Welcome to the fourth installment of “12 Ways of Giving,” our annual list of local organizations that would benefit from your financial support or time this holiday season (or any time of the year, really).

These are groups working hard in our local community, helping work toward a better and more just and humane Orlando. Did we miss some groups? We suspect so! But this alphabetical list, compiled by a conscientious cadre of staffers and contributors, is by no means comprehensive. Include your personal favorites in your annual giving, while also considering the following handful.

Credit: design by Joe Frontel
Credit: Photo courtesy CAIR FL/Facebook
Credit: Photo courtesy Central Florida Jobs with Justice/Facebook
Credit: Photo courtesy Contigo Fund/Facebook
Credit: Photo courtesy Contigo Fund/Facebook
Credit: Photo courtesy The Desire Foundation/Facebook
Credit: Photo by @vaulalexander_media, courtesy Equal Ground/Facebook
Credit: Photo courtesy Floridians Protecting Freedom/Facebook
Credit: Photo courtesy Holocaust Center/Facebook
Credit: Photo courtesy Hope Community Center/Facebook
Credit: Photo courtesy Peer Support Space/Facebook
Stand With Abortion Now: Stand With Abortion Now, a grassroots abortion clinic escort group, was founded in the summer of 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court ended the federal constitutional right to abortion. Organized by volunteers in Orlando, the group stands guard outside a local abortion clinic south of downtown that is visited most days by anti-abortion protesters who harass patients walking into the clinic. SWAN volunteers help escort patients inside and back to their vehicles — and they do so in a confrontational, sometimes comical fashion. They’re often seen in pink safety vests, holding rainbow umbrellas (it’s Orlando, after all). Earlier this year, the group — which first gained notoriety on TikTok — raised nearly $200,000 to cover a fine issued by the state to our local abortion clinic, which was accused of violating a 24-hour waiting period law. They’re continuing to fundraise for three South Florida abortion clinics also facing fines. Credit: Courtesy of Stand With Abortion Now
Credit: Photo courtesy Zebra Youth/Facebook

General news reporter for Orlando Weekly, with a focus on state and local government and workers' rights. You can find her bylines in Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, In These Times, and Facing South.