OT... Giving to the less fortunate

[casey]

I have always been a believer, in helping the less fortunate when I can.

This year, I feel like being Scrooge!

Our company usually "adopts" 2 families at Christmas. After having my company not matching my 401, it was a hit to me. Same with having wages frozen for 2 years, and having to take 10 days per year not paid, plus giving up 5 personnel days a year. I'm short 3 weeks pay, plus no 401 matching.

Our "boss" said the families we adopted needs cash. WTF?? I have some extra food I can share, and a couple of new sweaters I'm willing to provide. My boss says this is unacceptable. The families need to have cash, so they can buy for their children. I have no idea what the money will go for, drugs maybe? Besides, I don't have extra cash.

I contacted the Red-X. Said I have food & some new clothes to donate. They said they have plenty of food & clothes, they need cash. This is no joke, they actually told me this!

Helping the less fortunate? Since when have people decide what they will accept as gifts? Bah Humbug, I don't need this crap.

[Not]

There are charities that will take clothes and food. I know Purple Heart Veteran takes clothes, and the food bank takes food.

Most of us have suffered > I have always been a believer, in helping the less fortunate when I can. >

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, I heard a single mother needed a computer to work on his courses to upgrade herself. Since I had a few desktops and laptops I could spare, I offered a P4 3.3 MHz desktop with a LCD monitor, network card, etc. She did not want it and said she only wants laptop. So I offered a IBM Thinkpad T42 laptop. She did not want it either. Reason? it has too small hard drive and no DVD writer. I don't think people like this are not in need, they want this and that. Hell with it.

[Red Green]

Tony Hwang wrote in news:HPXUm.42662$ [e-mail]:

Maybe something new...in a box...with extended warranty.

[aemeijers]

Yeah, we get that at our office too, though thankfully I haven't been put through the wringer like you have. I always felt these 'adopt a family' things were more for the benefit of the donors, to get a warm fuzzy feeling, and less for the donees, who in a couple of weeks will be right back where they started. I saw the listings for the families to be adopted, and judging from the clothes sizes and requested items alone, they ain't starving or between a rock and hard place for basic neccessities. Besides, I have my own under-employed and semi-functional siblings to play safety net to. I prefer to donate my money to actual charities.

As to the Red-X folks- 'Stuff' is actually more trouble than it is worth to them, especially in post-disaster situations. Sorting, de-crapping, containerizing, and then re-shipping all that stuff costs a fortune. Same for for food drives. Much more bang for the buck for the organization and the people they are trying to help, to put together cash to get new goods and supplies in pallet lots, drop-shipped from the vendor directly to where it is needed. Around here, the charities do hold the coat/new toy drives for local distribution, and have a furniture/household goods lending closet for families that suffer fires, or abused women setting up new households and such, but they have strongly de-emphasised 'stuff' donations for other activities.

-- aem sends...

[Ed Pawlowski]

I prefer to give cash to charities where I know it will be working and doing some good. Salvation Army is one, and a local nursing home is another. They have particular projects funded by donations where you can see the results.

[Bill]

The way I have always looked at it, if all my bills are paid and I have extra money, then I can afford to be giving some away. And that's what I say anytime someone asks me for money to donate to something. "My bills are not all paid, so I can't afford to be giving money away."

That's not "Bah Humbug" in my book, it is called being realistic.

Charity begins at home! (Speaking of this, the U.S. government actually borrows money to give billions of dollars in financial aid to other countries! This would be like me taking out a $5,000.00 loan so I could give that money to my neighbor so they could remodel their home - while at the time I owed hundreds of thousands of dollars on my credit cards! Totally nuts!)

[Hell Toupee]

Oh, I can think of one real obvious reason for this requirement. The workers donate the cash; the company claims a charitable tax deduction. It's easier for the company to establish the value of the deduction if it makes its employees donate cash instead of goods. Not to mention it's a lot less work to write a check (that hopefully equals or exceeds what the employees contributed), than collecting and delivering an assortment of goods.

I have some extra

Then I guess their needs and what you have to share are not compatible. You'll have little difficulty finding someone more than happy to accept what you can give. And the company can find some of its own cash to give to the families it picked to help. It, after all, made the rule. (Yes, it did, because if the charity or family made cash a requirement, the company could've moved on to one that would accept goods as well as cash.)

Not all organizations are prepared to handle physical goods. The Red Cross buys new supplies in bulk at substantial discounts.

Small charities don't run on such mass economies of scale and deal more on a one-to-one basis. If you approach a local shelter or church, odds are they'll be very thankful for your donations. For example, a nun at the church in my neighborhood has a constant list of families needing specific things. Ask her what people need; she'll tell you. Offer her something, she'll know who needs it. They dole out out silverware by the piece because so many families need very basic goods like that. If you donate a set of flatware, she breaks it up and allots it by the number of people in the family - a family of four gets four knives, four spoons, four forks. She has a waiting list for blankets and pillows. Her big dream is beds. So many people sleep on floors because used mattresses and futons can't be donated (risk of transmitting vermin), and face it - new mattresses and futons are fairly expensive donations. So that need always exceeds the supply.

