am I the only one that feels this way

[Vilan]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Right now a solicitation from Guide Dogs for the Blind is sitting on my desk. If I send 'em $25 the letters will never stop. I'll be getting "Please Help Us" letters from Homeless Caterpillar Rescue and Guide Weasels for the Morally Impaired until the end of time.

I needed that.

Nothing wrong with pulling back when donations are a noticeable burden, gonzo. Things may pick up later. You can volunteer your time somewhere if the guilt gets laid on thick.

 

[Gary Allan]

You also have to REALLY evaluate how "needy" the organization is. Most of those institutions aren't doing stuff on the cheap.

Give me a cancer research center that's in a pole barn with volunteers and the clinicians are doing work pro bono and I'll gladly help with the utilities.

"We're in this together, right?"

Add any and all institutions that employ an architect to design a building befitting such a noble cause.

 

[saberz]

Charities run by non-profit or corporate backing will hound you till they nickle and dime you.

In the past I've donated to Fire Departments and Police Departments only for them to call me again a week later asking for more money. It didn't stop until a few months later I told them it was a donation, I chose when to donate. You do not call me and harass me to donate more money. I will never donate money to them again.

My sister in laws husband is a police officer and gets defensive about me not wanting to goto his town's Beefsteak. I told him his Beefsteak isn't worth $50 because:

1). I don't live or ever go through that town. Why would I donate to a town who can afford to pay their officers over 95k a year without over time.

2). I very rarely eat red meat(Gout), so I cannot eat anything except french fries. $50 bucks for french fries, and even cold buttered beef is to much.

3). The entertainment sucks. That $50 bucks can go much further in my own pocket than in someone elses.

And it seems like they have Beefsteak every few months. I get tired of it. I have family(immediate, IE my side) that are detectives and officers in several other towns and they don't do anything like his.

They get paid far less, and deal with more crime. He works in a rich town with moderate to low crime, gets paid double what they make. The town has the nerves to ask for donations? really?

 

[Gary Allan]

Luke: Donate to the cause and the reward will be...

Han: How much?

Luke: Well ..more than you can imagine!

Han: I don't know. I can imagine quite a bit.

 

[mechtech2]

If you fed a stray cat, it will be tough to get rid of it!
Same for charities.

Hello, is this John? How are you doing tonight?

CLICK!

 

[andrewg]

Why do you feel guilty or have a need to 'pray' because you can't afford to give to some sort of charity? It's not a requirement in life you know. Given the fact that your own family is in survival mode...I find it VERY odd that you feel any guilt at all. You can be a very decent person and not give a dime to anybody. Todays goofy notion of always having to 'give back' to society is all hogwash. Give back what? You pay taxes, you have contributed to the economy, and I'm sure you struggle at times to make ends meet. No need to 'give back' to anybody but your own loving family. Now, this is not to say that you shouldn't help somebody when it appears urgent enough....but help can come in many forms....including NOT giving a monetary sum.

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: GMBoy
But of all the one's I despise most are the one's calling asking for money to support fallen police officers. I know it sounds cold and my wife even works for the Police - but they have better benefits than most and get well compensated for job related injuries/deaths. Also - they signed up for the job knowing the risks. Police do not protect you - that is your own responsibility - they just write the report after the crime is done...and collect revenue from motorists.



We get calls all the time from a VERY PUSHY solicitor on behalf of some sort of police organization. I'm not sure of its exact nature (because I learned to hang up on the guy years ago) but the caller is the loudest and MOST PUSHY solicitor I've ever encountered. Telling him politely "no" doesn't work, he just pushes harder.

 

[opus1]

No, you're not the only one. I've cut back on my giving for several reasons, some stemming from a lack of help when I was the one the needed it and some stemming from all of the government-aid programs that are already filling the need (except me again, and I see that only increasing in the future, which then leads me to be less generous, kind of the snake eating itself I guess).

I absolutely, positively refuse to "give" when my employer extorts us to support the United Way.

I do give to St. Jude's, 2 hospices (one local to me, and one that helped us take care of Dad when the end came), the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and my Church, which includes the St. Vincent DePaul folks that helps people in the area. And even my Church doesn't get everything it wants from me....one particular instance is when they kept contacting me to donate build a parochial school when I made it clear that I was out of work and was in no position to help with what I thought was a frivolous request in an area with a highly-rated school district...but let's not go there.

Any solicitations beyond that go into the shredder.