Mine. I serve as chairman for a small organization called Opportunity Corps Nepal. We run a medical clinic way up in the western foothills of the Himalayas in a village called Pokhara (not the Pokhara near K-du). Next month we’re shipping a boxcar of supplies so we can open a library/communty center.
I donate annually to the ASPCA and the National Humane Society. And yes, I sometimes throw in 3 or 4 bucks with my North Shore Animal League sweepstakes entry. 
I also give our outgrown clothes to Goodwill. And, when given the opportunity, I always give blood.
I support Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, and the Catholic Charities.
I also support Food for the Poor, an organization that provides food, shelter, and other aid to Carribean countries.
And any person coming to me with a donation form for anything involving cancer gets a donation. As a cancer researcher, I like to support the cause.
On a national level, I like The Salvation Army.
But locally, I love a city agency called Materials for the Arts. It’s a joint venture of the NYC Dept. of Sanitation and the Dept. of Cultural Affairs.
It’s obscene the things that businesses and individuals throw out here in the Big City. So MFA accepts these cast-off goods – usually bulk items like bolts of fabric, gallons of discontinued paint, imperfect lumber, used office furniture and other things that a place like the Salvation Army wouldn’t really want – and lets arts/nonprofit groups “go shopping” in their warehouse. By “go shopping,” I really mean “take what they want for free.”
Recipients are required to send donors a thank you letter when they take their goods, so it’s always nice to get those random letters from, say, a kindrgaten craft class thanking you for that carton of wooden beads that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill without MFA.
(PS - Just got one of those thank you letters in today’s mail!)
Make A Wish, no question. They granted a fantastic wish for a girl I knew, sending her up to Vancouver to see the “X-Files” filmed, then later arranged for a private advance screening of the “X-Files” movie, when it became clear that she wouldn’t live to see the release in theaters.
Chris Carter & the “X-Files” cast & crew did a lot for Annie, and they have my undying respect and gratitude.
Locally, F.I.S.H., or Friends In Service to Humanity- food, clothing, etc, for homeless or right-on-the-line families.
My one and only favourite charity is Amnesty International, I have been supporting them about a decade now. I think that the most important reason for my support of them, is not only that they do important job, but their impartiality. If need be, they will ( and have) critizise any nation, even the almighty US.of A.
Make A Wish foundation and R.I.F. (Reading Is Fundamental) are my charities of choice. I volunteer at the Denver Dumb Friends League from time to time.
I give to Heifer Project International and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Also PBS and NPR.
This is one of my favorites as well and I think it is a fine example of what charity is all about. Habitat for Humanity is about people helping others and about helping themselves. They don’t just give a house away they help someone build a house and in turn those people also help others in need build a home.
Marc
Some years back, when I realized that more than half of all the women I knew had either been abused or raped, I began to feel a need to, in some small way, make up for the lessers of my gender. When I actually had an income, I gave without fail to Women’s Protective Services and the local Rape Crisis Center. Since I don’t have anything in the way of “extra income” while going to school, I volunteer my time to the RCC.
We give annually to AIDS research and to the Nature Conservancy, a nifty organization that uses contributions to buy up land and preserve it from development and/or exploitation.
I do some work for a foundation that does heavy fundraising for Camp Heartland, a camp in Minnesota for children who have HIV/AIDS or who have family members afflicted with the disease. They’re a small charity (a $10,000 check is one of the biggest they’ll see all year), and I like the feeling that the money I give (however little) is greatly appreciated and put to good use.
I think Habitat for Humanity is a great charity, because it helps poor people by helping them help themselves. The people actually help build their own houses, which tends to give them more pride, a sense of accomplishment, education, and an incentive to care for the property after they move in.
I also support Goodwill and the Alberta Community Living Foundation which do good work in the community. And my wife does volunteer work for the Mustard Seed Street Church, which is basically a soup kitchen for indigents.
Oh, and I support every charity in Canada that receives federal funds, through my income taxes. (-:
Here is one I forgot to mention. Volunteer Your PC Our pc has been participating since early April. It’s a good feeling to know that our unused computing power is doing research that might help find a cure for cancer. There are several Volunteer Your PC programs including the cancer research program, a web testing program, saving history, genetic research and the Make A Wish Foundation.
To participate, you download a very small, non-invasive software program that works like a screensaver: it runs when your computer isn’t being used, and processes projects—until you need the power. Your computer never leaves your desk, and the project never interrupts your usual PC use. Most computers aren’t using all their computing power at a given time. Even when you are engaged in a game, creating graphics, surfing the web, you may only be employing a fraction of your machine’s available computing power. United Devices has built a small, secure software agent for individuals to download to their machine that can save this wasted power and put it to use. It’s a good feeling and the screen saver is interesting as well.
Abby
It is interesting how so many of these charities help comparatively wealthy people (Americans).
My favorite charity is to trade dollars for Haitian Gourdes and then burn the Gourdes, helping all other holders of Gourdes (by increasing their purchasing power by a small amount). Think this is nuts? See (can’t remeber the chapter)
The Armchair Economist, by Landsburg.
Another charitable work I do is to direct people to logical thinking about their giving to charities, although their usual reaction is not to try to understand it, but to get mad when its conclusions go against their preconceptions. See
http://slate.msn.com/Economics/97-01-10/Economics.asp
I am also looking for a society seeking donations to try and find the cure for curmudgeonliness.
I try not to play favorites, but this is this year’shttp://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=71965
let’s try that again
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=71965