To Give Or Not To Give (Of Your Money And Time)

I often wonder at times what makes America so great, so wonderful, so pleasant, when there are also times, present time period included, that makes our world so very lousy and why everyone seems to want a piece of you, no matter which way you turn, move or walk.

One of the great things about living in America is the entrepreneurial and rather inventive ways people or organizations try to get our money at this time of the year, more so between Thanksgiving and Christmas is when charity organizations attempt to hit you up for donations, whether that is food or monetary.

Unfortunately also at this time of year, more people are out to get your money and you, if you’re not careful, someone will more than likely steal your identity and your life out from under you without warning!

This year has been especially difficult in light of the succession of hurricanes, thereby bleeding many Americans so dry when it comes to giving out donations. But what to do; which organizations do you give your money to and which do you pass on?

I’ve been a little skeptical this year myself, in light of the national disasters and the increasingly and alarmingly high number of people asking for donations or handouts and then you find out they were defrauding you in the long run.

With the advent of the Internet, it now makes it so much easier for illegitimate charity organizations to thrive, hide and disappear into cyber-space without ever finding out who was behind the fly-by-night or boiler-room operations.

In the old days (pre-1990 & before the Internet) it was fairly easy to run a fake charity organization; all you needed was a name that sounded similar to a legitimate organization, a telephone number and a post office box. Next, you needed some convincing literature that explained the plight of the people that the organization was helping out and where all the money and donations were going to.

Not many people checked out the legitimacy of an organization unless someone complained about being victimized by the group. By the time the police got involved, the organization folded and moved into the next town or city, similar to the old traveling medicine shows, encyclopedia salesmen, pyramid schemes or circuses.

Several years ago, as an investigative reporter, I had the opportunity to help out in assisting in a break-up of one such organization that ran its organization from Nebraska. It seems that the organization had a similar name to the legitimate charity organization, Save The Children, called Save Our Children. As I recall, this organization was siphoning funds from an elderly gentleman who promised him big prizes if he continued to give them money for the “legit” charity funds.

What I was able to do through research and resources that were available to me at that time, was to find out as much as I could about the organization and then intensely interview (not interrogate) the elderly gentleman who was giving away his life savings to this charity. I remember one such day when I intercepted a call between the organization and this elderly gentleman, saving him the loss of over $10,000 to these hucksters.

Once I got my details formulated, I contacted the local police department and the local FBI office in Nebraska. By the time the story ran, the illegitimate organization was out of business and being investigated by higher authorities. Later, I was cited by the village where I had written the article for helping break-up a boiler-room operation and believe me, it felt great!

Usually, the illegitimate charities choose to prey upon the elderly, handicapped-folks or people who are most vulnerable due to major losses in their life, like say natural disasters. If you think you’re being victimized by such an organization, by all means, don’t hesitate to contact your local authorities, the Better Business Bureau or you can always check them out online at http://www.give.org/ or by looking through various Internet search engine sites.

The legitimate organizations like The Salvation Army, Goodwill, United Way and even Chicago’s own Pacific Garden Mission are good places to start. Sure, they always need your cash donations, but a great way to help them out is by volunteering your time.

Yes it takes time away from watching prime-time television or perhaps puttering around online in a chat-room for two hours, but think of all that positive energy you’ll be giving back to the universe when you help someone in need out. And those aren’t the only places to get involved with; like Beatrice Jones always tell me, volunteer at a local soup kitchen or help out at a local church or synagogue food pantry, there are always needs in those places.

Having been on the opposite end of the coin more than once in my life, let me tell you, when you’re down and out, feeling lifeless, sad and feeling sorry for yourself, nothing in the world beats a friendly face handing you a sandwich, ladling you a bowl of hot soup or handing you that bag of food every few weeks.

The best part is that it makes you feel the spirit of life and giving and knowing that the person who is helping you really cares about that person at the other end of the scale and that's what helping out is all about!