Charity on Top is not like your typical charity.

This local non-profit organization creates custom gift cards that benefit other charities — so that those groups can do good works.

You pick a card design, load it up and give the card to anyone you want for birthdays or other occasions. The recipient then chooses a charity of their choice — out of over on million options — that they would like to donate to.

Charity on Top’s co-founders, Kathy Selders and Marchelle L. Sellers, said they have worked on several charity projects over the last past twenty years, spending most of that time volunteering and fundraising.

During this process, they realized how hard it was to get money for charities.

“It was challenging to see that retailers and other businesses didn’t have to go through what we went through in order to be successful. We understood they were successful selling a product or service, but it didn’t take away how hard it was to get people to donate,” said Selders.

This frustrating time led to the idea of raising money to help other charities. They

wanted charities to know they were there to help and understood the struggle. They formed Charity on Top in Pasadena.

Before that, they founded the Welcome House in Pasadena in 1997. The house was created for family members of children who were undergoing medical treatment at nearby hospitals. It was acquired by Ronald McDonald House Charities in 2003 and renamed the Pasadena Ronald McDonald House.

Sellers said her inspiration is her son, Reese, who was born very premature and died.

“His name is engraved in the South Pasadena Healing Garden, and the fully-accessible park in Pasadena developed by the Pasadena Accessibility Commission, is aptly named ‘Reese’s Retreat’ in his memory,” according to Charity on Top’s website.

More information about the nonprofit is available at www.charityontop.org.