The Generosity Experiment: Day 7
Finding out what happens when you look for opportunities to give. To start from Day 1, click here.
I’m sure you’re like me, sorting through a mailbox full of requests for donations. It can be overwhelming knowing who and where to give. I want to be a good steward of what has been entrusted to me, as I’m sure you do, too.
I’d love your help. How do you decide where to give? Who is on your list?
Please let me know what ministries, organizations, and non-profits deserve attention and help this year. I’ll compile a list and share it with everyone. Respond by Wednesday, December 9th. Thanks in advance!
By: Someone You May Know
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Gloria’s Angels
http://gloriasangels.org/portal/
Having lost my mother in Oct. These people were the greatest…
Hospice of the Valley (Phoenix, AZ)
http://www.hov.org/
I find that I am donating to the red kettles this season. I do have a story to tell you–my daughter and I were shopping at Sams Club over the weekend and she happened to find a 10 dollar bill on the ground. She had heard me talking about the generosity experiment alot over the past week and the red kettle just happened to be there, so she unselfishly put the money in the pot. I was so proud of her for that. I know she felt great in her heart after that and maybe now the generosity will continue. Thank you for your inspiring ideas.
Cheryl Sims
My daughter and I have a tradition of donating to the Salvation Army everytime we see a bellringer. We have been doing it since she was a baby and she is 14 now. Sometimes it is 1 or 2 dollars or sometimes it is a handful of change but it is always something.
Donate some money to your church’s student ministries. Help a kid go to summer camp. Since I have been working with the middle schoolers at my church, I’ve seen what a difference a week away from the “real world” can do in a teen’s life. Especially now, a lot of parents can’t afford to send their kids.
Children’s Shelter of Cebu: http://www.cscshelter.org/
Berean Missional Church and Harvest Youth Movement: http://bemissional.org/
Pick a project and give at Global Giving: http://www.globalgiving.org/
Children’s Shelter of Cebu: http://www.cscshelter.org/
I’ve been there and seen their work for Christ on behalf of homeless children in Cebu, Philippines first hand and it is incredible!
Thanks for the chance to share about this wonderful ministry!
We are donating to Restoring Hope International, which is a fairly new organization started by two couples in our church. They are raising money to build homes for orphans in South Africa. They are good, good people and the work they have already done there is amazing. Their website is http://www.restoringhopeint.org/
We also give to the Salvation Army whenever we have change, and will donate clothing and stuff to a crisis pregnancy center as soon as I get it all together.
http://www.charitychecks.us/
is an organisation that we may work with this Season. Their website states:
……………………………………………..
YOU
There are three charities that I am supporting this year
Charity Water – http://www.charitywater.org
MochaClub- http://www.mochaclub.org and lastly the organization that I work for, I see daily where the money goes and how its used to impact the lives of the children we serve
New Community for Children http://www.ncfc-dc.org
We donate throughtout the year to World Vision (www.worldvision.org)through child sponsorship. We always choose something from the World Vision gift catalogue at Christmas, which allows us to purchase a goat for a family, or buy a share in a well that will provide water to a community, etc. My kids love getting the catalogue and choosing where to make our donation each year! We also donate locally through the “angel tree” at our church, which provides needed items to families in need in our local community.
The Salvation Army – Angel Tree for local boys and girls.
We love to sit as a family and pick out gifts from the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas catalog. There, you can donate anything from dairy animals to mosquito nets to sports gear for families in need across the globe.
Help support a local missionary.
Angel Tree networks.
Love reading the other comments, too. Good stuff!
As a general rule, we only give to Christian charities, knowing that non believers will give to other things like National Parks, Cancer research, Autism research etc.
This time of year we give extra to Prison Fellowship Angel Tree and Central Union Mission here in Washington DC
New Hope Orphanage in Busia, Uganda
http://www.newhopeafricanchildren.org/New_Hope_Ophanage_-_Busia,_Uganda.html
i often give to http://www.fh.org or Food for the Hungry they offer a wholistic approach to feeding and supporting the worlds poor through support in education, food, ministry and you can give one time donations as well as sponsor a child from any number of countries.
but this year i am trying to rally support for a smaller organization…All Nations Mozambique is an organization led by a married couple with their three boys that cares for high risk orphans (often with AIDS or HIV) and believes in sharing Jesus generously and always with their Mozambican community and the children they take care of. They currently have two baby houses with a total of aproximately 30 kids with the intention of each house opperating as a family. Pieter and Rika are constantly getting asked by the state to take more as they are one of a few if the only place that currently takes babies. Pieter and Rika believe in growing these children up with the knowlege of Jesus and are hoping and praying that they will grow up to become leaders of change for Mozambique. Pieter and Rika are an amazing couple who have breathed God’s life and love into some beautiful children many of whom have been at death’s door and are now currently thriving.
