QOTD October 14, 2012 Are you charitable and if so, what charity or charities do you like to support?

[MissLindaJean]

Every month, there are different causes to celebrate, be aware of, donate to...Running errands yesterday, left me making a donation for breast cancer and finding a pink bracelet tossed in my bag at checkout. I usually am happy to round up a dollar and change when checking out for whatever charitable cause is going on.

I'd probably say I always make sure to donate to the Salvation Army, regardless of the time of year. I do food drives and participate in whatever my church I attend sponsors, too, locally or otherwise. Even though I'm no Donald Trump, nearly all of my issues are "first world problems" and there is always someone who could use that one thing more than me. 

So, are you a champion of animals? Save the ta-tas or go green? 

 

[divadoll]

There's a United Way campaign run at work every year which we contribute items for baskets that are raffled to everyone. I organize a surprise bag sale to raise $ for the Food Bank at Christmas. I buy extra food items for food bank. I also donated extra toiletries for Women's shelters. I donate unwanted clothing. I give blood.

 

[Dalylah]

Habitat for Humanity as well as occasional donations to random food banks and shelters.

 

[Doris Allen]

Donation is always good but now days some people have make it their business this is really bad. It is a God's works so no one should do this in wrong way. But the big question is that how can we find that the donation we made is going for good purpose or not!!! The only solution is that the giver should be careful while donating!!!

 

[Playedinloops]

I tell everyone I have an adopted child, lol. I donate 20 dollars a month to children international to help a little girl in the phillipines. She sends me "letters" every couple months by which I mean colors on a form letter the company gives her. 

 

[calexxia]

I make cash contributions to Cancer Schmancer.

I make goods donations to the local Domestic Violence shelter.

I make goods donations to the local Goodwill.

I make goods donations to the local food pantry.

...And, I try not to fall under the spell of corporate marketing ploys such as pinkwashing.

 

[zadidoll]

I do and I don't donate. I use to donate cash to various charities (Red Cross, Humane Society, things like that) until I read that many of the so-called charities spend most of the donations on ad campaigns and upper management salaries and perks. After that I stopped giving money to charities. The local Humane Society are crooks - they wasted almost $2 million on a new building which can only house 25 dogs - not cats, no other animals just dogs. I'm sorry but that $2 million could have built a bigger building but they wanted to make it a beautiful building so people who drive by will be wowed by how pretty it looks. Stupid waste of money.

I use to give money to my my kids schools but stopped after seeing the PTO waste the money as well. Three years ago the PTO at my sons' elementary purchased an electric reader board for $15,000 then paid another $5,000 to have it installed. The sign lasted one year because the following year it was removed during the school's remodel. When the remodel was finished and the new school year started that $15,000 sign was not brought back so it essentially was a wasted $20,000 of money that the PTO raised through fundraisers, parents donating and the like. They should have taken that $15,000 and bought playground equipment or books or something but not a stupid electric reader that went where? I'll never waste my money like that again. At the middle school every year they have a jog-a-thon to raise money for the music department but instead of that money used to buy new instruments it's spent on taking the kids on trips. How nice. 90% of the instruments are from the 1970s only a handful of instruments are new and only because the instruments replaced couldn't be repaired anymore like a baritone saxophone that had a crack in it or when the cello broke. Having been on the PTO for the middle school I know exactly how much was raised and exactly how much was wasted. This year my daughter came home with her jog-a-thon packet and my boys came with theirs (the elementary school has their own) and right into the trash those went.

I also no longer donate to food banks because in my area we have several but there are three particular ones - all operated by the same company - that make me sick to see the unfairness on how food is distributed between their three operations. Our area is made up of three main cities so each city has it's own food bank but all three get their food from the main one in what I'll call Town B, I live in Town A and the one across from us is Town C. So all the food collected goes to Town B and the warehouse there distributes the food - well it's suppose to - to Towns A and B the problem is 90% of the food remains in Town B despite that it's smaller than Town A. Those getting help in Town B get carts full of fresh food, meat, bread, canned goods and more while Town A people getting help there are limited to two cans of food, unlimited bread and if there's any fresh fruit/veggies then 1 pound of that. Essentially a person getting help in Town A or C will get one bag of food while those in Town C look as if they went shopping. It's absolutely disgusting because if you live in Town A or C you can't go to Town B for help. I will NEVER EVER donate to food banks again after seeing that.

