Project Cuddle is a nationwide

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

-based

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

dedicated to preventing baby abandonment. It works with pregnant women in distress to provide shelter, to give guidance to find medical and

prenatal care Prenatal care, also known as antenatal care, is a type of preventive healthcare for pregnant individuals. It is provided in the form of medical checkups and healthy lifestyle recommendations for the pregnant person. Antenatal care also consists of ...

, and to help find adoptive families. Its national spokesperson is actor John Stamos. The Believe Campaign was created by Project Cuddle, It was created to spread awareness to American teens about the " Safe Haven" laws. Project Cuddle along with celebrities John Stamos and Denise Richards have helped to create an educational video that is available to distribute for free to Health clinics and schools. It operates a 24/7 toll-free hotline which treats all calls as confidential. Project Cuddle and its founder, Debbe Magnusen, were featured in a ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' magazine article in February 2007 in the popular column Heroes Among Us, on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...

'' in April 2000, and again on a special "Cheers To You!" episode on May 9, 2007. The organization has also been featured on

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

, and '' Dateline

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

''.

History

Project Cuddle was formed as a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

non-profit charity in 1994 by Debbe Magnusen after having the realization that every day babies were being abandoned around the world by mothers of all ages. She started Project Cuddle in her living room in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

, with the goal of ending baby abandonment as well as giving care and support to pregnant women. Within 12 hours of opening their 24-hour hotline to callers, they received their first call from a young mother. The California State Auditor reported that 404 babies were abandoned in California alone between 2001 and 2007. As of August 2015 the volunteers and employees of Project Cuddle have saved 786 babies from being abandoned and provided the mothers with alternatives.

Awards

* Disneyland Show Your Character Award - 2005 * Received a resolution from the 37th State Senate District of California that recognized July 13, 2013, as Baby Abandonment Prevention Awareness day from State Senator

Mimi Walters Marian Elaine "Mimi" Walters (née Krogius; born May 14, 1962) is an American businesswoman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served from 2015 to 2019 as the U.S. representative for California's 45th congressional distric ...

References

External links

*
Cheers to you!

TV Report (außendienst by ZDF auslandsjournal) in German language Non-profit organizations based in California Human rights organizations based in the United States {{US-philanthropy-org-stub 501(c)(3) organizations