November 29 is Giving Tuesday, a global day of charitable giving following the Thanksgiving holiday and shopping days. Here are five causes PERCH supported this year.

Bridges to Prosperity. This organization designs and funds pedestrian bridges in rural communities in countries like Haiti, Panama, and Rwanda. They use local materials and train residents to build each bridge, sometimes with a corps of student and professional volunteers pitching in. The bridges connect people to transportation networks, improving access to markets and helping to relieve rural poverty.

Everybody Wins! “When you read with a child, everybody wins!” Studies show an overwhelming positive correlation between reading and communication, discipline, and critical thinking skills. Everybody Wins! pairs elementary school students with adult mentors who read with them during lunchtime once a week. It’s a big hit; many schools report a waitlist of students who want to enter the program. It operates in 18 states and Washington, DC.

A reading pair at Everybody Wins! Vermont.

High Fives Foundation. This organization empowers athletes with debilitating injuries to return to the sports they love. High Fives  picks up where health insurance leaves off and guides athletes through the complicated, often emotional process to obtain physical therapy and adaptive equipment. Anyone can apply.

Climate Ride. PERCH contributes to environmental causes to offset the carbon footprint of doing business, which includes printing on paper and car/airplane mileage. Climate Ride participants complete a multi-day journey by bike, and fundraise for their choice of organizations that advocate clean energy, reduce demand, and preserve wild land. (PERCH supported Vote Solar.) Events take place all over the US, year round.

Books for Baton Rouge. An unnamed rainstorm this past summer caused severe flooding in parishes near Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana. The affected communities prioritized returning children to school as fast as possible, and two authors, Alice Fothergill and Tamara Ellis Smith, organized a book benefit to replenish lost school supplies. Contact Phoenix Books to see how you can still participate by donating new and lightly used books. Proceeds from sales of the authors’ books, Another Kind of Hurricane and Children of Katrina, will also provide aid.