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Meet the 11 outstanding nonprofits that took home this year’s Classy Awards

Each organization has gone above and beyond to make our world a better place.

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All images provided by the Classy Awards, used with permission

Give these organizations all the awards

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Since 2009, the Classy Awards have celebrated nonprofits for their unique approaches to making our world a better place for everyone. Winners are given a platform to amplify their cause and showcase the positive impact of their programs.

This year, we are proud to announce that the Classy Awards have partnered with Upworthy, and we are thrilled to shine a spotlight on the 2023 winners.

From championing gender equality, to massively reducing food waste, to providing trade-based skills training to the neurodivergent community, each organization has made an incredible contribution to the betterment of our world.

Collectively through their efforts, nearly 1.5 million people and animals were served across 34 countries worldwide last year alone. That’s a win in itself.

Check out the 11 winners for 2023 below:


​412 Food Rescue

1/11

In an effort to address the growing concern of food waste, hunger, and environmental sustainability, 412 Food Rescue uses an innovative app to match volunteers, aka Food Heroes, with other organizations that might have a surplus of perfectly good but unsellable food that would otherwise be wasted and redirect it to people who need it.

Food Heroes has redirected 137 million pounds of edible food from landfills to the people who need it most.

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Family

Moms rally around woman who planned entire family vacation but was met with only complaints

"Gratitude goes a long way—especially on family vacation!"

@a.millennialmama/TikTok

Luckily, this story has a happy ending.


Even for those who love the thrill of making vacation itineraries…it’s work. And obviously when the planning has to be done for an entire family, there’s even more effort needed to be put in. Imagine going through all the rigamarole of booking flights, hotels, rental cars, restaurant reservations, entertainment venues, last minute store runs for toiletries…without getting so much as a “thank you.”

Odds are you’d be a little miffed, even if planning is your thing.

This was the scenario that a mom Alexis Scott found herself in after planning a summer vacation for her husband and two teen children. Thankfully, the now-viral TikTok post venting her frustrations inspired several folks to give her some much deserved support.

In the video, Scott began, “I'm on a family vacation right now with my two teenagers and my husband. We flew in late last night. We think we got in at like 12:15 a.m. and headed to get a rental car and then got to our Airbnb. And I am frustrated.”

Scott had tried and tried to get any input from her family about what they might want to do, and each time got the same reply: “‘Whatever you want, mom. I don't care. Okay. I don't care.’”

“Great. Glad I'm planning this vacation for everybody to not care,” Scott lamented.

Still, she did the planning—cause someone had to do it. But as soon as the vacation started, all her decisions were met with complaints. From being called “cheap” for getting too small of an SUV rental car to being told “Mom is never going to be in charge of booking the Airbnb again. She can't even this, that and the other,’” after the family found out their AirBnb was three stories with quite a few stairs.

@a.millennialmama Gratitude goes a long way - especially on family vacation! #momsoftiktok #millennialmom #millennial #familyvacation #familyvacay #sos ♬ original sound - a.millennialmama

“Then this morning, we wake up and it's an urban setting. We live in a very quiet suburban setting and my husband's saying how he barely slept and this and that. And I'm just like, enough!” she said.

All of this happened within the first 24 hours of the trip. It’s easy to see why Scott needed to vent.

Her video concluded with:

I have been the only one to put in all the effort in planning this trip. And I know there's videos on mental load, but this is prime time example of me. I'm shouldering the mental load for my entire family and everybody has something to say about it. So, yeah, I'm frustrated. Please pray for me that we can all turn our attitudes around and have a great day.”

Down in the comments, viewers could totally empathize with Scott for feeling burnt out and disappointed.

“Oh gosh the mental load of planning every detail and then knowing is something goes wrong or isn't’ perfect it’s all on you. Been there,” one person shared.

Another added, “I tell my husband that I haven’t been on vacation since I was a child and he’s alway confused bc to him, ‘we’ go on vacation every year. Only other moms would understand what I mean.”

Many suggested that she do something for herself instead.

“Just Irish goodbye one morning, go to brunch alone, hit the spa or a pool and come home after dinner,” one person wrote.

“Go and do whatever you want to do!! Spa day sounds perfect and take yourself out for fabulous meals!!” echoed another.

On a positive note: this story does have a happy ending. In a follow-up video, Scott shared how she showed her family the TikTok video she made, and it did turn things around.

