Charity.

How charitable are you? Do you give to beggars, dump your change in collection plates, empty your wallet at a museum or go to events in aid of charity?

I'm not an overtly charitable person - I was brought up to look after my own cash and not give it away, but these days I'll have brief episodes of altruism. In my town, there's a shelter for the homeless; they're paid to distribute copies of the "Big Issue" magazine for £1.20, and if I see someone selling it I'll usually buy one out of principle.

Also, my school throws plenty of charity events. There was a sixth form ball last term, a miniature fair in the summer, an endless string of concerts and now a send-anyone-you-like-a-carnation thing for Valentine's Day. They're things I can't really help but participate in.

One thing I won't do is simply give change to bums. I don't care if that sounds caustic, unreasonable or dismissive, but as I've already said; in this town they're given an opportunity for work with no cost of living, and having talked to a few of the guys out on the streets, they're adamantly against going into that for any multitude of reasons.

Anyone else have thoughts/interesting stories on the matter?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I am currently sponsering a child through World Vision children charities.

I only seem to drop some change in those cans at the cashier when I have a ton of pennies in my pocket and I can't seem to get rid of them any other way.

How ya doing, buddy?

How timely of this to be brought up. I've been asked to go to a church and volunteer this evening and historically I have gone and helped out but this time I may pass, stress is making it hard for me.
I usually give to the folks on the streets with their hands out and I really have a spot for women with kids.
I give rides to hichers from time to time, mostly women and I deliver goods from my church to a local charity organization in my town.
What goes around comes around, its true people have helped me out in the same ways.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I donate money whenever I happen to run across anything that I support. I usually like giving whatever I can to organizations that involve medicine or education. There are many charity events at my school as well, but I know I haven't been able to hear about all of them due to how much time I spend in my own department on campus.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

While this may not be considered "charity," I give to my local NPR station religiously, if only because I value what they do for our community.

I also donate to St. Joseph's Indian School once or twice a year, if only because they seem worth it to me.

I was speaking idiomatically.

If I have loose change or those damn Sacagawea dollars I'll give them away pretty freely. It's part of the fun of being in NYC. I only give my money to minorities though, because honestly you have to fuck up pretty bad as a white guy to be living on the streets of New York. Thankfully they don't really ask for money, because they're passed out drunk.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I donate money when I actually have money to spare. Being a poor University student. Its very difficult to give when you can't even cover your own rear. Its kind of unfortunate, but when things start going well for me financially, I will definitely give more. At the same time, I volunteer a lot of my time to non-profit and charitable organizations. Its the least I can do.

FELIPE NO

It really depends on what I can spare, or if I'm really in a hurry. If not, and I have money, I give some to tramps, and other money goes to buskers or random charities that are collecting that day in the street. Once I gave a fair bit to an animal rights charity campaigning to shut down Huntingdon Life Sciences (there have been terrible stories, and staff were videoed doing such sick things as beating up beagle puppies). I don't have lots of money to spare, but if I did, I would be donating it all. I'm a sucker for charities and worthwile causes.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Maybe about 50% of the time. One time I came out of the pawn store with $5 and just gave that to a guy who shortly afterwards asked me if I could spare enough for a meal. If the person is playing a musical instrument then I give them money, loving music myself. Other times though, I clearly have enough change but just say "sorry" and move on.

I'm motivated whenever I receive a tiny nudge. A recent example is when buying textbooks. "Would you like to round upwards to the nearest dollar for MSU charity?" Putting it that way makes it so insignificant that I almost always say yes.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm a huge cheapskate and can't remember the last time I gave anything to charity. Not sure why, because I'm a nice guy, but I just can't bring myself to part with money for a stranger, even if it's a cause I would believe in. Still, if someone I knew asked me to volunteer, or a family member really needed money (because they were destitute), I'd help out.

