Favourite Charities

[MooseMom]

The holiday season is almost upon us, and that means lots of solicitations (and address stickers) from lots of charities pop up in the mail.  Do y'all have a favourite charity/charities?

[paris]

My family is pretty active with several charities.   Of course, NKF is one of our favorites.  Even the grands get into the fund raising and we all do the yearly Walk.   My son is active with the MS foundation.  We all support and volunteer for the Aids Alliance of the Carolinas.   Basically, we enjoy working for charities -- time, talents and money--- it is easy to make a difference just a little bit at a time.   

[kellyt]

OH... Please don't forget about Etta's Gift!!!!!  We are accepting donations!  We are, however, still awaiting our 501(c)3 certification, but we are confident we should receive it by December 2010.  The appropriate IRS forms will be sent to donors as soon as we get certification!

The Corporation's specific Section 501(c)3 purposes shall be to provide educational and support services to individuals and their families who have been affected by kidney disease, including, without limitation, newly diagnosed patients, transplant patients, dialysis patients, and actual and potential kidney donors.

If you would like more donation information I'll be happy to provide it!!!   

[lola]

Hopekids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[okarol]

I have a special place in my heart for the Renal Support Network. Just a few of their strong points:
They hire kidney patients to do their Patient Education Meetings. They have a prom for Kidney Teens. They go to Washington DC to lobby on behalf of kidney patients. They have the toll free HOPELINE for patients who need to speak with another patient.

I help the National Kidney Registry each year. They are changing the entire Lving Donor process and getting patients transplanted who had no other options.

I am also hoping to help with Etta's Gift to see Kelly's vision come true.

Of course, I am also very grateful to those IHD members who support our forum. Without that help we would not be here!

[BASSMAN]

The only charity I currently give to is St Jude's.

I am a sucker for children's school fund raiser type stuff and sports/cheerleader car washes/bake sales and the like.  I feel I should start giving to a kidney disease/transplant type charity.  National Kidney registry sounds like a good one so does ETTA's GIFT.

[murphy]

I did the kidney walk in May for the first time.  It was really great! Lots of stories.

[RichardMEL]

I usually give to the RSPCA here. I got my best friend as a stray so I support them as much as I can. i have also donated to our National Kidney Foundation. I do donate to other charities from time to time, but I really do not like being solicitied for it. Like walking down the street and being harassed to donate to the red cross, or whatever. It's not the fault of the people asking(even though a lot of them are being paid to bug people, which I think is wrong) - but I really object to being made to feel like I should give to this or that. I want to make my own choices and decisions. Recently I donated to support a friend doing a bike ride in Vietnam to support heart research, and I gave some other money to help support a cat that was badly burned by some reject of humanity.

yeah OK I'm a soft touch
 

[Zach]

D.A.V.
 

[AguynamedKim]

One of the unique charities I like to give to/donate time for here in Houston, TX is called Elves and More.  We collect money and buy bicycles, then have people come and assemble them (great fun, a lot of volunteers from many corporate groups), and then give the bikes out through school programs that encourage the children to do well to earn a bike.  It helps the schools and most of all helps the children who generally don't have the means to transport themselves to more positive activities.  The most we've ever done is over 20 thousand bikes.  We generally shoot for about 10 thousand a year now.  I've also been a long time giver to the Red Cross, Human Society, D.A.V. (Disabled American Vets), American Cancer Society and will be looking to donate to Kellyt's charity, Etta's gift this year as my newfound interest in the fight against CKD.

[Riki]

The ones that I give to/work for the most are The Kidney Foundation of Canada (duh) and the Children's Wish Foundation.

I generally do the Wishmaker walk, since I was a wish kid when I was 15, but this year, it falls on the same weekend as my grandfather's 80th birthday party

PEI no longer had a Kidney Foundation branch.  It was merged with New Brunswick's branch for budget reasons, I think.  I did a lot of work for them when they were still here.  There used to be a Kidney Foundation horse race, which I sold tickets to, They used to sell peanuts and jelly candy at Halloween, and I used to canvass for them during their March Drive. 

This year, there is a bowlathon.  It's supposed to be in November, but they have yet to announce a date. It's kind of hard register a team and collect pledges if you don't know when the event is going to be.  As you can tell, I'm not impressed.

[kristina]

After I had recovered a little from the stroke I worked for a time at the National Trust as a volunteer.

My husband and I thought it might be a good idea for me to volunteer and start getting “back into the system” after the stroke-trauma,
re-learning to communicate with people, guide visitors who ask lots of questions etc.

I enjoyed it very much, because I knew a bit about the history of the NT-House, its owners etc.
It was quite a good experience all round: I helped the National Trust as a volunteer
and helped myself at the same time to get back on my feet again after the stroke...

In my spare time I also worked for over ten years for another charity, again as a volunteer.
We tried ever so hard to make people aware of important historical items in need of urgent preservation.

Unfortunately, at that time the enthusiasm towards charities had already faded and we noticed a great mistrust towards charities.
Nowadays, the Charity Commission with its new rules does not appear to be particular about who sets up a charity for what purpose
and whether or not there might be a “conflict of interest” or not.

Our charity was genuine, but we failed miserably because people don’t trust charities anymore.

