You likely have plenty of gift options for the racing fans in your life—racing books, a generous voucher for the windows at their favorite track, perhaps even a share in a racehorse.

But if you’re interested in a gift that gives to not only your loved ones, you might consider giving back to those who make the sport possible. There are plenty of racing and animal charities out there that would benefit from your dollars this holiday season; here’s a list, in case you’d like to make a donation in the name of the racing fan(s) in your life.

I have checked out and donated to many of the organizations below, but you should do your own research before donating to any charitable organization. Guidestar and Charity Navigator provide useful information on the status of non-profits and the ways that organizations use their donations. Many of these organizations also have Twitter and Facebook presences, where you can find more information about them and get updates about their work.

Noah’s Wish works to save and rescue animals during disasters such as hurricanes, fires and floods. You can donate or shop at the Noah’s Wish store.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand. In 2000, four year old cancer patient Alexandra Scott decided that she wanted to have a lemonade sale to raise money to help kids with cancer; for four years, until her death at age eight, Alex and her family held an annual lemonade sale to raise money for childhood cancer research. In 2005, the connections of Afleet Alex linked their star colt to this charity, bringing it to national attention when more than 1,100 Alex’s Lemonade Stands were put up on Belmont Stakes Day around the country.

At last year’s Lemon Ball in Philadelphia, Afleet Alex’s connections were honored for their commitment to this organization. Fans of the gutsy colt who won the Preakness and the Belmont have adopted this charity as their own, and now that Afleet Alex’s first foals have hit the track, it might be a good time to honor the legacy of his connections who helped bring Alex’s Lemonade Stand to prominence–especially if you’re one of those people, like me, in whose world Afleet Alex is the most recent Triple Crown winner.

CANTER, the Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses, has chapters in eight states and regions and works to find homes for Thoroughbreds when their racing careers are over. Not long ago I wrote about CANTER New England and the work of Jennifer Montfort at Suffolk Downs; she’s joined by volunteers in Kentucky, Illinois, California, Michigan, the Mid-Atlantic, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. They hit the backstretch every weekend, talking to trainers, matching buyers and sellers, so that horses who can’t or shouldn’t race any more have other career options. CANTER is currently accepting donations to honor Bobby Frankel’s memory.

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation works to find homes and jobs for Thoroughbreds who come off the track. In addition to donating, you adopt, foster, or sponsor a horse through the TRF. Come on…you know you know someone who’d like to “own” a retired Thoroughbred, have his halter, have his picture…and get visiting rights!

Old Friends offers retired Thoroughbreds a safe, comfortable—even luxurious!—retirement on its Lexington farm. And now, northern Thoroughbreds will find a home at Old Friends at Cabin Creek: the Bobby Frankel Division. Its first resident arrives this week at the farm a short drive from Saratoga Race Course, and its grand opening will be next summer. If you’ve ever wanted to feed a carrot to a champion–or get bitten by one!–you need only head to Old Friends. We should all have such good retirements…

The Belmont Child Care Association offers very low cost child care to the children of the backstretch workers. Anna House opens at 5 a.m. 365 days a year, so that the people who take care of the horses can go to work knowing that their children are in good hands. At Anna House you’ll find newborns, toddlers, and pre-schoolers; they can stay until they enroll in kindergarten. In the afternoon, Anna House offers free tutoring to older children. The BCCA is currently accepting donations for its holiday party on December 12th, at which the children can pick out gifts to give to their families for Christmas.

Backstretch Employees Service Team (B.E.S.T.) offers a variety of services to New York backstretch workers, including health care, visa assistance, and translation. Housed on the Belmont backstretch, it assists workers at all three NYRA tracks and has an active presence at Saratoga during the summer.

ReRun is a Thoroughbred adoption program that helps ex-racehorses find a second career. After resting and being evaluated and rehabilitated as needed, Thoroughbreds are placed with qualified adopters to begin their chance at a second career. ReRun has farms in New York and New Jersey, and its Moneigh auction of equine art—that’s art BY horses, not OF horses!—began yesterday. Bid on paintings by Distorted Humor, Serena’s Song, Presious Passion, Midnight Lute, Funny Cide, Rags to Riches, and Cigar, among others.

