In Year Two, Members Project built on people's enthusiasm for creating positive change. More people participated and more votes were cast than ever before, and one outstanding project captured overwhelming community support.
Alzheimer's Disease: Early Detection Matters
Jay Smith
Fullfilling Organization: Alzheimer's Association
The earlier people are diagnosed with Alzheimer's, the sooner they can get the help they need. Too few people know the ten early warning signs, and they need to understand when memory loss becomes a problem. My project is an education program to show the importance of seeking an early diagnosis of Alzheimer's, a progressive and fatal disease.
View the video
Your decision at work
Help 100,000 Children Thrive in the Classroom!
Member: Melanie Duppins
My project helps give 100,000 children in low-income communities the books, art supplies, technology, and other materials that they need for a rigorous education.
Loans That Change Lives
Member: Rupa Modi
Loans that Change Lives is an internet-based platform that helps everyday people become "social investors." We hope to expand our selection of businesses to fund.
Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children
Member: Paige Strackman
Giving starving children food is not enough — the food needs to contain the vitamins, micronutrients, and calories a developing child needs to survive. New ready-to-use food (RUF) provides this.
Feeding 1 Million Children Daily
Member: Nishith Acharya
For less than $30 a year, a child in India can receive a school lunch for the whole year, resulting in greater attendance, reduced dropout and truancy rates, and better cognitive development for children, often by 10-20%.
Alzheimer's Disease:
Early Detection Matters
Jay Smith
Fullfilling Organization:
Alzheimer's Association
The earlier people are diagnosed with Alzheimer's, the sooner they can get the help they need. Too few people know the ten early warning signs, and they need to understand when memory loss becomes a problem. My project is an education program to show the importance of seeking an early diagnosis of Alzheimer's, a progressive and fatal disease.
Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children
Paige Strackman
Fullfilling Organization:
International Medical Corps
Giving starving children food is not enough â the food needs to contain the vitamins, micronutrients, and calories a developing child needs to survive. New ready-to-use food (RUF) provides this.
Feeding 1 Million Children Daily
Nishith Acharya
Fullfilling Organization:
Akshaya Patra Foundation
For less than $30 a year, a child in India can receive a school lunch for the whole year, resulting in greater attendance, reduced dropout and truancy rates, and better cognitive development for children, often by 10-20%.
A note from theAlzheimer's Association
With the new funding received from Members Project, "Early Detection Matters" is working to raise awareness, help people recognize the 10 early warning signs of Alzheimer's, and enable them to pursue an accurate diagnosis with their physician.
The funding strategy is supporting a national campaign aimed at changing attitudes and perceptions regarding early detection. The latest activities include:
- Comprehensive coalition-building: The organization is currently identifying key stakeholders in healthcare as well as in other critical public and private sectors to establish communication channels and disseminate information — American Express is hosting and participating in several of these coalition meetings.
- Education campaign development: The project is developing and launching a multimedia education program supported by a toll-free telephone number, a website, and a series of education booklets. The Alzheimer's Association is crediting Members Project on all campaign communications materials.
- Workshop creation: The project is rolling out a series of consumer, classroom-based workshops through a national network of 77 chapters, and engaging physicians through continuing medical education programs.
- Multicultural access work: Specific efforts are taking place to promote access to Alzheimer's information across multicultural populations, including the creation of a Spanish portal highlighting early detection information and its benefits.
A note fromDonorsChoose.org
With the new funding, Members Project is bringing to life innovative, teacher-submitted classroom projects posted at DonorsChoose.org. Donors Choose is crediting Members Project on their site as the donor for each project funded with the award money.
The funding strategy is three-fold and is reaching 1,500 teachers and benefiting more than 40,000 students. It includes:
- Working with teacher engagement partners who serve in low-income communities by encouraging them to submit projects with a guarantee of funding support.
- Offering existing DonorsChoose.org teachers at high-need schools free and reduced-priced lunches for eligible students, with guaranteed funding towards their projects.
- Strategically funding projects at high-need schools in over 15 targeted communities in cities across America.
A note fromKiva Microfunds
Kiva provides loans to entrepreneurs through a network of 90 Microfinance Institution Field Partners (MFIs) in 42 developing countries. Thanks to Members Project, Kiva is using its new funds to expand the selection of business it funds. New activities include:
- Screening and adding new MFI partners — Kiva is assessing expansion into several new countries this year including, but not limited to China, India, Brazil, Russia, Argentina, and Colombia.
- Increased marketing and PR — Kiva is using the new funds to attract new Internet lenders to the site to fund the requested loans. Efforts are being focused on public relations and viral marketing campaigns to get the word out to potential lenders.
- Posting new business to the Kiva site — Kiva is currently training and launching new partners to advance its efforts, and is posting their business profiles to the website.
- Historically, for every dollar generated, Kiva generates 8 dollars in loan capital from Internet lenders. This means that with American Express's $300,000 grant, a projected $2.4 million in loan funds from Internet lenders will be generated in the coming years.
A note fromInternational Medical Corps
International Medical Corps is using Members Project funding to treat malnourished children in the Kitgum and Pader Districts of northern Uganda.
Torn apart by 20 years of civil conflict, much of the population lives in displacement camps and, according to the World Food Programme, nearly 70 percent are at least moderately food insecure. As a result, many children are malnourished, compromising their bodies’ abilities to learn, grow, and ward off illness.
- For 3,000 acutely malnourished children, this project will provide the food and medical treatment they need to recover, including ready-to-eat supplements like peanut-based Plumpy'Nut.
- The project also includes training programs that empower the local community to treat and prevent malnutrition on its own, protecting the health of approximately 53,000 children well into the future.
A note fromAkshaya Patra
With the new Members Project funding, the Akshaya Patra is feeding over 25,000 children in rural India by serving them lunch at their schools for one month. This is helping improve attendance, attentiveness, and nutrition for those children benefiting from the project.
Only American Express® Cardmembers can submit ideas for projects.
About American Express |
Careers @ American Express |
Affiliate Program |
Fraud Protection Center |
American Express Labs
View Website Rules and Regulations,
Trademarks
and Privacy Statement
of American Express. Copyright © 1995 - 2008 American Express Company
All Rights Reserved. Users of this site agree to be bound by the terms of the American Express Web Site Rules and Regulations.