I DO still donate food to the schools at winter because the schools don't give those food donations to the food banks and instead distributes the food they collect to families at the schools to students whose families are in need. I also donate to the warm hands campaign because the gloves, socks and shoes collected also gets distributed to the students in need. But money wise... never ever again. I don't trust that the money donated will go to help people or animals.

 

[deactivateduser232015]

I'm always wary of charities because there is a lot of inefficiency. A good way to find reputable charities that do good work is through charity navigator: http://charitynavigator.org/

I pretty much exclusively donate to 4-star charities on CN. I also have charities I love where I KNOW the money is going somewhere worthwhile.

DonorsChoose (http://donorschoose.org / http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=9284) - all the money goes to the particular education project you want

Doctors Wihout Borders (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ / http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3628) - literally always the first responders to a crisis and do continuous charity work in areas you don't hear about.

charity:water (http://www.charitywater.org / http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12548) clean drinking water to underdeveloped areas.

For those of you disenchanted by NGO/non-profit politics and inefficiency, don't give up hope! I'm the most cynical of the cynics (I once told my US history teacher when I was 16 that I was cynical about politics, and I couldn't even vote yet lol), but there are organisations doing good work that NEED your help. Life isn't fair -- sometimes things aren't distributed fairly (in terms of the charities themselves or in terms of social structure) and sometimes things run inefficiently. That's why we NEED charities in the first place /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[TacomaGirl]

I just donated through DonorsChoose. I really like to fund educational projects that way. 

I also donate food to our local food bank. 

I need to start donating to Salvation Army more, I usually only donate around the holiday. 

When I was young my parents were divorced. My Mom worked two jobs in a single parent household. She stood in line outside at the foodbank. Which cruelly enough was situated along the busiest street in town. That year we only had Christmas Presents and Christmas dinner because of the Salvation Army. It was pretty hard on my Mom to have to swallow her pride, but it was way better than having no holiday at all. We try to adopt a family every year at Christmas, just to pay it forward.  

 

[zadidoll]

Originally Posted by TacomaGirl /img/forum/go_quote.gif

We try to adopt a family every year at Christmas, just to pay it forward.  

That I like doing because you KNOW it's really going to help someone and not line some fat cat's wallet.

 

[MissLindaJean]

I have a soft spot for the Salvation Army. Locally, they do feeds, assistance, the ever present bell ringers during Christmas season... Much more, but just to name a few. Yes, with some of these huge charities, there are funds being moved around, bonuses being paid out ... One should be careful about who they're giving monies or goods to. I donate to Goodwill, St. Vinnies, and Salvation Army. I know they resell items and the proceeds benefit people in need. There are donation bins in my area with the label USAGAIN on there and I do NOT stick stuff in there. I recall reading some article on the company and that they are a profit company? Reselling the donations and funneling only a small portion of proceeds into charities.

 

[calexxia]

I forgot one up above....Modest Needs. They have very low overhead and the money goes directly into the hands of the people who need it. check it out.

 

[Doris Allen]

Originally Posted by TacomaGirl /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I just donated through DonorsChoose. I really like to fund educational projects that way. 

I also donate food to our local food bank. 

I need to start donating to Salvation Army more, I usually only donate around the holiday. 

When I was young my parents were divorced. My Mom worked two jobs in a single parent household. She stood in line outside at the foodbank. Which cruelly enough was situated along the busiest street in town. That year we only had Christmas Presents and Christmas dinner because of the Salvation Army. It was pretty hard on my Mom to have to swallow her pride, but it was way better than having no holiday at all. We try to adopt a family every year at Christmas, just to pay it forward.  

That's really good and related to human heart!!!

 

[sweetiegirlll]

Since I live in a third world country and have friends here, I donate directly to people who need help.  If a child is born with Down's syndrome and has a heart problem that needs heart surgery, the community chips in and the child is sent from Belize to Mexico or Guatemala to a larger hospital where hopefully they are able to get the required surgery.  The last case almost didn't get a bed in the ICU but at the last moment did and the little boy made it through like a little fighter and delighted his worried mom, she was so scared, she saw two other moms lose their children from the same thing while they were going through their battle.  This kind of giving also happens with people who lose their homes in fires (when I say homes, it is not what most first worlders think of as homes per say, but they are shelter and home to people here in many cases) and when other catastrophes happen.

