Charity, who gets your time and money? and why?

[Paul Pless]

I'm interested in hearing the responses of the members of the forum.

Plus, I'm evaluating who I should give time and money to.

[S/V Laura Ellen]

I like the concept of "Habitat for Humanity". It is one charity where your time and effort have a direct and tangible effect on someone's life.

I also like to support the Canadian Cancer Society.

[LeeG]

it varies,,Red Cross, Red Crescent, Planned Parenthood, Hospice, Central Asia Institute

[Mrleft8]

Time and money should go to me Paul..... No one else is worthy.

[geeman]

We give to local charities that strive to have an impact on local childrens lives.
The MAll I work for has 2 large fountains where we have a "wishing well" type set up.ALL money collected goes to local childrens charities there too.It averages about $8.000 to $10,000 a year.A worthy goal.

[Bruce Hooke]

I don't have a lot of money to hand out, so I mostly "hand out" my time.

First to the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, a local group that is working to clean up and promote the Woonasquatucket River in Rhode Island. http://www.woonasquatucket.org I am the vice president of the board. I also help with an associated organization called Citywide Green that is advocating for the park system in Providence http://www.citywidegreen.org

Right now I am also putting a lot of time into something called the Rhode Island Blueways Project. It is a project to establish a network of water trails in Rhode Island. Stage one is identifying the canoe and kayak launches across the state, both freshwater and saltwater. A website is under construction: http://www.exploreri.org . Soon there should be a mapping system up that will help people locate small boat launches.

I also help run the Rehoboth Contra Dance: http://www.contradancelinks.com/rehoboth.html and I organize another small dance jam.

As you can see, I believe in acting locally, and working with local organizations. The big national charities are good too, but I figure I can have more of an impact in a small organization.

[LeeG]

You hit Bruce, hospice was more like a part time job regarding committment but it's much more worthwhile and rewarding to show up than write a check.

[bamamick]

well, apparently too uncomfortable doing this. Sorry.

I will say that when I was a lad my father drove me around in his old truck to different charitable organizations to see what they were about and why they were necessary. When I was a kid we got clothes when school started and a few toys for Christmas and one for your birthday and that was it. We never went out to eat and we very rarely would go to the drive in movie as a family. Yet my dad was the United Way chairman for his company for about 35 years. He always believed in helping those less fortunate and I have never, ever forgotten. I pray to God that I never do.

Mickey Lake

[John B]

Children/ hospital related.

[brad9798]

Sick kids ... food pantries ...

Time is (in most cases) worth more than writing a check ...

[Wild Dingo]

Disabled sports WA
MS society
Royal Flying Doctor Service

All great charities... being from the bush we probably give more financial to RFDS as its automatically deducted from my pay at $50 per week the MS society gets a $100 bi monthly and Disabled Sports I help out when they call or I call them... theres always someone who needs a hand to do something or to simply guide

We have only JUST got the starting process happening here for Habitat and I will wait and see if they arc up full steam I'll donate my time tools and timber when and where I can... cause there was a time when we could have used them to get a home

oh... and me!! :D I seem to be forever donating time money and stuff to me and my mob... seems theres never enough eh? ;)

[J. Dillon]

Disabled American Veterans, Im a commander. Some body has to pick up the slack that the goverment doesn't take care of.:o

"Save the children". I help with "Jay" he's 8 years old and lives in a remote part of the Phillipines islands . The children of this world are our only hope.:)

Salvation Army. I heard they are the most efficient.:cool:

JD

[paladin]

save your spare money for me......or at least a project we are working on...it's called Easter's Fund, to send a young lady to school to learn about social services so that she can work and assist persons in her country of Uganda. Her name is Easter, and she has been adopted, has finished high school, and we have startup money and promises of more, all flowing from Woodenboat folks. So write out the checks, and send them to me for the start, address them to Easter's Fund and pm for an address to mail it to. Each donor will get the paperwork and acknowledgement as we progress. I have two other projects involving orphanages for amerasian children, but I had set up income producing situations for those kids, and we also drill and case water wells in villages. 100% of money collected goes to the project..absolutely no "overhead money" is extracted.....those interested contact me...

[George Roberts]

Most people don't give enough to make a difference as to who gets it.

If you have $10K or more to give, give it to a local charity that tries to make a big difference for a few people rather than a small difference for a lot of people.

[elf]

Coalition for BuzBuz. I sample once a week or so all summer in Squeteague.

Fund for Tibet, Appies, Sierra Club, Boston Centre - Country Dance Society, Country Dance and Song Society of America, MoveOn.

I don't volunteer for much at this point - gave about 25 years of my life to the Boston Centre. Exhausted.

[JBreeze]

Reason I:

They are open 24/7, to everyone. Irrespective of petty complaints about ER waiting times to treat non-emergent problems, the ER people do an incredible job, often with only moments to diagnosis a situation, and without regard to $$'s, social status, etc. Fantastic stuff goes on elsewhere in the facility, too.


Reason II: (Conversation back in 1976)

Dr.: You have an advanced case of Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Me: Ah, how do you treat that?
Dr.: A staging laparotomy, probably followed by 6 months of chemo, followed by 4 months of daily radiation.
Me: Oh crap, I'm in grad school with about a thousand bucks in the bank. I don't think the school health insurance policy will cover this. Maybe my Dad's Blue Cross will?
Dr.: You are over 21....parent's Blue Cross coverage stops at age 21 for children (this was true back then). Don't worry about it....it will all be written off.