Like most of us, Cathleen Kaveny has to
shovel out a few feet of charity appeals to
get to her Christmas cards each December. She wrote a a column for Commonweal trying to find some sort of
triage for the begging letters, and came up with a three-box system for faith,
hope and charity. She didn’t find, alas,
a simple standard for deciding which envelopes to take from each box and return
with a check.
She was not seeking a definitive solution to
Everyperson’s charity challenges, but she did strike glancing blows on two arms
of the octopus. I thought it might be interesting to add a few words on them.
First, when charity flows seems to be dependent on the tax code at least as
much as on Charles Dickens. Second, as Kaveny says, “(I)n some cases it may be morally
preferable to give $1,000 in after-tax dollars to a needy family in your parish
than make a $1,500 donation to a registered charity.” The first “family” that
came to my mind is the army that bivouacs road medians at the traffic lights,
with or without hand-lettered cardboard signs.
Charitable organizations ask in December
because we give in December, and we give in December because it is the last
chance in the year to get a tax deduction for our benevolence. A hundred
dollars given in July is just as good for the recipient than a hundred dollars
given in December, probably even better. What is it about “last chance” that
makes us whip out the checkbook?
I give
some credit to A Christmas Carol: “At
this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a
pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight
provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time.
Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in
want of common comforts, sir.” But the same many thousands and hundreds of
thousands are in want today, in March; does that only matter during a “festive”
season? If so, then I say with Bob Cratchit (who would have said it if asked), let every
season be festive.
As part of this year’s tax cut (about which
you will be hearing incessantly until Nov. 6) that yielded crumbs for
Lazarus, millions for Dives, Lazarus will see his standard deduction doubled.
This will have the effect of leaving more money in the pockets of those Lazaruses
who never contributed much anyway and discouraging those who did from itemizing
and paying attention. Organized charities are concerned, about the possible negative effects
that change may have on their receipts. That “last chance” has been a boon
every year, which is why they go all-out in solicitation during December.
The non-50l(c)(3)’s who raise money on street
corners are unaffected by changes in the tax code, but they actually give a lot
of people more heartburn than the organized charities. You can get an argument going
over whether to give them anything at all. When
you see the face of Jesus on every street corner as you go about your
business, it is not unnatural to feel ill-used. I will give, but only if I am
in the lane next to the median strip because when they dart among the cars I
see visions of them bouncing into the air off the hood of somebody in a hurry.
You can get another argument going over whether to give them food rather than
money they might spend on beer. Influenced by G. B. Shaw’s Alfred P. Doolittle,
I give money and let the “undeserving poor” do with it what they wish; they
have enough problems without having me to tell them how to live.
You can get an argument going over
whether the beggars should be allowed to be anyplace at all. But they have been
around since the time of Christ, so it’s a sort of futile argument, isn’t it?
For years, I accepted it as common wisdom that it's counterproductive to give beggars money because (a) they'll spend it on booze and drugs and (b) the food and other services they need are readily available to them, and it's better to funnel them to the professional helpers than to do that kind of ad hoc helping.
ReplyDeleteThen, via our Outreach ministry, I got an up-closer-er look at what the so-called "safety net" actually catches and what it doesn't. It doesn't, a lot. My current view is, there's a good chance that the someone asking you for money really needs the money, and we store up treasure in heaven when we give them something. Many folks begging actually do need professional intervention and support, and it's also good to support the not-for-profits that do that kind of work. It's also true that many folks that need help don't beg for it.
Once upon a time, I tried to distinguish among people asking for money on the street, on the subway, the guy sitting next to the Bank!! (where I had just taken out a wad of cash).
ReplyDeleteNow in the Trump era, I am trying to give something to everyone who asks; the guy at the bank is truly gracious. The ladies on the street are always sweet. The subways are a problem because there is a song and dance to go with the ask. And it is in a loud voice and it is very long. Are they method actors, practicing their art, I wonder.
