Charities ?????

[Dane]

Check out the Shriners. I haven't done the research but they took care of my wife when she was young and fell into a camp fire severely burning her leg. No cost to her family. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Edited December 31, 2013 by Dane

[Dolomite_supafly]

I had a friend who told me about a guy who had just gotten out of the military that was in a really rough spot. I told my friend to give him my number. Well a day or two later he came out. I handed him some tools and pointed to a small patch of trees, brush and other stuff on our land. He and my son cleared that patch of land in less than two hours and when it was done I handed the guy $200 and ordered food for his family for the night. I talked to my friend later on and he said that $200 made a huge difference and that the guy in need was back on his feet. The $200 was enough to get the gas he needed to get to work and to feed his family until his first paycheck came in. 

 

I have zero problems helping out people but I never give to people who ask for it and I also try to figure out some way for them to work for it. Helps them keep some of their dignity if they think they had to work for it. It also weeds out those who don't really need it. We have paid for people's groceries who are in front of us in line. When I stop in at McDonalds in the bad part of town I often buy extra meals for the homeless that are sitting in there to stay out of the weather. I prefer to help people out directly than give to a charity but for my entire time in the military I gave to AER after they helped us out with their food locker.

 

It is awful to think that those who choose to defend the country have to receive food stamps and other aid just to survive on their active duty pay. We received WIC and was so happy to get it even though back then it wasn't like today. If anything being in the military should be one of the top paid professions in our country but sadly it is not.

[mhmd]

The Gideons International.  Members pay the administrative costs and 100% of donations go to purchase and distribution of the gospel.

[LI0NSFAN]

My kids have spent time at all 3 of the childrens hospitals here in TN and I send all my donations to them. They do amazing work at all 4 and most of the families that go there cannot afford to pay. I think out of the 3 the one here in Knoxville needs the most help. The demographics at the Knoxville one seems to be more of the low income type. Most of the kids at that one are born addicted to drugs. My daughter had to go as soon as she was born and while we were there we found out that out of the 20+ babies in the NICU she was 1 of 3 that were not being treated for drugs. That NICU was just for babies 4mo or younger, I could not believe a parent would do that their kid. I was in the billing dept paying my bill one day and found a flyer on the counter that showed the stat that only 1 out of 1000 patients pay their bill. I know St. Judes never charges but the others in the state do and they don't get the kind of funding that St. Judes gets and they pretty much cover the medical cost for all of their patients as well. We send donations to East TN Childrens Hospital, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital, and St. Judes in that order. We did a little reserch and found that was the best order based on need.

[bersaguy]

Gosh , didn't think this question would receive such a reply but glad to see how many folks do give. I have always been one to share if I have it to give or help if I can help someone. I have to go back through all these posts now and make a decision on where I go next. Thank all of you for your posts as it has given me many options.......................... :up: :up:

[hipower]

... The Nashville Rescue Mission and St. Jude Hospital...

 

 

To this I'll add the Children's Leukemia Fund.

 

Lots of good ones out there, but (I) you have to be really selective because of the number of requests that come in. I'm sure there are many more worthy ones than this; but these are where my donations go.

[DMark]

My wife and I have been supporting Fisher House ever since we saw them building a house at Bragg back in the mid 90s. 

 

http://www.fisherhouse.org/

 

A new Fisher House just opened in Murfreesboro on the York VA campus. 

WWP will NEVER get so much as a dime from us. I once had soldiers who needed some help with some family travel.  My CSM contacted WWP and was told that No Direct Funding is ever provided to service members, but programs to support them are available.  Try asking WWP to define what they mean by "programs and projects" and you will find out that they include events where Vets are used for fund drives.  WWP is big on providing 'retreats" for wounded or injured soldiers and their caregivers like fishing and sport events (and WWP makes sure that the cameras are rolling and WWP staffers are also along for a free ride....). 

 

So, I don't Like WWP.

 

But here are the facts.  Below are the links from Charity Navigator that ranks the percent of the charity’s budget spent on the programs and services it delivers.

Fisher House is at 96.6%

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...5#.UqJzWj-A270

WWP is at 57.9%

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...2#.UqJztD-A270

 

In other words, give a dollar to Fisher House and 97 cents goes to support soldiers and their families.  Give a dollar to WWP and only 58 cents gets to a wounded warrior.

And In Closing......