@a.millennialmama Replying to @thisisntaboutme 🍉🍉🍉 absolutelt no apology video… but they listened to my feelings and we have had a good day so far ❤️🙏🏼 #momsoftiktok #grateful #teenagers #millennial #millennialmom #vacation #travel ♬ original sound - a.millennialmama


“We have actually had a really, really great day today,” she said. “Everyone has had positive attitudes. I've heard a lot of thank yous and my kids have been buying their little side purchases with their own money and not even asking me to pay for it... but they have been really self-sufficient in that space.”

All in all, Scott recognizes that her family is “human,” and a big part of being human is apologizing when a mistake is made and moving forward.

“We love each other. This was a learning experience.”

By the way, Scott's entire TikTok is dedicated to relatable mom content. You can follow along here.


This article originally appeared on 6.14.24

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Pop Culture

Jennifer Garner's 'nerdy farm facts' about pumpkins is delightfully educational

The overalls 😍

@jennifer.garner/Instagram

Jennifer Garner can talk about pumpkins with us all day, everyday.

Move over PSLs. The new mark of fall is Jennifer Garner sharing “nerdy farm facts” from her very own pumpkin patch.

In an adorable video posted to her Instagram, the “13 Going on 30” actress sported dungarees and a sun hat while holding a large yellow flower (spoiler alert: it’s a soon-to-be pumpkin) and educating us all on how pumpkins grow.

“This flower is both male and female. There’s a pistol inside and it needs the pollen,” she said. “Do you know who takes care of that? Bees! Thank you for the bees!”

Continuing her delightful and informative spiel, Garner tried to hold up the flower to show where the pollen from said bees might fall inside it. However, the wind kept the flower from exposing itself in such a way.

“Oh…she’s shy…” Garner quipped.

Once pollen does reach inside the pistol, “the miracle continues.” Garner then held the flower sideways to show what looked like the botanical version of a pregnant belly, and said, “This is when you get the email that says, ‘Congratulations, Mama Pumpkin. Your baby is the size of a large grape.'"

As Garner explained, this is when the seedling “keeps growing and growing,” to the point where the flower portion will eventually “curl and dry off.”

Picking up a full formed pumpkin still growing on a vine, she added that, “it’s like a little umbilical cord, it’s crazy.”

Cut to Garner holding up two small green pumpkins, joking that they are “a nice size b.”

Watch Jennifer Garner’s ‘Nerdy Farm Facts’ video now:

Down in the comments, viewers were bee-yond happy with Garner’s pumpkin presentation.

“🎃 🐝 This cracks me up (and so informative!),” one person wrote.

Another echoed, “Well done! Thank you for educating us 🐝👏🎃🙌. You’re the best 😂!!

Still another suggested that Garner start her own “children's educational show 👍”

A few also mentioned that those little blossoms are delicious in quesadillas. Recipe courtesy of Homesick Texan below:

Squash Blossom Quesadilla Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 poblano pepper
  • 24 squash blossoms, stems and stamens removed.
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 half medium-yellow onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried epazote (can substitute with 1/4 fresh cilantro)
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds (6 cups) Oaxacan, Monterey Jack, or Muenster cheese, grated
  • 12 corn or flour tortillas
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Salsa verde, for serving

Instructions

  1. Put the poblano under the broiler for about 10 minutes, turning once until it blackens. Place in a plastic bag, close it and let it sit for about 20 minutes. After this time has passed, take poblano out of the bag, peel it (skin should shred off easily), remove stem and seeds and dice.
  2. Gently wash the squash blossoms (there might be bugs inside) and remove stems and stamens. Roughly chop.
  3. Heat skillet to medium and add the olive oil. Add onions and diced poblano and cook for about 5 minutes or until onions are translucent.
  4. Add garlic, epazote, squash blossoms, salt, and pepper and sauté for 10 minutes or until all the liquid from the flowers has evaporated. Remove from heat and set squash-blossom filling aside. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed.
  5. In a skillet heated to medium, melt a tablespoon of butter. Add a tortilla and cook it on one side until it puffs (about 30 seconds). Flip tortilla over and sprinkle over entire surface 1/4 cup of squash blossom filling and 1/2 cup of grated cheese.
  6. Top with another tortilla, and after cheese has melted and the 2 tortillas stick together (a couple of minutes), flip quesadilla and cook for a couple of minutes more or until lightly browned.
  7. Repeat for the remainder of the filling and tortillas. Serve warm with salsa verde on the side, if you like.