Now I put all my change in my coat pocket, including $1. bills. I reach in and grab what I can and hand it over. That way I don't have to think about, "how much?"
Especially during Lent when I have failed of most of my resolutions, I think of this as an opportunity and not a problem. When I said that to the guy at the bank, "Thanks for the opportunity." He said, "you're very welcome." Basked in that for a while.
These opportunities are amused when I hand over a wad of coins and I say, "Fresh from the mint." One of them even laughed today.
That is why NYC is a great giving city.
I live in a rural area, where the poor are less visible.
ReplyDeleteYou don't see their faces at intersections. You see their photos on a coffee can in the grocery store asking for help paying for medical bills. (And, yes, even though we now all have insurance, poor people have to buy the cheap policies, which means high deductibles that pile up.)
The Methodist Ladies serve lunch five days a week. It's a $5 free will offering. Nobody looks to see who is paying. I have begun taking friends to lunch there and putting my own and enough for another two or three folks in the can.
A local group gives out "blessing bags" on Sunday afternoons at the downtown. These are quart-sized ziploc bags that contain info about food banks and other resources, dry socks, toiletries (tampons go fast), a $5 bill, and a chit for the county dial-a-ride service.
Opioid drug use and alcoholism are huge problems here. Now that these are classed as mental health disorders rather than social problems, I have little hope that much can be done.
I have wondered about this move to mental health categories, since as far as I can tell they have no "cures," and their services seem more random and unhelpful than plain old medical care where there seem to be some antidotes for opioid crashes (or so they say). The Newshour is on a tear about opioids and as far as I can tell one "cure," or resolution is weaker than the last one they had a show about.
DeleteI only know the "lived experience" with addicted family members and time in AlAnon. George Carlin made the most sense about this that I ever heard. He said that until the high stops delivering, the addict doesn't really care about quitting.
DeleteOnce an addict wants to quit, an anti-addiction program might work if the addict can take the physical withdrawal.
I would like to see society minimize the harm addicts do to themselves and others. No one wants to put addicts in jail or prison, but the damage addicts do is immense. Addicts cause child neglect, driving under the influence, elder fraud and abuse, theft, battery, PTSD, etc. Addicts themselves, depending on the drug of choice, also suffer from spread of communicable diseases, exposure to the elements, homelessness and poverty, injury, organ failure, and death.
We're going to pay for them one way or another. I'm inclined have them be declared mentally incompetent and put them in asylums. Give them a clean, warm, dry, safe place; provide food and clothing; have antidotes on hand for overdoses. Otherwise, give them free access to whatever they want.
But who would want to work there? In reality, you'd get poor care in an asylum just as you don wherever vulnerable populations are housed.
Maybe Jack R. could weigh in.
One reads about some new medications that are supposed to help people wean off drugs. I don't know how successful they are. I keep seeing this sign out in front of a smoke/vaping shop. "Kratom saves lives". Looking up information on it, it appears that it is an herbal remedy, non-regulated. And can be pretty dangerous if misused. There are a lot of poisonous "natural" substances.
DeleteAnti-addiction drugs have been around for decades. The problem is that it's up to the addicts to take them, and the addict doesn't want to be cured because the biggest love of their life is in a bottle or a needle.
DeleteDon't get me started on the herbal racket. Cancer patients run into these people all the time. They need regulation.
We don't have the panhandlers on street corners so much here. Though we sometimes do. There was a guy holding up a sign in a snowstorm on Christmas eve. Yeah, of course one is going to give him some money then. Like Jean's town it is more rural here, though our population is around 22,000. What we have more often are families who hang out in the Walmart parking areas with a sign trying to raise rent or food money. I'm not going to try and figure out who is the "deserving" poor. They all have some degree of need. We have an active St. Vincent de Paul society here, which I am a member of. They do some rent assistance and that is probably the best way to try and help.
ReplyDeleteOmaha is another story. Sometimes I am there visiting our kids. There are a lot of panhandlers and I am afraid to engage with them at all if I am alone.
