The tagline on the People for Bikes website says it all:

Uniting millions to make riding better for everyone.

Our non-profit feature of the week was chosen, once again, for making the perfect score list on Charity Navigator. People for Bikes, sometimes listed as one word in social media (PeopleForBikes), collaborates with millions of bike riders, businesses, community leaders, and individuals in office to create a united voice for bicycling and its benefits.

“Our work focuses on making every kind of bike ride better – whether that ride takes you on trails, down to the grocery store, or all the way across town. Why? Because when people ride bikes, great things happen for our bodies and our minds, and our local and global communities,” the foundation states on their About Us page.

The organization identifies its golds in a fourfold mission. First, they aim to connect bicycle riders across the globe. Next, they spread the word by alerting riders to cycling issues in specific locations and letting people know how to take action. Third, they work with city, state, and country to encourage cost-effective investments in bicycling that benefit everyone. Last, they advocate building relationships, growing bicycling knowledge within communities, and formulating the keys to success by bringing reinforcements, money, inspiration, and positive publicity.

The non-profit was launched in 1999. The group was composed of bike suppliers and retailers as well as those who ran the charitable foundation wing. People For Bikes says, “Our foundation is where we house our major programs and engage individual members, affiliate organizations, and corporate sponsors.”

The work People for Bikes has accomplished and is continuing to accomplish is extensive. On their page titled “Our Work,” their projects span a long and impressive list. From political work being accomplished on Capitol Hill in Washington to collaborations like the Better Bike Share Partnership which seeks to build equitable and replicable bike share systems, People for Bikes is making waves.

Another notable project that People for Bikes has supported is called the Big Jump Project. This project is helping 10 cities reimagine their bicycling infrastructure. It also aims to help propel communities into a better future for biking. “Over the course of the next three years,” states People for Bikes, “The combination of quickly connected biking networks and the use of smart outreach encouraging people to ride more will illustrate the ways in which U.S. cities and towns can tap into bicycles to improve then health and vitality of their communities.”

People for Bikes is a unique non-profit in that there are dozens of ways to connect. The organization encourages people to “Get Local” and see what’s going on in your neighborhood. For example, if we click on “California” to find out about our state, we can quickly and clearly see stats, local shops, grants, protected bike lanes, events, local groups, and so on. Just by doing this, we at Hummingbird House found several associations nearby that we weren’t aware of and are likely to check out.

To donate to this wonderful cause, you can visit their donation page and select an amount to give. If you just want to connect without donating, you can do so on their “Join” page by submitting your information. On this page, People for Bikes asserts:

“PeopleForBikes is making riding better for everyone. Add your name in support of better bicycling. Let’s show the world that millions are for bikes!”

Almost everyone knows someone who either has Alzheimer’s Disease or someone who’s life is affected by it. Unanimously, all people can agree on the fact that Alzheimer’s is unwanted, damaging, and destructive. Today on the HHF blog, we’re featuring another perfect score non-profit organization (as rated by charitynavigator.com) that’s working to fund research with the highest probability of preventing Alzheimer’s Disease. Cure Alzheimer’s Fund is doing its part to provide the necessary means to accelerate the research that can hopefully one day eliminate this terrible disease.

Before we share the organization, we thought it prudent to answer the question:

What exactly is Alzheimer’s Disease?

According to this non-profit’s website, Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disease that causes problems with memory, reasoning, behavior and motor skills. Symptoms of Alzheimer’s slowly worsen over time, and the disease is ultimately fatal. Commonly presented in the form of dementia, it’s more likely to materialize with age. Currently, there is no cure for this disease. Medication can help lessen symptoms, there’s no real relief available to treat the overall cognitive decline.

Cure Alzheimer’s Fund was started in 2004 by founders Henry McCance, Phyllis Rappaport, and Jacqui and Jeff Morby. After coming together, they decided to build a research fund designed to dramatically accelerate research. All four of these individuals decided that this cause was more important than their personal careers in venture capital and corporate start-ups. Since getting together, the founders have created an organization that has contributed more than $50,000,000 in research. These efforts have paved the way for discovering several key breakthroughs including a potential treatment recently selected by the National Institutes of Health for its “Blueprint” drug discovery program. You can read more about this research in Cure Alzheimer’s Fund’s News article titled “Steve Wagner Receives NIH ‘Blueprint’ Grant.” Additionally, the money raised has also helped fund the “Alzheimer’s in a Dish” study which promises to greatly accelerate drug testing.

On the non-profit’s page that details their story, they say, “Cure Alzheimer’s Fund supports some of the best scientific minds in the field of Alzheimer’s research, and it does so without any financial gain for its founders or donors. Fully 100 percent of funds raised by Cure Alzheimer’s Fund go directly to research—the Board of Directors covers all overhead expenses.Our Research Consortium is an all-star team of scientists working at premier research institutions across the country, regularly conferring with one another on the progress and impediments in their research and constantly sharing their data.”

The goal of Cure Alzheimer Fund is to stop Alzheimer’s disease through early prediction, prevention and effective intervention in those patients who have become symptomatic.

More specifically, Cure Alzheimer’s Fund seeks to end the disease by identifying all risk genes, using those genes to reveal underlying disease mechanisms, and aggressively pursue potential therapies based on the knowledge gained from Alzheimer’s genes. Cure Alzheimer Fund seeks to move forward with its next initiative, Genes to Therapies, which will develop more effective interventions. (Read more on Cure Alzheimer Fund’s Research page.)

If you’d like to read on about the Focus Areas of Cure Alzheimer’s Fund to delve specifically into the organization’s process and the research that’s going on, click on the links below to discover more:

• Genes to Therapies Drug Screening
• Identification and Early Detection
• Innate Immunity
• Microbiome
• Pathological Pathways and Systems
• Stem Cell Models
• Therapeutic Strategies
• Whole Genome Sequencing & Epigenetics 
• Individual Projects & Other

If you’re feeling called to give to this incredible non-profit, visit their donation page. Again, 100% of what you donate will go directly to the incredible research being done. Many thanks for considering this organization as you learn more about the amazing work being done by these good samaritans helping those in need.