Sounds like a great recipe for Garner to try on her “Pretend Cooking Show.” It’s sure to be utterly wholesome and entertaining, just like everything else she does.

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Education

Mom shares how her first grader's homework on the second day of school broke his spirit

"It's breaking their spirit and it robs them of what little fun and family time they have when they come home after a long day of school."

Photo credit: Cassi Nelson/Facebook

How much homework is too much homework?

Debates about homework are nothing new, but the ability of parents to find support for homework woes from thousands of other parents is a fairly recent phenomenon.

A mom named Cassi Nelson shared a post about her first grader's homework and it quickly went viral. Nelson shared that her son had come home from his second day of school with four pages of homework, which she showed him tearfully working on at their kitchen counter.

"He already doesn’t get home from school until 4pm," she wrote. "Then he had to sit still for another hour plus to complete more work. I had to clear out the kitchen so he could focus. His little legs kept bouncing up and down, he was bursting with so much energy just wanting to go play. Then he broke my heart when he looked up at me with his big teary doe eyes and asked…. 'Mommy when you were little did you get distracted a lot too?!' Yes sweet baby, mommy sure did too! I don’t know how ppl expect little children to sit at school all day long and then ALSO come home to sit and do MORE work too…."

Nelson tells Upworthy that she was "shocked" that kindergarteners and first graders have homework, much less the amount they were expected to do. "We didn't have homework like this when we were in these younger grades."

Expert opinion and research is somewhat mixed on the homework front, but there isn't any conclusive evidence that homework is universally beneficial for students and too much homework can actually be harmful. As a standard, the National Education Association (NEA) and the National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA) support a limit on homework of “10 minutes of homework per grade level."

With that as a guide, a first grader shouldn't have more than 10 minutes of homework on any given school day, but it's not unusual for young kids to have two or three times the recommended limit of homework. That can be stressful for both kids and parents, cutting into valuable family time and limiting kids' time to decompress, play and freely engage in imaginative activity.

As Nelson concluded, "It’s breaking their spirit and it robs them of what little fun and family time they have when they come home after a long day of school."

Most parents and even most teachers in the comments agreed with her that four pages of homework is too much for a first grader, especially on only the second day of school:

"Poor little man. Children below a certain grade should not be given homework! Small children have a hard time sitting still for a long period of time yet alone expected to sit and do hours of homework, for what??? They are SMALL CHILDREN! Let them snack, play, laugh and all the other fun things when they get home. You are only a child once, they don't need that taken away from them. Let them embrace their inner creativity, imagination, recipes, etc."

"This breaks my spirit. Our schools are huge scams. You're exactly right Cassi. Homework is ridiculous. Kids til the age of 10 primarily learn through real life situations and play scenarios."

"I hate that for him! My little one has ADHD and doing homework after sitting in class all day is very stressful to him and makes him hate school. They are in school for 7 hours they shouldn’t have homework. That definitely takes away any kind of family time and that’s why kids never spend time with parents anymore because they have all this homework to do after being gone all day.I feel that if it can’t be done in the 7 hours they have the kids then it should wait until the next school day."

"I don’t make them do homework at home when they are that little. It’s not fair!They are at school allllll day! And it’s already sooooo much for their little bodies and brains! I’ve never had a teacher upset about it either.. and even if I did oh well!"

"That breaks my heart. 4 pages is absolutely ridiculous for young kids. My daughter is going into 2nd grade next month, the 2 years in school it was always 1 page of homework sometimes back and front if it was math. And to read."

"I was in this boat with my son…conversation with the principal and teachers helped dramatically!! It’s too much and we have to advocate for them."

Nelson was blown away by the response to her post, which has been shared on Facebook over 89,000 times. "I NEVER thought me sharing my thoughts openly about how my heart hurt watching my little guy struggle would connect to so many others worldwide going through the same thing," she says.

Many parents shared that excessive homework is one of the reasons they decided to homeschool their children, which Nelson took to heart. The week after sharing her viral homework post, she shared that they had had their first day of homeschooling. It was "A HUGE SUCCESS!!!!" she wrote, with her son getting far more work done in a far shorter amount of time, sitting for classes for just 1 hour and 45 minutes total.