There have been panhandlers in DC (in the city) since I moved here decades ago. It took longer for them to appear in the suburbs - here maybe for the last 25 years or so. According to the local authorities, some are for "real" (homeless) and others are not. There was a story a few years back in the local paper about the rings with members of a group who would rotate among several prime locations (median strips usually) and they took home a fair amount of cash each day, and would divide it among themselves. They were not mentally or physically ill, and they lived in real homes and apts. They looked on panhandling as a "job", with tax free income and did pretty well at it according to the news report.
ReplyDeleteThe county I live in ( a very, very "liberal" and "progressive" county) is considering making panhandling in medians illegal, because it poses danger to both the panhandlers and distracted motorists and also partly because they want those in "real" need to go to the shelters and food kitchens who might be able to direct them to professional assistance.
Many of the local shopping centers also want a way to remove panhandlers from their parking lots and are asking to be included in the legislation, but it's possible that would be illegal in some way as long as the panhandlers do not present a threat to customers. We are repeatedly asked by the police and other authorities to NOT give donations to them.
It's impossible to tell by looking at people which panhandlers are for "real" and which are simply taking advantage. Sometimes when I see a young person, in apparently decent health, sporting expensive shoes and an REI backpack I do have to wonder about them.
Some people give gift certificates to local fast food places, or to grocery stores. Although some states permit alcohol sales in grocery stores, Maryland prohibits it for the most part. I support the local helper groups (which are in turn supported by all of the local houses of worship across all denominations) and also occasionally contribute to the discretionary funds of the two priests at our parish. I first did this with a Catholic Franciscan parish that serves an immigrant community primarily, and have learned that the two priests at our EC parish also have a personal "discretionary" fund. The priests appreciate additions to these discretionary funds in order to help people in need who come to them with an unpaid electrical bill or whatever. I trust these priests (one Catholic, two EC)- I don't think these are unofficial retirement funds for themselves! ;)
Anne - when our family vacationed in DC a few years ago, I was really shocked by the number of street people. Our hotel was within easy walking distance of the Capitol and the Mall, but all of the streets (like the "letter streets") in the vicinity seemed to have street people either wandering or sitting or sleeping in doorways.
DeleteSomewhat along the lines of what Katherine and Jean have written: my children were younger, and as we walked around the city, I felt a responsibility for their safety. It's not news that many homeless people have mental health issues, that oftentimes are not adequately managed and treated (or even not managed and treated at all).
I hope it's clear from my comments on this blog and the old dotCom that I try to be an advocate for people who are homeless, but their presence in the nation's capital was a factor for the vacation. It's not that I want the capital to be "scrubbed" of them, but there should be somewhere for them to go so that they don't have to be sitting drunk outside a liquor store as tourists walk by. Not sure what the solution is. Somehow in the City of Chicago, they tend to be relegated to skid row and tent city areas. To be sure, some do beg in the high-tourism-traffic areas, but those are the pro's that you write about. But DC was a whole different experience.
The worst city I have ever seen for panhandling was San Francisco.
DeleteJim, the homeless problem in DC has gotten worse and worse over the years, just as it has in other major cities. The city homeless are mostly "real" homeless people. They hang around the tourist areas because there are more people who might give them a handout. The city has shelters, but many prefer not to go to them. Many of the homeless roam the city with all of their possessions in a grocery shopping cart. In the winter, they often stay on top of grates in the sidewalks that produce steam heat. If it is going to be super cold, single digits, the various volunteer groups and social services people go around the city and try to get them to move into a shelter. If they refuse, they hand out more blankets.
DeleteAlthough homeless people make we affluent types - including tourists of course - uncomfortable they are seldom dangerous to others, at least in DC. Most of the violence and petty crime occurs in the shelters, which is why many of them prefer the street. There are areas of the city where they tend to congregate, and many of them are out of sight, even though in the "good" parts of town and the areas frequented by tourists. They know how to become invisible. The homeless in DC are more often victims of crime than perpetrators of crime. Generally they are victims of some kind of physical or verbal abuse - classified as hate crimes when physical (beaten, robbed of what little they have, etc).
