Charity

[OzKristin]

What kind of charities do you like?

I used to think I was an animal person, but then I've come to find (especially within the past year or so) that I'm also quite a humanitarian. I left a post earlier about World Vision (sponsoring a child), I really like the program and what they are doing. I also give to all kinds of animal charities, most recently gave another donation to the PetsMart charities, and my college ran a bake sale to support homeless animals as well that I took part in. Yesterday I gave a bunch of toys to Toys For Tots. It makes you think how lucky you are to have what you have, and to have the loved ones that you do, especially around this season, so I especially give more during this season ( I give year round...well as much as my paycheck allows!)

[Mae]

The Linus Project, to which I donated a sizeable stash of fabric, batting and other quilting materials. They make blankets for seriously ill and/or traumatized children. Also, we donate time and $$$ and food to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in Ramah, New Mexico. They are trying so hard to educate people about wolves. We adopted a really sweet male wolf that had a real jerk for an owner. The poor guy has a little bit of brain damage. That's about it for right now.

[LixyChick]

Habitat for Humanity is my passion charity!!!

I'd like to take a moment here (don't mean to hijack the thread...but I feel this is important to say OzKristin!) to warn everyone of something I just saw on 60 Minutes, or some show of that nature.

The reporter asked: "Have you ever wondered where the money goes when you contribute your spare change to those canisters at check-out? You know the ones...they display a picture of a starving dog or a lonely child with a tear in her big brown eye. They ask for money for abused animals or for the homeless or for underpriviledged children. Well, we wondered too...so we followed a man who is known to place these canisters in many stores in the tri-state area (in this case it was New York and surrounding states) and we checked the tax records for the past several years for the company who's name is in little tiny letters on the back of these cansters. This is what we found"....

And the story went on to say that the man behind/who owns the company who places these canisters has never once paid a dime to the organizations mentioned. They caught up with him and, face to face on camera, asked him where the money goes. He said it went to keeping the organization running and that what was left over goes directly to the charity. When told that the records show that no money has EVER gone to any of the charities listed, the man just shrugged and said the records might not show all charities involved and that there may not be enough money left over to contribute after all the bills are paid. When the reporter asked what bills had to be paid before the charities got money, the owner of the company told him that his personal salary and the salary of his employees and rents for the buildings that hold the business have priority. When asked where the buildings were that held the companies business, the man gave several addresses, two of which were his personal residences. Yes, he had two houses...and a few boats...etc., etc. The owner finally got disgusted with the reporter's questions and pushed him aside and told him to speak to his lawyer.

In essence...some "charities" are rip-offs and there are some really bad people out there, taking advantage of the kindness of us! BEWARE! Check out your charity carefully! Check them through the B.B.B. and ask for/do a search for public records of how the donations are distributed! If they are on the up-and-up, there should be NO PROBLEM in getting those records and making an educated decision to contribute or not.

TY for allowing this me space OzKristin! It's a worthy thread and the charities mentioned above are good ones to be involved in!

[OzKristin]

Lixy,
No worries, I"ve heard about that too..especially if it's a canister at a 7-11 or something..you're better off donating your money directly to the people collecting (for exampke, PetsMart has several organizations that come and collect, especially on the weekends, they're there and accept donations and all kinds of things in person).

[Mae]

We're aware of that, too. Good point. When we decided to donate, we went to the sanctuary. Everything was and is on the up and up. There barely making it, and their priorities, and hearts, are in the right spot. :)

[jseal]

LixyChick,

Thank you! I hadn't heard. I guess I'll donate directly then!