The practice of gleaning began as a way for the poor to provide sustenance for themselves and their families. Changes in societal ideas about private property as well as a shift toward a neoliberal style of governance have caused gleaning to become what it is today: a practice primarily undertaken by charitable organizations, nonprofits, and church groups who then donate their bounty to local food banks, providing fresh produce to the food insecure. In modern society, gleaning is often held up as a single solution to the problems of food insecurity, poor nutrition, and food waste. This thesis complicates that discourse by analyzing the websites of five different San Francisco Bay Area gleaning groups to investigate how they present themselves as fitting into the larger conversation surrounding food charity, health, and food waste. This thesis uses qualitative and quantitative textual analysis to show how the language used on each organization’s website illustrates the organization’s relationship with those three values. Each organization presents itself as fitting into contemporary food recovery discourse in a different way: one focuses primarily on community building; one is looking to expand its model as far as possible; one seeks to be a solution to poor nutrition, food insecurity, and food waste in its community; one provides myriad resources to anyone looking; and one actively embraces the food insecure. The differences among these organizations show the one-dimensionality of the current discourse surrounding gleaning as a single solution to food insecurity, poor nutrition, and food waste. While gleaning can, and does, have value, its focus on the individual’s role in solving food insecurity, poor nutrition, and food waste, as well as its inability to provide long-term solutions, complicates its role in contemporary food recovery.

Austen, Dickens, and Eliot each responded to discussions of their time concerning class, gender, and social change. One of the ways they addressed these issues, and sought to find solutions to the problems facing their culture, was through benevolence. Knightley, in Emma, uses benevolence as a means of mediating self-interest and sympathy. By acting out of sympathy, through benevolence, he achieves the self-interested benefits of reinforcing the class system and achieving his romantic conquests. Likewise, Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby learns how to use benevolence as a means of social mobility from his mentors, the Cheerybles. Throughout Nicholas Nickleby the hero learns how to engage in benevolence out of sympathy, and by doing so he establishes himself as a gentleman and reaps social, economic, and romantic advantages. Eliot's Bob Jakin in The Mill on the Floss engages in benevolence out of true sympathy unhindered by self-interest. His freedom from social constraint and self-interest allows him to truly help Maggie Tulliver when no one else can. These authors' depictions of benevolence all illuminate ways that nineteenth-century literary authors sought to navigate the “Adam Smith Problem" of sympathy vs. self-interest. Benevolence, in these novels, is not disinterested (regardless of their motivation) but is influenced by the character's and author's perception of class, gender, and social change in the nineteenth century.