For more information and how to give please go to http://www.sponsorachildafrica.com
not sure why those links didnt work the first time but gonna try this again.
http://www.fh.org/
http://www.sponsorachildafrica.com/telma.html
Friends of ours have a home for orphans in Cambodia, Bykota House … I recently blogged about it here:
http://mrsbroccoliguy.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/monday-morning-in-cambodia/
I love Children of the Promise, an infant care centre in northern Haiti. there is amazing work happening there; COTP takes in orphaned, abandoned and sick babies, whenever possible children are reunited with their Haitian families and if that isn’t possible adoptions are facilitated
http://www.childrenofthepromise.org
Here are some of the charities we are supporting this year:
World Vision gift catalog – bought a pig, and put a pig ornament on our tree to commemorate
Save the Children – sponsoring a child
Salvation Army Angel Tree – we always sponsor two children, giving them each some clothing and some toys. We used to sponsor children who were the same ages and gender as our kids, but now our kids are too old, so we usually sponsor whomever they say needs it most.
We like to do local and international things:
- sponsor 2 girls with Compassion International – a wonderful organization doing amazing work to stop poverty in Jesus’ name – a year round commitment with a special Christmas project!
- 2 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child with Samaritan’s Purse. – local church women’s group collected for the local food bank at their program last week.
- picked a 3 yr. old girl to sponsor from our town’s Angel Tree.
- will give to Canadian Lutheran World Relief – a bag of potatoes for a family in Peru, chickens for a family in India and towards water wells in Africa – instead of gifts to friends and parents.
- my family is filling Thermal Mugs of Joy for The Mustard Seed Church in our 2 big cities.
- will help deliver presents with Santa’s Anonymous in our nearest city.
Check out Northwest Haiti Christian Mission and the variety of ways they are being the church and bringing the love of Jesus to Haiti! http://www.nwhcm.org
I just found this tonight on another blog.
http://www.sweetsleep.org/index.html
This year my husband and I decided to donate to charities in lieu of giving gifts to family members. We were feeling weary of the whole mess of going to stores, using our limited income to pick out material gifts for our relatives that were both within our budget and provided something they might want or need. We had almost decided not to give anything at all beyond cards to everyone, and then I came across the idea in an email newsletter of donating money to charities instead of buying more stuff for people. We loved that idea and decided to run with it. It allows us to know that even small monetary gifts will have a much bigger impact in needy communities overseas. For example, one of the gifts we picked out from Samaritan’s Purse was to provide clean water for a single family for $18. That same amount might have purchased a DVD or a book for a family member (they already have plenty!) It feels so much better to us, and hopefully it will feel better to our family as well, to have our money and gifts go to filling a legitimate need. When we exchange gifts at Christmas, we will still give cards to each family member, but we will also include a note letting them know what we decided to donate in their honor. Another great part about this is that we were able to personalize the donations based on the interests of our family members. For example, my aunt is a vet’s assistant; animal rights are very important to her, so we donated to the World Wildlife Fund in her honor. We had a lot of fun matching each person on our list to a different charitable gift, and we hope it will become a yearly family tradition for everyone.
To get back to the original question, the organizations we decided to donate to were Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision, TEAM, and WWF.
Heavenly Treasures – an amazing organization which I support, doing God’s work and sharing His love in so many incredible ways.
http://www.heavenlytreasures.org/
From their website:
Our mission is to serve together with others worldwide to support the Christian micro enterprise network through product and project development, market placement and distribution. Heavenly Treasures partners with others to help the poor through Livelihood Projects.
The Heavenly Treasures Network consists of 50+ micro enterprise livelihood projects in 13 countries. The participants request help with developing more marketable products and helping them with an
http://www.heavenlytreasures.org
A micro-enterprise network helping 5000+ people in 13 developing countries become self sufficient through small business.
they have great products and are seeing lives being CHANGED in a huge way. visit their e-commerce site http://www.hthandicrafts.org