Give Smart
Like a lot of you, I hope, I've been dropping ones and fives into "tsunami relief fund" jars everywhere I go, and donating slightly larger sums online. A lot of times I don't know where the money really is going, and that disturbs me. Not that I don't trust the deli clerks or whoever has the jar out. I trust that it will get into the hands of charities. But most big charities are, to me, as faceless as big corporations.
I've given to the Red Cross through Amazon.com, and I keep rooting for that dollar figure to keep rising. But didn't we have trouble with the RC after 9/11, using money donated for one purpose in the service of general housekeeping? I can only hope that's not happening again. Damn, I hate to even bring that up, and I want people to keep giving. Give, but give smart.
Personally, I can vouch for the work done by the Mennonite Central Committee. They're local here, so I've had a chance to watch them work from close range, get to know people who are active in the operation, and see their scrupulous above-board process.
They're Christian, I'm not. They're pacifists, I'm not. They may not be your cup of tea in many ways. But I will tell you, they do a good, honest day's work and they get their backs into it. Plus they're Mennonites, so you know they're not blowing the wad on Italian office furnishings. They're as stingy as a Steelers' defense.
The organization's Web site is www.mcc.org. MCC has been at work in South Asia since 1942.
They do basic "serve the poor" work like supplying blankets to orphanages. But they also address quality of life issues in working communities, such as supporting midwives in rural Cambodia, and environmental issues (planting trees in Haiti). And they teach fishing as well as handing out fish sticks. One of my favorite aspects of their work is the Ten Thousand Villages shops that connect hand-craft artisans from around the world with Western buyers.
I've given to the Red Cross through Amazon.com, and I keep rooting for that dollar figure to keep rising. But didn't we have trouble with the RC after 9/11, using money donated for one purpose in the service of general housekeeping? I can only hope that's not happening again. Damn, I hate to even bring that up, and I want people to keep giving. Give, but give smart.
Personally, I can vouch for the work done by the Mennonite Central Committee. They're local here, so I've had a chance to watch them work from close range, get to know people who are active in the operation, and see their scrupulous above-board process.
They're Christian, I'm not. They're pacifists, I'm not. They may not be your cup of tea in many ways. But I will tell you, they do a good, honest day's work and they get their backs into it. Plus they're Mennonites, so you know they're not blowing the wad on Italian office furnishings. They're as stingy as a Steelers' defense.
The organization's Web site is www.mcc.org. MCC has been at work in South Asia since 1942.
They do basic "serve the poor" work like supplying blankets to orphanages. But they also address quality of life issues in working communities, such as supporting midwives in rural Cambodia, and environmental issues (planting trees in Haiti). And they teach fishing as well as handing out fish sticks. One of my favorite aspects of their work is the Ten Thousand Villages shops that connect hand-craft artisans from around the world with Western buyers.
