Holiday guide to being charitable this season.

[StarHeart333 1,764]

This holiday season I know we all wish to give to those less fortunate or help find the cure for "x" disease or whatever is being asked to tug at your little  heart strings. 

And let me tell you do not bother with ANY of them.  

"ARE YOU TELLING ME NOT TO HELP?!"

No, of course not instead I'm saying help out with areas that actually could use your help. 

Buy some extra food and give it to your local food pantry.

Go to a farmer's market and buy some fresh produce from someone that's actually in your area and wasn't shipped halfway around the world.

You'll be supporting a farmer trying to make ends meet.

donate to your local library be it money or old books you don't need anymore

https://libguides.ala.org/book-donations 

Lastly, there are many, mAAAAAAANNNY different forms of medicine that exist well beyond what the hospital or doctor will ever inform you about. I'm not going to get into the reasons why but the basic of why they can't could be several reasons why: laws and regulations prevent them for discussing it, they could risk angering a large drug company and lose millions in donations to the hospital etc. 

Just  be aware that their hands are likely tied on the matter and they have to be VERY careful what they say. ultimately, for this you really just have to do some leg work and figure out what may be the best course for whatever your dealing with. 

I know we all wish there could be some magic little pill that could cure every disease but the reality is even if two people have the exact same disease the cause of that disease could vary wildly from those two people so what may cure one could have absolutely no effect or even be dangerous to the other one.  There are simply too many variables for any kind of universal cure for all system you'd have to look at each person individually to figure out said cure. 

Sorry that was little long but just the gist of it is simply that with many of these diseases they are trying to find a cure that the cure may well already exist under a different type of medicine. 

I mean that's all I can think of off the top of my head if you have any other good ideas for how to help others in more direct ways feel free to comment below. 

And i hope all you have a merry christmas, happy Hanukah, winter solstice or whatever other holiday you are celebrating this year. 

P .S. if there is interest I could list all the known alt medicine types just be aware that it is a very very long list. 

 

[Dreambiscuit 9,691]

There are lots of charities out there but some are more effective and trustworthy than others. Personally I favor Worldvision.org, which distributes clothing, food, medicine, learning materials, disaster relief and even farm animals and other implements to make people self-sufficient in a huge list of countries worldwide. They are completely transparent so you know exactly what’s going where and how much goes to administration and stuff like that. Best of all they receive grants from government and businesses that multiply your donation up to 16X in some categories. I really love this organization because they not only send immediate help but make their recipients able to care for themselves through training and materials like livestock, plants and trees. And Worldvision even digs wells in some of the most desolate places in the world so people can have fresh water and bypass one of the biggest causes of disease. They’re a faith-based organization and serve anyone of any background or belief system, and it’s hard to find anything wrong with that.

Personally I don’t give to medical research because I don’t believe they’re out to find a cure to anything. If by any miracle they actually make any discoveries they’re promptly smothered by the FDA and all those lovely big pharma people who don’t want anything to threaten their trillions of dollars made on the perpetuated sufferings of others. Medical professionals and companies have more money than anyone on earth and they don’t need my nickels and dimes to pad their pockets.

But again, there are plenty of good charities out there, and common sense will lead donors to the right places.

[StarHeart333 1,764]

I know this sounds a bit a bit cold but I look at it from the POV as a business investment kind of.

I either need to see a real plan or I need see how my money is going grow.

If you're going to tell me that my investment will end war in the middle east SOME day then I will likewise support your idea SOME day as well.

If on the other hand you are looking to curb child trafficking in the middle east, your plan is to supporting the building of new police stations, funding to help increase border security, fund therapy centers for the child victims etc then sure why not you have an actual plan going on.and you're committed to your cause instead of just parroting to me.

That's final decision factor to me. If you're walking around in a nice $2000+ suit, driving a $400,000+ car and you look like you've never planted a single crop in your life but you want me to invest in your environmental or farming cause then I would be a bit cautious.

On the flip side if your cloths are worn, you've got dirt cakes on your fingernails, a farmer tan and you can be seen helping around areas of your environmental/farming cause then yeah you have my attention...