In article , "Snooze"
wrote:
"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
I'm not doing anything at the moment because I'm stuck out-of-town to
attend a funeral. When I get back home next week I'm gonna figure out the
most tax efficient way to make a large contribution to the Southern
Baptist's North American Missions Board. (I'll probably donate a bunch of
appreciated stock so I can write off the whole amount without paying
capital gains tax first)
Ultimately it's your choice where you donate send your money, however faith
based organizations have a history of attempting to bring religion along
with their assistance. Better to donate to secular organizations such as the
Red Cross. The Red Cross will accept equities as well.
-S
DONATIONS TO THE RED CROSS CAN BE DOUBLED IN VALUE by donating through
such companies as Kroger stores that have a "matching funds" policy for
Katrina relief. Check right where you work to see if they have a matching
fund policy, as many do whether you donate to Red Cross or National Public
Radio or the local symphony orchestra or the SPCA's Katrina Response.
The Red Cross of course uses "popular" crises to raise money broadly, so
whoever gives has to not care that Red Cross money is used for crises they
never heard about. Anyone who wanted to target specifically Louisiana or
New Orleans for personal emotional reasons would want to give to that
state's agencies only. Or to Alabama charities; Alabama has it just as bad
but they don't have any one city as wonderful as New Orleans so they're
getting a bit screwed on this charity business.
But one also has to be aware that there have instantly grown up dozens of
donation scams (several with their own domain names that look very
authentic for on-line giving) & if you never heard of the organization
there's way too high a chance it's a fraud. Just because 150 different
blog sites say "click here to donate to Katrina" doesn't mean it's legit.
It is sometimes just best to stick to places like
www.salvationarmyusa.org
or redcross.org just so you know you're not giving your credit card info
to a fake-out criminal.
I wouldn't give to any religious organization unless it was my own faith
supposing I had one, as faith charity effectiveness is highly hit & miss
with some using a minimal percentage of donations to assist anyone but
their own institutional perpetuation. A very few, like the Menonite
charity, use the majority of donations to assist, but in the main we
individuals aren't qualified to figure out if the methodist or catholic or
islamic Katrina charitable claims are wasteful good intentions, badly or
well run, or out to do nothing but rebuild a few ruined church properties.
Anyone who wants to assist the much overlooked pet population should
contact the Louisiana SPCA at
www.la-spca.org to make a donation or the
Human Society Katrina Response Team. Red Cross has a harmful policy to
help no animals, so end up turning many people away from shelters for
having a pet they are unwilling to abandon immediately. So the work of the
Human Society's Katrina Response Team becomes more important than may at
first blush seem probable -- people carrying their dogs or cats are not
going to be helped by the Red Cross or most other charities, so give at
www.hsus.org or la-spca.org.
-paghat the ratgirl
--
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"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to
liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot." -Thomas Jefferson