Whether you donate $20 or $200, charities appreciate and need everything the public can donate to them. With every donation, a family or person in need is benefitted -- it could be food on the table, clothes for the kids, research on a disease, or anything in between. And, some charities are specifically focused on helping animals too -- who doesn't want to help cute little animals find homes or gain their health back?!

If you ever want to help out but you're not sure how, donate to a charity. I've even provided a list of charities below that range from disease research all the way to stopping animal cruelty.

Charities for the Hungry & Poverty:

Meals on Wheels -- MOWAA works toward the social, physical, nutritional, and economic betterment of vulnerable Americans.

Feeding America/America's Second Harvest -- For every dollar you donate, Feeding America is able to distribute nine pounds of food to hungry Americans!

Food for the Poor -- An international relief and development organization that's working in the Caribbean and Latin America to provide food and shelter.

Feed the Children -- A Christian, international, nonprofit relief organization with headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that delivers food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to individuals, children, and families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty, or natural disaster.

CARE -- CARE International’s mission is to serve individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world.

Charities for Military Purposes:

United Soldiers & Sailors of America -- An all-volunteer based organization that provides food, shelter, utilities and toiletries to our combat-wounded service members and their families in need.

Wounded Warrior Project -- The Wounded Warrior Project's goal is to raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service members.

Operation Gratitude -- Express our nation's appreciation & respect for the Military by sending care packages and letters to deployed troops, their children at home, veterans, first responders, Wounded Warriors, and caregivers.

Operation Homefront -- Operation Homefront provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors. They're four-star rated and 95% of all donations go directly to help families.

Homes for Our Troops -- A national non-profit, founded in 2004. Their mission is to build specially adapted homes for our severely injured veterans at no cost to the veteran or their families.

Charities for the Homeless:

Acadiana Outreach -- Addresses root causes of homelessness by assisting poverty stricken adults get sober, housed, and employed. They have a substance abuse recovery program, women/children shelter, closet/pantry, and a day shelter.

Habitat for Humanity -- Seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.

Rebuilding Together -- Rebuilding Together works to preserve affordable homeownership. Their work impacts a total of 10,000 low-income elderly, disabled, veterans, and families with children. Their work is free of charge.

Ali Forney Center -- The Ali Forney Center (AFC) was started in June of 2002 in response to the lack of safe shelter for LGBT youth in New York City.

Portland Rescue Mission -- Portland Rescue Mission gives hope and restores life to hurting people overcoming homelessness, hunger, addiction and abuse.

Charities for Animals:

ASPCA -- To battle cruelty to animals, the American ASPCA offers programs in public awareness, advocacy in government, shelter support, and medical support and placement.

Wildlife Conservation Society -- Protects wildlife and wild lands through, conservation, education, and the management of wildlife parks.

Petfinder Foundation -- An online, searchable database of animals that need homes. It is also a directory of more than 10,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations across the USA, Canada and Mexico. The organizations maintain their own home pages and available pet database.

2nd Chance Dog Rescue -- Second "Chance" saves dogs that otherwise would be left on the streets to fend for themselves or brought to the pound and most likely placed on the E-List. All dogs deserve a second chance.

4 Paws 1 Heart -- They fund medical treatment for abandoned and stray companion animals. 99.99% of all dollars donated go directly to the rehabilitation of the animal including neutering/spaying and vaccinating.

Charities for Health & Disease:

St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital -- Patients do not pay for treatment beyond what is covered by insurance and those without insurance are never asked to pay.

ALS Association -- To lead the fight to cure and treat ALS through global, cutting-edge research, and to empower people with Lou Gehrig's Disease and their families to live fuller lives by providing them with compassionate care and support.

American Association for Cancer Research -- The mission of the AACR is to prevent and cure cancer through research, education, communication, and collaboration.

March of Dimes -- Their mission is to improve the health of all babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. They are working towards the day when every baby is born healthy.

Charities for Education & Culture:

Ronald McDonald House -- The Ronald McDonald House Charities National Scholarship Program provides opportunities for higher education to communities with limited resources.

Teach for America -- Teach For America is growing the movement of leaders who work to ensure that kids growing up in poverty get an excellent education.

United Negro College Fund -- The nation’s largest, oldest, most successful and most comprehensive minority higher education assistance organization.

Adopt-A-Classroom -- Receives financial support for its operations from foundations, businesses, and individuals. Contributions help teachers purchase much needed resources for under-served classrooms.

ArtsWave -- They believe in enhancing our communites with arts and cultural experiences that create vibrancy and connect people.

All of these charities listed are such a small, small portion of the charities you can donate to. I found the list and description of these charities here-- everyone who reads this should check it out and at least look at the thousands of charities that are looking for donations every day. A little bit of help always goes a long way!