Charity - What is normal?

What do you guys do (if anything) to help out your community, church, the world, etc in terms of charity?

I'm just curious what is considered 'normal' because I've been told that I am not a normal person when it comes to giving.

For example, my daughter plays volleyball and we attended a game at a school in East Chicago, IN. East Chicago is a very low income community, mixed race, many areas run down, and not really the best place to be caught after dark if you don't belong there. I noticed the girls on the team from East Chicago only had 1 volleyball and didn't have things like "team socks" like all the other girls from all the other schools so I contacted the school principal and arranged a donation to buy some equipment for their athletic department and gave enough to treat the kids to ice cream. Is this odd? Honestly, I wished I could have given more. Do other people do this?

If not, then what do you do?

Bob,

There is no "normal" as far as giving is concerned. Charitable giving is only 2.4% of the US income. I have clients that give 60-75% of their income.

My wife and I give a weekly offering/tithe of 10% of our income to our local church. We also contribute an amount to our alma mater, a nearby private college. Financial support is also given to our local public school via various fund raisers they sponsor. (We would rather contribute a dollar amount then buy the "junk" the kids are asked to sell.) We also volunteer time to our church, schools, college etc.

We do it because we want to and we believe in and support the organizations. It is a matter of priorities.

Kevin

Kwiens said:

We do it because we want to and we believe in and support the organizations.

Click to expand...

Well that sounds a lot like what we do. So does that mean you are NOT normal or does it mean I am normal?

Bob,

Yes!

Statistically there is no "normal"; just mean, mode, average, etc............


Kevin

10% of our combined income will be "donated in some way" by the end of the year.

We'll usually do that for a church that we attend, and since we're still looking for one that we feel comfortable with since we moved, money that we don't "donate weekly" will accumulate (sp?) until we find a "good cause" that both my wife and I feel could use the money.

B_Skurka said:

Well that sounds a lot like what we do. So does that mean you are NOT normal or does it mean I am normal?

Click to expand...

If you must know, you are NOT normal Bob.

We give where we see and feel the need. One example:

My daughter plays fastpitch softball. A girl on one of the tournament teams was diagnosed with cancer, so the parents and sponsors got together and put together a charity tournament to help her family with the cost of treatment. Cancer has touched both my family and my wifes family. In addition to the tournament, I wrote as large a check as I could afford to this girls treatment fund.

We have done mail outs for the Lukemia and Lymphoma Society in our neighborhood as well.

We do not give to any church or attend any church presently for various personal reasons.

I've volunteered to sponsor gifted students whose parents could not afford to send them on school trips and served as a chaperone.

It just depends on the need and the individual circumstances for us. We don't give a regular stipend to any particular charity at this point in our lives, but that could change someday.

Bob, you are above and beyond normal. You saw a need and filled it. Not because it was your daughters school. You have no ties to this school yet you helped them out. I think that's awesome. I donate but, it's more like the others that posted already. To church, schools and local charities and the cancer research group via a payroll deduction. All easy to do. You had to go out of your way to do what you did for that school. I commend you for it and thank you ..... your causing me to think outside of the box on how I can be more helpful.

I decided years ago to stop donating to charities and organizations because I personally know so many people who are in need. So what I do instead of donating money to charities is I pay my employees higher-than-market wages, give friends money when they're in need, tip underpaid service workers well, and any other spontaneous giving that crops up in daily life.

Second, I don't often volunteer and if I do it's usually for social reasons (to get out of the house and meet nice people) rather than because of a moral imperative. Most of my donated time comes in the form of helping people I know who are in need --- giving people rides, taking care of pets, baby-sitting and tutoring kids, helping with a move or with yard work. In addition, I pay attention to what's right in front of me --- I pick up trash, I'll remove or move dog poop or broken glass that someone might step on, little things like that.

