In January, 2010, Inflection began making
a charitable donation at the end of every
release cycle. The donation is calculated
by multiplying $500 by the version number
(for example, for version 3.3 we donated
3.3 x $500 = $1,650). Charities are chosen
by Inflection team members.
Khan Academy (Release v5.1)
The Khan Academy is an educational organization, created in 2006 by Mr. Salman Khan, a graduate of MIT with the stated mission of "providing a free world class education to anyone, anywhere". The website supplies a free online collection of more than 2,600 micro lectures via video tutorials stored on YouTube teaching mathematics, history, healthcare and medicine, finance, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, economics, cosmology, organic chemistry, American civics, art history, microeconomics and computer science.
Global Way Makers (Release v5.0)
Global Way Makers works with various partner organizations around the world towards several humanitarian causes such as the building, staffing and maintenance of orphanages; relief of abject poverty; efforts to end human trafficking and funding of micro-business opportunities and scholarships.
Consumer Federation of America (Release v4.9)
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is an association of non-profit consumer organizations that was established in 1968 to advance the consumer interest through research, advocacy, and education. Today, nearly 300 of these groups participate in the federation and govern it through their representatives on the organization's Board of Directors.
Best Buddies (Release v4.8)
Best Buddies is a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Founded in 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver, Best Buddies has grown from one original chapter to almost 1,500 middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide. Best Buddies programs engage participants in each of the 50 United States, and in 50 countries around the world. Their volunteers annually contribute, at no cost to their communities, support services that equate to more than $164 million USD.
As a result of their involvement with Best Buddies, people with IDD secure rewarding jobs, live on their own, become inspirational leaders, and make lifelong friendships.
Family Independence Initiative (Release v4.7)
Maurice Lim Miller, a 20 year veteran in social service started The Family Independence Initiative about a decade ago to assure jobs and security for the low-income families. After reflecting on his own family's story of climbing out of poverty he researched the histories of immigrant, migrant, and indigenous communities in the United States who managed to move from intense poverty to a more stable middle-class standing. The common thread was that people turned to family and friends, pooled resources, and followed the example of those in their circle that began to succeed. The Family Independence Initiative is based on this premise: mutuality and self-determination are key in achieving self-sufficiency.
Kiva – Loans that change lives (Release v4.6)
Kiva.org is a micro-lending website for the working poor, empowering individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe, starting with as little as $25. Founded in 2005, Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, to alleviate poverty. Thus far, Kiva has lent money to hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs across 53 countries and currently, those loans have a 98% repayment rate.
Inflection has made a donation to Kiva.org (and not a direct loan to any specific entrepreneur). Kiva uses such donations to cover their operations
Edesia – Global Nutrition Solutions and Plumpy'nut (Release v4.5)
Headquartered in Providence, RI, Edesia is a non-profit producer of ready-to-use foods that have revolutionized the treatment and prevention of malnutrition in the developing world. Above and beyond production, Edesia's role is to foster research for the development of new nutritional solutions and to support expansion of production capacities in developing countries.
Plumpy'nut® is a ready-to-use therapeutic food, endorsed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, and is proven to treat severe acute malnutrition with astounding success rates. It is an energy-dense paste made with peanuts, milk powder, sugar, vegetable oils, and a fortified vitamin and mineral mixture.
Santa Clara Entrepreneurs Organization (August 2011)
The Santa Clara Entrepreneurship Club aims to provide students a conduit to access relevant entrepreneurial resources, network with prominent industry leaders and share ideas. SCEO is also a registered SCU Business Student Association within Santa Clara University. The club is completely student run and is dedicated to understanding the goals and desires of undergraduate students who want to expand their knowledge about new and/or small entrepreneurial businesses.
The SCEO advantage is simple. "We live in the hub of high technology and new business development. We provide resources to students that are beyond compare to other entrepreneurship organizations."
The Trevor Project (Release v4.4)
The Trevor Project was founded by the creators of the award winning short film, "Trevor" (about a gay 13-year-old boy who, when rejected by friends because of his sexuality, makes an attempt to take his life) - when film creators realized that youth that find themselves in the same crisis as Trevor do not really have a crisis and suicide prevention lifeline to turn to for help. The Trevor Project's mission is to end suicide among LGBTQ youth by providing life-saving and life-affirming resources including their nationwide, 24/7 crisis intervention lifeline, digital community and advocacy/educational programs that create a safe, supportive and positive environment for everyone.
Heartland Family Service (Release v4.3)
"Heartland Family Service" is serving the metro Omaha communities since 1875. Each year, they help more than 36,000 individuals: children who are removed from unsafe homes; teens who made the wrong decisions about alcohol, drugs or crime; and low-income families — mostly women and children — who fall into homelessness; and many more who need a helping hand to get back on track.
Over the years, the agency has matured into a leadership role in this community on the cutting edge of research, service and collaborations.
