Feb
24
My Cash Donations: USO and AMC, Servicepeople and Outdoors
February 24, 2008 | Comments Off
I do not donate too much money in cash. For a long time the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) was the only steady donation. Today I added one to my steady list (at least for the duration of their current engagement), the United Service Organizations (USO).
Reasons for choosing them:
- Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) - They do provide a visible service: trails and conservation programs. They have a warm hut with chocolate and cookies in the middle of a frigid mountain. Hiking, backpacking, and the outdoors provide safe recreational activities. These activities are better alternatives (in my opinion) to the usual recreational activities most of us engage during our normal lives. To illustrate my point, what do you think is healthier/cheaper: hiking a mountain or a night in the town drinking and eating? The work they do help people get into healthier lifestyles in an affordable way.
- United Service Organizations (USO) - These people help our armed forces improve their morale by providing entertainment and help to those servicemen/women and their families. They make servicepeople feel like we support them, and I do. They help those who need us the most. Yes, I do believe these are the most needy people: those who have done nothing wrong, yet they have to leave their homes and put their lives on hold to fix the things others have broken and to clean the mess other people have caused: they have to go and fight wars. While people here in the US bicker in favor or against the war, very few help those who suffer it: The USO does. I do see them actively in every airport, providing last minute support for someone leaving on a long engagement. And we do see them on the news providing famous entertainers and hot meals to our service men deployed overseas.
Do I believe in donations? Why I do not give to more organizations?
Absolutely, I believe in donating money, time, and goods. I think it is not the government’s job to give money out, it is our job. People who have should give money to those who need. But they should do based on their own ideals and conscience. I believe that people are the best entities to decide how to share the wealth. When someone gives, it is charity. When government takes from one to give to the other, it is stealing.
I am so taxed up, I do not have too much money left to give to other charities anymore: I am well past the tithing concept (my definition is: 10% to church/charity and 10% to public spending). I have donated in the past to people who ask. I have donated to Boy / Girl Scouts and other youth groups, and I have donated to people running those marathons that donate money to cancer or heart disease research and prevention.
What do I look for in a charity?
I look for low overhead (low number of paid employees and advertising), and visible and measurable actions and results. I also look for low political activism (especially if it is against my own interests). They must value something I do value. The fact that they are tax deductible helps a bit.
Who do you donate to?
Comments
Subscribe