Nelson tells Upworthy she was totally intimidated to try homeschooling. "I seriously thought there was no way," she says. "But I knew I had to set my fear aside and just take the leap for my kids. I told myself I'd figure it out one way or another. And here we are three days in and it's been the easiest and best choice I've ever made."

Homeschooling is not going to the right solution for every family, however, so the question of homework remains an important issue for kids, parents, teachers and schools to work out.

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Pop Culture

People are discussing when it's okay and not okay to use someone else's baby name

A wild story prompted a fascinating debate about baby naming etiquette.

Photo by jagdeep rajput/Pexels

When is it appropriate to "copy"' a baby name?

Naming a baby is one of the first major decisions parents have to make, and it's a biggie. A name can be beautiful, interesting or meaningful. A name can be popular, uncommon or one-of-a-kind.

There are many questions to consider when choosing a baby name, but one question in particular is provoking a range of opinions: When is it okay or not okay to choose a baby name someone you know has already chosen?

Everyone has a right to name their baby whatever they want (for the most part), but that doesn't mean there aren't some spoken and unspoken rules of etiquette surrounding baby names. For instance, it's one thing if you like an acquaintance's kid's name and decide to use it, but if you know your sibling wants to use a certain name and you swoop in and snag it first, that might be another story.

A woman's wild tale of a friend's wife calling her rude for saying she might name a kid the same name they chose for their baby has people debating the "rules" of copying other people's name choices. In a post on X, @cilantrowife wrote:

"A family friend brought his wife to dinner last night. They just had a baby a few months ago and I was telling them how much I love their baby's name and if I ever had a third daughter that would probably be her name too. Just woke up to a text from this man saying I was rude. He said his wife was offended by that because 1) I was making it about me (?) and 2) I told her I would be stealing her baby name lmfao. First of all I'm not even pregnant or planning a pregnancy atp, second of all idk if I'll ever have a third daughter. Also a name can't be stolen…"

Even giving the new mom a little latitude in the mental/emotional health department, getting angry at someone for saying they liked your baby's name and fantasizing about a potential future child being named that is a bit much. But it did get people talking.

Some people pointed out that such a response is strange, especially if the name isn't unique. Like, if you like the name Emma and decide to use it, you're almost 100% guaranteed to know someone with a kid named Emma. No one could accuse you of copying or stealing one of the most popular baby names of the past decade.

Even within the same family, there can be multiples of the same name, though it's not as common as it once was. "I once traced my lineage to the 1700s and nearly all the boys in the family were named John lol," wrote the original poster. "Do you think those mothers were whining to each other about 'name stealing'?"

Some might see it as odd, but for some families and even some entire cultures, people sharing the same name within the same family is not unusual at all.


One commenter wrote, "My husband’s family is awash with Davids. We had a family wedding where Groom, Best Man, Usher, Groom’s Father, Cousin & 2 uncles were all called David & all related."

"I know of a large Catholic family w 12 kids, I think," shared another. "The firstborn and the 12th child are both named Patrick. Mom & Dad loved the name; felt the boys would be far enough apart in age that there would be no confusion. I think it worked out fine. :)"

But what if the name wasn't common. What if a person named their kid "Marikenzley" or something equally unique and someone wanted to use it. Would that change the equation?

Most people said even if they initially felt it was weird, they'd get over it. Every name becomes popular somehow and nothing ever remains one-of-a-kind.

As for how this woman should respond to the man's text about his wife being upset, some people were blunt about it being unreasonable, but others pointed out that new moms do have all kinds of hormonal shifts raging through their bodies, so a little grace may be in order.

The bottom line is no one owns the right to any particular name, even the more unusual or uncommon ones. And if you do name your child something unique, there's a good chance they would be excited to meet someone with the same name as them someday. Take it as a compliment that your baby naming skills are admired and let people name their kids whatever they want.

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Women share 13 flirting tips to help single men approach them without being 'creepy'

"Talk to girls like they are the same as guys."

via Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels

A man and woman enjoying a beer.

There are no hard-set rules for how a man should approach a woman in public if he finds her attractive. When considering whether to introduce himself, many questions run through a guy’s head. Is this an appropriate place to approach her? What should I say? Should I ask her for her number? How will I know if she’s interested?

Then, of course, he has to worry about being rejected.

