United Way At Walmart Today Looking For Donations.

[atsah]

So they hand me a list of things I can buy for local children's school supply's. I go inside thinking I'll grab some pens, pads etc.

I read the whole list after I get what I need and this was on the list:

Shoes
socks
shirts
pants
gloves
baby wipes
pencils
pens
paper
binders
school snacks


I thought, why are these people making children they can't afford to support. I don't mind buying some actual school supplies but I'm not going to cloth and feed them, good Lord..

My parents had six kids, never asked for anything, my father worked his tale off for us.. These people might learn something watching a **** bird with a nest full of eggs..

 

[Oldpath05]

Sometimes it can be hard to know where to draw the line on giving to charity organizations, those that have plenty can give the way I look at it. I get a little upset when I see kids standing somewhere with can and sign saying>Help with our Baseball uniforms, etc,,,,,, while I have rocks that need to be picked up, lawn needs to be mowed, firewood has to got in, snow has to be shoveled................... What's worse is when their mother is there with the kids, we are now in the gimme generation.

 

[Jstpssng]

I was raised to help out those who are less fortunate, yet sometimes it seems they need to help themselves. OTOH at Christmas for a while we bought gifts for people through the family church. One woman asked for toilet paper. I can't imagine being so destitute that you can't buy that basic item, there are some things I just haven't experienced.

When we got done buying gifts, she didn't need to buy TP for a long, long time.

 

[MossRoad]

My wife and I volunteer about 2 hours a week at the local food bank packing weekend lunch bags for children that are distributed at school on Fridays. They need 2200 bags per week. During summer, we pack food boxes for seniors. I forget how many thousand of those they do every month. We also work the grocery store side once in a while. Qualifying people can come in once a month for food. They are all quite polite and grateful. All of the food is donated by stores and food businesses.

 

[airbiscuit]

Hey you kids, get off of my porch:muttering:

Better to have a kind heart.

 

[KennyG]

Every society has had and will have people who are poor. It may be the result of bad luck, bad decisions, or limited capabilities, but it's not the kids fault. It's hard on kids to go to school more poorly dressed and equipped than everyone else, and these kids don't need more disadvantages than they already have.

On a slightly different note, these school supply drives, food drives, clothing drives, etc get a lot of response because we all feel good about putting material objects into the hands of the poor. However, they are very inefficient. What you are doing is buying things at retail at diverse locations which have to be collected and redistributed. Studies I have seen claim you can get 2 to 4 times the effect by donating money to good organizations which can buy in bulk and distribute through existing networks.

Before you donate to any charity, you should check it out with a good source like Charity Navigator. A good charity will pass at least 90% of their donations on to the mission. The average charity in the US eats up 1/3 of the donations in overhead costs. There are many that keep most of the donations for administrative costs.

United Way is not a bad organization and they are very good at generating donations that might otherwise never happen. However, they are primarily a clearinghouse, passing the donations on to other organizations. If you know of a good organization, it's better to donate directly to them.

 

[MossRoad]

Every society has had and will have people who are poor. It may be the result of bad luck, bad decisions, or limited capabilities, but it's not the kids fault. It's hard on kids to go to school more poorly dressed and equipped than everyone else, and these kids don't need more disadvantages than they already have.

On a slightly different note, these school supply drives, food drives, clothing drives, etc get a lot of response because we all feel good about putting material objects into the hands of the poor. However, they are very inefficient. What you are doing is buying things at retail at diverse locations which have to be collected and redistributed. Studies I have seen claim you can get 2 to 4 times the effect by donating money to good organizations which can buy in bulk and distribute through existing networks.

Before you donate to any charity, you should check it out with a good source like Charity Navigator. A good charity will pass at least 90% of their donations on to the mission. The average charity in the US eats up 1/3 of the donations in overhead costs. There are many that keep most of the donations for administrative costs.

United Way is not a bad organization and they are very good at generating donations that might otherwise never happen. However, they are primarily a clearinghouse, passing the donations on to other organizations. If you know of a good organization, it's better to donate directly to them.

Excellent advice. It's also the same reason you should never give money to people on the corner with a cardboard sign. Give money directly to local organizations that provide social services.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Every society has had and will have people who are poor. It may be the result of bad luck, bad decisions, or limited capabilities, but it's not the kids fault. It's hard on kids to go to school more poorly dressed and equipped than everyone else, and these kids don't need more disadvantages than they already have.

On a slightly different note, these school supply drives, food drives, clothing drives, etc get a lot of response because we all feel good about putting material objects into the hands of the poor. However, they are very inefficient. What you are doing is buying things at retail at diverse locations which have to be collected and redistributed. Studies I have seen claim you can get 2 to 4 times the effect by donating money to good organizations which can buy in bulk and distribute through existing networks.

Before you donate to any charity, you should check it out with a good source like Charity Navigator. A good charity will pass at least 90% of their donations on to the mission. The average charity in the US eats up 1/3 of the donations in overhead costs. There are many that keep most of the donations for administrative costs.

United Way is not a bad organization and they are very good at generating donations that might otherwise never happen. However, they are primarily a clearinghouse, passing the donations on to other organizations. If you know of a good organization, it's better to donate directly to them.

Thats why i donate to a disaster relief nonprofit. They can buy in bulk at a 4-6 times instead of me buying retail items and donating .

 

[atsah]

these kids don't need more disadvantages than they already have.

Hence the reason I gave them a bag of stuff on my way out.. My point is, if you can't feed cloth you're own children, you are not doing something right.. There are people for one reason or another just have plain bad luck but these days there is more lazy people looking for others to pay the bills they make..

There was a family with five children down my street, the parents on welfare and always looking for donations yet they would sit at the picnic table all afternoon smoking $7.00 a pack cigarettes all day, when word got around the children suffered, not the smokers..

 

[Steppenwolfe]

20 years ago times were pretty bad for us and I took a job doing construction on the road. 4 kids at home, a couple of cats, my wife and a dog. They all looked at me for everything. It took my per diem money, motel money and my salary to just get by. I literally slept in my van for almost two years when I was on the road with that company. At the end of the day when everyone was gone, I would give myself a shower with a cold water hose. I thought we were lucky to have the work... And guess what? We got by and now are very successful. Never told my kids about the sleeping in the van, but I know... That's enough for me.