What is the Best Charity to Donate to, and why?

[Suga Foot]

Just wondering your opinions on the best charity to donate to, and why you think it's the best.

[7even]

My favorite is having godchildren. It's a very personal form of donation, and you make a direct impact. If you just donate to some organisation that throws all the money they get in a pot, then do whatever the fuck they want with it, it aint so cool I think.
It's pretty cool to exchange letters with your godchildren and get photos, seeing them grow up basically. You also don't  just donate money then but also help on a social basis. The fact that it's so personal is in favor of both parties, the one that donates and also the one that receives.

[Don Seer]

i've no idea really.. it depends upon your personal circumstances and your reasons for doing so.

for example.. i've got several relatives who have very poor eyesight, or are blind. my lil sister works for the blind association.. so thats a cause thats closer to me than others.


the main charitable thing i do conciously is to pass on my old skateboards (and the odd bits if peoples shit breaks) to the younger kids/guys who cant afford them.. when i was their age i struggled to afford skate bits.. so i know they appreciate it. the younguns get through boards fast as they skate a lot more due to school holidays etc. So far this year i've given away two old boards. One to a guy i know who just started at uni and was skating a thrashed ass board when i accidentally bumped into him out of town. (in the city where he's moved for uni). when he came home to here a few weeks later he was still riding the same busted board.. so i hooked him up. this weekend just gone i hooked up another of the local kids who is progressing well, but tearing through boards at quite a rate. a few months ago i also gave the same kid an old truck baseplate that i luckily had hanging around when he snapped his.. so i've saved this kid $100 at least this year.. i've still got one old board of mine left in the car for someone deserving.. and i've also got another in the car.. thats not mine, but is free to give away on the condition it goes to a certain group of local skaters when they need one.

[Jip]

i have this rule

if someone is going round with one of those money boxes, and they look legit

ill empty my pocket of all the loose change i have in there

the most i ever gave was like £5 in change

back to the original question, i think cancer research is a good one, for some reason i think ill get it at one point in my life

[J Bananas]

why not just help the ppl around u? buy a girlfriend lunch or some shades or somethin, buy some groceries or a gift for your mom. if u look at it like charity and not trying to get something it will go pretty far with the ppl that are close to you. or shit, i dont know. sponsor one of kains relatives for .80 cents a day.

[Trauma-san]

My favorite is having godchildren. It's a very personal form of donation, and you make a direct impact. If you just donate to some organisation that throws all the money they get in a pot, then do whatever the fuck they want with it, it aint so cool I think.
It's pretty cool to exchange letters with your godchildren and get photos, seeing them grow up basically. You also don't  just donate money then but also help on a social basis. The fact that it's so personal is in favor of both parties, the one that donates and also the one that receives.

I agree with this and O's and the other posts about helping people around you.  I've thought about it long and hard, and I truly believe that you can be the most effective and make the biggest impact that way, for SEVERAL reasons.

1. If you donate to people you know, or people you meet, you can pretty accurately meet their needs, and do something important for them.  O's skateboard, used, might only be worth 20 bucks.  If he gave some random person 20 bucks, it wouldn't be that big of a deal.  SINCE, though, he gives a kid he sees his 20 dollar skateboard, it's important to the kid; he's interested in Skateboarding, and O may have actually, no shit, changed the kids life just by doing that.  He saw a specific way to help, and helped *completely*.  Now the kid needs no skateboard, and it opens up the door for the kid's future in a little way.

2.  If you donate to someone you know, they appreciate it more.  If the kid found the skateboard or bought it at goodwill, that's one thing... but if he remembers that his friend Overseer gave it to him, he thinks about their relationship and all the good things that go with that everytime he skates, even if it's subconscious.  So not only did Overseer give the kid 20 bucks, he gave him a 20 dollar gift that the kid specifically would enjoy, plus, not only did the kid get that, he got the benefit of knowing who gave it to him, the memories, etc. on an emotional level. 


3.  You care more about people you know.  This may sound like bullshit, but I donated to the Katrina victims, but I really don't give a shit about them.  I don't know those people.  I donated because I thought it was the right thing to do and I knew those people needed some help.  If my brother or friend though had something catastrophic like that happen, I would have donated much more, and I would have seen how I could help, I would have been more involved and gave a shit more if it was somebody I knew, that's just human nature unless you're Mother Theresa.  So, ultimately, it's a good idea to donate to people you know because it'll bring out more of the best in you. 

I heard a guy on a talk show one time talk about this.  He had a woman call in and she had some hard times... tons of people emailed him wanting to help.  He told them basically Thanks, but instead of helping this woman, the next time you're in church look down the pew, there's somebody sitting right there that needs your help, look down the street at your neighbors, etc.

Good advice

[white Boy]

childrens international...

cause i work for them. sponsor a child today!

[Don Rizzle]

donate to those who have touched your life, i give money to cancer charity because they helped my mum whilst she was dying.

I never give money to animal charities, people come first.