The homeless in the suburbs are different. You don't often see grocery carts and in general they seem to be in better shape physically and have better clothing and shoes. This general perception may be because of the scam artists operating as teams, I don't know. But they are going beyond median strips and parking lots of shopping malls now from what I hear. I haven't heard of anyone being approached at the church we attend, but friends have told me that both of the Catholic parishes I once attended (very affluent communities) have announced that people should NOT give anything to anyone who approaches them in the parking lot after mass. If they say anything, they are supposed to direct them to the office, which is usually closed on Sundays, but.....
Jim, just to add to this - not only are there multiple city run shelters for homeless, their are churches and other organizations that offer shelter, soup kitchens, etc, etc. Perhaps the tourist areas of Chicago are not as concentrated as in DC? I don't know - I've only been to Chicago once and my memories of it are very hazy. But DC's tourist areas are all very close together, running from the Capitol building to Georgetown along the waterfront, taking in the Tidal Basin, the Smithsonians, the Archives, White House, Washington and Lincoln monument/memorial etc all the way to Georgetown. The SW waterfront which used to be a tad bit dicey (between L'Enfant Plaza and the river) is now gentrifying even more and is the home of a number of trendy restaurants. Some of the once worst and most dangerous neighborhoods when I moved there have also gentrified and become very trendy. This increases homelessness of course, as the poor are pushed out to make way for luxury renovations and new buildings where old once stood. I have no ideas at all about a fix for all of this. But, those who visit DC as tourists should not feel unsafe because of the homeless they see, but they usually will feel uncomfortable. Perhaps that's not totally a bad thing - increases awareness, even if we who become aware have no solutions.
DeleteI think it's interesting that all of us see this locally, and try to respond in some way that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteMargaret's story of handing out handfuls of change "fresh from the mint" and a thank you strikes me as the way a handout also becomes an opportunity to treat someone like a person and restore a little dignity to lives that often have so little.
I am also struck by the fact that everyone here just gives and doesn't try to sort or make moral judgments.
There are certainly sad cases in the city. I see most of those on the subway with their tales of woe. The saddest are the mothers and children who are probably living in shelters and are going back and forth to children's schools two hours distance. They don't advertise themselves and they don't ask for anything on the subway. The city's shelter system does not include transferring children to a nearby school. Maybe it's better to keep them where they have been and where they are known, but it makes for some bedraggled, sad, and tired mothers often with children who are charming and lively.
DeleteVarious court rulings require the city to offer a shelter or temporary housing to families. News stories often focus on families who come from elsewhere to take up this offer, and they're in the news because there has been some tragedy (I won't repeat the one from last winter). Doing good doesn't always end up being good.
I find it so sad that we can't find the will to at least find housing for homeless families with children. Research has proven how homelessness harms children's intellectual and emotional development. Wonder how many homes could be provided for the cost of a wall on our southern border...
DeleteAlso, Katherine, the $1T for the next generation of nuclear weapons. Wish this madness were only attributable to the Great Wazoo but it was initiated in the Obama administration. Sleep tight (on the sidewalk) folks. Your nuclear attack force is awake.
DeleteDemographic differences! Anne C. and Katherine. These are striking compared to what I see. We have no parking lots, no big shopping centers, and no medians. More or less people just stand there with their hand out, or with a paper coffee cup. Everyone is older. The "bag lady" surrounded by her possessions has more or less disappeared from the streets. NYC's effort to build more shelters and/or provide temporary housing has probably helped them. We once upon a time had great numbers of people who had been deinstitutionalized walking the streets talking to themselves. Now everyone only appears to be talking to themselves with the mike connected to their phone draped around their neck. Who can tell?