 

Fisher house is also one of only three military charities given an A+ rating by the American Institute of Philanthropy’s Charity Watch.

http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html#veterans

 

 

[npgunner]

First off Bersaguy, thank you for "paying it forward" and giving what you can to help those in need.  I know for myself, when my wife and I give (whether it be of time, energy, money, etc.) we get much more non-monetary reward from our efforts than what our input could have done for ourselves.  With that said, it's also admirable that you're seeking out good charities who will use the money for charitable activities, and not padding the wallets of the CEO/admin team.  My wife and I have such a small giving budget (while paying off debts), that what we do give, we absolutely require it to be used for the reason we give it.  

 

Some ideas ... we like to give locally.  Mostly because we can see the impact, and believe there are plenty of people in the Nashville area that need help.  Nashville Rescue Mission is one we give too, or food donations to the Food Bank.  I like your idea of dog food to the humane shelter (will probably do that soon).  Above our tithe to the church, we also give to some ministries we are directly involved in (for example, the Kairos program at Brentwood Baptist).  And beyond that, we don't give to a lot of "national" level charities.  

 

If we were to give some money to a big charity we would choose using one of these methods.  

 

1. Personally vet the charity using some service like http://www.charitynavigator.org/.  I've personally not used that site, but reading through it, it seems like a reasonable source of info.  I found the site by googling "charity vetting site," and there were several other services that listed the same data.  Basically it breaks down the charities financial records and etc. and lets you look at them to decide for yourself how you feel about it. 

 

2.  Find someone you trust, who has vetted charities, and give to them.  I don't mean a friend necessarily.  When we lived in Atlanta we attended North Point Community Church.  Their annual Christmas giving to local charities in the area was in excess of several millions of dollars.  Because they gave such a large amount, the charities (the good ones anyway), would open the books for the church auditors in hopes the church would select that charity for its donations.  So for us, since we trusted the church to do the auditing and select reasonable charities, we gave to those charities approved by them (the church would not donate to a charity if someone on the selection committee had some financial interest in the charity).  Another example might be that Dave Ramsey advertises the http://www.bloodwatermission.com/ charity, and I would feel comfortable giving to them.  

 

3.  Our favorite way to give is something like dolomite mentioned.  Finding an individual who needs help, and giving to them in a way that let's them keep their dignity.  

 

anyway, sorry for the long winded post.  

[Handsome Rob]

The ONLY charity I have anything to do with is St. Judes.

[Jonnin]

I will plug the MS society as my wife has that.  

[Cherokee Slim]

I almost didn't post at the start of this thread.  Different people look at thing differently and someone's sacred cow I may just look at as just hamburger.  The thread has been thought provoking without anybody getting their panties in a bunch.  That's good, the way we should do it.

Happy New Year!

Cherokee Slim

[bersaguy]

Well, I want to take time out to thank everyone for their input. It has not only been informative but appreciated to see just how charitable minded most folks here are. Now I will share my reason for asking for help on this. Most folks here I think know I lost my oldest son to an automobile accident back in 1990. The accident actually took place in May of 1986. He received a closed head brain Stem injury and was listed as terminal from the night of the accident while in a coma. I had an insurance policy through my employer which back then was called the Rolls Royce policy of BC/BS. It paid up to 3 million dollars or 2 years, which ever came first. 5 months into the ordeal BC/BS notified the hospital telling them that at the end of that month they would no longer be covering his expenses. They decided it would be less costly to fight me in court than pay his bills. A lawyer friend of mine handled that and he made BC/BS begin back tracking with in 5 days and BC/BS decided it would be best to pay his bills and they did. In fact they over paid by almost $80,000.00 in two years to keep my lawyer happy. Strange how hospitals and doctors can milk every dime out of a policy within a time limited period. Anyway at the end of two years he was out of the coma but was a quad, could not speak and was fed through a tube. We had to bring him home and Medicaid equip his room with everything that was needed to sustain his care and sent a nurse out 3 days a week to update any care he may need. I can say one thing right now before I forget. We had and I still have some wonderful friends. During the last 7 months of his life his care became enormous and almost over whelming. In order to prevent bed sores on his body he was rolled from side to side. My wife being a nurse which really helped out and I had to work to keep our home and bills paid buy thank god for our friends. I had about 15 different friends step in and they would show up at all hours of the day and night to help with his care and rolling him. During those last months my wife spent 8 hours a day on the phone calling every charity funded organization that advertised they are here to help. Funny none of them did. We needed to borrow not keep but borrow a bed for him that was designed to prevent bed sores for long term patients. We began with , United Way got a no, Easter Seals, got a no, Red Cross, got a no, Scottish Rights, got a no, Shriners, got a no. Each one gave her another one to try but for a solid week she tried and all she got was no's. I had a buddy that resigned from the Shriners shortly after finding out they told us no because he learned that the Shriner Hospital here in Nashville had 53 of the beds we needed stored in their basement that had never been used because they were never needed but they would not loan us one for the short time my son had left. That is when I learned just how many of these so called Charities really do their jobs and are really out there to help. Few to none. I could not count the times I gave 10 bucks to a Shriner clown selling apples at some store or 10 bucks for one of their newspapers. I can tell you when I quit buying apples and papers. I realize the Shriners Childrens Hospital and Burn Center does a good job at the Hospital but they will do it without my money.  My wife and I gave money out of every check for years to united Way. I can tell you when that stopped also. Now with all of that said and I am sorry for the long read but wanted folks to know why I asked about the different Charities that are out there that ya'll do give to that truly do help and the dead beats that don't. i know there are probably a lot of folks on here that have lost loved ones so for them you probably know what it is like to suffer a loss. My situation is not much different than most except I had to watch my son die for 4 years and knew I was totally helpless to do anything to prevent it. I don't think there is a more helpless feeling in the world and I am sure there is a few here that has gone through that also. I just read this and thought about deleting it but I am going to post it. I think I want people to know more about me and why I make some of the decisions to ask some of the questions I do. I thank all of you for your posts about the charities as it will help.

