After reading the threads about talking about the losses some of our brethren have suffered I was thinking of some type of support association. Those who wanted to donate money could either send a check to a designated invidual or put money in a pay-pal account. The funds in this account would be used to help out fellow dopers. Some things I’m picturing is money to help with un-expected vet bills for peoples who pets are severly hurt and have to choose between spending money of their own food or helping their pet, sending flowers and condolence cards to those dopeers among us who have lost loved ones and those dopers who are hit by a natural disaster, perhapse the money can be used to send them clothing.
I would not want to be the contact point, only because I don’t have the skills to keep everything sorted but what do you guys think?
I respect–and admire–the impulse behind your thought, Manny, but there are a lot of issues. Collecting and distributing money for charity involves bookkeeping, audits, tax designations, billing and collection procedures, etc. that I doubt the Reader and the SDMB can absorb under their auspices. We’re a great community but I’m not sure there’s a workable, responsible mechanism for what you have in mind.
This isn’t a definitive answer or kabosh, just a note of reluctant caution.
Manny, I think it’s a beautiful and generous thought, but I don’t think it’s practical, really. I mean, that would be a huge responsibility/undertaking for anyone. And we’d all feel really awful if anyone who should benefit got missed for whatever reason.
The thought is lovely – and I’m sure there are many members of our group that share these same sentiments and god, we love you all for it – but the execution of such a thing would be as big an undertaking as everything we’re doing right now.
We cannot devote the people or the resources for something like this nor can we approve or condone turning this over to someone else to run.
Please indulge those random acts of kindness, do a truly good thing for someone else as much and as often as you can. We’ll all applaud it, I promise you . . . even if we don’t always know about it. It is the gift that keeps on giving. But it must needs be separate from official SD stuff.
your humble TubaDiva
Admnistrator
Been on both ends of that random act deal, and lately too.