[meteorite-list] Re: [OT] No & charities

[MexicoDoug at aol.com]

Geoff N. wrote:
>We may not make a world of difference with our  little charity project, 
 
You are wrong there, Geoff.  Totally underestimating your current  
enterprise!  Being a catalyst for a caring society when others are in need  is about the 
only good thing that is contageous and is what truly "MAKES A WORLD  OF 
DIFFERENCE" at this point and in just one day you sent the American Red Cross  
enough money to deliver AT LEAST two truckloads of food with a fabulous shooting  
star emblazened upon the bill of lading.
 
The American Red Cross donates 91.1% directly to projects and has an  
administrative load of 5.4%.  (The other 3.5% is in fund raising  efforts).
 
The American Red Cross may not be a theoretical model of efficiency, but it  
is more efficient than most of us can hope to be and FAST as lightning.   
Perhaps those of you who have had a bad experience can check out a charity like  
"Feed the Children".  I don't endorse them, but in a challenge to fiind an  
alternate I would check into them.  They raised nearly a billion  dollars in the 
last year on record with administrative costs of only 1.9%.   Their CEO makes 
$155,000 a year (OK, this is actually small potatoes for such  responsibility 
in peer charities;-) ) compared with nearly a half million for  the American 
Red Cross CEO, and Feed the Children had alread sent 60 truckloads  of food 
into the disaster zone,according to their website.  90% of  FTC donations are 
medicine, food, and survival goods.  The Red  Cross and other big charities tend 
to avoid these activities.  No charity  is perfect and FTC apparently makes 
money on shipping - but certainly not by  charging more than the folks the other 
charities contract out to.  A  similar organization on the ground is 
Americares.org which has very impressive  statistics as well and 98% efficiency, and 
also map.org, not to mention the  United Way types helping out).
 
If you have a doubt about your charity check it out on _www.give.com_ 
(http://www.give.com) .  This is managed by the Better  Business Bureau.  Don't 
bother checking Samaritans Purse, they are one of  the few big charities whose 
"report is in progress - all material has been  received", an odd comment given 
they have been around for a while, but certainly  not a smoking gun of any sort. 
 On the other hand, the CEO of SP, a son of  the Rev. Billy Graham, has been 
involved in scandalous comments ("Islam is  wicked, violent, and not of the 
same God.", and was preaching 9 days after  the fall of Iraq in Bagdad, as well 
as opening Bush' inaguration on  invitation: 
_http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/16/national/main549684.shtml_ 
(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/16/national/main549684.shtml) ).   So as in everything, believe what you are 
comfortable believing and do what your  heart says and purse allows...
 
Dave, please keep your cheers and criticisms for Mr. Blair and save  them for 
the moment the last person in New Orleans gets to go home to a nice bed  like 
yours and the option of having a job and going to the supermarket to buy  
food, there is a lot of work to be done and I hope by now you see your comments  
were bureaucraticus maximus, and terribly timed,  if I may take the liberty  
of being overly generous!
 
Saludos, Doug