[pt] Esta pesquisa mostra uma visão, de forma clara e linear, do perfil do presbítero católico na atualidade, sua real Identidade Presbiteral a partir das luzes lançadas pelo Concílio Vaticano II, em especial sob a análise do Decreto Presbyterorum Ordinis. O desenvolvimento e o claro panorama deste tema começam a tomar forma a partir do momento em que se entende o ministério presbiteral como um esvaziar-se daquilo que realmente o mundo oferece e nada acrescenta, para se deixar preencher, se construir com os verdadeiros valores que estão de acordo com o Múnus Sacerdotal do próprio Cristo. Isto, com os diversos documentos e obras posteriores, que discutem o assunto, ajuda a entender o tema. O Concílio trouxe luzes, mas não resolve a problemática que na atualidade é vista de diversas formas pela análise da conduta, da forma como os presbíteros conduzem suas vidas. Os problemas cotidianos são gerados, em especial, pelo não entendimento daquilo que, na realidade, é a verdadeira Caridade Pastoral. Os problemas gerados com esta falta de compreensão estão na ordem do Ativismo Presbiteral, bem como aqueles que envolvem os Conselhos Evangélicos (Obediência, Castidade e a Pobreza). Com isto gera afastamento, isolamento pessoal, desrespeito pelos superiores hierárquicos; problemas na ordem da sexualidade que, mal trabalhada e orientada, não ajuda na maturidade presbiteral; e, por fim, o apego às coisas materiais de forma exagerada e egoísta e muitas vezes avarenta, indo no sentido contrário ao que propõe o próprio Cristo. Mas, mesmo diante dessas dificuldades e problemas, a Caridade Pastoral se torna fruto de uma formação aberta, consciente, permanente do presbítero, podendo se realizar a qualquer tempo e de forma permanente. O testemunho se dá na construção de um caráter presbiteral, fruto de uma vivência evangélica real, da comunhão e aceitação. Assim o presbítero se constrói de forma íntegra, munido de uma fidelidade que será colocada em prática, com responsabilidade na vida pastoral, junto à Igreja, Povo de Deus. Cuidando de si, cuida das coisas de Deus, da Igreja e da criação como um todo, onde o homem presbítero se revela, se doa, se coloca a serviço com amor, no amor e por amor ao próprio Deus. / [en] This research shows a clear and linear view of the profile of the Catholic priest today, his real Priestly Identity from the light cast by the Second Vatican Council, especially under the analysis of the Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis.The development and clear panorama of this theme begins to take shape from the moment that priestly ministry is understood as an emptying of what the world really offers and nothing adds, to let itself be filled and built with the true values that meet the Priestly Munus of Christ himself. This, with the various documents and later works that discuss the subject, helps us to understand the subject. The Council brought light; however, it did not solve the problem that is currently seen in different ways by analyzing the behavior and the way in which priests conduct their lives. Daily problems are generated, in particular, by not understanding what true Pastoral Charity really is. The problems generated by the lack of understanding are in the order of Priestly Activism, as well as those involving the Evangelical Counsels (Obedience, Chastity, and Poverty). Consequently, it generates distance, self isolation, disrespect for hierarchical superiors; problems in the order of sexuality that, poorly worked and guided, do not help in priestly maturity; and, finally, the attachment to material things in an exaggerated and selfish way and often greedy going in the opposite direction to what Christ himself proposes. But, even in the face of these difficulties and problems, Pastoral Charity becomes the result of an open, conscious and ongoing formation of the priest and this can be done at any time and permanently. The testimony takes place in the construction of a priestly character result of a real evangelical experience, communion, and acceptance. Thus, the priest develops himself in an integral way and is provided with a fidelity that will be put into practice with responsibility, in his pastoral life together with the Church, People of God. Taking care of himself, he takes care of the things of God, the Church and creation as a whole, where the priestly man reveals himself, gives himself and puts himself at service with love, in love, and for the love of God himself.

The focus of this thesis is the application of data envelopment analysis to understand and evaluate the performance of diverse animal welfare organizations across the United States. The results include identification of the most efficient animal welfare organizations, at least among those that post statistics on their operations, and a discussion of various partnerships that may improve the performance of the more inefficient organizations. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that there are 4000 - 6000 independently-run animal shelters across the United States, with an estimated 6-8 million companion animals entering them each year. Unfortunately, more than half of these animals are euthanized. The methods shared in this research illustrate how data envelopment analysis may help shelters improve these statistics through evaluation and cooperation. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is based on the principle that the efficiency of an organization depends on its ability to transform its inputs into the desired outputs. The result of a DEA model is a single measure that summarizes the relative efficiency of each decision making unit (DMU) when compared with similar organizations. The DEA linear program defines an efficiency frontier with the most efficient animal shelters that are put into the model that "envelops" the other DMUs. Individual efficiency scores are calculated by determining how close each DMU is to reaching the frontier. The results shared in this research focus on the performance of 15 animal shelters. Lack of standardized data regarding individual animal shelter performance limited the ability to review a larger number of shelters and provide more robust results. Various programs are in place within the United States to improve the collection and availability of individual shelter performance. Specifically, the Asilomar Accords provide a strong framework for doing this and could significantly reduce euthanasia of companion animals if more shelters would adopt the practice of collecting and reporting their data in this format. It is demonstrated in this research that combining performance data with financial data within the data envelopment analysis technique can be powerful in helping shelters identify how to better deliver results. The addition of data from other organizations will make the results even more robust and useful for each shelter involved.

No description available.

