Here's something to cure a bad mood...

[salsabike]

I was mildly grumping around this morning, for reasons too silly to even bother describing, but I was doing it anyway.

Then I sat down to write my annual donations-to-charities checks. I am far from rich, but I can always afford to give some money to organizations I really, really care about. So I sat here and wrote my little checks. I remembered going through my parents' papers this August after my mom died, and finding an old handwritten list my dad kept of their charitable donations, for tax purposes. It must have had 20 or 30 different charities on it. Some of the amounts were small. It ranged from, I think, $5 to $50. But they were all wonderful charities and many of them were the same ones I give to now. I brought that list back with me, just because it was so typical of my parents.

Grumpiness all gone now...:)

[Lifesgreat]

Nice post! I, too, find that giving and serving lift my spirits. Also, what a sweet list to keep and review.

[RoadRaven]

Our best pressie this year was from my sis-in-law... she doesn't usually "do" pressies for everyone, but she discovered the OXFAM website...

She gave us 5 handfuls of seeds (we love to plant things), my ma-in-law got ywo ducks (she's a duck fan), her in-laws got 25 trees (they have always wanted to buy land and plant trees)...

The beauty is, we didn't get the seeds, ducks, trees and various other things... we just get a card telling us that we now have these and whereabouts in the world they have gone! Like the cahrity checks - a great gift to people who will really appreciate it.

I love that you have found, Salsa, that like your parents you give to similar/same organisations. It makes that link with those people you loved so much stronger.

Thank you for sharing, its made me think about my grandparents who always gave too...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Wonderful heartwarming posts, ladies.

I can't afford to give too much, but every year, twice a year, I give some money to a local woman who runs a cat rescue organization. I have adopted one cat from her and seen her work first hand...she works tirelessly. The cats that she helps are in starving, injured, and diseased condition- she only helps cats that are truly homeless, hopeless, and abandoned. Some of these cases are absolutely heartbreaking. That's the only charity I give to. Wish I could add a few more, but...

Anyway, that's what I do. Writing her a check this evening. :o

[snapdragen]

I did something similar to your SIL roadraven - Brother and SIL got a llama, sister got a goat (through Heifer International), and my two dear friends gave bikes to a couple of kids (TurningWheels for Kids).

[RoadRaven]

Excellent, Snap

I really like this idea so much.

Guess what birthday pressies will be for people I gift in 2008!!!?

(With Oxfam you can apparently gift a bicycle too..... :D )

[salsabike]

Yup, we've been talking about switching to this as well. Seems like it could be lots of fun and really meaningful, to pick a charity for each family unit, or whatever, that represents something they really care about. E.g., my sister-in-law's brother just died of early-onset Parkinson's, so a donation in her name would mean a lot to her. Etc. I would love to do it for all next year.

PS Although I would have to fight off a serious, serious urge to donate to the ACLU in the name of a very, very conservative relative. Would I lose this fight? Perhaps....

[bmccasland]

Just a thought... but when you're donating to a charity as a gift for someone, maybe consider it's a charity they actually support - philosophically or otherwise? I remember getting a card that X dollars was donated to a charity in my name, that 1) I never heard of and 2) once I learned about them, didn't like their politics. My thought, uncharitable that it was, was gee thanks. I'd prefer donating to someone else, and you still get the tax write off.

And yes, I wrote my share of year end checks. To those of you who support Habitat for Humanity - there are many folks in the still storm-ravinged Gulf Coast who really appreciate your generosity! And to the churches that are still sending construction crews, THANK YOU!

[OakLeaf]

Something that we did this year that we haven't considered consciously in the past: paid attention to what proportion of our giving was local, what was national, and what was international. Just something to think about.

Along the lines of donation-as-gift and matching the charity to the person in whose name you're giving, I have to share this. My grandmother, a staunch Democrat, passed away last year after an amazingly full life. Her funeral notice asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Democratic National Committee. That had to p*ss off her Republican and Green friends - but it's entirely appropriate for a last wish I think :)