The important historical items we tried to preserve have now disintegrated so much that they are beyond repair now...unfortunately...

[Poppylicious]

It's not the fault of the people asking(even though a lot of them are being paid to bug people, which I think is wrong) ...

They're actually trained in how to bug people and they have to reach a certain quota of join-ups or they're fired, which is why they're so pushy.  I just ignore them these days.

I support the Kidney Research UK charity, I tend to give all my old tat to the Salvation Army charity shop in the high street, and I sponsor a girl (monthly) from the south India slums.  I tend to donate money (one-off payments) when horrid natural disasters happen.

A recent development over here is to have bags pushed through the door for you to fill with clothes and/or books, shoes, CDs, etc. and leave out on a designated day. Originally they were from reputable registered charities, but now unscrupulous folk send them out with fake charity registration numbers (or the promise of sending a whole pound per eight squillion tonnes of material collected), or the unscrupulous folk just drive round in their vans collecting the bags before the proper people do. 

Waiting for the bus early one morning I saw a van drive up and three men load all the goodies left outside the charity shop into the van and speed away.  And people wonder why they're asked to NOT leave things outside the shops!  Blokey said I should have taken down the registration number of the van and called the police because technically it's theft, but I didn't even think of that at the time.  I just thought they were three very cheeky chaps.

Sorry, I digressed.

 

[MooseMom]

kristina, I was a member of the National Trust for all of the years I lived in the UK, and I so loved visiting their homes and gardens.  Those are my favourite memories of my life in England.  Thank you so much for the time you spent volunteering for them.

You know, I balk at giving money to kidney causes.  I was thinking about this last night.  I'm not sure why I feel that way.  I gave to Paris' walk, but other than that, I haven't actually contributed to any renal charity.  But if I am lucky enough to get a transplant in the future, I would be happy to give to Etta's Gift.  Maybe I feel like I should give to causes that have nothing to do with me...you know, get out of my comfort zone or some such thing.

I give regularly to donorschoose.org.  It's a charity for school classrooms.  A teacher will approach the donorschoose.org board with a project/proposal, and if it is approved, it is put on the website.  Then donors can peruse the site and choose which project to support.  You can choose a project based on location or need or all sorts of other criteria.  So, if you have a family member in the military, let's say, you can find a classroom of military kids near a base and contribute to one of their projects.  I find projects for kids with autism; a classroom teacher might want a digital camera so that she can record facial expressions and help her kids learn what these faces mean (a real problem for people with autism).  But the best part is that the kids send you thank you notes they've written themselves.  It is very cool.

I also support the Association for Individual Development which helps finance independent housing and employment for adults with learning disabilities.  This is an area where there have been massive funding cutbacks here in Illinois, and I don't know what will happen to many of the people who live in group homes like this.

[ChickenLittle56]

I have volunteered my time at the Chicago Cerebral Palsy Association and The Boys Clubs of America in the past. Last year I participated for our organ donation awareness walk. CCPA have some individuals(consumers as they call it ) who are very smart and I was amazed at what they could do.

[MooseMom]

I have volunteered my time at the Chicago Cerebral Palsy Association and The Boys Clubs of America in the past. Last year I participated for our organ donation awareness walk. CCPA have some individuals(consumers as they call it ) who are very smart and I was amazed at what they could do.

Good for you for volunteering!  I should have asked about the volunteering that IHDers do along with which are your favourite charities!  Anyone else do any volunteer work?

[okarol]

  Me me!!
I should join Volunteers Anonymous! (Scary, something else to join, hopefully it doesn't really exist!)

I have volunteered for the last 15 years for an organization that raises money for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and children's music programs.
I am a volunteer admin on IHD and also on Living Donors Online.
I volunteer at least 30 hours a month for the Renal Support Network.
I have helped staff at 3 events the last year for One Legacy, which is our local Donate Life.
The first paid job I had since 1985 was the 4 month census job this year.
I have been volunteering for 20 years and I have learned so much in the process.
Sometimes I think I should get a real job.

[Sluff]

St Christopher fund.

[Riki]

I give regularly to donorschoose.org. 

I love donorschoose.org.  Stephen Colbert promotes it relentlessly.  I wish Canada had a similar program.  Stephen does a lot for military and children's charities, a lot more than he says publicly. The man deserves a medal.

[MooseMom]

I give regularly to donorschoose.org. 

I love donorschoose.org.  Stephen Colbert promotes it relentlessly.  I wish Canada had a similar program.  Stephen does a lot for military and children's charities, a lot more than he says publicly. The man deserves a medal.

Yes!  This is where I learned about it, from The Colbert Report.  He really does have a soft spot for the military and their families.

[Riki]

I give regularly to donorschoose.org. 

I love donorschoose.org.  Stephen Colbert promotes it relentlessly.  I wish Canada had a similar program.  Stephen does a lot for military and children's charities, a lot more than he says publicly. The man deserves a medal.

Yes!  This is where I learned about it, from The Colbert Report.  He really does have a soft spot for the military and their families.

I'm a huge fan.  I've been to tapings 3 times, and Daily Show tapings twice.  I would love to work for him or Jon Stewart some day as a writer.