Charities do a lot of good work but I think it's a shame that we don't just incorporate that into our daily lives instead of having to set aside "charity" as if it were something that is separate from ordinary moment-to-moment conscious compassionate living.

Doc said:

You had to go out of your way to do what you did for that school..... your causing me to think outside of the box

Click to expand...

We live in a very wealthy nation but even with that there are needs everywhere that can be filled. Honestly I was impressed with the sportsmanship exhibited by the girls and the coach of the opposing team. We beat them badly, the ref made some bad calls that would have helped his team and he corrected the ref even when it cost his girls points. That spoke volumes to me in what values he was teaching his girls. His attitude is probably what caused me to do what I did. I guess it was a matter of circumstance. We can all do stuff to help, sometimes in big ways, sometimes in little ways. But as some other people have written, sometimes direct assitance is the right way under the circumstances presented to you.

Doc said:

Bob, you are above and beyond normal.

Click to expand...

Enough said and 100% true.

I'm not a "regular" giver to churches and such.

I do latch on to things that (I believe) are worthwhile.

We recently built a house for a family with 5 kids that lost their mom in a car accident (and Bob S contributed to this).

I donated to BigAl's initiative to educate kids in Panama (again, as did Bob and others).

I (again, through Bob S's initiative) worked to get DVD's and such to our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I'm not going to look up the definition of "charity" but I help friends, family, neighbors, etc., to the extent that I often get in trouble with Mrs. Zoom in that I'm frequently gone helping someone else while things at the homestead are falling apart.

I suck when compared to you guys. You make me feel like a big selfish oaf. Now I know I'm really going to hell.

PBinWA said:

I suck when compared to you guys. You make me feel like a big selfish oaf. Now I know I'm really going to hell.

Click to expand...

Think about how you treat people each day. The clerk at the store, your neighbors, etc. That's all part of charity. Just because you don't commandeer a busload of emergency supplies to a disaster zone and single-handedly rescue 500 people doesn't mean you aren't a charitable person. The main advantage of being involved in organized charity is that you get social connections and tax decuctions. Otherwise, any form of charity is the same. If you're a jerk toward people in your personal life AND you don't give or do anything for anyone, then maybe you DO suck...

DingoTango said:

Think about how you treat people each day. The clerk at the store, your neighbors, etc. That's all part of charity. Just because you don't commandeer a busload of emergency supplies to a disaster zone and single-handedly rescue 500 people doesn't mean you aren't a charitable person. The main advantage of being involved in organized charity is that you get social connections and tax decuctions. Otherwise, any form of charity is the same. If you're a jerk toward people in your personal life AND you don't give or do anything for anyone, then maybe you DO suck...

Click to expand...

Alright, thanks DT now I feel like I suck just a little less. I'll try and return that truck load of generators later today.

PB, I tend to agree with Dingo on the concept of charity. I do not give 10% to my church. In fact I have no idea what % I give them but I'm sure it is less than 10% by a pretty good margin. But I do give some to the school at the church I attend. And I give some to the school my daughter attends (a different school). And I give little bits here and there. Sometimes I give money, sometimes I give 10 minutes of conversation to try to help, inspire or console someone. Sometimes it is just as simple as giving old clothes, appliances, or other items to Goodwill or AmVets instead of having a "garage sale" and trying to 'make money' on your old stuff. A few times a year I ask my daughter to go through her books and videos to see what she has 'grown out of' because the subject matter is 'too baby' for her. . . whatever she picks out that she now longer wants (and she is allowed to keep everything) is then donated to the day care/nursery school at the church. She knows it frees up shelf space for new book, she knows it doesn't 'cost' her anything because the items are essentially discarded by non-use, and she gets to take the stuff in and make the donation herself so she learns to feel good.

And sometimes I'm a jerk too. Hey we are only human and we all have our own problems too!!!

To me, the concept of charity is something that I consider every day and often it is more important to do little things while other times there is an overwhelming need and an organized charity is the proper answer.