Americans have big hearts - their first reaction on hearing news like the Sept. 11th disasters is to reach out to help in any way they can, simply out of their great generosity and aching hearts. Sometimes it's best to sit back for a moment, or day, to access the best way this can be accomplished. There are many organizations devoted to aiding those in distress, sometimes these agencies very abundance is confusing to those who want to help. That's why it's good to give it some thought and to do a little investigating before donating. Here, I don't want to promote or denegrate any particular agency. My personal decisions are based on the percentage the agency spends on management and the balance which actually goes to those in need. You can be shocked to learn some of those numbers. Carol S.

Last night on the news I heard the Better Business Bureau has just published a booklet of charities and the percentages of their monies that actually go to victims or their cause. The news suggested going to the BBB website, which I haven't yet tried. However, I was shocked to hear that if a charity spends at least 50% of its money on victims or its cause, it was considered a good percentage! The man from the BBB said "operating costs" of charitable organizations is very high. I wouldn't have considered that a good percentage! I once donated to a mission for Thanksgiving meals for the homeless and they hounded me for 7 years with mailings almost every month - I'm certain they spent more on the mailings each year than I ever donated! They also sold my name to every charity in the country, I think. I'm sure it was them because they misspelled my name in such a way that I knew when all the other charities came in with that spelling. So sometimes we don't really know how our money is being used or how they are using it. I'm not saying all charities are like that. We need to be aware and cautious. I like the idea of giving of your time to help local charities - then you know what you've contributed is definitely useful. Marilyn G. ----- Original Message ----- From: Carol S. To: PA-PITTSBURGH-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 2:41 PM Subject: [PITTSBURGH] Re: 9-11 donations Americans have big hearts - their first reaction on hearing news like the Sept. 11th disasters is to reach out to help in any way they can, simply out of their great generosity and aching hearts. Sometimes it's best to sit back for a moment, or day, to access the best way this can be accomplished. There are many organizations devoted to aiding those in distress, sometimes these agencies very abundance is confusing to those who want to help. That's why it's good to give it some thought and to do a little investigating before donating. Here, I don't want to promote or denegrate any particular agency. My personal decisions are based on the percentage the agency spends on management and the balance which actually goes to those in need. You can be shocked to learn some of those numbers. Carol S. ==== PA-PITTSBURGH Mailing List ==== How to unsubscribe. Send a message to:PITTSBURGH-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com that contains ONLY the word, 'unsubscribe' in the text area. ============================== Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.295 / Virus Database: 159 - Release Date: 11/1/01