Sharing the Wealth

Last night I received an unusual phone call from a stranger, calling from a certain charity to make sure I was happy. She asked, "is there anything troubling you about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, anything you would like us to do differently?" Wow, was I happy!  "Yes, in fact there is," I told her in no uncertain terms: "Stop with the mailing labels!"  Not to mention the note pads, pendants, stickers, greeting cards and window decals, which thankfully St. Jude does not send, but others do. She understood. Then she asked if I would like to hear from them less often. "You bet," I replied. She put me down for junk mail--oops, I mean solicitations-- only twice a year, in February and August, and NO PHONE CALLS. Now that's what you want from your charity, a little respect.

I choose my charities at random based on how guilty I feel when the pitch arrives in the mail and what diseases my friends and family endure. This does not include Bill's psoriasis or Aunt Tillie's cataracts--I am talking the big leagues. When my dear friend Noreen was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, that foundation got all my money for the next few years and even more after she died, donated in her memory. Then my cousin got breast cancer, so I sent some cash to the pink ribbon people. She was cured, so I stopped. When my high-school pal Judy started up a private school in Haiti, I of course supported her worthy endeavor. But then the big earthquake hit, and since everyone and their mother was throwing money at Haiti, I took my paltry offerings elsewhere. Most recently St. Jude's caught my eye because, hey, it's kids with cancer, come on--who can say no to that? Besides, I loved Danny Thomas and "Make Room for Daddy" when I was little. (Or maybe it was "Make Room for Danny," not sure.)

Each charity helps a discrete group of sufferers, but to cast a wider net, look into Farmers Feeding the World. Their stated goal is finding permanent hunger solutions for over 140,000 people each year globally through agricultural development organizations like Heifer International, and five million people here at home through programs like Feeding America. (http://www.agweb.com/farmersfeedingtheworld/local_hunger.aspx)

Check it out if you've got extra cash or extra guilt. There's no better way to spend your time or your money.