[Hell Toupee]

That's how we finance our wars, too, yet no one seems to scream very loudly about it.

[Kurt Ullman]

Red Cross always looks for cash unless they have a specific need like a big apartment fire, etc. Even then they usually offer a list (need 6x girls clothes) depending on the incident. Actually it makes sense for the most part. They never really know what exactly they will need until the nastiness occurs. Then they can go and get exactly what they need. Otherwise a fairly large chunk of money would go to warehousing, etc., that could be used more productively elsewhere. Check with local food pantries for the food. They are ALL feeling the pinch. As for clothes, any number of places. We get calls all the time from VFW, Goodwill is looking for clothes and other stuff, AmVets, etc. You may have some local places like the Junior League. Check in with your local churches (who may also run food kitchens that could use you food) as they usually know who does this kind of stuff. If you want to stay away from the churches, social workers at your schools or the local hospitals should be able to help, too.

[George]

I don't care for giant mega charities such as the ones mentioned who are giant bureaucracies. There are plenty of smaller groups that welcome any sort of contribution.

[George]

There are people like that but I can tell you from experience there are folks who are truly happy to get anything. Don't give up because you encountered someone with an entitlement mentality. Often people who really need help (medical problems, wife left with little kids after husband dies etc) are too embarrassed to come forward.

It is also better to work with the local charitable organizations instead of the mammoth ones.

[George]

Yes, Salvation Army is just one of those groups where you never here about anyone getting a $20 Million salary (they don't). They are a big organization but behave as if they were local.

Another interesting charity is Heifer International. It was started by a farmers. Their mission is to get animals and the proper training to manage them into the hands of folks who can't afford them (teach a person to fish...). They are also well rated for good use of donations with most of the money going to the actual charitable work.

[Stormin Mormon]

I think you mentioned two essential points:

1) In many cases, poor is a lifestyle. Give them a pile of whatever, and they will be poor again in a couple weeks 2) In the US, many of our "poor" have plenty of cash flow, they just make bad choices.

I do know a couple families from church who have been in hard times. The economy is rough, and they are out of work. Folks like that, I do support. Working, but not quite making it.

[Stormin Mormon]

I'm with you. There are precious few charities I'll donate cash. I've got a couple ABVI Goodwill stores near me, and they take items (and sell in their thrift stores). I've been very generous with items, I am not using. I try to bring them only items that are reasonably working. They say that anything fabric, clothing, towels, sheets and blankets. Fabric stuff is always needed.

I don't think you are scrooge. I think the welfare system has changed the nature of being poor, and not for the better.

[HeyBub]

I'll disagree. The worthiness of charity depends on the worth to the person receiving it, not the motivation, abilities, or sacrifice of the giver. Further, the poor can't provide as much charity as the more affluent. You're right about Buffet, but more good is done, and quicker, when the charity is dispensed during the giver's lifetime. Bill Gates is one such example (but recently Buffet joined the Gates Foundation).

In the 13th Century, Maimonides ranked 13 kinds of charity. Second from the top was an anonymous giver providing help to an anonymous recipient. At the very bottom was a penurious contributor reluctantly, loudly, and publicly giving a token amount to an embarrassed poor person.

The highest form of charity according to Maimonides? Providing a loan to a poor person so he could start a business!

Many, many years ago, on PBS, F. Lee Bailey (in his youth) interviewed H.L. Hunt, a wealthy Texas oil man and Bailey asked the proverbial "are you still beating your wife" question: "Mr. Hunt, the history of this country is filled with examples of the wealthy sharing their largess with the public. One only has to think of the Carnegies and the Fords to see examples of how they've used their great wealth to help mankind. Why is it you've never seen fit to share your bounty with the less fortunate?"

Old man Hunt looked at Bailey as if Bailey had just eaten a bug. "I use my money to give people something more important that a pretty picture to look at in some damned museum. I use my money got give 'em a JOB!"

[norminn]

clipped

Until a giant "megadisaster" comes along?

[Red Green]

"HeyBub" wrote in news:u6KdnXOgt9j7aLnWnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

The "Teach a man to fish" thing...

[The Daring Dufas]

I remember reading about some of the goofy things charitable organizations have done in Africa. One group donated tractors but no fuel, oil or spare parts. The villagers used the spark plugs for earrings and the wiring for necklaces and various parts of the tractors to decorate their huts. Another group donated tons of powdered milk. They didn't know that the adults couldn't digest the stuff so it wound up being used to paint their homes. One European group sent condoms because of the high birth rate and the AIDS epidemic. The condoms were used as balloons because they were too small for their intended purpose. Here at home I've done work for a small Episcopal church, not because I was a member who shared their faith but because I liked the nice people there. This tiny church had a soup kitchen and would feed anyone who walked through the door. The church would also give clothing to those in need. Well, crack heads broke in and stole all the food and the people who received clothing would not wash it, they would throw it away and come back for more. I'm afraid I've developed a "Don't Feed The Bears" attitude as I get older.

TDD

[The Daring Dufas]

But we're putting people to work and putting people out of their misery at the same time. It's a win, win situation.

TDD