We contribute to way too many charities. It's sometimes hard to decide if we should give more resources to just a few, or fewer resources to many! I was doing good for a while in narrowing it down. As a witness I used to donate to a lot of animal organizations, primarily. Now it's more political and environmental organizations. And our church gives us lots of opportunities to help the homeless and elderly. Most of my volunteer time goes to the elderly. Actually that's my new passion, helping them be more independent and not have to go to nursing homes, and helping them take care of their needs. As a 90 year old man I was helping today said, 'growing old isn't for sissies!!' It really, really sucks. I really sympathize with them losing their eyesight and walking around with pain. Keeps them from doing things they used to enjoy.
Charity
by aintenoughwiskey 26 Replies latest jw friends
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FayeDunaway
Almost forgot! We regularly support public radio and Heifer international too. I love heifer because they give livestock to the very poor throughout the world and train them. The livestock (chickens, bees, goats etc) reproduces and then they share with other families and self sufficiency spreads. -
StrongHaiku
Oh, and there are other ways to help... Donate your clothes or other stuff you don't need to "Goodwill" or some other charity organization. The less you have, the happier and more carefree you will be. And, giving and working with charities helps all of us learn how to be a citizen instead of just a consumer.
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adjusted knowledge
I've done fund raising for cancer research, and also volunteered my time one year doing tax preparation for the elderly and poor.
But now I mainly do volunteer work for an emergency squad. I only do one 8 hour shift a month but sometimes I'm involved in saving a life. I also get a lot back from the organization such as training and on hand experience.
I knew of JWs that would donate to red cross and shriner's hospital. I found the JWs as individual were more generous than the organization they worship.
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StrongHaiku
Oh, one more thing (sorry)...
If you have the resources, look at setting up a foundation as part of your will/estate planning. You can work it out so that all or a portion of your assets and investments can be used to fuel a number of causes after you are gone.
And, please, take any opportunity to donate blood...
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Bungi Bill
In Australia, there is an organisation called "Street Swags", which seeks to provide each homeless person with a floored tent (popularly known as a "Street Swag").
I always donate to Street Swags - $80 a time - which is enough to provide one person with a Street Swag. (Admittedly, not much, but still a bloody site better than sleeping out under the stars during inclement weather!)
Of course, why a country such as this, with its excellent social welfare system, has still got several hundred thousand homeless people is quite another matter! Something to do with the bright idea they got in the 1980s to turn the mentally ill "out into the community", I suspect.
Bill.
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LisaRose
I just did a shift at a charity called Med Share. The take donated medical supplies and sort them out to supply hospitals in disadvantaged areas. Doctors all over the world can order what they need, each shipment is tailored to a particular order. Volunteers take the donations and sort and resort into categories do they can be stocked in the warehouse. The even have a technition who repairs old equipment to make them functional again. A friend of mine told me about the program.
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FayeDunaway
These are great!!
I forgot two more of my favorites!! Doctors without borders, and smile train. Smile train fixes hairlips and cleft palates for $225 for children worldwide. Their doctors donate their time, their ad campaigns are set up by a trust, so ALL the donated money goes directly to the surgery for a baby or child. It totally transforms them socially and physically. That is probably my favorite one and I try to donate a complete surgery once a year, tho I missed last year :(.
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Xanthippe
Faye I love The Smile Train too. They help children for such a small amount of money.
There is also a fantastic charity based in Addis Ababa called the The Fistula Foundation. It helps women in many developing countries who had obstructed labour sometimes for a week because they cannot afford a C-section. Their bladder and sometimes bowel too are damaged by the labour and they end up permanently incontinent and are often outcasts from their village. A simple operation costing $450 cures them.
This charity changes the lives of women who had agonising labour for days usually resulting in a dead baby and a ruptured body. They're doing a wonderful job.
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FayeDunaway
It is amazing. These operations in developed countries are so common....in countries where it is not possibly affordable or accessible, whole lives are ruined. Thanks for telling me about that one.