Community Chat

[shortbreadlover]

i know a homeless guy(he comes into the library everday) who panhandles with a sign that says he is a homeless father and needs help.  i know for a fact, he is not a father and he likes being homelss. he calls it his job

[bathina]

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@tends2dogs wrote:

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@bathina wrote:

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@tends2dogs wrote:

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@vermint wrote:

We don't give to Red Cross, ever. My DH is involved in disaster relief through our church and he has seen them in action--they show up at the scene in brand-new vehicles, drive around for photo ops, then leave. 

I've also quit giving to other large charities, simply because they absolutely inundate us with mail wanting more and more and more! I could paper my walls with the address stickers and notepads these places have sent us.

Most of our charity dollars go to our church, which has outreach operations that do a world of good in our community.

People who scam others the way these folks did are just despicable!

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@vermint  We have had missionaries from our church tell us the same things about the Red Cross.  I agree about all the freebies that we receive in the mail.  If they can afford all that junk, they can't be that hard up for funding. 

We do like you.  We give locally and to the outreach operations that our church supports.  Most of these have little or no overhead.  Feeding and clothing the poor, supporting an orphanage, and spreading the gospel to those that haven't heard it are what gets our $$.

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Am I understanding this correctly? Missionaries, who are supposed to model the love of Christ, are passing judgement on a philanthropic organization that donates millions and millions of dollars to help people in crisis situations? In doing this they are discouraging charitable donations to the Red Cross? What passes for christianity these days is appalling.

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@bathina  The missionaries were only passing on what they saw happen.  That is not passing judgement, but reporting the facts. 

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They were discouraging support of a 3 (out of 4) star rated charity. That is wrong and not for them to judge. Perhaps you would support Greenpeace or the Clinton Foundation that gets 4 out of 4 stars? Amazing to me the stories I hear about who does what with donated money. Religious organizations cannot even be rated by Charity Navigator because they are not required to report how they handle their donations. How do you know where the money goes? Maybe to pay off lawsuits and to keep the top dogs in 30,000 square foot mansions?

I am so glad the poor, the sick and victims of natural disasters are aided by tax dollars rather than dependent on the kindness of others. For sure they would be up a creek without a paddle.

[SunValley]

I never believed this story either. Go fund me accounts have little or no accountability. It was the high $ involved that finally sparked some scrutiny. Unless I know the person, I won’t donate this way.

[bathina]

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@comedy clubber wrote:

Sorry, but Red Cross, Feeding America,  and United Way have so much overhead and "important employees"  that very little of your donation goes to the cause you select.  Give to the charity you are aiming at directly, St. Jude, Shriners, Boston Strong, etc.  And Feeding America is ridiculous.  School children are starving at their own choice, they get free breakfast and lunch and fill the garbage pails with this food.  The parents get "Quest" cards or foodstamps, so why are they starving???  Ineffective use of funding, in my opinion.

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Feeding America has a 4 out of 4 star rating on Charity Navigator. Red Cross is 3 out of 4, United Way, depending on where located has 3 out of 4 or 4 out of 4. St Jude's and Boston Strong each get 4 stars. Shriners is not rated because it is not a 503c and doesn't have to report how they use their funds.

eta: "Children are starving at their own choice" ? Wow. Just wow.

[Tinkrbl44]

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@shortbreadlover wrote:

i know a homeless guy(he comes into the library everday) who panhandles with a sign that says he is a homeless father and needs help.  i know for a fact, he is not a father and he likes being homelss. he calls it his job

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@shortbreadlover

I seriously doubt most people "like" being homeless.

[SahmIam]

And people wonder why I'm a hard-****** when it comes to charities/donating.

Nothing surprises me. Nothing.

[hsawaknow]

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@comedy clubber wrote:

Sorry, but Red Cross, Feeding America,  and United Way have so much overhead and "important employees"  that very little of your donation goes to the cause you select.  Give to the charity you are aiming at directly, St. Jude, Shriners, Boston Strong, etc.  And Feeding America is ridiculous.  School children are starving at their own choice, they get free breakfast and lunch and fill the garbage pails with this food.  The parents get "Quest" cards or foodstamps, so why are they starving???  Ineffective use of funding, in my opinion.

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United Way and R/C are the worst. I only give to Salvation Army. There is a list on-line about how much money is actually given to these charities after 'overhead' and the above 2 are greedy.

[bathina]

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@hsawaknow wrote:

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@comedy clubber wrote:

Sorry, but Red Cross, Feeding America,  and United Way have so much overhead and "important employees"  that very little of your donation goes to the cause you select.  Give to the charity you are aiming at directly, St. Jude, Shriners, Boston Strong, etc.  And Feeding America is ridiculous.  School children are starving at their own choice, they get free breakfast and lunch and fill the garbage pails with this food.  The parents get "Quest" cards or foodstamps, so why are they starving???  Ineffective use of funding, in my opinion.

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United Way and R/C are the worst. I only give to Salvation Army. There is a list on-line about how much money is actually given to these charities after 'overhead' and the above 2 are greedy.

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Could you reveal the "list"? I have been looking at Charity Navigator and according to them, Salvation Army isn't rated because they are a religious organization and United Way and Red Cross have 3 and 4 star ratings (max rating is 4 stars).

[RetRN]

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@hsawaknow wrote:

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@comedy clubber wrote:

Sorry, but Red Cross, Feeding America,  and United Way have so much overhead and "important employees"  that very little of your donation goes to the cause you select.  Give to the charity you are aiming at directly, St. Jude, Shriners, Boston Strong, etc.  And Feeding America is ridiculous.  School children are starving at their own choice, they get free breakfast and lunch and fill the garbage pails with this food.  The parents get "Quest" cards or foodstamps, so why are they starving???  Ineffective use of funding, in my opinion.

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United Way and R/C are the worst. I only give to Salvation Army. There is a list on-line about how much money is actually given to these charities after 'overhead' and the above 2 are greedy.

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Totally agree, I will not give to United Way or Red Cross either. I do give to Salvation Army and other organizations that I feel comfortable with. I do not like Go Fund Me pages, if it is someone I know and trust I will send them a check. 

[NicksmomESQ]

 I stopped donating to the Red Cross after 9/11.It was discovered that they spent millions of dollars that were donated to installing a new computer system.After getting bad publicity the $ was refunded back for victims distribution. They got caught!!  I will never give them another penny!!

 And as far as United Way I was done with them some years back. It was discovered that the officers used donated money to purchase expensive beach houses for themselves!! That’s not charity that’s thievery!!