Like most people, I usually don't do much or give much between Jan and Nov. But around this time of year, I become a little less self absorbed and a little more giving. Also like most people, I have a jar that I throw all my loose change into. During the year, I take it to the bank as needed and exchange it for cash. But this time of year I'll take out a big handful before I battle the crowds to do my holiday shopping so that I can dump a little in the bucket of all the Salvation Army folk I see in front of various stores, along with any other charity organizations I might come across. Probably seems a bit pointless to donate little bits of change to several people collecting for the same charity since all of that money is going to the same place but I do that because it actually helps make that day a little more tolerable for the people doing the collecting.
So what do you cheap skates do? Give money? Donate some of your time? What organizations do you give to?
The Marine Corps has their Toys For Tots program and I spend time every year helping out with that. Most of the work is done by the younger troops on a "voluntold" basis but for us senior guys, it's pretty much voluntary. Most of the work is just standing next to a donation box in Toys R Us or Wal Mart or whatever business lets us set up a donation station for collecting toys and cash. It sucks because you're pretty much just standing there for 7 or 8 hours watching people walk in and out (most of whom will go out of their way to avoid eye contact), but I know the fruits of my labor are going to a good cause. So if any of yous are looking for a charity to donate to, T4T is a pretty good one and one of the really good things about it is that 100% of any donation you make is going to be distributed to kids in your town/county.....so everything collected locally, stays locally. Of course, I'm probably a lot biased about it, but it's one of the few charities out there (at least nationwide charities) that keeps it's donations in the local area which is something that I find pretty appealing.
In the recent past I have volunteered at a local soup kitchen and more fruitfully, at Habitat for Humanity. Anyone can serve food, but not everyone can frame a house, so the latter was I think a better use of my time.
I have no money to give anyone.
I have a bag full of goodies for my Salvation Army Christmas angel.
I always throw a buck into the salvation army bucket when they're out there. I donate my old clothes to purple heart. One of my professor's at Penn State does a secret Santa program where students (and the Police/fireman/military) go around to zesty neighborhoods on Christmas Eve and give presents to certain kids that are in need. Last year we went to Southwest/West/North Philly.
Every year our office receives requests from a local YMCA where kids between 7 and 12 ask for a gift since they normally don't get anything for Christmas (and most of them just want hats, gloves or boots instead of toys, which is sad), so I'll get some of the ones like footballs or CDs....
Eagles Youth Partnership
Local food bank donations so people have food for the holidays
Goodwill
Quote from: PhillyPhreak54 on December 03, 2010, 10:21:46 AM
Eagles Youth Partnership
Local food bank donations so people have food for the holidays
Goodwill
So you basically buy eagles stuff, and then dump a bunch of other stuff you don't want anymore and call it charity. :-D
No, I donate directly to EYP
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/partnership/donate.asp
My 3:
The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN)
Kids With Food Allergies
Goodwill
I give bums cigarettes when they ask when they catch me outside smoking
ive been a big brother three or four times and i work with this place http://www.some.org/ volunteering at their soup kitchens and do christmas for a fam every year
my favorite thing in the world tho is the southern poverty law center http://www.splcenter.org/ i cake them off big time every year
im also a fan of FAAN
A friend of mines church, which I don't go to, does charity work year round for older people who are on a fixed income and can't afford, or are unable to do repairs on their homes. Especially this time of year I'll go out and install storm doors, windows, fix leaky roofs, whatever. The people are more than very grateful, which makes it satisfying. Most of them like the company and someone to talk too. If you think about it, you can't feel much more helpless than having your home going bad around you and being able to do nothing about it. It's all that a lot of older people have.
I don't really donate cash, don't want to say I can't afford it, I just don't, I guess because I give what little cash I can to support our troops. But I have no problem donating my time and skills when theres some old person that needs work on their house.
Personally I think donating time, especially if you posess a skillset such as carpentery is much more valuable/rewarding than donating money. Not to mention that (at least for me) time is more affordable than money, but I know that isn't the case for everyone.
Also, just finished my week of Toys For Tots work. During that week we collected about 2100 toys and $5000 in cash. Not too bad given the economic turmoil this particular area is in. This was by far the most productive week we've had other than the week of Black Friday.
