Charities

[W.Lynn]

Since so many of us here do have specifically spiritual beliefs, and believe in acting on our beliefs, a good "suggestion" subsection might be a place to mention charities, what their track records might be, goals, if there's too much government involvement, etc.

I like the ideas behind Heifer International and Water1st International, but how efficiently is the money used? Is there any option to give anonymously instead of ways that give out too much personal info? I don't want to support private jets and million dollar vacations, we get enough of that crap from the elected 'leaders' already. Just a thought.

For those who don't like to follow links, Water 1st has the goal of improving lives through better access to clean water. Less time spent carrying buckets and jugs means more time for education, growing and processing (drying or preserving) food, better health, etc.

Heifer International has a goal of providing live animals, suitable to location, to make small family farms more sustainable through flocks of poultry, beehives, goats, llamas, camels, water buffalo, and yes, plain ol' heifers.

A quick search just got me the main pages. CharityNavigator.org only gives heifer international an over all score of 45.33 though, much better than some, but lower on the financial side, and higher on the program side. I'd personally be more impressed if they were also helping rural American families too. Shouldn't sustainable food be for everyone?

Water1st doesn't even show up there, though it's newer at only about 6 years, based in the Seattle area, and follows up on projects (most charity funded water projects get no follow-up, and fail within 3 years.)

So if someone has info on similar programs to those two, stateside, and with good track records, I'd love to hear about it. If someone wanted to know about something else, I might be able to offer some info.

[DMH]

W.Lynn I don't know about those two charities, but I found out yesterday that the American Cancer Society only gives 15% of what they raise to their charity, the other 85% is overhead/operational costs. This came from a representatives supervisor. Representative is not allowed to tell you but supervisor is. Kinda shocking!

[W.Lynn]

Yeah, most of them are like that, or worse

I'm all for starting one if we have to, Flocks for Funny Fuckers or Pigs fer Paste-eaters. There's a great lady in one of the small towns I shop in that might be shorter than anyone here, as round as she is tall, absolutely sparkling person, good wife and outstanding mother. Trying to think how to drag her here. She was itching to get hens, but had to prepare so they don't eat the garden. I'll check if she has them yet, maybe buy a sack o' feed and tell her it's from the idiots here, or help with coop construction, time is always a good donation.

[JulieNY]

I thought this was helpful, especially since I'm the type of person who gets suckered in every time someone tells me about someone suffering.

[MillenniumMan]

I'm familiar with all the above organizations. Hell, when I'm at the CircleK, the cashier keeps asking if I'd like to donate to the Red Cross, and I give the usual speech about the evils of the organization with enough customers behind me listening in.

I just have only one question for the "GREEN" list, though.

What is it exactly that the Ronald McDonald house feeds the families? You seriously have to wonder.

[AD]

Wendys burgers and Taco Bell of course.

[W.Lynn]

Ever have a newborn flown to a children's hospital in another state? It isn't easy on you. Been there, done that, stayed at a place like Ronald McDonald House that didn't happen to have a clown on the sign.

Keep in mind that the parents of newborns and small children (or any child) with severe problems are often younger, working stiff sort of people with nothing to spare.

They receive the use of a tiny place, like an efficiency apartment or hotel room with kitchenette. There wasn't much there where we were, bare essentials of cookware, dishes, or linens that someone donated instead of throwing away, and the utilities were on. We were grateful for it too.

[jimmyd]

Ever have a newborn flown to a children's hospital in another state? It isn't easy on you. Been there, done that, stayed at a place like Ronald McDonald House that didn't happen to have a clown on the sign.

Keep in mind that the parents of newborns and small children (or any child) with severe problems are often younger, working stiff sort of people with nothing to spare.

They receive the use of a tiny place, like an efficiency apartment or hotel room with kitchenette. There wasn't much there where we were, bare essentials of cookware, dishes, or linens that someone donated instead of throwing away, and the utilities were on. We were grateful for it too.

Agreed, it is a very needed service and in my opinion a worthy charity.

I can only speak of the Indpls Ronald McDonald House - but they keep the simple grocery staples of home on hand; frozen meats, canned and dry goods, etc ... nothing extravagant, but much better than a hospital cot or a flea motel.

[unseenone]

If anyone is interested, we're building an orphanage in Uganda. It's being done by a preacher there. So far, we've purchased the land, and now working on the foundation, then the building, etc. He's sending detailed receipts for every aspect of the project. 100% is going to the project.

I've referenced the above chart frequently, thanks for that. We no longer give a thing to Good Will, or any of the losers who are taking the bulk of the cash. I appreciate the data.

[unseenone]

Here is an update on the orphanage project from Africa.

A WEEK WITH KID's GRANDMOTHER


Hello

This was a great week. We spent the whole of yesterday with the grand mother of the five kids. These five kids were the the ones whose parents were both hacked to death by unknown persons.

Life was so hard for these five kids that the youngest almost died of malnutrition. However, with the help of God, we managed to rescue these kids sometime last year.

Of these 15 kids we are taking care of, their Grandmother came to visit them yesterday Saturday 27th Sept 2014. The old woman was overwhelmed by joy to see the grand children blossoming in the love of God. She could hardly believe what she was seeing with her eyes. She brought a big cock and some staple food. We slaughtered and enjoyed the cock today Sunday 28th Sept. What a wonderful time we spent with the old woman. See their photo attached herein.


Meanwhile, we are breaking the building ground before end of this coming week. The Engineer has been busy working on approval of the building blueprint. He has finalized everything. I will send you the full details before Friday. Right now he is in Kampala but coming to Soroti early Mondy/Tuesday 30th Sept.


God bless you.


Bonny

[AmericanBTGoG]

The Red Cross’ Secret Disaster

In 2012, two massive storms pounded the United States, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless, hungry or without power for days and weeks.

Americans did what they so often do after disasters. They sent hundreds of millions of dollars to the Red Cross, confident their money would ease the suffering left behind by Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Isaac. They believed the charity was up to the job.

They were wrong.

The Red Cross botched key elements of its mission after Sandy and Isaac, leaving behind a trail of unmet needs and acrimony, according to an investigation by ProPublica and NPR. The charity’s shortcomings were detailed in confidential reports and internal emails, as well as accounts from current and former disaster relief specialists.

What’s more, Red Cross officials at national headquarters in Washington, D.C. compounded the charity’s inability to provide relief by “diverting assets for public relations purposes,” as one internal report puts it. Distribution of relief supplies, the report said, was “politically driven.”

During Isaac, Red Cross supervisors ordered dozens of trucks usually deployed to deliver aid to be driven around nearly empty instead, “just to be seen,” one of the drivers, Jim Dunham, recalls.

Much more at link.

[unseenone]

The Orphanage Building project is in progress. By the end of next week, we will have done up to the ring beam.We appreciate your support to the success of this miracle project.

Anyone who wants to help on this project can contact me, so far we are going it alone.

[kickstand]

Very impressive Un.

[unseenone]

Yes, sure. It may not be cost effective to ship to there. They have an address and needs now, kids to feed, etc.

[W.Lynn]

Well post something up, pm an address for donations, maybe a physical address there for punching into maps or gps.

Every now and then one of the boys will get the itch to do something charitable, I can show them a satellite zoom, and they can send cards and letters besides doing a donation through your church. They just did Blue Santa donations, and the animal shelter before that, so they'll want to do something different in a few weeks.