Recipients of the AskPhilosophers Fund

An archive of past recipients of the AskPhilosophers Fund is maintained on this page.

2006 recipients ($2,000 donated to 2 charities)

2007 recipients ($12,000 donated to 10 charities)

• TEAK Fellowship helps economically disadvantaged but intellectually gifted New York City students gain access to and succeed at top public, parochial, and independent high schools. TEAK develops well-rounded leaders who will have a positive impact on their communities. The Fellowship provides these young people with opportunities equal to those of their better-off peers, encourages them to give something back to society, and provides them with a safe and fun place they can call their own through after-school, weekend, and summer programs. The Fellowship offers test preparation, tutoring, mentoring, after-school and summer classes, exposure to the arts and outdoors, and paid summer internships. (Received $1,000 in January 2007.)

• Founded in 1944, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is the nation's largest, oldest, most successful and most comprehensive minority higher education assistance organization. UNCF provides operating funds and technology enhancement services for 39 member historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), scholarships and internships for students at about 900 institutions and faculty and administrative professional training. Over 60 years, the United Negro College Fund has raised more than $2 billion to help a total of more than 350,000 students attend college and has distributed more funds to help minorities attend school than any entity outside of the government. (Received $1,000 in January 2007.)

• Blind Children's Learning Center provides a full-range of programs and services to assist blind, visually impaired, and blind/deaf children, birth to 21 years of age and their families. The core programs are Infant Family Focus, Early Childhood Center, Youth Outreach and Counseling. Comprehensive services, starting as early as possible and continuing through high school, include: speech and language, occupational therapy, orientation and mobility, Braille instruction, specialized vision services, social opportunities and adaptive technology. Blind Children's Learning Center develops the full potential of blind, visually impaired and deaf/blind children and youth to lead independent lives. (Received $1,000 in January 2007.)

• Better Basics' mission is to create a more literate community by providing reading intervention and enrichment programs in high-need schools. Their programs began in one Birmingham City elementary school in 1994. Since then, they have been invited into over 40 schools in Birmingham and surrounding school systems. Better Basics provides reading intervention to all school-age children that need additional help; promotes reading for pleasure to 4th graders; sponsors arts and science programs to schools; and encourages family reading and good parenting. (Received $1,000 in April 2007.)

• The American Indian College Fund provides scholarships and other support for the nation's 32 tribal colleges. These tribal colleges play a vital role in preparing students for a brighter tomorrow, offering accredited degrees while keeping them in touch with their Indian culture. The colleges currently serve more than 30,000 part-and full-time students, representing over 250 tribes. The College Fund provides 5-6,000 scholarships annually, for American Indian students seeking to better their lives through continued education. In 2004, the Fund disbursed over $4 million in scholarship support. From these funds, over 5,000 scholarships were awarded to deserving American Indian students. (Received $1,000 in April 2007.)

• Perkins School for the Blind was founded in 1829 as the nation's first school for the blind. Perkins is committed to providing education and services that build productive, meaningful lives for children and adults around the world who are blind, deafblind or visually impaired with or without other disabilities. Perkins provides its students with the tools and knowledge to chart a course toward each individual's maximum level of independence, rich in experience and overflowing with potential. Perkins programs include the Hilton/Perkins programs, offering services throughout the U.S. and 50 developing countries; Outreach to Elders, assisting the growing population of seniors who are losing or have lost their eyesight; the Infant/Toddler Program; Diagnostic Evaluations and Satellite Programs. (Received $1,000 in July 2007.)

• Children's Literacy Initiative (CLI) was founded in 1988 to enhance the opportunity for children from low-income families to enter school ready to learn and, once in school, to be successful in learning to read. CLI works to increase children's literacy skills and to foster a love of reading by providing professional development for teachers of pre-kindergarten through third grade students. Its programs are designed to provide training in the most effective literacy practices and include quality books and materials for creating a literacy-rich classroom environment. CLI is involved in large projects in the public school systems of Philadelphia, Newark (NJ), Camden, Baltimore, and Boston, as well as training in several school districts in Pennsylvania. (Received $1,000 in July 2007.)