[pt] Esta pesquisa consiste no estudo do processo de reordenamento vivido no cotidiano de um Centro Espírita localizado em território urbano. O reordenamento, como um paradigma consignado pelo Sistema Único de Assistência Social/SUAS, estabelece um padrão de qualificação dos serviços socioassistenciais. Isto significa para as instituições do universo filantrópico religioso o imperativo de transitar de uma prática tradicional sociorreligiosa para efetivação de um serviço socioassistencial, em conformidade com o marco regulatório do SUAS. O que implica, em um processo de mudança da cultura organizacional mediante ações pedagógicas, a partir do qual a caridade permanece, mas em seu significado original de princípio ético que fundamenta um padrão de sociabilidade reconhecedor do outro como sujeito de direitos. A base teórica do estudo contou com três conceitos, considerados fundamentais, por se constituírem em pedras angulares de três modelos de proteção social que marcaram a trajetória da assistência social no Brasil: CARIDADE, FILANTROPIA e JUSTIÇA. Destacou a construção da proteção sociorreligiosa espírita no Brasil, consoante as experiências humanas de proteção primária e secundária que atravessaram culturas e práticas sociais ao longo do tempo. Reconheceu a implementação de um modelo de proteção social não contributiva no Brasil como uma conquista civilizatória que afirma direitos para segmentos populacionais em situação de desproteções que configuram expressões da questão social. Para tanto, utilizou um tipo de investigação denominada de Observação Participante. No caso, aplicada em uma experiência singular de reordenamento de uma instituição religiosa espírita - Rocinha /Rio de Janeiro - que tem, além da finalidade de estudar e divulgar o Espiritismo, a de ofertar serviços e benefícios socioaasistencias, participando da rede de proteção social básica territorial. / [en] This Research project aims to analyses the reordering process experienced on the daily life of a spiritualist religious institution located in urban territory. The reordering, as a paradigm used by the Unique System of Social Assistance - SUAS (Portuguese abbreviation), establishes a standard of management and qualification of these social services. This means for the institutions of the religious philanthropic universe the need to move from a traditional socio-religious practice for realization of social assistance services in accordance with the regulatory framework of SUAS. What implies an organizational culture change process, through educational activities, from which charity remains, but in its original meaning of ethical principle that bases a pattern of social skills, that recognizes the other as a citizen with rights. The theoretical basis of the study will have three concepts considered fundamental, as they represent the origin of the models of social protection that marked the trajectory of social assistance in Brazil: Charity, Philanthropy and Justice. The study will highlight the construction of spiritualist socio-religious protection in Brazil, according to the human experiences of primary and secondary protection that have crossed cultures and social practices over time. The implementation of a non-contributory social protection model in Brazil will be recognized as a civilizational achievement that affirms rights for population segments in situations of lack of protection that configure expressions of the social issue. To achieve that, a type of research called Participant Observation will be used, applied in a unique experience of reordering a spiritualist religious institution located in Rocinha - city of Rio de Janeiro - which has, in addition to the purpose of study and disseminate Spiritualism, the purpose to offer services and social assistance benefits participating in the basic social and territorial protection services network.