ReplyDeleteHave finally read Cathleen Caveny's post. Her sorting process is a good one. Everyone will have their own of course. Ours is no animals and no diseases. She mentions Doctors WO Borders, but the International Refugee Committee is good too and apropos of the Rohingya discussion has been working with them in Bangladesh. Our local Catholic Charities does many things, but I have been impressed with their practical assistance to immigrants, for example, language lessons. Over the years, we have met several people who work for CRS; they are impressive (and CRS does not send a begging letter every week).
ReplyDeleteI should heat my house with the mail charity solicitations I receive. I donate, but the mail noise it generates is incredible.
ReplyDeleteWhen I became financially secure around age 40, I decided to tithe and gave a lot of thought to how to do that.
ReplyDeleteI decided not to give anything to large entities (e.g. United Way, the Diocese, parishes) but rather to target it on smaller entities, e.g. I supported the outstanding Newman Ministry at one university instead of the Diocese, and the Saint Vincent De Paul society in my parish.
All the entities were ones that I knew and had some personal involvement with.
Most of the contributions were for $1000 a year done annually. It makes a statement. It also keeps people interested in me and the values that I express in making the donation and therefore more likely to be accountable.
Occasionally I give a one time gift of a thousand dollars to individuals as well as entities. Again it is always accompanied by some expression of what I particularly value in that person or organization. If it happens that deducting charitable contributions is no longer wise or possible, I suspect I will be giving more one time gifts to individuals.
Stanley, I am glad someone gets to do what I would like to do. We have a couple of big ones that I take care of. Then we have a bunch of little ones that send one or two solicitations a week, which convinces my wife that they must really need the money. (It convinces me that they'd have plenty of money if they weren't spending it all on postage.) So she gives in snowflakes that used to be $50 but have crept up to $70 and play havoc with balancing the checkbook. We do give to the parish, but we spend so much time there we can see where it all goes.
DeleteDon't whip out a checkbook. Use a credit card and get those frequent flyer miles to boot! Charity for funds and profits.
ReplyDeleteI have a Costco card. Maybe I can get a free barrel of Cheetos.
DeleteStanley, tell me about Costco.
DeleteRaber is bugging the living bejeezus out of me because Lansing is getting a Costco, and he wants to join. I told him go ahead, but count me out. Driving 30 miles to and fro would cancel out any deals we might get in gas costs. Our membership in Sam's 30 years ago was a waste--large quantities of processed food (soy sauce by the gallon) and Chinese-made household crap. I know Costco pays its employees a good wage, but not sure it's worth it as a consumer.
Hi Jean, not sure it's worth it. Haven't analysed it in great detail. I got the membership to get a computer and office supplies which were deductible for me because I was working as a sole proprietor consultant at the time. I could keep track of my expenses. I notice in the flyers they send me and their website that they have a lot of expensivs higher end stuff. I guess I still use them for convenience and because they treat their employees well. Place was great when I ran the division picnics. Mass quantities.
DeleteThe parish Men's Club gets all its stuff from Gordon's Food Service. Don't know if this is a national firm. Not real impressed. Maybe the should check out Costco for the fish fry and breakfast supplies.
DeleteNo Costco here. The store nearest our house is Dollar General. I go there a lot. Small quantities really make more sense at our stage in life than large economy size. I hate going out to Walmart and put it off as long as possible. Amazon Prime makes more sense to me than a big box store membership.
DeleteJean, I have been a member of Costco for years. It is not 30 miles away, though! It was a godsend to me when we were buying groceries for three large and athletic sons. In spite of Costco runs and trying to figure out where to store all the super-sized purchases, I still went to the supermarket at least 3 times/week and brought home multiple bags each time. I also bought computers for the sons at Costco when they went to college, as they had a six month trial period. If the computer wasn't what they needed, it could be returned for a full refund. Most outlets won't return your money if the box has been opened and there is no malfunction. Costco would take it without problem. Never had to do that, but know people who did return computers.