Wow, thats a good deal. Doesn't it seem that Toys For Tots always does a good job? I guess people get in the spirit and like the thought of underprivlidged kids having a nice christmas because they gave, no matter what the economy is like. For some of those kids it might be the only present they get all year, birthday included.
Nice job Sarge.
One weekend a month I volunteer with a church van ministry that goes down to the inner city park and hands out food packs, toiletry kits, socks, detergent and sleeping bags. I now take my kids with me and it is good for them to see how some people live and what "need" really means. I give through the church to Haiti and we sponsor a school there and did a fundraiser after their disaster. I don't know if it is considered charity but I mentor an inner city kid in a lunch program. I also give to KOVAR (Knights of Virginia Assisting the Retarded). On that last one I guess I could just buy a t-shirt from :CF and it would be the same thing.
Nice job PC. Of all of those, I'd say that the mentoring is probably the most impactful. Actually spending time with the person/people your helping is going to go furthest imo because of the human element. I'm sure that the school in Haiti appreciates the money/books/etc that you guys donate to them, but in the long run, they don't see what you guys are doing to raise the money for them.
I'd like to mentor some kids around here because there's plenty of them that could certainly use it. But they're all Mexican and can't speak gringo, so other than letting them mow my yard, there isn't much else I can really do for them.
impactful
Quote from: Sgt PSN on December 06, 2010, 04:30:40 PM
Nice job PC. Of all of those, I'd say that the mentoring is probably the most impactful. Actually spending time with the person/people your helping is going to go furthest imo because of the human element. I'm sure that the school in Haiti appreciates the money/books/etc that you guys donate to them, but in the long run, they don't see what you guys are doing to raise the money for them.
I'd like to mentor some kids around here because there's plenty of them that could certainly use it. But they're all Mexican and can't speak gringo, so other than letting them mow my yard, there isn't much else I can really do for them.
I wish I was handy like you guys and could help with Habitat/elderly. You don't know how much that really means to people. Sometimes with the school mentoring I think I'm just showing them that whitey is not the devil. Of course we are, but it's nice to trick children.
you dont have to be handy to do that stuff...they arent gonna ask you to build someone an air conditioner...they will find something that can accomodate your 'skills'
Exactly
I did habitat for humanity when I was in the Navy, we planted trees.
im down to my last 50 bucks for the year as far as donations...if anyone has any causes near and dear my ears are open
check kiva.org. you won't be able to write it off as you eventually get it back, but you make microloans to struggling small business owners, either here or in developing countries. i consistently have a few hundred bucks in there, and then they pay back the loans slowly over the year and you just reloan it to someone else.
or look at 826DC, they just opened up a month ago. i'm a volunteer there. they help local DC kids with classwork and writing skills. i'm sure they are always taking donations.
yeah i could look up a million places to do it but i was trying to help someone out with something that maybe they are personally invested in...like i gave money to FAAN in pg's name
kiva sounds interesting tho...im gonna look into that
Quote from: phillycrew on December 07, 2010, 08:54:19 AM
Quote from: Sgt PSN on December 06, 2010, 04:30:40 PM
Nice job PC. Of all of those, I'd say that the mentoring is probably the most impactful. Actually spending time with the person/people your helping is going to go furthest imo because of the human element. I'm sure that the school in Haiti appreciates the money/books/etc that you guys donate to them, but in the long run, they don't see what you guys are doing to raise the money for them.
I'd like to mentor some kids around here because there's plenty of them that could certainly use it. But they're all Mexican and can't speak gringo, so other than letting them mow my yard, there isn't much else I can really do for them.
I wish I was handy like you guys and could help with Habitat/elderly. You don't know how much that really means to people. Sometimes with the school mentoring I think I'm just showing them that whitey is not the devil. Of course we are, but it's nice to trick children.
Quote from: ice grillin you on December 07, 2010, 09:08:35 AM
you dont have to be handy to do that stuff...they arent gonna ask you to build someone an air conditioner...they will find something that can accomodate your 'skills'
If you think you don't have to be handy to fix a leaky roof or a door that doesn't close right, anything like that, then it's obvious you know nothing of carpentry work. If you have no skills then what are they gonna' find for you to do?