Att bidra till välgörenhet sträcker sig flera århundraden tillbaka i tiden.  Världen står än i dag inför stora utmaningar som humanitära kriser, klimatförändringar och politiska konflikter, som kan behöva stöd i form av bidrag när  statliga medel inte räcker till. Här spelar välgörenhetsorganisationerna en viktig roll. Många av välgörenhetsorganisationerna är etablerade i dagens digitalisering, vilket också ökar konkurrensen om det digitala givandet från användarna.  Syftet med studien var att ta reda på vad som engagerar användare till att bidra digitalt till välgörenhet, samt identifiera vilka nyckelfaktorer som är viktiga för engagemanget i interaktionen med digitala välgörenhetstjänster.  Studien utfördes i samarbete med en etablerad svensk välgörenhetsorganisation och inkluderade användning av deras tjänst Gåvoshopen i den kvalitativa undersökningen. Välgörenhetsorganisationen riktar sig främst till individer som behöver humanitärt stöd. Genom kvalitativa metoder har semistrukturerade intervjuer utförts tillsammans med användartester av en tjänst för digitalt givande. Eftersom välgörenhet i sig inte är en tjänst utan ett beteende, har studiens arbete inspirerats av det teoretiska ramverket Theory of planned behavior, och kopplat den empiriska datan till teorins tre faktorer, attityd till beteende, subjektiva normer och uppfattad beteendekontroll.  Resultaten visade att visuella element så som bilder, textinnehåll och färg, hade en stor inverkan på empatin hos användarna. Designelement som är viktiga nyckelfaktorer till digitalt givande. Navigering och struktur på webbplatsen visade tydliga resultat över hur användarupplevelsen uppfattades, vilket i sin tur gav indikationer på om användarna ville fullfölja sitt digitala givande. Genom studiens resultat har rekommendationer för nya designprinciper tagits fram som kan inspirera andra välgörenhetsorganisationer i deras arbete att öka det digitala givandet från användarna. / Contributing to charity dates back several centuries. The world still faces significant challenges today, such as humanitarian crises, climate change, and political conflicts, which may require support in the form of donations when government funds are insufficient. This is where charitable organizations play an important role. A large part of charitable organizations are established in today's digitalization, which also increases competition for digital donations from users. The purpose of this study was to find out what engages users to contribute digitally to charity and identify the key factors that are important for engagement in interaction with digital charity services.  The study collaborated with a well-established Swedish charity organization that primarily focuses on individuals needing humanitarian support. The study performed a qualitative study by conducting user tests on one of their services that they offer on their website.  Through qualitative methods, semi-structured interviews were conducted along with user tests of a digital donation service. Since charity itself is not a service but a behavior, the study was inspired by the theoretical framework Theory of Planned Behavior and connected the empirical data to the theory's three factors: attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.  The results showed that visual elements such as images, text content, and color had a significant impact on users' empathy. Design elements that are important key factors for digital giving. Navigation and structure on the website showed clear results on how the user experience was perceived, providing indications on whether users wanted to complete their digital donation. Through the study's results, recommendations for new design principles have been developed that can inspire other charitable organizations in their efforts to increase digital donations from users."

No description available.

In this study we studied how holistic mission should be accomplished. May we speak about social and evangelical mandates? This search is done through the examination of a Christian relief organisation, the Hungarian Baptist Aid. Our main research question was: Is the work of this service holistic? Although we concluded in the light of David Bosch's mission interpretation that their mission is not yet holistic, the model of Hungarian Baptist Aid is encouraging how we could multiply our resources that are placed in God's hand. How we can see a commission that seemed impossible can become possible, and how we can find our way in God's mission. / Christian Spirituality, Curch History and Missiology / M. Th. (Missiology)

This dissertation contributes to the study of educational change and the conditions thereof. During the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, Swedish early care and education (ECE) programs underwent a comprehensive transformation as formal instruction was supplanted by early childhood education. My analysis of this transformation utilizes a comparatively long time-frame, an organizational historical perspective, and archival material from 44 ECE societies. It focuses on three types of ECE programs: infant schools, day nurseries, and kindergartens. Since philanthropic societies organized such programs, this study’s results are also of interest to the history of philanthropy. Early childhood education was established through a selection and adaptation process in which existing ECE programs were closed or changed as new ones were established. My investigation demonstrates that this occurred on the basis of the conditions in which individual ECE programs operated. Factors that stand out in this regard are the debate concerning infant schools, the funding of ECE programs, and the expansion of the mandatory elementary education system, together with changes in the dissemination of ideas about education and the establishment of municipal regulations. How these conditions contributed to educational change constitutes the substance of the dissertation. The results of this dissertation deepen our knowledge of the finances of ECE programs, their organizational niche, and their relations with municipal authorities. This study questions the significance for educational change within these programs that has been attributed to the growth of a romantic conception of childhood. It provides a new picture of the role of the kindergarten movement in this regard and ascribes to day nurseries a previously unobserved role in educational change. This dissertation thereby contributes to a revision of recurrent assumptions concerning educational change and of the connection between such change and general societal or ideological structures.