and individuals in crisis who can benefit from the magical, healing powers of horses.  Annual communitywide events include:  The Red White & Blue Jeans Walk-Trot Spectacular, Hero Appreciation Day and the Horse Show for Heroes (a 9/11 Tribute), and Veterans Day Open Houses at all our network facilities from coast-to-coast.

Junior Blind Originally established as the Foundation for the Junior Blind in 1953, Junior Blind’s mission is helping children who are blind, visually impaired or multi-disabled achieve independence. Junior Blind offers specialized services to thousands of children and youth in Southern California through programs that offer early intervention, education, recreation and rehabilitation services—all at no cost to families.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center is the world’s largest organization dedicated to serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and has been working to build the health, advocate for the rights and enrich the lives of LGBT people for more than 40 years.

Lewis Center for Educational Research operates two charter schools grades K-12 in Apple Valley and San Bernardino.  Given control of its own nine-story tall radio telescope and working in partnership with NASA and JPL, the Lewis Center brings the strongest, hands-on science and math education to its own 1700 students and to the more than 32,000 students who participate in its programs across the nation and in 14 different countries and 3 US Territories.

Maranatha High School Equestrian Team is in a grass roots phase for the 46 year old Pasadena school. Like each of Maranatha’s athletics programs, the equestrian team provides an opportunity for students of all skill levels to participate, to train, develop their talents, and to compete interscholastically with schools throughout the Southern California area. In addition, the team’s mission is to enable more Maranatha students to pursue their equestrian dreams, passions, and knowledge of horsemanship without the limitations of financial resources.

Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach provides specialized pediatric care for children and young adults, with conditions ranging from common to complex—as well as maternity care for expectant mothers—all under one roof. Only five percent of all hospitals are children’s hospitals, making them unique not only to children’s health care needs in the community, but across the region. Miller Children’s is one of only eight free-standing children’s hospitals in California - treating more than 8,000 children each year - and has become a regional pediatric destination for more than 84,000 children, who need specialized care in the outpatient specialty and satellite centers. Miller Children’s is currently undertaking a major expansion project to expand the pediatric cancer center, neonatal intensive care unit and the MemorialCare Center for Women.

PAWS/LA is dedicated to preserving the loving bond between people and their companion animals. To that end, we provide services to assist low-income seniors and people disabled by a life-threatening illness keep and care for their pets.

Reins Therapeutic Horsemanship Program provides physical and emotional therapy to a wide range of disabled children and adults through the use of carefully supervised horseback riding with mental, physical and emotional benefits.

The TELACU Education Foundation prepares first-generation Latino students in underserved communities to reach their full potential in the classroom and in life. The Foundation combines vital financial assistance with a support system and highly effective programs that ensure college completion—from college preparation and leadership development to academic/career guidance and mentoring. The Foundation annually supports about 500 college students and serves an additional 1,500 middle and high school students, nursing school students and veterans. A full 100% of the Foundation’s high school students graduate and go on to pursue postsecondary education; and 100% of our college Scholars attain a Bachelor’s degree.

United Way of Greater Los Angeles is a nonprofit organization that creates pathways out of poverty by helping homeless people move into housing, providing students with the support they need to graduate high school prepared for college and the workforce, and helping hard-working families become financially stable. United Way identifies the root causes of poverty and works strategically to solve them by building alliances across all sectors, funding targeted programs and advocating for change.

The Wright Foundation for Pediatric Ophthalmology is located in Los Angeles and its mission is to reduce blindness and suffering from eye disorders in infants and children, through research, medical education, and delivering quality eye care to all children without regard to insurance, status, or family income.

Bilingual Foundation of The Arts is a non profit professional theater company founded 38 years ago with a mission to promote and preserve the rich latino cultural diversity through the theater. Through all these years BFA has served over 2 million students in Southern California. BFA's programs are 3 mainstage plays per year, touring schools with educational plays, New works Festival to provide opportunities for new writers and a Christmas show called Too Many Tamales which features family values, and generational and cultural diversity with fun and music.

Mindfulness Without Borders seeds conversations on social and emotional competencies that are vital for coping with the stresses of an increasingly complex world. They support students, parents and educators to build inner resources that allow them to bring self-awareness, nonviolence, collaboration and compassion into their daily lives.