Emerson said that "it is one of the most beautiful compensations of life that no person can sincerely try to help another without helping themselves." I've been thinking a lot about charity and giving back lately, and I was wondering what charities yall support or feel strongly about. I really feel like doing good for other people enriches my life, and I wish I had the time to do more. I give to the local women's shelter, because I deal with battered women in my work and I know how badly they need the help. And I give to Big Brothers, Big Sisters because I participated in that program as a kid and it was a big help to me. And of course, I've donated in the past to my alma maters, and given clothing / furniture to Goodwill, but I haven't given anything I wasn't ready to get rid of anyway. So, what charities do you all donate to? Anyone donate their time as well?
Smile Train Heifer International Kageno ....not real familiar with this one, but it looks interesting. This is a good place to check on charities.... Charity Navigator
Catholic relief services and I strongly back our OPERATION:Rice Bowl. when you see entire families eating from landfills, It changes your life.
I occassionally give to charities, but that never makes me feel good. Volunteering probably would, but sadly I never do that.
I sort of feel bad that I only give to a few or a couple of charities, but... you just can't give to all of them. Mainly, and because of the economic situation, I will give just a little less, but still give. Spending time to volunteer when you don't have anything else is also good. Helping a friend is also charity. Help someone even when you have nothing to give but time. I give to the Multiple Sclerosis Society and to the Diabetes Foundation and on occasion the Susan Khomen pink Breast Cancer stuff... I have personally experienced a loss of life to MS, so I would want to seek a cure for something like that before I lose another. Charity funds, I haz them.
Sam, that's great to hear. My Dad worked for BB&BS for 30+ years and helping out at their many functions was a big part of my childhood. A lot of great memories of helping out at their Christmas party every year. That's a great organization with a lot of great people. I'm glad to hear that it was such a big help to you as a kid. As for us, we just started giving to the International Stillbirth Alliance this year in memory of our daughter. Giving has really helped with the grieving process. I've also donated to Make A Wish for many years. Thanks to Craig Biggio for making so many people (including me) aware of this amazing charity years ago. We also tithe to our church, but not sure if that qualifies as charity.
Save The Music, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and a local homeless shelter for teens, My Friend's Place.
My kids love to give money to Heifer Project International and collect allowances and loose change until they can contribute. Each year I try to give to one or two international charities, one or two national charities, a local charity, and an enviro charity. For international charities, I've always thrown money at Lifewater International (http://www.lifewater.org/) and usually UMCOR (http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/) I met the director (Val J. Halamandaris) of the Caring Institute (http://www.caring-institute.org/) a few years ago and primarily because of him, it's one of the national charities that gets my contributions. (I've met less than 5 people in my life that I would consider truly spiritual and Val is one of those people... an amazing guy. If you're ever in DC, go by the office/museum and see if he's around.) Locally, I've been giving to groups that work with migrant farmworkers since I moved to Oregon. I go with The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land as my enviro choices. Of course, I also give to the Wildland Firefighters Foundation (http://www.wffoundation.org/), but I consider that a professional obligation and a personal honor.
I support a missionary family, give to my church, support a handful of organizations in the Third Ward. I used to volunteer at a pregnancy center before kids made that too complicated. There are so many different types of organizations out there and so many needs. I find it helpful to know that even if I am not personally moved to care for a particular need, someone else is and I can be supportive of that. If you hear about something that really just breaks your heart then do something about it. You are not likely to be overwhelmed with the need to fix every problem in the world but it does give more purpose to your life when you have a cause or two to share your time and money with.
My big one is the United Way through work. I like that, through them, I'm supporting charities for children, the elderly, battered women, the homeless and many others. My wife and I sponsor a couple of children through the Christian Children's Fund (I'm not what you'd call religious, but this group is doing good work and I want to support them) and we help a friend sponsor a whole primary school in Kenya. I wish I could give more of my time, but my wife does that so I feel like I can take credit. We both volunteer at her church's Thanksgiving dinner for the needy.
Make sure you check out http://www.charitynavigator.org before you decide which charity to donate to. There are a lot of charities out there that don't make the best use of donations.
www.thehungersite.com Its my home page and takes no effort on anyone's part to donate. Snopes even made an entry on it to verify it. http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/charity/hungersite.asp
