Community Chat

[jlkz]

@UpNorthGorgy 

What happens if there is no need locally but a definite need outside " local " due to some major mishap or crisis ???

I have donated over 8 gallons of blood: it goes where there is a need.  I have a type blood that is beneficial to premature and newborns...wherever they are.

BTW, if blood is sold to a hospital, the Red Cross has expenses that must be met: salaries for the phlebotomists who draw the blood on up to overall administrators; vehicles and gas to get to the blood drives; equipment and supplies; and, testing to ensure the blood products are safe for use after being collected.

[Sooner]

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@shoekitty wrote:

@Sooner   you must live in a big town!  No local charity I deal with makes that much in 10 years, let alone a year.  Must have high profile donors or get donations nationwide. I do donate to one of the biggest cat ,no kill rescues in LA, and they take in a million maube.   But they get donated,Veterinary help and such, there are charities That have one salaried organizer, or Chairman. The salary is Modest and I don't mind that, because this is a life's work, all this person does 24/7.  All help is volunteers.  Saved over 150,000 cats last year .  You should be able to call or email that charity and ask them for the list of how their money is spent.  I have.  If they are forthright, they should have one ready, or post it. If they won't, then I would be skeptical. 

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@shoekitty NO I don't live in a really big town and that shocks me.  Add to it big food pantries at churches, Salvation Army and many others.  The amounts are staggering to me.  That's what prompts me to think about it all.  

[Isobel Archer]

Rather than just looking at how much of the donated money is given to someone  - I'd rather look at the results of the "help."

We have local organizations that assist the homeless - get jobs, manage their money, get housing.  If people are not willing to help themselves, they are removed from the program.  

On the other hand we have taxpayer programs - such as our local public schools that spend more per child than the most expensive private schools and are currently claiming they need much much more money while they are hiring more and more administrators and adding programs which  still leave children in the 4th grade and higher who cannot read.  While parents are advised to hire tutors or teach their kids reading themselves, they are not apparently expected to feed their children as we now have breakfast, lunch, and take home meals programs.  Interesting that it is now the mission of the public schools to feed children, but NOT the mission (or certainly not the requirement) to assure kids learn to read.

And then we also have NGOs who also have a mission to feed schoolchildren - e.g. Helping Hungry Kids and others.  Overlap?  

I am not suggesting that kids don't need help, but if they don't learn to read, they are going to need help the rest of their lives.  Sad.

[UpNorthGorgy]

@jlkz Locally is considered the upper Midwest so a very large area is covered. I nearly needed blood in March in my small town after a low hemoglobin after hip surgery my self. 

I have donated five gallons since age 18. It will be awhiile before I can donate. They have a mobile bus. My last Red Cross donation went to Massachusetts. Both agencies come to my town.

[CalminHeart]

I always look up financials before donating.  

I want to know what percent of donations goes to costs, salaries, etc. If it's high, I don't donate.

I don't donate if the CEO and executives are making big bucks. Yes, they need to be paid for what they do but some of the salaries are outrageous.

I want to know their reputation for helping. History. Problems. etc.

I stick with certain charities, certain food banks, my church's food bank, and such. 

I never donate when people call me. 

[Lakelife62]

I know of a family convicted of defrauding their own charity, which was forced to shut down because of the misconduct. They had to pay a 2 million dollar fine!!!!This family is now prevented from running a charity in the state of New York.

Can you imagine having contributed only to find out your money was used to purchase artwork and other baubles???? 

I use Charity Navigator for contributions to global concerns and I give to local church soup kitchens and a mobile boutique that provides kids clothes,  diapers, wipes and period products.

[lovesallanimals]

This has really made me nervous.  I intended to give most of my estate to various charities that my husband (who has since passed) and I supported.  Reading this article has really made me wonder if in fact it goes to the charity itself.  Who is to say that it will not be "stolen" from its purpose and that it can be stolen by various people who handle these charities.  It really gave me think about considering this.  

[skatting44]

 @lovesallanimals 

 you'd be better off picking some poor family  whose children have the aptitude to learn and pay into some college or trade school fund for them to  beable to get a  good job.

[CalminHeart]

Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Yes, some charities are less than honorable. But many do a lot of good. It's up to each of us to identify the ones who provide services that we like. 

[CalminHeart]

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@Isobel Archer wrote:

Rather than just looking at how much of the donated money is given to someone  - I'd rather look at the results of the "help."

We have local organizations that assist the homeless - get jobs, manage their money, get housing.  If people are not willing to help themselves, they are removed from the program.  

On the other hand we have taxpayer programs - such as our local public schools that spend more per child than the most expensive private schools and are currently claiming they need much much more money while they are hiring more and more administrators and adding programs which  still leave children in the 4th grade and higher who cannot read.  While parents are advised to hire tutors or teach their kids reading themselves, they are not apparently expected to feed their children as we now have breakfast, lunch, and take home meals programs.  Interesting that it is now the mission of the public schools to feed children, but NOT the mission (or certainly not the requirement) to assure kids learn to read.

And then we also have NGOs who also have a mission to feed schoolchildren - e.g. Helping Hungry Kids and others.  Overlap?  

I am not suggesting that kids don't need help, but if they don't learn to read, they are going to need help the rest of their lives.  Sad.

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Kids will never learn to read if they are hungry.