• The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), since its founding in 1915, strives to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good. (Received $1,000 in July 2007.)

• Founded in 1998, Half the Sky Foundation was created in order to enrich the lives and enhance the prospects for orphaned children in China. It establishes and operates infant nurture and preschool programs, provides personalized learning for older children and establishes loving permanent family care and guidance for children with disabilities. It is their goal to ensure that every orphaned child has a caring adult in her life and a chance at a bright future. Since Half the Sky began its work in China, more than ten thousand children have benefited from one or more of our four innovative programs: The Baby Sisters Infant Nurture Program; The Little Sisters Preschool Program; The Big Sisters Program; and The Family Village Program. (Received $2,000 in October 2007.)

• Created in 1992, New Jersey SEEDS (Scholars, Educators, Excellence, Dedication, Success) is an academic enrichment and leadership development program aimed at eliminating social and economic barriers for high-achieving, low-income youth. SEEDS seeks to prepare qualified students for placement at competitive day and boarding schools and to empower students to live lives of leadership, professional accomplishment, and service to the community. SEEDS scholars are highly motivated, academically talented, but financially limited. The Scholars Program is open to eligible 7th grade students and the Young Scholars Program is open to eligible 4th grade students, while the Alumni Program is for students who have completed the SEEDS program. (Received $2,000 in October 2007.)

2008 recipients ($24,000 donated to 7 charities)

• Amherst College educates men and women of exceptional potential from all backgrounds so that they may seek, value, and advance knowledge, engage the world around them, and lead principled lives of consequence. Amherst brings together the most promising students, whatever their financial need, in order to promote diversity of experience and ideas within a purposefully small residential community. Working with faculty, staff, and administrators dedicated to intellectual freedom and the highest standards of instruction in the liberal arts, Amherst undergraduates assume substantial responsibility for undertaking inquiry and for shaping their education within and beyond the curriculum. Amherst College is committed to learning through close colloquy and to expanding the realm of knowledge through scholarly research and artistic creation at the highest level. Its graduates link learning with leadership—in service to the College, to their communities, and to the world beyond. Admission to Amherst is need-blind and the College has recently eliminated all student loans in favor of grants. (Received $3,000 in January 2008.)

• University Scholarships for South African Students, Inc. (USSAS) is a volunteer non-profit charitable organization that gives scholarship aid to poor Black students in South Africa attending universities and technikons. USSAS participates in the South African struggle against HIV-AIDS by requiring that each of its scholarship holders participate actively in the AIDS Awareness and Prevention campaign on his or her home campus. (Received $3,000 in January 2008.)

• Pioneered by teachers at a Bronx public high school in the spring of 2000, DonorsChoose.org is dedicated to addressing the scarcity and inequitable distribution of learning materials and experiences in our public schools. DonorsChoose.org believes this inequity is rooted in the following factors: (1) shortages of learning materials prevent thorough, engaging instruction; (2) top-down distribution of materials stifles our best teachers and discourages them from developing targeted solutions for their students; and (3) small, directed contributions have gone un-tapped as a source of funding. DonorsChoose.org seeks to improve public education by engaging citizens in an online marketplace where teachers describe and individuals can fund specific student projects. Projects funded by the AskPhilosophers Fund include the purchase of philosophy books, fictional literature, a digital projector, a camcorder, art supplies, art books, technology, dictionaries, and chess sets. (Received $6,000 in April 2008.)

