Ugh! This Again

Ugh! This Again

Good riddance 2025. The holidays and big spending are through. Time to pay debt off and save a little something. But wait! Every channel on the television is pandering for rent type of donations. A commitment. And I don’t even get a ring on it.

January is always the beautiful time of year when every charity on the planet wants a piece of you, literally. USPCA, St. Jude, Shriners, Wounded Warriors, Deliver Fund, to name a few. Missions, religious or not, homeless shelters, trafficking, and so on. Don’t they know that we all have spent the wad on friend and family greed? And now I need to spend more?

Yup, you do, or that’s how they make it all sound. Tragic commercial after tragic commercial, design carefully, by marketing teams, to manipulate your heart into over-riding your mind and give, give, give. You watch those infomercial length tear jerkers, and of you don’t pick up your phone, right now, and set up a monthly stipend, then you feel shame and guilt. Don’t.

It peeves me, that they all offer some kind of incentive gift for your monthly donation. Instead of spending all that money on shirts, blankets, or whatever other, made in China, good they are dangling, why not take that money and use it for the charity! They waste money.

If someone becomes a donor, for the shirt to wear, to show off and gain some kind of admiration, shame on them. Donate because you believe in the charity, you truly have a heart for helping others, or even you need the tax right off. The why, of donating anything, either as a one time thing or an on-going thing doesn’t matter. The giving does.

Do not get me wrong, I completely think, people who are able, should give to benevolent charities. The need out there is so great, and I’d say more than ever, but that is not true. That is a line, over used. The need is the same, poverty, hunger, injury, trafficking, and so on. Nothing has changed, other than maybe the donations have dropped off since the economy and inflation are out of control, like college kids, at a frat party, or a drunken sailor on leave.

We, my husband and I, give monthly to many charities, and have for many years. Good and worthy charities, that get things done. This brings me to an important point. Any and all charities you are considering, should be vetted carefully. I mean that. The most disgusting thing I have realized in the years, we’ve been at this, is the disproportionate amount these trusts, foundations, or causes spend on what they call administration fees or costs. Really? Should these entities not be utilizing volunteers in order to cut costs? Why on earth does a charity have to pay millions to a CEO? Do they not see the hypocrisy in some big wig, making enough to feed tens of poor children and families? It’s why, I sometimes feel jaded toward these big funds, begging for help. I’m pretty sure a lot of others feel the same way, and that’s why they don’t get as many donors, in some instances.

That all being said, it is important to give back, and to be generous in giving to the less fortunate. Look at it from the other side, here, for a minute. What if you were the poor soul needing assistance, hungry, or living on the street? Just stop right here and think about that for a couple minutes. Go ahead. I’ll wait for you to come back.

In the meantime, let me say this. At any moment in time, the bottom could drop out, from under your feet. You could lose a job, get hurt, the economy could crash, the stock market crash, and you’d maybe for forced to be on the receiving end of a charity. I have had this experience, and I tell you, it is a small comfort to have something or someone help you with the bare minimum. And don’t get me wrong, it is the bare minimum. No one will pay your mortgage, or your cable, or cell phone, because that is frivolous, even if you don’t think it is. It is. You don’t have to have a house with a half a million in debt, you don’t need cable because you essentially can do free things for entertainment, like read, a novel idea to some I am sure. You don’t need a cell phone for anything other than 911 or for work, so that internet on the thing, goes. Social media will have to survive, with one less addict.

So, what, then? Well, here is so what. Give. Give what you can. You don’t have to go broke doing it. Give whenever you can. You don’t have to commit to an obligation, like a marriage. Go over what you spend and how much and give. Trust me, you’ll live without Starbucks two or three times a month. That’s roughly $15 to $25 a month if you get those fancy drinks or coffee. That is all, I’m saying. You won’t even notice it missing in your pocketbook and you will feel good for doing something for someone else.

There is still a caveat. Vet each and every charity you are considering. Find out how much of the dollar you give goes to the actual cause in need, and how much that entity uses for “staff” and “administrative” costs. Find out what the CEO makes and how much he gives to that charity. Do a little research. Also, find out the outcomes of each trust, fund, cause, being donated to. If charity such and such, takes in $100, and pays out 90 percent to their workers, advertising, marketing etc., move on. If it takes in $100 and uses a bare minimum on administrative expenses, then that’s a keeper, and now look at the outcomes. How many they have help or how they have made a difference to the cause they support. If there are no signs of improvements, or not enough help being noted, move on. Results are what matters here. Give in a way that makes a difference. A charity that has no proof of results, is not worth the hard earned dollar you are considering spending on them. What is enough of a result, that my dears, is entirely up to you, individually. If you are happy with 20 percent favorable outcomes, then give there, if 50 percent, then there. Whatever the threshold, give to whomever you feel IS doing a good job. We do.

I don’t ask anyone to do what I don’t do. That would be wrong, but what I do ask is that you do your homework, so one, you are confident and feel good about the good you are enabling, and two, because if everyone discriminated better, the charities that are not showing results, might change what and how they do things.

So give, give well, and give often. But only if you are able. If you can’t give monetarily, give of your time. I mean that. Volunteer. There are literally thousands of places you can help, right in your hometown. Every town. You barely have to go too far. Some are government funded, privately funded, or even faith funded. You don’t have to be a Christian to volunteer at and church charity, you don’t have to be a Muslim to volunteer at a Muslim faith charity, you just need to be human and kind. You can be of faith and offer help to other faiths, as in a Muslin can help and Christian charity and vice versa. Maybe that would even help human relations between faiths. Go where the need is greatest. You will not ever regret it.

If you are interested in some charities that my family supports, I’ll name a couple.

St. Jude, because they literally charge nothing to anyone who needs their medical help. Their work is mainly on childhood cancers. This applies to anyone from anywhere in the world, no matter the faith, color, nationality etc., of the recipient.

Deliver Fund- They work on the pandemic of human trafficking. This charity shows verifiable, results. This one is very dear to my heart. They are personal, and nice to deal with, and again, they have successes.

Wounded Warrior- This is the only charity we didn’t vet strenuously. We believe our servicemen and women, should be taken care of, after injury. They protect us and put themselves on the line every day, without choice. They deserve way more, and nothing less.