Quote from: shorebird on December 08, 2010, 01:09:45 PM
Quote from: phillycrew on December 07, 2010, 08:54:19 AM
Quote from: Sgt PSN on December 06, 2010, 04:30:40 PM
Nice job PC. Of all of those, I'd say that the mentoring is probably the most impactful. Actually spending time with the person/people your helping is going to go furthest imo because of the human element. I'm sure that the school in Haiti appreciates the money/books/etc that you guys donate to them, but in the long run, they don't see what you guys are doing to raise the money for them.
I'd like to mentor some kids around here because there's plenty of them that could certainly use it. But they're all Mexican and can't speak gringo, so other than letting them mow my yard, there isn't much else I can really do for them.
I wish I was handy like you guys and could help with Habitat/elderly. You don't know how much that really means to people. Sometimes with the school mentoring I think I'm just showing them that whitey is not the devil. Of course we are, but it's nice to trick children.
Quote from: ice grillin you on December 07, 2010, 09:08:35 AM
you dont have to be handy to do that stuff...they arent gonna ask you to build someone an air conditioner...they will find something that can accomodate your 'skills'
If you think you don't have to be handy to fix a leaky roof or a door that doesn't close right, anything like that, then it's obvious you know nothing of carpentry work. If you have no skills then what are they gonna' find for you to do?
Quote from: SD on December 07, 2010, 09:26:43 AM
Exactly
I did habitat for humanity when I was in the Navy, we planted trees.
Apparently they'd have him plant trees. Or paint...anybody can paint
Lol! Yeah, you don't have to be Einstien to plant trees, or work a shovel. BUT.....yeah, most everyone can paint, but theres a difference between just painting and painting well.
Long as Igy keeps deviling out cash and never gets his hands on any tools, we will all be better for it.
Quote from: shorebird on December 08, 2010, 01:21:16 PM
Long as Igy keeps deviling out cash and never gets his hands on any tools, we will all be better for it.
^^The most troof this board has ever seen.^^
Quote from: shorebird on December 08, 2010, 01:21:16 PM
Lol! Yeah, you don't have to be Einstien to plant trees, or work a shovel. BUT.....yeah, most everyone can paint, but theres a difference between just painting and painting well.
Long as Igy keeps deviling out cash and never gets his hands on any tools, we will all be better for it.
stop being a MA douchebag
if you wanna devote your time to a charity like habitat for humanity they arent going to turn you away cause you arent as good a carpenter as jesus
christ they will have you hand cups of water to the roofers if thats what you are good at
also pretty sure families who are getting a new house for free arent going to bitch about not perfect paint jobs
Quote from: ice grillin you on December 08, 2010, 01:28:19 PM
if you wanna devote your time to a charity like habitat for humanity they arent going to turn you away cause you arent as good a carpenter as jesus
this is true, a group of us in work go fix a place up every year and there is maybe two of us out of the 25 that ever picked up a hammer in our lives.
also when painting a "new house" it takes a lot less skill considering there is virtually zero prep work and you are most times just painting the walls and ceiling white.
Quote from: ice grillin you on December 08, 2010, 01:28:19 PM
also pretty sure families who are getting a new house for free arent going to bitch about not perfect paint jobs
oh you'd be surprised on that one.
sb is posting in the charity thread and must think its the home improvement thread
Quote from: ice grillin you on December 08, 2010, 01:28:19 PM
Quote from: shorebird on December 08, 2010, 01:21:16 PM
Lol! Yeah, you don't have to be Einstien to plant trees, or work a shovel. BUT.....yeah, most everyone can paint, but theres a difference between just painting and painting well.
Long as Igy keeps deviling out cash and never gets his hands on any tools, we will all be better for it.
stop being a MA douchebag
if you wanna devote your time to a charity like habitat for humanity they arent going to turn you away cause you arent as good a carpenter as jesus
christ they will have you hand cups of water to the roofers if thats what you are good at
also pretty sure families who are getting a new house for free arent going to bitch about not perfect paint jobs
Jesus wasn't a carpenter asswhipe, that would have been his Father. Also, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who wouldn't bitch about a sloppy paint job, no matter the circumstance.
