I know at this time of year everyone and his brother is soliciting for $$$$ (or ££££). I do give to a few. Twice a year, I get a call from the Professional Firefighters. I give them $$ and they give me two tickets to see a concerts. Sometimes we go, sometimes we give the tickets away. The last time we saw the Loving Spoonfuls.

One of the issues that hits home for me is hunger. It is a shame how many people are hungry in this country. It shouldn't be like that.

I used to donate A LOT of my time our local food shelf (I was Food Shelf Coordinator). I stopped doing that because of the political nature of the organization and the B.S. that went with it was too stressful. It really is a shame because I felt that I was making a big difference in my little community and I really enjoyed doing it.

I once gave some $$ to Mercy Corp. Now, I keep getting solicitation from them every time I turn around. I REALLY hate that.

One of the easiest thing to do is this:

http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1

Just click. There are also 5 other sites linked to it. The quickest & easiest way to help.

This year, I'm going to do this:

http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.204586/

A few years ago, Carlos' oldest daughter & her husband "gave" us a flock of geese. (Well, they donated in our name.) It was one of the best gifts I ever had.

If you can afford it, I think this is the best thing-rather than just giving people food, they give them a livelihood. You know what they say, "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day you feed him for a lifetime."


So, what causes are close to your heart and what charities to you donate to?



Cat

Me, myself and I  ;) 


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I donate to the local food bank.  Other than that, it is usually stuff at my church.  We support the local homeless shelter.  The youth volunteers down there once a month and the church gives money, socks, gloves, coats, blankets etc.  We had an angel tree for kids who wouldn't otherwise get a Christmas.  Sarah loved that one, she picked her own ornament and picked the gift herself.  We also support Compassion International and Samaritans Purse. 

I've been supporting the Salvation Army and the local rescue mission in my city for years.  :)

Me, myself and I  ;) 


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sorry Cat.... okay in all seriousness

I have given food to the local food bank and I plan to get a toy for some tot this year.

I usually don't have enough money to support my child, let alone charities, but what I've always tried to do:

Give at least a few dollars in the red kettle for Salvation Army

Do at least 2 toys for "Toys for Tots".  Try to do one "guy" and one "girl" or a board game.  usually try for 2 gifts, regardless

Do the Angel Tree every year through work (try to pick one boy and one girl)

This year I also bought several pairs of gloves/mittens and hats for a sorority doing a glove/hat drive for kids.

Spare change to whatever charity can is at the register, but I've been a donor to the Special Olympics for a number of years, and this year too even though it's been financially craptastic. I dunno if taking clothes and housewares to CHKD and DAV stores counts as charity, but I do that every now and then. 

My mother did a food drive w/matching donations from her salon, and my sister did a walk-a-thon or something for breast cancer. First years for both.

I also donate to Anheuser-Busch InBev.  ;)

Ant

We (me a the 2 girls) bell ring for the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign.  We have been doing this for the past 3 years and they (the girls) look forward to it every year.

Along with this, the appreciation for the red kettle, makes us donate every year (never keep track but usually $2 each time we pass one)

The Giving tree - we pick 2 names off the giving tree and buy toys for them.

The Food Pantries - we go grocery shopping on a certain day (just for the food pantry) and try and buy as much food as we can for our set budget..

Toys for Tots we have donated 3 toys to this campaign this year.. With probably many more to donate.

The Girls then go through their toys and Donate what they do not want or play with and we donate them to the church, who usually finds good families for these to go to :) :) :)  This keeps the toy room from getting cluttered, the girls get to make some decision making skills, and they appreciate the joy of giving (they have some toys that they really do enjoy playing with, but they decide that someone else would probably appreciate them more and they give them up - proud parent moment)

:)

I do various things but none with any regularity.

I've run the Race For Life several times to raise money for research into cancers primarily suffered by women.

I donated stuff to and always buy from the British Heart Foundation shops and catalogue.

I always put my loose change in the Mountain Rescue collection box when I see one


Since moving to the US I've donated to several food drives, two different Halloween candy drives, the Salvation Army red kettle, Hawkwing (something for native Americans in South Dakota that schools here did), winter coat collection, book drives, toiletries for incentive packs for getting women back into work and sneaker and mobile phone collections for recycling.  Most of these have been through the school Key Club or Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.

I donate to the Salvation Army.

I usually don't give money to charities.  If I do, it's usually a dog rescue or of course, Goodwill/Salvation Army if I am buying something.  I am happy to give items (such as toys for toy drives, excess clothing, blankets, etc) to whoever is asking.

