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Let me clear my throat - WSOP '07 Winner

Posted By: mamabear
Date: Tuesday, 2 October 2007, at 3:45 p.m.

In Response To: Let me clear my throat - WSOP '07 Winner (Stick)

You say...I blindly believe (meaning I've done zero research) that this money is filtered through many greedy & grimey hands and what lands where it is truly needed is insignificant compared to the origanal amount.

It's easy to get ratings and pie-chart data on various charities at charitynavigator.org. I just checked out his three since I'm not familiar with them. Make A Wish is actually many regional and local outfits, ranging from 2 to 5 stars; be careful which one gets your money if you want to send money to this one--I sure would not. Feed the Children: Despite hokey name, it's a 5 star with a pie graph of 89.9% of money going to program activities, which sound worthwhile. Not on my list, but no worries if you want to put it on yours. Ronald McDonald: Like Make a Wish in that it has several operations of varying performance, 2 to 5 stars. OK to toss change in the box, I guess, but I wouldn't give them a third of 10% of anything significant.

Five star charities that are on my list: Finca, worldwide microlending, pie graph 90.4%; Doctors Without Borders, 85.7%; CARE, 91.6%.

Why it's better if a large amount is involved to give it to a carefully selected big organization: The neediest people on the planet don't live here in the US. How many people do you personally know in Zimbabwe, Haiti, and for that matter, Laos? I bet almost everyone here will have the same answer a mine, which is "zero".

For lesser amounts, you can help out people you know are needy, but it's socially awkward as all get-out, even in a small town like this. I imagine it's even harder to handle the situation well in a city, but who knows? Anyway, the way we handled a situation at our church this past month was an organized group at the church collected money from a lot of us, then bought siding for a needy family's house. Then some guys who know how to do that stuff went over and installed it. Sounds a bit Amish, but it works OK and the family doesn't feel bad. And actions like that give us something to do when we're not "partying like it's 1699"...

Mary H.

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