This episode features hosts Peter, Michael, and Riannon presenting their annual Five to Four Giving Guide, highlighting charitable organizations and mutual aid campaigns worthy of support during the holiday season.

The hosts discuss nine organizations spanning immigration rights, Palestinian liberation, reproductive justice, Indigenous women's support, food security, environmental restoration, and LGBTQ youth services.

Each host presents three carefully selected charities, emphasizing organizations doing boots-on-the-ground work that directly impacts people's material realities and strengthens community defense against authoritarianism.

The episode frames charitable giving not as passive donation but as active participation in social justice movements, community organizing, and resistance to oppressive systems.

Immigration and LGBTQ Rights Under Threat

Immigration Equality focuses specifically on LGBTQ and HIV-positive immigrants and asylum seekers, connecting them with pro bono attorneys and conducting impact litigation

"We've seen already court cases and administration moves to limit the access of LGBTQ people to American immigration and obviously these are two intersecting areas of draconian crackdown right now" - Michael

The organization has a stellar long history, big independent board, and all hallmarks of effective charity infrastructure according to Michael's assessment

Palestinian Organizing and Mutual Aid

Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) is a grassroots independent movement organizing young Palestinians in the diaspora for liberation, genocide prevention, and against ICE

PYM's Instagram has almost 1 million followers and has organized hundreds of thousands in marches and mobilizations over the past two years across North America

Wasim Saeed, a PhD student displaced multiple times in Gaza, published Witness to the Hellfire of Genesis documenting his experiences during the genocide

Saeed's campaign For Those Who Have No One to Campaign for Them raises collective mutual aid for Gazans without internet or language access to create their own fundraisers

Lakal Kordia has been in ICE detention for over 10 months, 1,500 miles from her New Jersey home, sleeping on concrete floors and denied religious rights for attending a NYC protest

"She is being punished straight up again for being Palestinian" - Riannon, describing Kordia's detention after losing extended family members in Gaza

Reproductive Justice and Indigenous Rights

Bridget Alliance provides holistic abortion support including travel, lodging, food, and childcare for people in states where abortion is illegal, not just funding

Indigenous Women Rising provides reproductive health education, abortion funding, and resources for sexual assault survivors to Indigenous women who experience some of the highest assault rates in the country

The organization posts content like "fuck Columbus" on social media, which Peter endorsed as worthy of support

Environmental Restoration at Scale

Trees for the Future works with farmers on sustainable land practices, revitalizing soil and helping food production while planting trees

The organization has planted over 100 million trees globally and claims to be on track to plant 1 billion trees by 2030

With 3 trillion trees existing worldwide, reaching the 1 billion goal would mean 1 out of every 3,000 trees was planted by this organization

"Treating her planet well is good on its own, but doing it in ways that make growing food easier and more sustainable is great" - Michael

Food Security and Volunteer Infrastructure

Food Bank NYC provides food distribution, rescue of food that would otherwise be trashed, education, and advocacy for hungry New Yorkers

The organization operates as a volunteer platform where registered users can search by zip code and find five volunteer opportunities daily

"It makes it super easy. It's really cool. And, you know, if you want to volunteer, it lowers the barriers to that so much" - Michael on the registration system

LGBTQ Youth Homelessness Support

Wanda Alston Foundation in Washington DC provides support services to at-risk homeless LGBT youth including housing programs and pathways out of homelessness

The organization offers counseling, mental health services, and operates as a well-rounded boots-on-the-ground organization

Reframing Charity as Community Participation

"Think about that as your participation and maybe one step in a broad spectrum of things that you do that supports social justice" - Riannon on reframing charitable giving

Featured organizations report that Five to Four mentions changed their fiscal years and boosted holiday season numbers significantly

"We're getting messages like couldn't believe the amount of support we got" - Peter on feedback from previous years' featured charities

"A big theme of Trump coming back into office, right, is like we need strong communities. We need to build strong communities" - Riannon connecting giving to community defense

"This sort of community participation operates as like friction for reactionary" forces, reclaiming the term "resistance" from hollow sloganeering - Peter