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Pad Patter 12/2 - Charity Giving

melrio

melrio

I will hunt you!
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
6,479
Its that time of year again! The Salvation Army bells are ringing outside the stores and it seems like there are many others that are requesting donations for the holidays, as well. I get so confused as to which charities actually give back to those in need so this year I'm choosing to go with a local charity that helps those in my area. Mainly because many of the charities want cash and the ones that get helped are in the city and not helping much those that really could use the assistance out here in the urban areas of where we live.

Do you donate to charities and which ones are on the top of your list?
 
We've done Toys for Tots in the past, because that's affiliated with the Marines, and John was a marine. This year, we took two names off a Salvation Army Giving Tree and bought presents for the kids. Had a BLAST doing it too :)

John got this email a few weeks ago (disclaimer: I did NOT check to see if this was accurate or not):

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
BEFORE YOU MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS:
As you open your pockets to do a good thing
and make yourself feel good,
please keep the following facts in mind:
----------------------------
The American Red Cross
President and CEO Marsha J. Evans'
salary for the year was $651,957 plus expenses

MARCH OF DIMES
It is called the March of Dimes because
only a dime for every 1 dollar is given to the needy.


The United Way
President Brian Gallagher
receives a $375,000 base salary along with numerous expense benefits.

UNICEF
CEO Caryl M. Stern receives
$1,200,000 per year (100k per month) plus all expenses including a ROLLS ROYCE.
Less than 5 cents of your donated dollar goes to the cause.

GOODWILL
CEO and owner Mark Curran profits $2.3 million a year.
Goodwill is a very catchy name for his business.
You donate to his business and then he sells the items for PROFIT.
He pays nothing for his products and pays his workers minimum wage! Nice Guy.
$0.00 goes to help anyone! Stop giving to this man.
----------------------------
Instead, give it to ANY OF THE FOLLOWING
GO "GREEN" AND
PUT YOUR MONEY
WHERE IT WILL
DO SOME GOOD:
The Salvation Army
Commissioner, Todd Bassett receives a small salary of only
$13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2 billion dollar organization.
96 percent of donated dollars go to the cause.

The American Legion
National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary.
Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!

The Veterans of Foreign Wars
National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary.
Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!

The Disabled American Veterans
National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary.
Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!

The Military Order of Purple Hearts
National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary.
Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!

The Vietnam Veterans Association
National Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary.
Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth!

Make a Wish: For children's last wishes.
100% goes to funding trips or special wishes for a dying child.

St. Jude Research Hospital
100% goes towards funding and helping Children with Cancer who have no insurance and can
not afford to pay.

Ronald McDonald Houses
All monies go to running the houses for parents who have critical Children in the hospital.
100% goes to housing, and feeding the families.

Lions Club International
100% OF DONATIONS GO TO HELP THE BLIND, BUY HEARING AIDES, SUPPORT MEDICAL MISSIONS AROUND THE WORLD. THEIR LATEST UNDERTAKING
IS MEASLES VACCINATIONS (ONLY $1.00 PER SHOT).
 
Both of my girls go to Catholic school and each year the schools are assigned families in need from the local community - they get the kids together in groups to make up parcels of food and presents. The girls both love participating and they tell me all about the families they are helping and I love the fact that local people are being helped.
 
We donate to a youth ministry organization in my hometown that I participated in + World Next Door. I am much more inclined to donate or volunteer time in a personal way vs. donating to a large organization.
 
Well, my charities of choice are normally church missions and donations for local charities. I do drop money in the salvation army kettles, but mostly because I feel bad passing them every time I go in a store!! Oh, and when the local stores have St. Jude donate a dollar promotions, I normally add those to my bill. There are so many good charities close to home that I also don't really feel too inclined to give to large organizations where I can't see where the money is actually going.
 
We do the Christmas Tree gift for a child from work. We try to get a boy and a girl. THen we do the Marines Tots gifts box. The local food bank gift cards and also food.
 
We do a few things extra this time of year:

We make a couple shoe boxes up each year for Samaritan's Purse. It's such a neat personal way to get our kids involve in charity giving. They help us pack the boxes each year. (and the contact person for our church is a friend who actually got to go with Samaritan's Purse a couple years ago to help deliver some boxes in Chili!)

And we buy a calendar which is a fundraiser for the air ambulance here.
 
Our family is a family of service to others...

We provided foster care for the past 8 years. We recently closed our license due to state rules about the number of children in a home and the inability to get a child placed with us because we only had a single opening.

My husband and I do fundraisers and ride for Make-A-Wish Foundation (Michigan Chapter) - All money raised helps grant wishes of Michigan children with life threatening medical conditions.

We give to our church's food pantry.

I crochet for the homeless, the homebound & sick of our church, and for the mothers and babies at a crisis pregnancy center.

We donate all of our out-grown but still usable clothing and household goods to the Salvation Army.

This year, we adopted a family. :) We know them well, so we are advocating for them with different charities and trying to get them some help. The Dad is over the age of 50 and having a hard time finding a new job - his company downsized and his unemployment ran out at the beginning of the summer. The Mom works for Walmart and isn't getting the hours she needs to keep her family afloat financially. We bought the kids (19 with developmental age of 7, and twins age 17) new winter gear (coats, hats, mittens, and boots). The employment prospects for teenagers in our area is even more dismal than for adults - employers are hiring displaced adults for jobs that are ordinarily held by teenagers.

My 17 year old gave blood for the first time on Friday... wish I could have been there to take pics!

Not sure what else we will do... I'm sure we will do something though.

Today I am baking cookies for the Church bake sale - proceeds will be shared with the Food Pantry and the Altar Society.
 
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It makes me so happy to buy toys for kids this time of year - Toys for Tots or whatever collections we're having at work or at my sister's school. This year, a friend of mine is collecting pajamas for kids who lost everything after Sandy and I bought about 8 pairs! The Salvation Army bell ringers also usually get whatever change I have on me. It really breaks my heart thinking about what kids have lost or kids who don't have gifts on Christmas, especially after what happened with the storm this year. I'll be making another Red Cross donation with my next pay check, too.
 
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