Direct Relief International (Release v4.2)
Founded in 1948, Direct Relief International is California's largest international humanitarian nonprofit organization. Direct Relief provides medical assistance to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty and disaster - at home in the US and throughout the world. Since the year 2000, Direct Relief has responded to a wide range of urgent and ongoing health emergencies, by providing more than $1.4 billion in essential material resources - medicines, supplies and equipment, including more than $225 million in assistance in the United States.
A massive earthquake (magnitude 8.9) hit Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011, resulting in a tsunami that struck the Japanese coast, wiping out towns and killing thousands of people. These events knocked out power and backup systems at the coastal nuclear power plant that started spewing radiation – still an on-going situation. More than 11,000 bodies have been recovered, but officials say the final death toll is expected to exceed 18,000. Hundreds of thousands of people remain homeless, their homes and livelihoods destroyed. By one estimate, the damage would amount up to $310 billion — the most expensive natural disaster on record.
Direct Relief will use 100% of the funds received for Japan exclusively for programmatic activities related to Japan. They've already committed an initial $600,000 in cash to the effort and offered $15 million in medical inventory, if needed, to assist with trauma care and health conditions related to injuries and exposure.
United Cerebral Palsy (Release v4.1)
United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) was founded in 1949 by parents of children with cerebral palsy and is a service provider and advocate for children and adults with disabilities. Since its inception, UCP has been committed to change and progress for persons with disabilities and strives to ensure a life without limits for people with disabilities.
Cerebral Palsy is a broad term used to describe conditions whereby a brain trauma adversely affects a child's motor abilities. The United Cerebral Palsy Association estimates that more than 500,000 Americans have Cerebral Palsy. Most common form of Cerebral palsy is characterized by stiff or permanently contracted muscles or by uncontrolled, slow, writhing movements.
The backbone of UCP is the services that are provided by their affiliates. Affiliates' services are tailored to the needs of their communities and some examples include: Housing, therapy, assistive technology training, early intervention programs, individual and family support, social and recreation programs, community living, state and local referrals, employment assistance and advocacy.
One Acre Fund (Release v4.0)
"One Acre Fund" was started in 2006 and has served over 30,000 farm families thus far – mostly in Kenya and Tanzania. They empower the farmers by providing them with the tools and the modern know-how to grow more.
The organization serves small-scale farmers and they measure success in their ability to make farmers more self reliant and prosperous. They are a metrics driven organization with objectives of reaching a lot of people, generating high-quality impact, and doing it as cheaply as possible On the average, they have helped double the farm income for these farm families. They do not give handouts, but instead help farmers through a community and education based approach.
This approach includes:
- Organizing of farmers in groups
- Providing credits to farmers to purchase environmentally sensitive seeds and fertilizers
- Preparing the farmers to access commercial markets
- Continually educating and training the farmers
JumpStart – Learning to Learn (Release v3.9)
"JumpStart – Learning to Learn" provides training to empower caregivers with essential life skills that allow a family to live with their child's Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis and help the child thrive. The Organization was started in 2004 by Dr. Bryna Siegel of UCSF to meet the critical need to empower parents with knowledge and understanding of their child's condition and its treatment, and to improve the overall capacity of community service agencies to employ best practice techniques in the treatment of Autism.
The skills taught at the organization include:
- Learning to understand and evaluate a child's individual learning style
- Being able to use and evaluate other's use of best practice teaching strategies
- Learning to cope with the major life stressor of a child (with special needs)
San Francisco Foodbank – November 2010 (Release v3.8)
Inflection donated $1,900 to the San Francisco Foodbank, helping towards the foodbank's goal of delivering Thanksgiving food to more than 35,000 families in San Francisco and Marin.
The SF Food Bank is a critical link between food and people as they provide food for the needy through 400+ nonprofit partners including over 200 neighborhood pantries, soup kitchens, senior centers, homeless shelters and youth programs. SF Food Bank collects millions of pounds of food from various sources (growers to grocery stores) and trucks the donated food to their own warehouse. This is a large operation with multiple tractor trailer loads of produce coming in throughout the week. Volunteers sort, repack and shelve over 350 tons of food at SF Food Bank's warehouse every week. Food from the Food Bank is also prepared at soup kitchens and packaged into bag lunches for school and summer programs. In all, they serve over 147,000 people each year!
American Cancer Society – October 2010 (Release v3.7)
Inflection donated $1,850 to the American Cancer Society for the focus area of "Breast Cancer" as October is a National Breast Cancer Awareness month.
The American Cancer Society is a nationwide, community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the ACS has a presence in more than 5,100 communities nationwide. The American Cancer Society strives to help prevent cancer, save lives, and diminish the suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.
Floods in Pakistan (CARE) – September 2010 (Release v3.6)
Inflection donated $1,800 to CARE to benefit the victims of the devastating summer floods in Pakistan.
CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives.
This year, the heavy monsoon rains have flooded the Indus river and its tributaries and an estimated one-fifth of Pakistan is underwater and rains continue to fall – typically, rains would continue throughout September. According to the UN, 20 million people have been affected and 6 million are in urgent need of food aid -- more than double the number of people affected by the 2004 tsunami and the Haiti earthquake combined. In the wake of this flooding, CARE and their local partners are reaching out with relief camps, food, emergency supplies and medical care.
JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge, San Francisco YMCA - August 2010
Twelve members of Inflection participated in the 3.5 mile JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge run in San Francisco. Repeat runners beat their times from last year, maintaining the Inflection value of constant improvement!
Save the Children – June 2010
Inflection contributed $5,000 to Save the Children, whose mission is to:
- Create lasting, positive change in the lives of children in need in the U.S. and around the world
- Ensure that children in need grow up protected and safe, educated, healthy and well-nourished
- Ensure that children are able to thrive in economically secure households
During time of donation there was a hunger crisis happening in Niger, Africa where approximately 1 million kids were going to be affected by a food shortage. Save the Children was one of the main organizations raising money to help during this crisis. The donation was made in honor of Denise Monahan.
National Stroke Association – May 2010 (Release v3.5)
The charity selected for this release was the National Stroke Association, as May 2010 is National Stroke Awareness Month. Established in 1984, National Stroke Association focuses its efforts on stroke prevention and achieves its mission to lower the incidence and impact of stroke by developing compelling community outreach programs, calling for continued improvement in the quality of stroke patient care, and educating both healthcare professionals and the general public about a stroke. The Association reaches out to people who want to learn more about stroke, have survived a stroke, know someone who has suffered a stroke, or care for a stroke survivor.
FACE AIDS – April 2010 (Release v3.4)
Inflection donated $1,700 to FACE AIDS. Founded in 2005, FACE AIDS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing and inspiring students to fight AIDS in Africa. It aims to build a movement of students seeking to increase global health equality. Working with Partners In Health (PIH), a respected health and social justice organization working to provide healthcare for the poor in nine countries, FACE AIDS runs income-generating projects with HIV associations in the Kirehe District of eastern Rwanda.
The Tzedakah Project – March 2010 (Release v3.3)
Inflection contributed $1,650 to "The Tzedakah Project". This charity was suggested by Rebecca Notowitz whose son, a 7th grader, is participating in this project at his school. Tzedakah (Hebrew: צדקה) is a Hebrew word commonly translated as "Charity". In Judaism, Tzedakah refers to the religious obligation to perform charity, and philanthropic acts, which Judaism emphasizes are important parts of living a spiritual life. (From Wikipedia)
"The 7th Grade Tzedakah Project" is a fundraising (for charities) activity run by teachers at Joshua's school, Ronald C.Wornick Jewish Day School, and it has gone on for several years.
Darius Goes West Foundation and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy – February 2010 (Release v3.2)
Inflection donated $1,600 to the "Darius Goes West" foundation. This foundation was suggested by Alai Tseggai who grew up with many of the folks associated with the foundation, including "Darius". DGW is a foundation focused on raising awareness and raising funds to find a cure for the "Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy" (DMD), the number one fatal genetic disease that affects children worldwide.
Oxfam Haiti Earthquake Relief – January 2010 (Release v3.1)
Inflection donated $1,550 to the Haiti earthquake relief efforts through Oxfam (and formally began its "Release for Charity" program). In the wake of the devastating earth quake that rocked Haiti on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, Oxfam is delivering essential aid to people living outdoors in crowded camp settlements.
The Caring Bridge – January 2010
Members of Inflection in Palo Alto and Omaha wore Choose Hope wristbands and donated $500 to tribute Maggie Mangiameli, the mother of Member Services Director, Michelle Steinbeck. Maggie was diagnosed with brain cancer in June of 2009.
Salvation Army Omaha, Toyland Days – December 2009
Members of the Inflection team in Omaha were able to make the holidays a joyful time for families by shopping for children of various age groups to be sent to TOYLAND – a place where low-income parents can select gifts to give to their children.
The Family Giving Tree – December 2009
Inflection fulfilled the holiday gift wishes of 50 local children though The Family Giving Tree's annual Holiday Wish Drive. Each member of the team was given the wish card of a child or two, followed by a group trip to the local toy store to pick up the gifts.
JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge – September, 2009
Six members of Inflection participated in the 3.5 mile JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge run in San Francisco. The San Francisco YMCA Kids to Camp Fund was the beneficiary of the race.
San Francisco Food Bank Apple Corps – May 2009
The San Francisco Food Bank collects, sorts, repackages, and distributes thousands of pounds of food every day. Inflection participated in monthly and quarterly volunteer activities of food sorting and packaging at the San Francisco distribution warehouse.