Quote from: ice grillin you on December 08, 2010, 11:17:24 AM
im down to my last 50 bucks for the year as far as donations...if anyone has any causes near and dear my ears are open
wikileaks
also...you don't plant a tree the right way, it dies. not just anyone can plant a tree
anyone can smear paint sure, but there's a reason painters get paid to do what "anyone can do," and it's not just that people don't want to do it: it's because they are so much better and faster at it that it's worth paying
Just to clear another thing up: Habitat does not give houses away They back interest free mortgages with payments tailored to be affordable to their "clients," who not only have to keep up with monthly payments, or be foreclosed upon just like anyone else, but they also have to put in 300 hours of labor on their house and/or other Habitat projects before they can move in. It's a great program. But this much is true: though the houses are sound, solid, good homes, the finish work is pretty poor because amateurs don't paint well, don't trim well, etc.
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
All of my money and time goes into school and work and beer.....but through work I did what anyone here would expect me to do.
I bowled to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters :yay
Quote from: Diomedes on December 08, 2010, 06:14:24 PM
also...you don't plant a tree the right way, it dies. not just anyone can plant a tree
Every azalea I've ever planted has died. My neighbor says the trick is too plant the dirt ball half in the ground and pile dirt up around it. Worked for him, not for me. Only thing I've been able to grow are annuals and those little box bushes.
Do you keep your box bush neatly trimmed or do you just let it grow and get all mangled?
nice beaver
thanks...i just had it stuffed
everybody feel better about themselves now?
I literally just ripped my arm off and gave it to a homeless vet.
Quote from: charlie on December 09, 2010, 11:55:40 AM
I literally just ripped my arm off and gave it to a homeless vet.
now that is true charity.
Quote from: charlie on December 09, 2010, 11:55:40 AM
I literally just ripped my arm off and gave it to a homeless vet.
not too sure what hes going to do with that.
Quote from: reese125 on December 09, 2010, 01:25:01 PM
Quote from: charlie on December 09, 2010, 11:55:40 AM
I literally just ripped my arm off and gave it to a homeless vet.
not too sure what hes going to do with that.
Now he can hold a collection cup, a sign and smoke a cigarette all at the same time.
More likely he'll just jerk off with it.
I get teary-eyed when I see those sincere "God Bless You" signs.
Glad I can finally post this. A number of my racist friends and I started putting together a hand up not handout idea a couple of years ago. After 27 months we are presenting it to the recipient tomorrow. We vetted the family with the local Salvation Army. The husband/father is 27 has 4 kids and works as an exterminator. We purchased a 3 bedroom home (short sale) an existing exterminating business and an SUV. Total cost to us was 385K. We are giving it to the family (along with a 15K LOC). They will need to sign a contract with us paying us back in 5 years with 10% simple interest (440K). As most all of us are in business management, we will also have an advisory board for the business. We decided to really push the last month in order to accomplish it in honor of the extension of the tax cut. I don't think I will sleep tonight.
You should probably have your lawyer add a section to the contract that requires a vasectomy. Preferably for everyone involved. Including the lawyer.
No, we all tend to believe in liberty.
Good stuff.
440k in debt is a strange way to help a man. I predict he will disappoint you, which is what you're after anyway, so you can tell everyone about how awesome you were to help him out, just to have him louse it all up, lending you further anecdotal evidence that the poor are just lazy and stupid.
No, the house is worth approx 350K in a decent maeket(the original owners owed 600k). There are considerations built in. Its close to no fail. We do want this family to prosper so they will vote he right way. Commie libs like you think the government could do a better job with 400K.
I think a Commie lib like Dio could do a better job with 400k.
Charity is helping a down on their luck family get into a modest home. What you're doing is essentially a handout as you are giving these people something that is well above their means to earn on their own not to mention that youre putting a family in a home that they likely won't be able to afford to heat, cool or pay taxes on....assuming that they are able to make their payments to your group of do gooders.
