In the spirit of Buy Nothing Day, the group of friends I’ve hung out with since high school have recently stopped exchanging gifts over the holiday season. Well, technically, that’s not correct; it was all in the spirit of being cheap and lazy. Hell, most of these guys and gals probably haven’t even heard of BND.
Anyway, because I’d like to think all of us were in it for the giving and not the receiving, last year I started a new tradition. Rather than give each other useless gifts that would be thrown away, hid in the closet, or used to keep the table from wobbling, we decided to donate time/goods/money to charitable cause and discuss what we did over a potluck feast. Some of the charities donated to last year include Wigs for Kids, Habitat for Humanity, and Toys for Tots.
This year, I thought I’d ask all 41,194 dopers (and any who register after I post this) for some help compiling a list of suggested charities. What are your favorite charities? I’m most interested in organizations that allow you to donate a few hours to a weekend (or more) of time (like Habitat), an urgently needed good (like platelets at the Red Cross), or a hand-made item (like Project Linus). Of course not everyone of my friends will have the time to partake in one of these, so interesting charities that primarily accept monetary donations (like Heifer International) will suffice.
The Salvation Army.
I’m not a Christian, but “The Salvos” have a reputation for honesty, and for minimal administrative cost taken from donations. Most of it goes to the people who need it. They are not aggressive in their collection techniques either. Dangit, I always have a few coins when the “Sallie” is there on the railway platform or in the pub. Those guys rock.
My best friend has a son with cystic fibrosis, so I like to donate funds to that charity.
As far as volunteering time, I like to work at one of the children’s hospitals.
Another great charity that always needs material donations is the Rainbow Room for Child Protective Services (or whatever the eqivalent in your state is). They always need things like dapers, clothes, formula, and new toys for children who are removed from their homes. I enjoy organizing drives to help stock the Rainbow Room
I like the Daily Bread Food Bank (no link, there’s one in every city) and The Stephen Lewis Foundation, he’s the UN Special Envoy to HIV/AIDS in Africa. He’s awesome and passionate and committed and such, and people started sending him money to help out with AIDS in Africa, so he started the foundation to distribute it. The foundation focuses on women who are dying of AIDS, orphans, and support of people living openly with it.
My donations are mostly local - Food Pantries, the Fire Department’s Christmas Party for underprivledged kids, local Boy & Girl Scout groups, and Christian Help (don’t let the name scare you - their door is open to anyone.
Salvation Army would be number one on my list. Also, Paralyzed American Veterans, I always buy a couple extra cans of pet food to put in the bin for the local animal shelter every week when I buy my cat and dog food.