Ideas for the person who has everything.

Nature Conservancy

I do a lot of hands-on charity work, but seldom donate to charities because so many of them are corrupt and your money ends up lining the pockets of crooks.

Who are you putting your hands on?

My charities are good ones, go give someone the gift of a goat. You'll feel good afterwards Gus, I promise.

stealing from the collection plate is not hands on charity

I used to donate a lot of stuff to Goodwill until I learned that the person running Goodwill here made over a million dollars a year. Our Goodwill has a "designer store" and sells rare books etc.

I have a lot of stuff to donate so I went shopping around and found the ARC which works to help mentally retarded adults live independant lives. They run a thrift store within a thrift store. They're supposed to come out next week and pick up a ton of stuff.

I still do some stuff with the Childrens Cancer Association and Ronald McDonald House but not so much now that I'm semi-retired (for the time being).

I try to remember the food bank a couple of times a year -- this time of year that is really important. (I also try to support the business that support the food bank.)

Those are my top four.

I love the idea of getting everyone one of those crank-up radios that gets fm/am and shortwave, has a flashlight and a cell phone charger. 10 minutes of cranking gets an hour of use. 50-60 bucks. OK, gotta get with my TV.

That is exactly the kind of crap I'm talking about.

Goodwill took a lot of flak when that tidbit came out. They pointed out that Goodwill here made a fortune.

But they were making a fortune on things that everyday, non-million dollar a year people like me were GIVING them.

That made me mad.

I'm fond of the heifer project too, GW.

Our church did an all church fundraiser last year and purchased more than two full arcs. It was a great project and the kids really got into it.

I love the way Seva packages donations. They literally print a catalog. You can choose whatever charitable program you like, and the prices are printed right there. They call it "Gifts of Service." Cool marketing.

My favorite charity is:

9302 err...
austin tx
787..



send freely.

actually, I donate to alot of the homeless shelters inn austin.
Caritas is one place that gets alot of my extra clothes .
Also, disabled vets..
they will drive by and pick up things from my front step almost anytime I call them because I donate so much.

I'm a bit leery of the large charitable organizations too. I will give only a little to them because I have doubts that a large chunk of it goes where it should. When I'm feeling in a charitable mood I will do a spell on the rape crisis hotline, volunteer for the childrens reading program, or pick-up some groceries/gifts for my local hospital/old-folks home. I find that more valuable than a cash-donation. If someone visited an old-folks home bearing cookies and hot chocolate, as a gift to me, during the holiday season, I would be thrilled.

What was the Goodwill using the money it earned for?

Goodwill does a lot of stuff, especially vocational training and placement for disabled adults.

That's how it works, as far as I know -- they take donations, sell them, and then the money goes into their programs (especially staff salaries).