• Chess in the Schools is dedicated to stimulating and enhancing learning skills by teaching chess to kindergarten through eighth grade children in New York's inner-city public schools, in after-school programs, tournament competitions, and College Bound programs for high school students. Through its mission, Chess in the Schools develops critical thinking skills, builds self-esteem, teaches discipline, fosters positive social skills, motivates academic achievement, and empowers children to succeed. Its programs use chess as a teaching tool because it can equally challenge the minds of all students. It can also teach children the importance of planning and the consequences of decisions, how to win and lose gracefully, how to think logically and efficiently and how to make tough and abstract decisions. (Received $3,000 in July 2008.)

• Since 1964, The Black Student Fund (BSF) has provided financial assistance and support services to Washington metropolitan area African-American students, grades pre-kindergarten to 12, and their families. BSF assists students to stay in school, graduate high school with distinction and enter college. 70% of these students are from one-parent households, and many are the first generation to progress to higher education. Established to racially desegregate the independent schools of the National Capital area, the Fund serves as an advocate for all black children and strives to assure that black students and their families have equal access to every educational opportunity. (Received $3,000 in July 2008.)

• The Churchill School was founded in 1972 as an elementary school for children with learning disabilities. The Churchill School is a K-12 school of approximately 400 students that educates children with learning disabilities in a full day program, giving these students full access to a general education curriculum. Our students acquire the essential academic and social skills expected of all elementary, middle and high school students in New York State. We teach our students to learn how to learn, to find strategies that fit their learning styles and to set realistic personal, social and academic goals. The Churchill Center offers educational programs and professional development in the field of learning disabilities to students, parents, teachers and related service providers. (Received $3,000 in October 2008.)

• The sole mission of The ChairScholars Foundation is to provide physically disabled, impoverished youngsters a postsecondary education. We administer two scholarship programs for this purpose; the National Program and the Florida Program. The National Program is available to high school seniors and college freshmen from Maine to Hawaii - and everywhere in between. This scholarship provides up to $20,000, distributed over four years, for tuition at the students' college of choice. The Florida Program is available to students attending public schools in the Florida counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, and Sarasota. These scholarships provide either full tuition for a bachelor's degree through the Florida university system or tuition assistance for vocational training. (Received $3,000 in October 2008.)

2009 recipients ($24,000 donated to 7 charities)

• Founded in 1992, First Book provides new books to children in need addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy - access to books. An innovative leader in social enterprise, First Book has distributed more than 60 million free and low cost books to disadvantaged children and the programs that serve them through an extensive volunteer network of Advisory Boards, First Book National Book Bank large-scale book distributions, and the First Book Marketplace offering high-quality titles at reduced cost. First Book now has offices in the U.S. and Canada. (Received $3,000 in January 2009.)

• Since its pioneering establishment in 1958, The East Harlem Tutorial Program (EHTP) has been one of the most successful after-school educational programs in New York. Recognizing that each child has unique talents and learning styles, EHTP's After School Program relies on the interaction of parents, teachers and children in promoting literacy-based educational enrichment and personal development activities for enrollees between the ages of five and twenty-one. As a vital East Harlem education and enrichment center, EHTP works with children from early childhood through adulthood to ensure that they have the resources needed to access opportunities for academic, social and career advancement while fully engaging parents and caregivers in their children's development. (Received $3,000 in April 2009.)

• Founded in 1920 by William A. Hadley, The Hadley School for the Blind promotes independent living through lifelong, distance education programs for people who are blind or visually impaired, their families and blindness service providers. Hadley is the largest worldwide distance educator of blind and visually impaired people. Hadley offers courses free of charge to its blind and visually impaired students and their families and affordable tuition courses to blindness professionals. Today, the school serves more than 10,000 students from all 50 states and 100 countries. Students receive specially-designed course materials in a medium of their choice: Braille, large print, audio cassette or on-line. (Received $3,000 in April 2009.)

• The Literacy Assistance Center is dedicated to supporting and promoting the expansion of quality literacy services in New York. We provide services for: adult students who want to find free classes in reading, writing, and speaking English or information on getting their GED; literacy instructors who want to become more effective teachers; program managers who want to build a stronger literacy program; parents who want to help their children become better learners; policymakers who need information from the literacy field to inform their decisions; and all New Yorkers who want to participate in building a more vibrant, prosperous community. Over 800 programs across the state provide free and low-cost programs in English for speakers of other languages, adult basic education, and GED preparation. (Received $3,000 in July 2009.)

