At the risk of sounding like a callous grinch with no heart

[HeartRN]

I gave the change left over from driving thru McDonald's today to the Katrina fund. Does this count? I think it was about $2.91 :! I am actually trying to find people who have been displaced to VA to give some baby girl clothes to...I thought this would make me feel great, help out a lot, plus get rid of some stuff (and even if we had another girl someday, oh well...)

[PrincessFiona]

I didn't give money, but I did drop off a bunch of children's clothing and some baby stuff that I had intended to bring to 'Once Upon a Child'. They had a drop-off point here because we were expecting 3000 evacuees.

The evacuee's trip has been postponed and now there are reports that they may not come after all.

[Rapunzel]

We contributed $100 to our church's humanitarian aid fund (we've got a fairly large amount of aid being coordinated by the LDS church with the help of the Red Cross) this last week in addition to our normal $50/month in fast offerings that goes towards welfare needs.

When I get "hit up" for money from someone on the phone or in person I always decline because it's very hard to tell the legitimate charities from the swindlers. Generally a good response to these pleas for money is, "No". Period. People can think what they want - you are under no obligation to provide an excuse for not giving money to a complete stranger who may or may not be legitimate. I feel absolutely no guilt in saying this myself.

Jennifer

[Meenah]

When I get phone calls I tell them to mail their request because I do nothing over the telephone.
Luanne