The Fetzer Institute was founded to promote the power of love and forgiveness   More than 200 non-governmental organizations worldwide have entered the institute’s competition for two 25 thousand dollar grants to continue their work on projects that do just that.  One grant will be awarded to an organization in the United States and the other will go to an international organization.

There’s  a  smaller award of five thousand dollars which will be given at the same time. The Institute wants people to vote on which of the entries touched them most. Stories of all of the applicants can be found at www.tellusworld.org.  The awards will be announced on February 28^th.

Thomas Harvey of Notre Dame University’s Mendoza School of Business is an adviser to the institute. He says the entrants do a wide variety of work to further love and forgiveness, including educational experiences, development and outreach across cultures.

There are at least five entrants with ties to the Pittsburgh area; A Mother’s Wish, Southwinds, Haitian Families First, Hekima Place and South Side Anglican Church.

Hekima Place is in Kenya but was founded by a Pittsburgh native and has U.S. contacts in Pittsburgh.

A Mother’s Wish  serves poor communities in the Dominican Republic and is based in Arizona. But it was founded by a woman whose daughter underwent a life-saving liver transplant at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Haitian Families First provides support to needy families in Haiti and was founded by two Pittsburgh sisters.

Southwinds provides residential care for with developmentally disabled adults in southwestern Pennsylvania.

South Side Anglican Church does outreach in a part of Pittsburgh known for late night reveling and violence.