I think I brought this up in the political forum before... too many of these charities, which have employees, take your money, then pass it on to the programs they sponsor (more employees, offices, operating expenses) and their websites always tell you how you can help, but don't tell you where you could go if you need help.

Goodwill has quite an elaborate website, just as an example.  All kinds of info on making donations..but I saw none whatsoever along the lines of "click here if you NEED assistance"

I donate to Life Wind year round when I can.  http://www.lifewind.org/about.php 

I'm always donating to UNICEF, St.Jude, and Feed the Children. Sometimes I donate clothing to The Salvation Army. I love charities and I find myself always doing my part.

I'm always donating to UNICEF, St.Jude, and Feed the Children. Sometimes I donate clothing to The Salvation Army. I love charities and I find myself always doing my part.


I've always loved UNICEF holiday cards and have purchased them many times over the years. Especially the ones that say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" in numerous languages.

I've always loved UNICEF holiday cards and have purchased them many times over the years. Especially the ones that say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" in numerous languages.


Those are sweet. I get them in the mail around the holidays.  :)

Those are sweet. I get them in the mail around the holidays.  :)


Though it wasn't from UNICEF, one of my favorite holiday cards that I ever sent pictured the world surrounded by numerous religious or spiritual symbols. It looked something like this except it was more "Christmas-y" and had a wreath instead of a cross and a menorah instead of a Star of David (It was supposed to depict holiday traditions or symbols of various groups). I think it had children holding hands going all around the edge of the earth too. I found them in Barnes & Noble and liked them so much I sent them for several years. I was a bit concerned at first about the sectarian nature of the card, but then I thought that if anyone could possibly be offended by something as benign and good natured as this then pooh on them!  ;D

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/religion-symbols-scattered-around-earth-d-illustration-167457891.jpg

Though it wasn't from UNICEF, one of my favorite holiday cards that I ever sent pictured the world surrounded by numerous religious or spiritual symbols. It looked something like this except it was more "Christmas-y" and had a wreath instead of a cross and a menorah instead of a Star of David (It was supposed to depict holiday traditions or symbols of various groups). I think it had children holding hands going all around the edge of the earth too. I found them in Barnes & Noble and liked them so much I sent them for several years. I was a bit concerned at first about the sectarian nature of the card, but then I thought that if anyone could possibly be offended by something as benign and good natured as this then pooh on them!  ;D

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/religion-symbols-scattered-around-earth-d-illustration-167457891.jpg


I get the really Christmas-y ones with photos of needy kids. They are gifts I think. For donating. But, I love getting them.

I'm always donating to UNICEF, St.Jude, and Feed the Children. Sometimes I donate clothing to The Salvation Army. I love charities and I find myself always doing my part.


That's a wonderful thing to do. :)

I'm always donating to UNICEF, St.Jude, and Feed the Children. Sometimes I donate clothing to The Salvation Army. I love charities and I find myself always doing my part.

That's awesome! O0 I even donate clothing to the Salvation Army as well (or sometimes, to the local Goodwill store). If it's clothing I no longer need, and it's still in acceptable condition, then it can be worn by someone else. :)

When my financial situation allowed me to give more, I decided to pick 4 groups to give monthly. I had been giving to Heifer International for years so they were the first one. The Vermont Food Bank, and my local Humane Society were the next two. But what should be the 4th one? At first I thought about the local women's shelter. I sent them a check with a note saying that I wanted to make it a monthly occurrence. Never heard anything from them-not even a thank you for my first donation. But, they cashed my check. I figured if they didn't want my money, they weren't going to get. So, for years, I searched for the 4th group. I FINALLY found it THIS YEAR! National Forest Foundation who plants trees. I also give here or there to other organization-just not on a regular basis.

BTW, before donating to any group, you may want to check this out:  https://www.charitynavigator.org/

They break the financial aspects of each group into 3 sections: Programs, Administration, & Fundraising.  ALL groups need some overhead but I would stay away from groups that uses more funds for administration and fundraising than they do for programs.


Cat

That's awesome! O0 I even donate clothing to the Salvation Army as well (or sometimes, to the local Goodwill store). If it's clothing I no longer need, and it's still in acceptable condition, then it can be worn by someone else. :)

In our neighborhood we have these donation bins where you donate almost anything whether it be clothes or toys, bring it to the bin and someone in a truck will take it away and bring them to a building for purchasing.