We have a friend going through colon cancer and getting treatment in Guatemala (he is Guatemalan, I believe he has some sort of coverage there).  We give to help with travel expenses, food for the family at home and calling cards so they can text each other.  Hell, they can buy whatever they need with the money, I trust them.  Maybe their 11 year old needs fabric for a uniform for school that year, or school books or fees (schools here are paid for directly by parents) or they need to pay the light bill with the money.  When we lived on the mainland, we had a friend who couldn't afford water so she'd come over to collect water, among other things.  We'd give her lots of food items and she would always laugh at some of the silly things we Americans would have in our pantry like jars of spaghetti sauce or packaged foods.  I have learned how to make a mean plate of rice and beans with coconut milk and stewed chicken with lime, ricado and garlic and green peppers along with fried plantain from my friends here though!  

Belize recently came in 4th on the World Happiness Scale, even though people may have little here at times, the things that matter like family are put to the forefront and you will see lots of smiles and laughter if you visit.  Living in a small community is beautiful to me.

 

[Playedinloops]

Originally Posted by sweetiegirlll /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Since I live in a third world country and have friends here, I donate directly to people who need help.  If a child is born with Down's syndrome and has a heart problem that needs heart surgery, the community chips in and the child is sent from Belize to Mexico or Guatemala to a larger hospital where hopefully they are able to get the required surgery.  The last case almost didn't get a bed in the ICU but at the last moment did and the little boy made it through like a little fighter and delighted his worried mom, she was so scared, she saw two other moms lose their children from the same thing while they were going through their battle.  This kind of giving also happens with people who lose their homes in fires (when I say homes, it is not what most first worlders think of as homes per say, but they are shelter and home to people here in many cases) and when other catastrophes happen.

We have a friend going through colon cancer and getting treatment in Guatemala (he is Guatemalan, I believe he has some sort of coverage there).  We give to help with travel expenses, food for the family at home and calling cards so they can text each other.  Hell, they can buy whatever they need with the money, I trust them.  Maybe their 11 year old needs fabric for a uniform for school that year, or school books or fees (schools here are paid for directly by parents) or they need to pay the light bill with the money.  When we lived on the mainland, we had a friend who couldn't afford water so she'd come over to collect water, among other things.  We'd give her lots of food items and she would always laugh at some of the silly things we Americans would have in our pantry like jars of spaghetti sauce or packaged foods.  I have learned how to make a mean plate of rice and beans with coconut milk and stewed chicken with lime, ricado and garlic and green peppers along with fried plantain from my friends here though!  

Belize recently came in 4th on the World Happiness Scale, even though people may have little here at times, the things that matter like family are put to the forefront and you will see lots of smiles and laughter if you visit.  Living in a small community is beautiful to me.

This is really cool! I lived in Tajikistan for a little while and that was one of my big take aways...these people didn't have much, but they appreciated everything they had and they were just so happy all the time. 4 hour conversations over tea were entertainment to them and the people there actually talked...it was nice! 

 

[sweetiegirlll]

Originally Posted by Playedinloops /img/forum/go_quote.gif


This is really cool! I lived in Tajikistan for a little while and that was one of my big take aways...these people didn't have much, but they appreciated everything they had and they were just so happy all the time. 4 hour conversations over tea were entertainment to them and the people there actually talked...it was nice! 

I know exactly what you mean!  Family meals, lingering over good food and good conversation, children busily playing with elaborate courses that they've made in the dirt to shoot their marbles into or making kites from sticks and plastic bags, excitedly running and catching the wind, proud of their accomplishment, people really just enjoying life.  I love learning about new cultures.  In Morocco I noticed that they sit and talk for hours over the most delicious mint tea I've ever tasted.  I did surprise them a bit by putting milk in mine, that's not done there generally it seems, but with it being so wonderfully sweet and minty with fresh mint leaves adding the milk makes it taste like a hot Shamrock Shake.  So delicious.  

 

[Playedinloops]

Originally Posted by sweetiegirlll /img/forum/go_quote.gif


I know exactly what you mean!  Family meals, lingering over good food and good conversation, children busily playing with elaborate courses that they've made in the dirt to shoot their marbles into or making kites from sticks and plastic bags, excitedly running and catching the wind, proud of their accomplishment, people really just enjoying life.  I love learning about new cultures.  In Morocco I noticed that they sit and talk for hours over the most delicious mint tea I've ever tasted.  I did surprise them a bit by putting milk in mine, that's not done there generally it seems, but with it being so wonderfully sweet and minty with fresh mint leaves adding the milk makes it taste like a hot Shamrock Shake.  So delicious.  

Yeah they don't use milk in tajikistan either (I actually said I'd add milk to my tea in an Uzbek class once and the teacher thought I used the wrong word, lol). Sometimes they'll put in some jam or some rock candy looking sugar that I don't know the english word for. I miss it!