[gregintenn]

Thanks for sharing this. The more knowledge one has the better.

[runco]

That is an awesome read, thanks for sharing.  

[Sam1]

My wife and I have been supporting Fisher House ever since we saw them building a house at Bragg back in the mid 90s. 

 

http://www.fisherhouse.org/

 

A new Fisher House just opened in Murfreesboro on the York VA campus. 

WWP will NEVER get so much as a dime from us. I once had soldiers who needed some help with some family travel.  My CSM contacted WWP and was told that No Direct Funding is ever provided to service members, but programs to support them are available.  Try asking WWP to define what they mean by "programs and projects" and you will find out that they include events where Vets are used for fund drives.  WWP is big on providing 'retreats" for wounded or injured soldiers and their caregivers like fishing and sport events (and WWP makes sure that the cameras are rolling and WWP staffers are also along for a free ride....). 

 

So, I don't Like WWP.

 

But here are the facts.  Below are the links from Charity Navigator that ranks the percent of the charity’s budget spent on the programs and services it delivers.

Fisher House is at 96.6%

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...5#.UqJzWj-A270

WWP is at 57.9%

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...2#.UqJztD-A270

 

In other words, give a dollar to Fisher House and 97 cents goes to support soldiers and their families.  Give a dollar to WWP and only 58 cents gets to a wounded warrior.

And In Closing......

 

Fisher house is also one of only three military charities given an A+ rating by the American Institute of Philanthropy’s Charity Watch.

http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html#veterans

 

 

 

Also if people have frequent flier miles they don't use, you can donate them to the fisher house.  We normally donate all of our Delta miles to them since we don't fly this airline any longer.  I believe the program is called Heroes Miles

[Guest RebelCowboySnB]

Check out the Shriners. I haven't done the research but they took care of my wife when she was young and fell into a camp fire severely burning her leg. No cost to her family. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Dont know the % of $ thing for ether but I like Shriners an the Ronald McDonald House.

 

As I understand it the Shriners covered a lot of my medical stuff as a kid. At the time though they only handled stuff you as a lay person could see was wrong. If it was a issue that someone would not know about just by seeing the person, thy didn't handle that.

 

A friend had a kid in Erlanger in Chattanooga years ago. I was staying with her an after a few of those 30 mile trips home for food an things, we were broke. Someone told us about the Ronald McDonald House. We went to the floor an room we were told, signed in a walked in to a fully furnished house right in the middle of the hospital.  Kitchen with food an all. It was cheep food to, not crazy stuff. A samage, a pack of noodles, a glass of milk an a real chair to sit in for an hour is a big deal when everything you own is in the next state.

[Dustbuster]

On but slightly off topic there are collectors that call and identify themselves as being with the fire dept or police. They are not. Some are collecting for a police or fire related charity and by law or agreement can keep up to 2/3 of what they collect. Aside from the wonderful charities posted, if you want to make a difference u can always stop by a firehouse or even ask an officer for help on this. Sometimes there are people that need help that are not mainstream and are really struggling that they know about. Kind of like what dolomite posted but the person is familiar to the fireman or cops because of genuine knowledge of their tragedy or dilemma.. Be careful w telephone solicitors...happy new year


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 of course it ate my spelling.

[bersaguy]

I have decided I will be going with Fisher House for my monthly donation but on those months I have a little left over I will write St Jude's a check and send it......................jmho