Donation List

[Guest FourAces]

This idea came from the post OZ did about Billy Lucas a teen who killed himself after constantly being harassed because he was gay. I had mentioned that if I ever were to become very wealthy I would open a hands on outreach program for boys like him.

BiBottomBoy suggested I make a donation to a charity. I actually have a charity I have been supporting for many years. Its in my hometown of San Diego and called The Storefront. Its a outreach program and safe haven for at risk youth.

On a different note another important cause to me is the fight against Alzheimer. Its a vicious disease and I know this first hand unfortunately. I know there are many cruel diseases but this has to be at or very near the top.

I though with the holidays coming up it might be nice for each of us to list a cause that others might want to think about making a small donation to. Probably best to keep it to a few that have personal meaning or connection to you. That way we don't end up with a generic list.

So mine are:

The Storefront http://www.sdyouthservices.org/site/PageServer?pagename=storefront

Alzheimer Association http://www.alz.org/index.asp

[Lucky]

Donating funds is a sore subject today. There is an inordinate amount of good causes to pick from, and an equal number of scammers who will take your last dollar crying all the time how much they will put it to a good cause.

I feel for those who really need help and give it when I can. Since I have cut escorts out, I find I still don't have much to give after I give to family and friends in need. So it is up to you guys who do have a few bucks to follow up on this.

[Guest CharliePS]

Every single day I get calls from organizations asking for my financial support; most of them are organizations to which I have given money in the past. However, if I gave $200 to every solicitor who asks me for that amount, I would be living on the street (with Daddy?). Today was a good example: I got a call from Planned Parenthood, an organization I have given money to for many years, partly because I knew Dr. Alan Guttmacher, the man who founded the organization. When the caller asked for a donation, I pointed out that I had been solicited and given a money recently; she said, "Well, I see you gave in May." I said, "That is my idea of recently!" I pointed out that, although I still am in sympathy with the goals of the organization, it is not one that I am interested in enough to give more than the limited amount I have given once a year.

I have come to the conclusion that I would rather give larger amounts to fewer causes, so I am concentrating on organizations that have been important to me for a very long time, like the ACLU and the small college whose financial aid enabled me to make a career, and particularly to smaller organizations with local impact. Lately, for instance, I have been making regular contributions to an organization that feeds the hungry here in the Coachella Valley, because I know that my contribution is being used directly to do what I want it to do, and not being spent on hiring the fundraisers. I would encourage people to find organizations that do good in their own locales, rather than depend on large organizations with lofty goals, which spend a lot of money on their own fundraising and administrative apparatus.

[Lucky]

Good point on those admin costs, CharlieSF. (Giving directly to me would reduce that.)

And no one is happy with mail and phone requests either. Go to the grocery, Costco, Walgreens, the movies, etc, and they all want you to make a donation today to whatever cause they deem just.

[Guest CharliePS]

Good point on those admin costs, CharlieSF. (Giving directly to me would reduce that.)

And no one is happy with mail and phone requests either. Go to the grocery, Costco, Walgreens, the movies, etc, and they all want you to make a donation today to whatever cause they deem just.

I HATE being asked at the checkout counter if I want to contribute to breast cancer research or Haitian relief or whatever. Who knows what happens to that money? I also won't contribute to political party organizations any longer--I am intelligent enough to choose individual candidates on my own, I think.

[TotallyOz]

I HATE being asked at the checkout counter if I want to contribute to breast cancer research or Haitian relief or whatever. Who knows what happens to that money? I also won't contribute to political party organizations any longer--I am intelligent enough to choose individual candidates on my own, I think.

I always gave the max to Hillary and Bill. Call me a sucker but I did love them both. Now, because of this, I get tons of e-mails from Bill asking for help with races in states that I don't even live in. While I do give them an A for effort, the constant requests do make me give less and less to them and others in their party.

I have given most recently to the ACLU, my undergraduate college (done every year for 20 year), charities in Thailand and local gay groups that I think can make an impact. I prefer my donation money go to gay groups rather than groups that aren't associated with the gay community. I also hate to be asked by cashiers to give and I always politely say NO. When I was living in NYC, I preferred to give my time by volunteering at a local kitchen that prepared food for shut ins with HIV.

[JKane]

A couple times I've felt that my modest contribution to a cause was then wasted almost entirely in trying to solicit me into further donations!

I'm tempted to join ACLU fairly often, and really need to give something to EFF one of these days.