• Wolfson College, Oxford is specifically designed to meet the needs of graduate students in the areas of accommodation, as well as social, cultural and sporting interests. Wolfson aims to provide a supportive environment in which students can focus on their academic work and pursue other interests. (Received $3,000 in July 2009.)

• The Orphan Foundation of America (OFA) serves thousands of foster teens across the United States. Whether it is providing them with college scholarships, connecting them with mentors and internships, sending them care packages, or testifying before Congress, OFA is a passionate champion of foster youth. Its mission is to provide opportunities for America's foster youth to pursue their college and post-secondary education; highlight the potential of America's foster youth; create pathways for citizens, businesses, and civic organizations to assist older foster youth; raise public awareness of the number and plight of older teens leaving the system; and draw attention to the bureaucratic maze of foster care. (Received $3,000 in October 2009.)

2010 recipients ($24,000 donated to 7 charities)

• Believing that the strength, determination, and diversity of the Sudanese people will enable them to build a peaceful and prosperous future, the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation aims to empower war-affected Sudanese populations by (1) helping members of the southern Sudanese diaspora in the United States to enhance their educational, social, and economic opportunities; (2) rebuilding southern Sudanese communities through the implementation of community-driven development projects that increase access to educational opportunities for children, women, and men; and (3) improving U.S. policy toward Sudan by educating the public and policy makers on the situation in Sudan. (Received $6,000 in January 2010.)

• Founded in 1977, Studio in a School (STUDIO) fosters the creative and intellectual development of young people through quality visual arts programs directed by professional artists, and collaborates with and enhances the capacity of those who provide and support arts programming for youth. STUDIO's unique method brings professional artists into school and community organizations to lead classes in drawing, printmaking, painting, and sculpting, and work with teachers to link art with other academic subjects. While children gain the valuable experience of making art and learn how to verbalize their creative process, their participation in the arts extends to learning in other disciplines and promotes good oral, written, and problem-solving skills. STUDIO provides programs to more than 170 schools throughout the five boroughs annually. (Received $3,000 in April 2010.)

• Founded in 1996, Central Asia Institute (CAI) supports community-based education programs, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Each project involves local people in all phases of projects: to plan, implement and evaluate. CAI community projects continue to focus primarily in remote, underserved regions where few organizations serve. Since 2005, CAI refined and focused its priority to focus mainly on rural education and literacy, especially for females. This also includes ongoing teacher training programs, to establish libraries, and provide temporary education in regions of natural disaster or crisis. CAI now puts more resources into sustainable initiatives, to improve the quality of education, support teacher training, and help motivated students to achieve their education goals with higher education. (Received $3,000 in April 2010.)

• Founded in 1895, The New York Public Library uses its available resources in a balanced program of collecting, cataloging, and conserving books and other materials, and providing ready access directly to individual library users and to users elsewhere through cooperating libraries and library networks. The New York Public Library's responsibility is to serve as a great storehouse of knowledge at the heart of one of the world's information centers, and to function as an integral part of a fabric of information and learning that stretches across the nation and the world. (Received $3,000 in July 2010.)

• The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults is a service agency which specializes in providing help to blind people which is not readily available to them from government programs or other existing service systems. The purpose of the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults is to assist blind and deaf-blind persons in securing reading matter, to educate the public about blindness, to provide specialized aids and appliances to the blind, to give consultation to governmental and private agencies serving the blind, to offer assistance to those losing vision in their later years, to offer services to blind children and their parents, and to work towards improving the quality of life for the blind and deaf-blind. (Received $3,000 in July 2010.)