ReplyDeleteCostco sells a lot more organic food than they once did - fresh veggies, canned, bread etc. But, without the three starving sons at home, we don't need the quantities. I don't ever find fish there that hasn't been farm-raised, and I only buy wild caught fish. I have always used as much organic as I could afford, about 50% probably. But Trader Joe's has a lot of organic at affordable prices in normal quantities so that is where I shop for organic.
I have a severe hearing loss these days, and I have maintained my Costco membership primarily because they sell brand-name hearing aids at 1/2 the cost of normal audiologist office's. Some outlets are now employing real audiologists with advanced degrees instead of trained technicians only. At this point, the loss has become severe enough that I will probably have to go to one of the expensive audiologists in order to get not only hearing aids, but some of the related accessories that might help me once again be able to take a class and understand what the professor is saying. I hear speakers but don't understand enough of the words to be able to really comprehend. That's because I don't hear certain frequencies at all, and some letters are in those frequencies, resulting in garbled sounds. There are mics and receiver accessories for lots of money for specific hearing aids that might help me. So, after spending $11,000 out of pocket during the last 9 years (not covered by medicare), I may be looking at another $7000 or so from an audiologist to fit me with an entire package of hearing aids and accessories. Once I do that, I will let the Costco membership go. I'm putting it off as long as I can.
I was a self-employed, sole-proprietor consultant for 25 years also, like Stanley. However, I usually bought my office supplies from outlets other than Costco. I found that by waiting for the right sales, I could do better at Staples on prices. I did not have employees, so I didn't need huge volumes. I have a Staples business membership, and I too deducted my office expenses for many years. Now totally retired, I can't do that anymore. But I also don't go through ink and paper and all-in-ones at the same rate I once did!
DeleteI'm sorry about your hearing loss. I, too, hear noise, but sounds are garbled. I told students up front about this, and sometimes would repeat tings back to them as I heard it. We would all have a good laugh and move on. But at some point it becomes a liability, and you look doddering.
DeleteDo they have eyeglasses? Raber is walk-in around with a pair that are 20 years old and held together with florist's wire and electric tape. I am not making this up. He is afraid of any kind of doctor, and thinks Lenscrafters is too expensive.
Jean, I am VERY nearsighted and have extreme astigmatism. I got my first pair of glasses in first grade because I couldn't read the blackboard, even from the first row center seat! I have worn contact lenses since age 12. I broke my glasses about four years ago, and got a new prescription a year ago, but still haven't filled it. I wore a pair of glasses one of my son's once had when necessary, but lost them. I haven't checked out Costco yet for glasses, but will. I wear my contacts from wake up to lights out, but know that I need a pair of functional glasses in case I can't wear contacts for some reason (eye infection or whatever).
DeleteIf you are buying for church events, Costco might be useful. Most of the churches around here buy all their Sunday coffee supplies there! Add in fish frys for an entire parish and might be worth the drive. A lot of people buy tires there, but my husband is particular about tires and he buys specific tires online.
Neighbor bought her glasses at Costco; half the price she said.
DeleteHearing and not so much hearing: Anyone ever found a decision tree for doing something about hearing loss?
Margaret, if you think they would help, it's easy to test drive hearing aids. Costco gives 90 days trial, return with no questions asked if you return them for a full refund. I did this with one pair of hearing aids I thought might give me better hearing than the pair I have, but they didn't. So they went back. Costco carries several big name brands.
DeleteMost private audiologists give 30-60 day free trials, but I have found that most promote one or two brands - those that they have a commission relationship with. Private audiologists really hate Costco because they can't compete with them on prices (volume and overhead costs)and some refuse to order brands that are carried by Costco also. Costco audiologists are on salary, not commission. Although mild to moderate losses can be corrected effectively by most brands, some brands offer features that others don't, and not all private audiologists routinely prescribe them. I went to one to try out a "made for iphone" compatible pair (control via iphone) and the audiologist definitely was unexcited about helping me. She didn't have a partnership with the brand. Costco started carrying them later, and I did try them out. Didn't improve enough on what I had to shell out another $3K, so returned them.