This weekend at Aqueduct, the U.S. Marine Corps will set up its annual Toys for Tots donation center. Both Saturday and Sunday, you can bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate; the Marines will also accept cash donations. Gary Contessa is pledging 10% of whatever purse money his horses earn on December 5th, with a minimum donation of $1,500; owner Harold Lerner will donate $5,000. NYRA will match all financial donations, including Contessa’s and Lerner’s, for a minimum donation of $6,500. So if you’re heading to the Big A this weekend, make sure to bring your checkbook…and to donate BEFORE you head to the windows!

Caught an ad on television last night for an on-line fundraiser for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a charity that raises money to fight childhood cancer. In 2000, four year old cancer patient Alexandra Scott decided that she wanted to have a lemonade sale to raise money to help kids with cancer; for four years, until her death at age eight, Alex and her family held an annual lemonade sale to raise money for childhood cancer research. In 2005, the connections of Afleet Alex linked their star colt to this charity, bringing it to national attention when more than 1,100 Alex’s Lemonade Stands were put up on Belmont Stakes Day around the country.

Now, you can hit home runs online and raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand:

GMS: Play for a Purpose is an initiative that unifies Games, Gamers and
Advertisers in the fight against cancer. Our goal is to raise $500,000 for
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer.

In this game, players earn Dugout Dollars, points earned within the game that convert to donations from advertising dollars. It appears that one can play for free, but I didn’t get too far in my exploration.

In other racing/sporting news, Rangers’ fans missing both Sean Avery the player and Sean Avery the horse might take heart: there’s a new eponymous Rangers’ horse out there. On Saturday at Aqueduct, 3-2 favorite Dubinsky ran second; Ed Fountaine confirms that the two-year-old is indeed named after #17 on the Rangers, who is also currently running second on the Rangers in total points, tied with Scott Gomez and Markus Naslund, behind Nikolai Zherdev.

Jockey Mike Luzzi proclaims himself a Rangers’ fan in a new series of jockey interviews, produced by NYRA and recently released on YouTube. Each clip is just a few minutes long, and Richard Migliore, John Velazquez, and Alan Garcia are among the featured jocks.

And in case anyone’s keeping score, I’m now 0 – 4 at the Garden this year. It’s getting tiresome, and rumor has it that I may soon be barred.

Received this photo a few days ago from Anna House at the Belmont Child Care Association, of the children playing on the Lemon Drop Kid Playground during their Cultural Olympics.

The NYRA website shares the good news that Jess Jackson’s Curlin for Kids charity is donating $100,000 to Anna House:

“Curlin has had much success in New York both in Saratoga and Belmont so it is
fitting that we should make a donation to Anna House on the day he attempts to
make history. His success on the track as helped education and children’s
charities throughout America,” said [Jess Jackson’s wife and Curlin part owner
Barbara] Banke, who is also a successful attorney. “Even though Jess is an only
child, family has always been a priority in his life. Our children are very
important to us, and we are so grateful to have a horse like Curlin that can
help make a difference in the lives of children where he races but especially
for the backstretch workers in New York.”

And finally, word recently from Alex’s Lemonade Stand, which raises money to fight childhood cancer. In 2000, four year old cancer patient Alexandra Scott decided that she wanted to have a lemonade sale to raise money to help kids with cancer; for four years, until her death at age eight, Alex and her family held an annual lemonade sale to raise money for childhood cancer research. In 2005, the connections of Afleet Alex linked their star colt to this charity, bringing it to national attention when more than 1,100 Alex’s Lemonade Stands were put up on Belmont Stakes Day around the country.

In January, Tim Ritchey and Cash is King Racing Stable will be honored at the third annual Lemon Ball to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Afleet Alex captured the nation’s imagination in a way that few horses have done since, and it would be great if some of his many fans could show up to support this cause.

I’ll be spending the day at soggy Belmont, in hopes that no bad weather can dampen a terrific day of racing.