• Year Up is a one-year, intensive training program that provides urban young adults, ages 18-24, with a combination of hands-on skill development, college credits, and corporate apprenticeships. Year Up's mission is to close the opportunity divide by providing urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. We achieve this mission through a high support, high expectation model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, apprenticeships, college credit, a behavior management system and several levels of support to place these young adults on a viable path to economic self-sufficiency. Year Up currently serves more than 1,500 students a year at sites in Atlanta, Boston, Providence, New York City and Washington, D.C. (Received $3,000 in October 2010.)

• Founded in 1995, Citizen Schools operates a growing national network of after-school education programs for students in the middle grades (6th, 7th and 8th). Its programs complement classroom learning by engaging students in hands-on learning projects led by adult volunteers after school and supported by a staff of professional educators. Through the demonstration of our powerful impact and partnerships with out-of-school advocates, they are at the forefront of a movement to transform the learning day and improve the educational trajectories of young people across the country. Today Citizen Schools operates in middle schools in seven states, serving 4,400 kids and engaging 3,200 volunteers. (Received $3,000 in October 2010.)

2011 recipients ($24,000 donated to 8 charities)

• Hope for Haiti works to improve the quality of life for the Haitian people, particularly children, through education, nutrition, and health care. After evaluating the greatest needs of the country, they established three ongoing programs: the education program, the healthcare program, and the nutrition program. Currently, Hope for Haiti provides an education for 14,000 children at 45 schools in Haiti. The long term success of their mission will only occur if the people of Haiti are the ones who take control of their future. They therefore believe in partnering with those in Haiti who are doing an excellent job and supporting them in furthering their work. (Received $3,000 in January 2011.)

• Founded by World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, The Kasparov Foundation brings the many educational benefits of chess to children throughout the United States by providing a complete chess curriculum and enrichment programs. The Foundation promotes the study of chess as a cognitive learning tool in curricular classes and after-school programs for elementary, middle and high schools, both in the public and private school sectors. (Received $3,000 in January 2011.)

• Prison Book Program gives books to individual prisoners in the United States. Prisoners have limited access to educational materials, and we provide them with free books for personal development during incarceration. The Prison Book Program does so because education is a powerful tool that reduces the likelihood that a prisoner will return to the prison system. (Received $3,000 in July 2011.)

• Reach Out and Read prepares America's youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. In the Greater New York region, they provide new, age-appropriate books and literacy guidance to over a quarter of a million children. (Received $3,000 in July 2011.)

• Shining Hope for Communities combats inter-generational cycles of poverty and gender inequity by linking tuition-free schools for girls to essential social services for all. In SHC's innovative, two-step model, women and girls are placed at the center of community development in places of extreme poverty. First, SHC builds tuition-free schools for girls, which give the neediest and brightest girls the education they need to become the engines of economic prosperity and social change for their communities. The second step of SHC's model provides the community-at-large with tangible benefits through integrated social services operating adjacent to the school. These social services include a community health clinic, clean toilet initiative, youth and community education, and economic development. By investing in health and economic success through a school for girls, SHC demonstrates that benefitting women benefits the whole community, cultivating a community ethos that makes women respected members of society. The future of women in impoverished and patriarchal environments depends on concrete, integrated links between education and community elevation. (Received $3,000 in October 2011.)

• Developments in Literacy (DIL) launched in 1997 by Pakistani-Americans with a desire to improve the dismal state of education in Pakistan's underdeveloped areas. DIL currently operates and manages 150 schools with an enrollment of nearly 15,000 students. DIL is dedicated to providing quality education to disadvantaged children, especially girls, by establishing and operating schools in the underdeveloped regions of Pakistan, with a strong focus on gender equality and community participation. DIL establishes, adopts and manages primary and secondary schools for underprivileged children in partnership with non-governmental organizations in all four provinces of Pakistan. In addition, DIL directly operates community schools in Punjab and Sindh. (Received $3,000 in October 2011.)

2012 recipients ($6,000 donated to 2 charities)