Depending on the type and degree of loss, hearing aids can be very tricky to get right. They are much more complicated to fit than glasses. I have an unusual type of loss, which makes proper adjustment difficult and my hearing is not good even with the aids - the clarity issue, not the volume issue. I hear, but miss a lot of words. Increasing amplification doesn't help when you don't hear a sound at all. I don't know of a decision chart, but anyone who thinks they might help should just try a pair and see. They are expensive - even at Costco - so if they don't bring a significant improvement, then you at least have the option of a real test period and the option of returning them.
Possible helpful hint for talking on the phone with a hearing loss. My dad is really, really hard of hearing. Since I live a 5 hour drive away, phone is how we keep in contact. His expensive hearing aids were a bit disappointing to him, but they are better than nothing. But they are impossible with the phone, too much distortion, etc. He figured out that if he puts the phone on speaker it works much better.
DeleteI have a few pet causes that I contribute to - it's impossible to support them all, as noted by others. I support Catholic Relief Services (specifying refugee services) with monthly donations by credit card. I also support Doctors without Borders with monthly credit card donations. I find it easier to break my biggest donations into monthly pieces. I give one annual donation to Jesuit Refugee Service, to my college's scholarship fund. My mother was in dire financial straits when I came to be college age, and I was lucky enough to get an almost free ride - all tuition paid, and 75% of room and board. So I have been trying to help other students in need since I started working out of college. As I got older, and income increased, I upped the annual contributions. There are a couple of local small charities I give to, and, of course, the parish donation.
ReplyDeleteOne of my yearly contributions is to Heiffer. I like the idea of giving some poor person a big ass cow.
ReplyDeleteStanley, or goats or sheep, and stuff. I have seen the Heifer catalog a time or two, and it is fun to look through. I'm keeping it in mind for future contributions.
DeleteOh, man, Heifer. The Boy wanted to buy some ducks for the poor people when he was six. There was a picture of some kid about his age with ducklings. He raised money selling rice krispy treats, and we kicked in the rest. He thought they would like to have pets. I didn't have the heart to explain.
DeleteI used to give to Kiva, which is a micro loan program.
Just getting back in touch with you good folks.
ReplyDeleteLots of good comments here. For various reasons, my wife and I send a large part of our monetary gifts to CRS.
But let nee note that one gift we can give to many needs is to be well informed about at least some of the prominent and persistent and then talk about them with whomever we have a reasonable chance of being heard. For me, one of these issues is immigration. For my wife, it's St. Vincent de Paul. In both of these cases, part of being informed is in the process of listening to the people in need. There's always more to hear than there are ears, and minds, to listen.
Not a replacement for monetary donations, but by no means inconsequential.
Hi, Bernard, welcome back!
DeleteSt. V de P does "Christian" counseling in our diocese. I have tried to learn more, but details are kind of slim. Given stressors in families, I would like to donate, but if this is run like Retrouvaille, it's going to be too expensive for most people. That program is $350 up front, mandatory overnight retreat and every Sunday for six weeks. Add day care onto that, and it's not for the needy!
Hi Bernard, good to see you here!
DeleteJean, the problem with Retrouvaille, aside from the cost, is that in most places they only start one every six months. If you're lucky. I have suggested it to a few people, and the comment I got was something like, "We either will have worked it out by the time a session starts, or I will have killed him!"
DeleteThe diocese has one or two per year, but they can refer you to sessions in other dioceses, which means more expense and time.
DeleteThe response is that if you really care about your marriage, you will make the time and investment.
It would be nice if parishes could set aside funds for this that a priest and deacon could administer on a confidential basis to couples who ask.
This might be among the best mentions of this subject I’ve seen in a long time. It is obvious that the knowledge of the topic is deep and this made for a very fascinating read. مراحل التجنيس في تركيا 2021
ReplyDelete