Bargains

[HeyBub]

From the Salvation Army (SA)

Everybody is familiar with the SA Thrift Stores, but the SA gets stuff that never shows up there: Automobiles, large appliances, furniture, computers, tools, TV sets, etc. I discovered what they do with that stuff - at least in my town.

They auction it.

Here, the auction takes place every day from 10:00 'til noon. And amazing bargains are uniformly available. Here's a couple from last Monday:

• 11 king-sized mattresses 5 (*I* don't consider that a particular bargain, but a used mattress store would)

• A container 4x4x7 filled with shoes(!) for 0.

• Several containers 4x6x4 filled with toys and stuffed animals, each selling for ~

Here's what I bought:

• A Kenmore dishwasher, original retail ,245.00 for .

• Two containers, each filled with lamps (38 total), some table, some floor, and 11 lined shades, for a total of . Included were 19 working light bulbs. Of these lamps, three were not salvageable. One of the lamps I sold for on the loading dock!

I'm told, but I haven't checked, that UPS and FedEx have similar auctions for, um, undeliverable freight.

So, if you're in the market for bargains, inquire of your local SA branch as to where their auction might be. You'll probably be amazed.

[Ed Pawlowski]

So what? They are one of the better charities around and happen to do a lot of good for a lot of people. They help non-Christians too. Their benefit (contribution/payout) ratio is one of the best of all charities.

[gfretwell]

When I go buy a $5 DVD player or a $2 keyboard, I don't notice it being a Christian product.

[krw]

...and a very fine one, at that. Their efficiency (ratio of income/expense) is among the highest of the larger charities. Sure beats the hell out of the Red Cross or, heaven forbid, The United Way.

[Duesenberg]

Each county or city around here has it's own united way, and I think some are good and some are bad, although I've never donated to them.

[krw]

Wrong. The United Way does *no* good. They simply channel money to real charities (and hog tie them at the same time) and siphon some off for their bother. ...much like the federal government. Wouldn't voluntarily give a dime to either.

[dpb]

On 6/20/2012 7:59 PM, Duesenberg wrote: ...

That's their structure universally...

Each local United Way has to file a separate Form 990 w/ the IRS. It'll show the local organizations income/expenses/grants.

All local organizations associated w/ UW I've had any dealings with or knowledge of are quite good at making the monies received get to the local organizations that they support...

The national organization is an umbrella group that does services for the locals and isn't the direct portion.

[HeyBub]

Uh, yes I am.

[George]

Exactly, simple minded people might be upset about their religious roots but they are effective, efficient and will help anyone and absolutely one of the best charities.

[George]

There is no real local united way. All of the money goes into that big inefficient bureaucratic pot at headquarters.

SA does have a local presence that actually has authortiy to do stuff and it does it very well.

[Duesenberg]

oh, ok

[Stormin Mormon]

That's my understanding, also. I don't know their political leaning. As such, I'd not give a penny to United Way.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

oh, ok

[Kurt Ullman]

My trouble with the UW has been two fold. One, I give money to a United Way agency on my own, and a UW person told me that 100% of my donation would be given to the agency. What they did not tell me, and I found out later, is that every agency gets a cut from the campaign. If I ""give" all my UW money to my pet agency, it goes there in bookkeeping form, but they do not get any extra money. Which they neglected to tell me. So, I give to them directly and they have some extra funds to play with. The other is that an agency for a very poor area of the county tried to get on their campaign. They were told they could but only if they agreed to lease space in the UW owned office building. Which was

15 miles from the area they wanted to serve.

[krw]

I suggest you do a little more research on The United Way. It's a scam.

[krw]

We already know you're a bigot. You don't have to advertise it with every post.

[HeyBub]

Oh I fully intend to deal with a Christian, or at least a non-Jew, come October.

I apologize to the group for detouring into religion, but for your edification, the Jewish view of Christianity is that Christianity is a good and holy road to God.

[Duesenberg]

No I'm not going to.

But maybe others can if they are curious.

The UW are not an organization that matters to me much. I've never donated to them nor will. There are other charitable organisations mentioned in this thread that I've supported and like most others agree they are a fine and worthy charity.

I do know that a couple of charities here in town that were grateful for United Way assistance during a tough period but it's more about those individual charities continuing the good work for another year, and not the UW's donations that I care for.

Most people in this thread do not think highly of the United Way and I will take their opinions at face-value and accept they are correct

[HeyBub]

Of course I like war! I'm a member of the "Warrior Class."

Would you expect otherwise? The idea of the adversaries' women and children leaving bloody footprints in the snow as their lamentations long for the comfort of the grave but being denied fills me with glee. But that's just me. You're welcome to your pacifist ways.

As for the U.S. "protecting" Israel, nothing could be farther from the facts. The Israeli Defense Force can field 18 divisions of infantry and armor, engaged in combat on three fronts, in 72 hours. That force is half again as large as the authorized strength of the U.S. active military service (10 Army and 2 Marine divisions). If anything, the U.S. is counting on Israel to defend American interests in the region.

[Atila Iskander]

You really should check if it's been baptized

[Notat Home]

As a religious organization, they do not file some of the documents that evaluators rely on to compare charities. However, I do agree that the provide a lot of valuable service per dollar donated, which is why I support them.

I know a lot of people think poorly of the Red Cross, but if you look at the data, you will find that they are very highly rated.

The United Way is not a charity. It is a bundler that runs a campaign, then divides up some of the proceeds to participating charities, some of which are no doubt worthy, but some of which I would not want to support. I think its better to cut out the middleman and take the trouble of finding a worthy charity and donating directly to it.