Jerry Eichenberger
Serious Thumper
   
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2006 S40. OEM windshield, saddle bags, Sportster
Posts: 2919
Columbus, Ohio
Gender:
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I have some unique attitudes about organized charities. I can't stomach United Way, and won't give them a cent. Look at their office buildings and executives running the place.
Regardless of your religious beliefs or denomination, Catholic Social Services gets a good bit of my charitable contributions because they have next to no overhead, and about 98% of what you contribute actually sees its way to people in need. I think Lutherans do the same.
But a word of caution - one of my best friends in life is a gazillionaire with whom I went to high school. About ten years ago, he went down to the homeless shelter at Christmas time with a wad of money as big as a basketball, thinking that he'd be a truly charitable person by handing out cash to the poor souls in the shelter.
The manager of the place headed him off, saying that was the exact wrong thing to do - the residents would probably spend the money on cheap wine or whiskey. Instead, my buddy saw to it that all of the people in the shelter were provided with a first class traditional Christmas dinner, and a new winter coat and gloves for every man, woman and child in the place. The total bill for all of that was in the thousands. And the kids, especially, got a Christmas present that they really needed.
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