This reminds me of the beggar I saw in DC today. He was curled up under a blanket (in the middle of the afternoon), but he'd put an orange traffic cone with a cardboard sign reading "Homeless please give money" and a paper cup. If you're too lazy to bother begging for money, you might as well forget it.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Depends on the situation. I donate religiously through my church (haha), which distributes money more smartly to the local needy than I would be able to, and I don't generally give to beggars on street corners around here because it's so dang easy to get a job or find other means to support yourself. Plus I offered half a pizza to the local bum lady and she turned her nose up and me and wouldn't take it.

I'll typically buy a meal for someone begging at a fast food joint, too. I figure most of the time those people want smokes or alcohol, but if they'll take you up on actual food, it's worth it.

How ya doing, buddy?

Despite stereotypes about "thrifty" Jews, most of us do donate "Tzedakah" at Synagogue and other religious functions. As for me, personally, I don't donate too much, but that's only because I don't have any source of income (legitimate, anyway). I do give what is reasonable, though.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

i always give a dollar or two every sunday mass

back in high school, i used to give money to the usual bums hanging out by my school's soup kitchen as well as the ones near union station... i didn't mind.

i also donate to unicef on occasion, as well as to this program called gawad kalinga whenever my youth group has events for it. it's an initiative to build 700,000 homes in 7,000 in 7 years in the philippines. hopefully one day i could actually go help and build a city like some of my friends have.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'm not a churchgoing person so I don't give to collection or anything like that...

I was also taught to work for my money and save it...but I give a bum on the dollar if he's successful enough to win me over and if I've got the spare change.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I have began to donate something of a non-monetary kind recently.

I am now a regular blood donor. I am happy I've started doing this, and would recommend everybody do it. You just might need it yourself one day, it doesn't take very long at all to do, and you feel pretty good about yourself afterwards.

FELIPE NO

I usually give whatever dollars (<$20 mind you) I have in my pocket to the bell ringers around the holidays, since the Salvation Army helped me out a few times in my life, it s a no-brainer that I would pay them back.

How ya doing, buddy?

Usually depends. Charities come and go around my school, when my friend's aren't beating me up about how I could be using that dollar for something else, I usually give a dollar or two, or I feel guilty about it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I generally keep a hold of my money. There are odd occasions that I will give money to charity, like when someone is doing something for a charity, like a marathon, then I will sponsor them to do it. I also buy the odd raffle ticket now and then, other than that I generally don't hand out my money so freely.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'm the cheapest bastard around. I rarely will spare a dime to anyone. I don't have a job or anything, so I don't have that much money to begin with, but I cherish the money I do have.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Jack The Ripper

I'm the cheapest bastard around. I rarely will spare a dime to anyone. I don't have a job or anything, so I don't have that much money to begin with, but I cherish the money I do have.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'm not exactly cheap, when it comes to getting my round in I have no problem, but when it comes down to charity I revert to my natural Jewish ways and refuse point-blank to give them a penny.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I live in a metropolis so there are tons of beggars everywhere. When I was younger, I used to dish a dollar or two every time I would walk on the streets of downtown, though lately, as cold as it may sound, most beggars can be completely seen through and don't deserve it. Though usually I'm a sucker if it's women and/or children.

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I try to give money to various charities, and I do a few hours of volunteer work every week. I don't often give money to beggars, but when I do, I try to give then food instead of money, and I usually don't leave until they say something like "God Bless you". Since I know they can't give anything back in return, but getting them to say something nice about someone else is a good start.

FELIPE NO

Does anyone here do the Big Brother\Sister program? I know a couple of people that do that. Theres something about giving your time for something else whether it be a religious cause and volunteering\going to a 3 world country and helping people). Unfortunately I have rarely gave my time for a charitable cause unless it was family. I don't have much money either but I usually spend it on myself.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

No, actually, but I always thought it was a good idea to watch over someone younger then you. My high school used to have an enriched program for more performing students I had to take part of. It was pretty simple work, but they added obligatory community service to make the kids look all the more noble. So I spent a while in the neighboring hospital helping the elderly and etc. If that counts as charity, then yes.

Jam it back in, in the dark.