To make things even more complicated, it’s hard to know the social norms in 2024 regarding picking up on someone. Some women may feel it’s always inappropriate for a stranger to approach them and make small talk, while others may welcome the attention.

How to approach women in public

To help single men navigate the tricky waters of being single in 2024, a group of women shared the “best ways to approach” them without coming off as creepy. The women shared many great tips, but they mostly came down to a central point: be friendly and don’t make it sexual. Then, after shooting your shot, listen to her responses and watch her body language to see if she’s interested. If not, kindly leave her alone.



Here are 13 of the best responses to the question: “Single women of Reddit, what's the best way to approach you without coming off as creepy?”

1. Treat 'em like guys

"My approach was just to talk to girls like they are the same as guys. Sometimes we would click and end up dating other times made a friend. If I go into every interaction with the pressure of picking up someone to date, I think that very rarely works."

"This is literally the correct answer; they are just girls/humans. Believe it or not, they like to talk and have hobbies too. All my friends used to tell me how I was so confident because I was not scared to talk to girls, lol."

2. Time and place are important

"Headphones are a universal symbol of ‘I don’t want to be bothered right now.’ If I’m actively dancing with my friends, yelling in my ear on the dance floor is not the place. Wait until I’m at the bar or the smoking area where we can hear each other. If I walk through a desolate park, I will feel alarmed to have a man I don’t know approach me. If I’m at work where I have to speak to you and cannot walk away, that is very unfair on me."

"Generally, if it feels like you’re interrupting something important or a task that takes concentration, you shouldn’t. Approach me as a person first and a potential date second. Start a conversation and talk about life and interests. I don’t find it flattering when the conversation opens with a comment on my body or asking if I have Snapchat."

3. Don't make it sexual

"Creepy = making the interaction sexualized from the start. Be friendly, not flirty to start. One good rule of thumb — if you wouldn't be comfortable saying the same thing to a man you've never met before, then don't say it to a woman."

How to ask a woman for her number

4. Give her your number (don't ask for hers)

"I do prefer the offer of him giving me his number vs him asking for mine. It feels a little less pressured, don't ask me why. I guess being able to reach out when I'm ready vs just suddenly there's a message and then I'm panicked with how long to wait to respond, worrying about if I waited too long, responded too quickly, or heck even just feeling the pressure to respond right away."



5. Don't ask if she's taken

“'Do you have a boyfriend?' should not be the first words out of your mouth. This is almost always the first thing men say to me when they approach me in public (sometimes without even asking my name!!) and it always makes me feel weird."

6. Watch for eye contact

"If I don’t make eye contact, I’m not interested in being approached."

7. Genuine interest

"I can say that the best approach is to be friendly, respectful, and show genuine interest in getting to know me as a person."

8. Compliment what they control

"When giving compliments, focus on things we have control over vs the things we don't. A compliment on my hairstyle or my makeup or the t-shirt I'm wearing will always be more welcome than a comment on the size or shape of my body."

9. Take the hint

"If at any point she starts acting closed off—avoiding eye contact, giving bare-minimum answers, looking for reasons to leave—take the hint and back off. Other than that, let the conversation flow and see if you vibe."



10. Don't move too fast

"As someone who's been married for some time, a mistake I see a lot of guys make is when they approach with the intention of moving on to something physical as soon as possible. It's like you can see their mental checklist and the go/no go decision tree in their head. If it works, it's usually because the woman in the situation was already intending to pick him up anyway."

11. Contact me, if you like

"After sharing a little moment or a laugh (grocery store, library, wherever), cruise by before you leave and hand over your business card (or any piece of paper) with your phone number and email on it. Say: 'It would be nice to see you again. Contact me if you'd like to!' then leave."

12. Some women are waiting for you to approach them

"Honestly, (and I'm absolutely NOT speaking for all women), I feel so frickin invisible on the regular that I would gladly embrace ANY sort of casual hello with a smile. I'm literally starving so just...ANYTHING at this point. If I'm in an aisle at your store, ask me how my day is. If I'm by myself in a line for a Rollercoaster, as is usually the case, ask me if I've ridden the coaster before."

13. Creepy is a feeling

"Creep is something we feel, not think. Two men can say the exact same thing, even something inappropriate, but if their tone, energy, body language whatever, is different, one will feel inherently creepy in our skin. We can feel when someone has bad intent usually."


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