Immediately after the earthquake in Haiti, First Lady Michelle Obama, as well as a host of celebrities appeared on television and various other media urging us to text to donate to charities for Haiti. It was simple and easy. However, for some folks, its a little too simple and too easy.
Over at the Freaky Frugalite, the tragic story of a young girl with a cell phone bill approaching $2,000 was told. Click here to read the sordid tale. Of course,”sordid” is not the proper vocabulary word, but I do think that the parents in control of said cell phone bill won’t have a warmed heart.
Please stress to your children that it is not a case of a company donating per the amount of texts, but that the money actually is charged onto the cell phone bill.
A January 10th episode of the PBS Newshour revealed that the donation process isn’t as instantaneous as people think.
TOM BEARDEN: Unfortunately, the whole payment process isn’t quite as quick as punching a few buttons on a cell phone. Charities don’t usually receive any money until people pay their cell phone bills. Sometimes, that can be as long as three months.
TONY AIELLO: In this case, we’re facing a disaster of epic proportions. And I think everybody within the mobile giving ecosystem, including the carriers, recognizes the need to get dollars down there as quickly as possible.
TOM BEARDEN: Some of the carriers have said they will now advance the money before the bills are paid. As for questions of accountability, mGive says it only handles reputable charities, which must also be approved by the phone companies that process the transactions. Plus, texting doesn’t involve giving out credit card information.
TONY AIELLO: Think about it. You’re sending the word “Haiti” to 90999. That’s much different than communicating critical financial information over the digital network.
I recommend that if anyone wants to make the biggest impact with their donation, contact your local church to find missions groups that regularly work in Haiti. These folks already have a network in most cases to reaching people in neighborhoods and on the streets. I know of one church that raised money to send tents and other needed equipment. The American Red Cross is another legitimate charity on the ground. Be wary of charities that suddenly pop up out of nowhere until you do proper research.

I recently received an email about a pup named Bear. The story has been making the email rounds about a puppy in Afghanistan who was befriended by a US Marine. The pup, dubbed Bear, was found hungry and dehydrated in a bombed out building. The Marine has been caring for the pup and would like to bring the orphan home to the United States to be a member of his family. According to the report, the costs for rabies, shipping to an Afghani shelter, and then shipping to the Eastern United States, would be between $2,500 and $5,000. Any money above and beyond would go to another family trying to bring a dog home.
The pads on the brakes on my car are about a millimeter or two thick. It’s not great, but its enough to prolong the next
There are a few of my friends that are involved in charitable causes who feel downright not so charitable this year. There are some folks who are self employed, so benefit from making donations throughout the year to help offset their taxes. That is not why they donate, but it sure helps. Then, there are other folks who find that charitable works gets in the way of their ability to make money. They take time off of work, or they purposely find a part time job to be able to volunteer the rest of the time.
I recently came across a site that sold
Some of my family members have artificial trees, due to pine allergies. A few readers have also mentioned foregoing a real tree and going with plastic because it prevents them from chopping down a tree. When you think about it, that is a little foolish considering a plastic tree can end up in a landfill.
Last year, most of the folks I buy gifts for lived several hundred to several thousand miles away. The trip to the post office was always a big ordeal, and often, the least expensive gifts cost the most to mail. I switched to buying gift certificates as they were so much easier. Most of them liked them. However, my siblings and I always had the traditional of exchanging a physical item. What I have never really given a thought to is sending
PETA has launched a Christmas campaign, running something they call the
Some small scale dairies run by local families sometimes still sell cream on the top milk. In fact, one small local dairy runs and ice cream stand, and you can see their cows roaming around in the pasture, gazing away, behind a group of picnic tables. These farmers use selective breeding to increase a cow’s milk production or are just happy with what the cow produces rather than feeding the cattle antibiotics and hormones. Some small farms who cannot afford to process their own milk join up with others, too. It is a great way to support local farms.
In the past few months, I have read a few different pieces where someone famous has talked about a mentor who inspired them. Tom Hanks had his high school drama teacher. John McCain had teacher William Ravenel. Sir Alec Guiness had Sir John Gielgud. I tried to think of a living person that inspired me, besides grandparents. One of them was a teacher I had in high school. I didn’t quite fit in to my new school, but she saw something in me. While I was behind perhaps some of my peers in some ways, I had grown up already in others. I thought about looking her up years later, but through a divorce and remarriage, I would never have been able to locate her. I guess what I would have wanted to say was thank you.
A lot of you have mentioned that you interest in helping others did not only lead you to volunteer or donate, but to follow a career path that led you to a “helping job.” Although it is hard work to get there (not to the website, but studying for the career), there is a site devoted to
I reported about this sweet dog, labeled a Basset Hound, but whom I believe is a Beagle / Corgi or a Beagle / Basset. She was given a few more days of reprieve, but is at the top of the euthanization list come Friday. Because of the recent weather conditions in Georgia, she is even more critical as local adoptions are even lower than the low they already are and because of the certain influx of animals.