Since 1970, the Alliance for the Great Lakes (greatlakes.org) has worked to conserve the world’s largest freshwater basin through research, education, advocacy, and fieldwork. North America’s Great Lakes hold a fifth of the world’s surface freshwater and supply over 40 million people with drinking water, but are threatened by invasive species and pollution from oil refineries, sewage overflow, and fertilizer runoff. More than 10,000 volunteers in eight states take part in the Alliance’s Adopt-a-Beach program, removing litter from thousands of miles of shoreline. Each year, the Alliance also teaches some 60,000 schoolchildren about the ecology of the lakes. Recent Alliance victories include a push for new sanitary sewer discharge rules in Wisconsin to protect Lake Michigan.
Each charity we feature has earned a four-star overall rating from Charity Navigator, which rates not-for-profit organizations on the strength of their finances, their control of administrative and fundraising expenses, and the transparency of their operations. Four stars is the group’s highest rating.
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Crossword: August 27, 2025The Week's daily crossword
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August 27 editorial cartoonsCartoons Wednesday’s political cartoons include a KKK rebrand, Donald Trump vs. Gavin Newsom, and Ghislaine Maxwell as the new Celebrity Apprentice
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The mission to demine UkraineThe Explainer An estimated quarter of the nation – an area the size of England – is contaminated with landmines and unexploded shells from the war
