Giving them a break from the daily grind

After the holiday season, I usually try to pay tribute to the nonprofits in travel, the organizations that work to bring meaningful vacations to low-income and physically disabled people -- and do so without financial benefit to themselves.

For the last seven years, I’ve listed several of these organizations in a beginning-of-the-year column, along with a hint that our readers might make a contribution to their efforts, and I do so again this year.

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Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality

The society, (212) 447-7284, www.sath.org, is a hardworking, 28-year-old nonprofit with a threefold mission: advocacy for disabled people (it was instrumental in the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act); gathering information on travel facilities for disabled people; and providing information to disabled people on how they can travel. Every year, thousands of physically disabled Americans seek its free, impartial advice.

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Hostelling International

The Hostelling International organization, (301) 495-1240, www.hiayh.org, is the former International Youth Hostel Federation, renamed to overcome a common misconception that its properties were open only to young people; they are, in fact, heavily used by people of all ages. There are more than 4,000 hostels in more than 60 countries, with about 200 in the United States and Canada. Guests usually pay $8 to $24 per person, per night, for gender-separate multi-bed accommodations; private rooms are sometimes available. More than mere lodgings, these are warm gathering places where people mix and converse without barriers of race, religion, age or income. Tax-deductible donations are gratefully accepted.

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Sierra Club Outings

Outings, (415) 977-5522, www.sierraclub.org/outings (click on “National & International Outings”), is the travel arm of the environmental group, which has worked since the days of John Muir in the 1890s to protect the natural resources of the United States. Sierra Club Outings, partly in support of that goal and partly to bring the wonders of nature to its members, organizes more than 300 excursions a year to wilderness areas and international cultural destinations.

Trips last one to three weeks and cost from $275 for service projects to $3,000 to $4,000 for two-week international trips. Scan the Internet site -- and support Sierra.

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Wilderness Inquiry of Minneapolis

Wilderness Inquiry, (800) 728-0719, www.wildernessinquiry.org, operates tours that enable physically disabled people to enjoy challenging outdoor adventures (canoeing, trekking) by including them in expeditions with non-disabled travelers. The resulting groups -- half disabled, half not -- embark on a stimulating excursion, the able-bodied lending a hand when necessary. Although the trips are complex and costly to operate, prices have been kept to about $130 a day per person, a level that permits average-income Americans to participate.

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American Hiking Society

The nonprofit group, (301) 565-6704, www.americanhiking.org wages a never-ending battle against degradation of our nation’s hiking trails.

To that end, it offers one- and two-week volunteer vacations costing a total of $95 for members, $120 for nonmembers, during which volunteers pull weeds, remove fences, dig trenches and perform other useful tasks in some of America’s loveliest national parks. Like the other organizations listed, this group relies on donations from individuals and the corporate world.