Yeah he would give a 1000 families 400 each. For what? These people can and will succeed. With existing clients, he should make 100K this year. Just that should cover the 13k annual taxes and 9K in utes.
No, he'd buy weed and booze and would literally piss half of it away and the other half would go up in smoke.....and it would still be less wasteful.
Why buy them a 600k home? Why not something in the 100-150k range? Why a gas guzzling SUV instead of a minivan? 27 years old and 4 kids? Yeah, get that dude snipped. Now you've spent at most, 185k. Now take the other 200k and put some in college funds for his kids or maybe use it to get the wife through college so that could someday, I dunno, work?
The intentions are good but it seems like you're giving these people gaudy possessions instead of putting them on track to be self sufficient.
10% "simple interest?". Don't know what that is, how is it better than the 4.5% any mortgage company is now offering to anyone with the right credit? How much would he be paying back with that rate? How is an exterminator gonna' pay back 440K in 5 years? Is that how long he has to qualify for a mortgage?
This whole story is farging retarded. Spending 400 grand to help one family. Jesus. You could spend a quarter of that and help LOTS of families. I don't even understand the point of this endeavor.
10% simple means a flat non compounded rate. 400K initial means 440K in 5 years. It just allows it not to be a free charity give away. Good for self esteem.
RJS the point is not to pay an electric bill or supply a weeks worth of food. The people involved are successful and the requirement to be involved is pretty steep (minimum is 10K). This intentionally limited to 31 donors. We want to share the American Dream with this family. Realistically, they probably could have struggled along for years but never really gotten anywhere. Now they have a chance to be successful and upwardly mobil. The hardest thing, by far, was picking a family. There was no publicity or application process. We have never seen or met these people. Some of the requirements were; at least 2 kids, a marriage license, attendance at church, reasonably drug free (or at least the appearance to be), some kind of valid trade.
I don't think anyone is saying it's a horrible thing. It's definitely a nice thing to do.
But what makes you doing that any different than the government trying to get its citizens health care? Or trying to keep unemployed folks from going under and losing their homes?
The only difference is you don't like your tax money going to help people you don't know. But it's still help none-the-less. The private sector has proven incapable of providing all of its citizens with reasonably affordable health care, so the government finally stepped in.
Quote from: lurking wierdo on January 09, 2011, 01:53:40 PM
Some of the requirements were; at least 2 kids, a marriage license, attendance at church, reasonably drug free (or at least the appearance to be), some kind of valid trade.
Are you farging serious? You'll take people who are "reasonably" drug free but only if they're also hooked on jesus? What kind of church do you require them to attend? Do they only have to go to church or are they also required to attend at least 1 klan meeting a week? I guess the marriage license rules out Romes and dykes. That's good though because they'll destroy the sanctity of marriage in ways that Larry King and Elizabeth Taylor can't.
And a HUGE LOfargingL @ not having met this family that's been selected to recieve nearly a half mil in handouts. I want to know when the hell you guys are doing this again. Who do I send my application to? Can I just pm it to you?
Really don't care what kind of church and there is no application.
Does that include synagogues and mosques? I can't believe you're harboring terrorists.
Yes, synagogues, mosques, temples. Any kind of spiritual foundation.
when you are getting a 10% return on your money in less than 5 years it is not charity. It is a great investment, but that is about it.
Wow, that went even better than anticipated. Also, MPM, 10% over 5 years is very weak.
No it's not.
The housing market is going to keep rebounding. The house(if it was really worth that much) virtually guarantees you your money is safe from the start. Little risk plus a 10% ROI over a short time period like 5 years is a slam dunk.
Agreed. And with the tax deduction the 10K minimum is much less out of pocket. That being said, the plan is 1 family per year, increased to 2 once the initial investment is recouped.
If this family can pay back 440k in five years, what do they need charity for? They must be making around 150k a year if they can afford this deal. That doesn't sound like a family in need.
I am sure they will be able to get a loan to cover it. They should have nearly that much home equity by then.
