The gift of giving

Note: Thank you for the questions. I will answer them on Monday. And if you haven't asked me a question that you are DYING to know the answer to, ask it in the comments!

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What charities are important to you? As the holiday season approaches, charities will be asking for our donations, whether it is money, food, clothing, or something else. Do you normally give money to charities? Will you be giving less this year because of the economy?

All last week my local NPR station was in the middle of its fall fundraising drive. I have to admit- I hate when NPR has its drives. While in law school it was especially annoying because I didn’t have any money to donate…so I would just turn to other stations. However, NPR is the only thing I listen to during my commute to and from work every day. So I broke down and donated so that the fundraising drive would hopefully end soon. I don’t have a problem donating to NPR- I have done it in the past when I have been employed and think that it is an important thing to donate to. But a fundraising drive when the election is less than two weeks away???? I guess I just wish that once you donated, they would give you a secret station number so that you could get back to listening to the news and programs instead of listening to them beg for money!

My company is also doing its annual charity campaign for the next month. We can have money taken out of our bi-weekly paychecks to go to local, national, or international charities. These are the charities that I have decided to give to so far:*

1. A local homeless shelter because I already know that finding funding this year is going to be very difficult.

2. National Park Foundation. http://www.nationalparks.org/. As you can see from one of my earliest posts here, I am a big proponent of National Parks and believe that they are very important to preserve.

3. Heifer International. http://www.heifer.org/ I first heard of this charity a few years ago when my mom couldn’t decide what to get her siblings for Christmas. So, she “bought” them each a goat. According to the website:

Goats can thrive in extreme climates and on poor, dry land by eating grass and leaves. The gift of a dairy goat can supply a family with up to several quarts of nutritious milk a day - a ton of milk a year. Extra milk can be sold or used to make cheese, butter or yogurt.

Families learn to use goat manure to fertilize gardens. And because goats often have two or three kids a year, Heifer partners can lift themselves out of poverty by starting small dairies that earn money for food, health care and education.

Heifer teaches the family how to care for their animal, how to cultivate their land in sustainable manner, etc. Goats are not the only thing you can buy for a family- the list includes cows, geese, trees, baskets, etc.

The point of this post is not to brag about the charities I am giving to. The point was to hopefully inspire others to give during this difficult economic time, even if it is just a little. Also, it was to find out from you guys what charities you hold near and dear to your heart. I have already decided on how much money to give in total, but could possibly add your favorite charity (if they are on the large list). So let me know in the comments what charity is important to you and why.

*I might add an animal charity to the list, but I would want it to be a local shelter and I don’t know enough about any of them in this area just yet. Also, I would usually give to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer foundation, but I plan on raising money when I run/ walk one of the races next year.