Which Charity?

[Gerald Davis]

Christmas time is coming and it's the time of the year to waste money, this year I am giving some money to a good cause, maybe to a third world country for a change. I want the money to go to help the people, not the greedy politicians. If these all these third countries had their debs cancelled would that not be a good thing?

Anyway to the point, which charity should benefit from my $30

[Michael Ernest]

Why not a newspaper subscription for yourself?

[Jason Menard]

A local organization benefitting your community and those who live in it. For example: your local volunteer fire station / volunteer rescue squad if you have one, local Habitat for Humanity chapter, maybe something like a local chapter of the BBBSA or CASA, local animal rescue, maybe a local non-profit hospice, a women's shelter... The possibilities are endless. There are many worthy organizations doing work locally who likely have relatively low administrative costs and really need the money.

Of course, far more valuable than donating a small amount of money would be to donate some of your time over the next year. These organizations are always looking for people to help out.
[ December 10, 2004: Message edited by: Jason Menard ]

[kayal cox]

I am not sure if you have a particular country in mind.. But I am a volunteer with a non-profit organization called AID - Association for India's Development (www.aidindia.org)

India has so many problems, most of them originating from its gargantuan population. Even if the government tries to bring about some small change, it is like trying to run a marathon with a ton of weight tied to your feet, so it rarely takes off.

Anyways, to cut a long story short, we try to bring some changes at the grassroots level, attacking multiple problems at the same time, because we believe that the solutions, like the problems, are interconnected.

Some points in favour of AID:
1. It is secular, and not affiliated with any political party or politics.
2. There are no paid people working with AID. It is entirely volunteer driven.
3. Lest you think we work only for India, we allocate time to volunteer with local organizations also, like Habitat for Humanity, various shelters for battered women/mentally handicapped people etc.
4. All of us do site visits periodically, so we know that money spent indeed helps the people it is supposed to help.

I would love to explain the projects that we do. Let me know if you are interested :-)

[Peter Rooke]

IT4 Communities

[Gerald Davis]

Thanks dude, this could be my lucky day

[Nick George]

Personally, I want greedy politicians to get my money.

[Sania Marsh]

Talking about charities..
My favorite model Natalia Vodianova
This is one of her photos
is having "Naked Heart Foundation" charity event. The money would go to children in Beslan and other russian children in need.
She is going to have auctions on ebay starting tomorrow (Dec.13) at www.ebay.com/natalia
I wish I had enough money to buy at least something.
Being supermodel with not very bright childhood and mother, I don't think she is going to try to profit on this event.
[ December 12, 2004: Message edited by: Rita Moore ]

[John Smith]

She is somewhat overdressed, if you ask me.

[Helen Thomas]

Originally posted by Rita Moore:
The money would go to children in Beslan and other russian children in need.

I'm glad about that. There's a lot of seething hate against the perperator communities. If something postive comes out of that the lives lost would not be in vain. Charity to the people of Beslan is overdue.

www.goodgifts.com $15 buys a goat for a family in Ghana
$85 buys a boat for a South Indian family dependent on fishing
www.fairtradedeal.com - mittens for $6 knitted by Afghanistan knitters who make a profit.

[Badriprasad Bumbabol]

How about giving some poor children in a developing country a good education so that they have a good chance to shape their own future?

Please have a look at Pratham : http://www.pratham.org

Thanks in Advance
Tintin

[Marc Peabody]

Make the world a better place.

[Dmitry Melnik]

Make the world a better place.

Is a donation to JavaRanch tax deductible?

[Jeroen Wenting]

Like one person I admire once said: "do a good deed in your own street, it has real effect and it rhymes".