WTF? So you're going into this knowing that the family will have to take out a loan to pay you back? This is the biggest exercise in self-congratulations I've ever read about. I mean 'giving' this family some thing that they actually have to pay for and requiring them to pay it back in 5 years? 60 months to pay back half a million dollars is no burden I'd want someone to 'give' me.
the way this guy is short answering is telling enough that him and his buddies are looking to make a buck in the grand scheme of things.
get this shtein out of the charity thread.
The point stated at the begining was hand up not hand out. If, and this is realistic, they need take out a 200k equity note in 5 years, what is the harm? They will own a business and nice home. They will be on their way. I also said, the paid back money will be used for another family. It is set up as a non-profit so really there is no ROI for the donors.
Are you really asking what is the harm in them borrowing against the equity in their home during the middle of a struggling economy and housing market? Gas is rumored to hit $4/gal this year and you're getting them an SUV. There's somewhat of an energy crisis going on and you're putting them in a half million dollar home, which I assume has some nice vaulted ceilings and a few big picture windows.....you know, things that make it more expensive to heat/cool your home.
Not to mention that you are assuming that this dude's exterminator business is going to automatically pull in 100k/year. Based on what? The guy's obvious business savvy and smart life decisions that he's made to this point in his life? Dook is 27 years old and has FOUR FARGING KIDS! Does anyone not see the irony in the presumption that this dude is going to be a successful exterminator (ie: keeping little critters out of your house) when he can't even keep his little critters out of the farging egg!
And on top of all that, I can all but guarantee that if you do make your money money back w/interest that a few dollars off the top are going back in your pocket. You're going to make some money off this whether you want to admit it or not. I don't even have a problem with it if you do, just stop trying to sell this as pure charity when it clearly isn't.
sarge, if your that envious and lobbying for the house and car just ask him flat out.
Shut up. I'm trying to be subtle and you're ruining it. Dick.
Seriously though....I actually like what he's doing for the most part, I just don't understand the need to put that much money into it rather than doing it on a smaller scale with a more modest/affordable home, vehicle, etc. If this whole thing works out the way he says it will, then this family will still be on solid ground in 5 years, except that they'll have lower property taxes, lower utilities, lower vehicle maintenance/fuel costs but presumably the same income. That will allow them to put more money into savings/investments/etc and build a more solid financial foundation for the future. Shoudn't that be the ultimate goal?
Sarge, you have no concept of home valus in NJ. They need the SUV with 4 kids as I would never ever condemn anyone to a minivan. The taxes are a little high, but the budget price on the utes is 322/month (electric and gas). We did find it rather important to make sure the kids are in the right school district. The 100K annual, is based on an existing business with both annual contract and repeat customers. This guy averaged about 32K for the last 3 years, his wife, 12K. Even with this income, he managed to put away 3200 the past several years with the goal being to own his own business.
Couldn't give you up to the minute details on NJ real estate values, but I've lived in the north east and have enough friends and family that live in NJ to have a decent idea of what a half mil will get you. But what I do know is that there aren't many half million dollar homes out there with 8 ft ceilings, single story with less than 2000 sqft on a half acre lot.
Farg it. You're an idiot and I have you on ignore for a reason. Shame on me for seeing you post something in this thread and opting to read what you posted.
Sarge, I still want ti know if your mom is single.
I operate a shelter for run away teenage girls at my house.
You forgot "tree" in front of house Yeti. I got you.
Are they "bad" girls?
Quick update. The "protege" has signed 3 longterm contracts with multi location clients since he took over. That will triple net approximately 35K. Projected annual net profit is now $88,000 AFTER paying his $80K salary!
Quote from: lurking wierdo on January 18, 2011, 04:25:26 PM
Quick update. The "protege" has signed 3 longterm contracts with multi location clients since he took over. That will triple net approximately 35K. Projected annual net profit is now $88,000 AFTER paying his $80K salary!
charity thread ?
Yes.
I volunteered for Tide "Loads of Hope" but it wasn't what I expected.
Just got back from NJ (I have been transferred to SC). I looked at the books. Things are going great. In fact, I was presented with a 10K payback check. The CC I joined here in Charleston, is interested in doing the same thing down here, this program might turn into a snowball.