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Each week, Charity Navigator features a few of the highly-rated charities working in one the 50 states. Today, we’re talking about the Prairie State, Illinois.
Home to Chicago and deep dish pizza, as well as rolling hills and farmland, Illinois is also home to 270 highly-rated organizations.
Keep reading to learn more about a few of the great organizations serving the people, communities, and culture of the Land of Lincoln.
Rich in tradition. Innovative in vision.
Rich in tradition and innovative in vision, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is a musical force in Chicago and around the world with more than 150 performances and events a year, 107 talented musicians, two internationally-renowned conductors and two award-winning composers-in-residence. The central mission of the CSO is to present classical music to Chicago, national and international audiences. The mission is supported by the elements of artistic excellence: continued international preeminence in the field of orchestral excellence; audience development: leading audience development initiatives; and education: superior education and community programs. Symphony Center is the home for more than 200 live concerts a year -- orchestras, recitals, hot jazz, superstar guest artists and more.
Founded in 1956, The Joffrey Ballet has been hailed as America's ballet company of firsts. Classically trained to the highest standards, The Joffrey Ballet expresses a unique, inclusive perspective on dance, proudly reflecting the diversity of America with its company, audiences, and repertoire which includes major story ballets, reconstructions of masterpieces and contemporary works. Today, the Joffrey, which has been hugely successful in its former residencies in New York and Los Angeles, lives permanently in a brilliant new facility, Joffrey Tower, in the heart of America, Chicago, Illinois. The company's commitment to accessibility is met through the most extensive touring schedule of any dance company in history, an innovative and highly effective education program and collaborations with myriad other visual and performing arts organizations.
Founded in 1922, The Morton Arboretum collects and studies trees, shrubs, and other plants from around the world, to display them across naturally beautiful landscapes for people to study and enjoy, and to learn how to grow them in ways that enhance our environment. Our goal is to encourage the planting and conservation of trees and other plants for a greener, healthier, and more beautiful world. The Morton Arboretum is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to the planting and conservation of trees. Its 1,700 acres hold collections of more than 4,000 kinds of trees, shrubs, and other plants from around the world. The Arboretum houses the renowned Sterling Morton Library, devoted to the literature and art of botany and horticulture.
PAWS Chicago is the city's largest no-kill humane organization, focused on implementing solutions to end the killing of homeless pets. Since PAWS Chicago's founding in 1997, the number of homeless dogs and cats killed annually has dropped by nearly 80 percent: from more than 42,000 homeless pets killed in 1997 to under 10,000. PAWS Chicago is working to build a no-kill Chicago - a city where pets are no longer destroyed just because they are homeless. PAWS Chicago will find new homes for nearly 6,000 homeless pets this year at the state-of-the-art Pippen Fasseas Lincoln Park Adoption, the satellite Glenn L. Felner North Shore Adoption Center and nearly weekly on- and off-site adoption events. The PAWS Chicago Lurie Spay/Neuter Clinic, the largest free spay/neuter clinic in Midwest, will sterilize more than 18,000 pets of low-income families this year.
The Field Museum was founded in 1893 as the Columbian Museum of Chicago with its purpose being the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge, and the preservation and exhibition of objects illustrating art, archaeology, science, and history. The collections form the foundation of the Museum's exhibition, research, and education programs, which are further informed by a world-class natural history library of more than 250,000 volumes. As an educational institution, the Field Museum offers multiple opportunities for both informal and more structured public learning. Since its founding, the Field Museum has been an international leader in evolutionary biology and paleontology, and archaeology and ethnography.
You can use Charity Navigator’s Advanced Search Tool to find even more highly-rated organizations serving the people and communities of Chicago and Illinois.
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