[QUOTE=cswalters;412181]Just wondering how everyone gets involved in charity, be it by giving money or other items, or volunteering, or a little of both? I have been giving money, but next week I hope to start volunteering at a local hospital.[/QUOTE]

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I find a need and try to make a dent in the needed area. I am a person that prefers to do things anonymously. As the bible says, if you are looking for praise for the good deeds in which you have done that will be your only reward....

I one year had a six foot box of plastic eggs. (My boyfriend was a garbage man) and a Drug Town store had thrown them all out in a sealed cardboard box.

So it was near Easter time, I decided to go myself to pharmacies, and stores, and such....and ask for donations in order to purchase candy to fill tons and tons of Easter eggs, I made around $30.00. So I  chipped in some money as well and got candy. Filled all the eggs and went to a poverty stricken apartment complex in my town. And left plastic Easter eggs in the front lawns of every apartment. It was a huge complex and it started down poring...(wouldn't you know) LOL!

I didn't care, I filled some of the eggs with quarters, and some with tiny cheap toys, and most of the eggs had about three pieces of candy in them.

I felt great, the best high I have ever been on!!

No camera's, no thank you's, no fame....except for my little moment hear telling the story.

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There are tons of homeless people at parks, or under highway passes, you know where to look in alleys...etc...

Make some really good dish and purchase Styrofoam containers and maybe have a blanket party with friends and family and make those soft fleece blankets you tie knots in, you know right?

Then deliver food and blankets yourself to the homeless. Find a need, and be a small miracle to someone in need.

Warmth and 'God bless"

I have a slightly more extensive survey that I'm completing for a class at Houghton College. 
Here is a link to it:

http://jayratch.com/survey.htm

It's a fairly extensive survey.  I'm trying to evaluate the relationship between religion, politics, and attitudes specifically toward supporting the poor.

I'll be doing a followup survey that deals specifically with charity and volunteerism, but first I'm focused on getting results for this one. 

If you can help me out and point friends to it to, that would be awesome, and i'll share the results (which are very interesting so far) when the stats have been analyzed.

[QUOTE=cswalters;412181]Just wondering how everyone gets involved in charity, be it by giving money or other items, or volunteering, or a little of both? I have been giving money, but next week I hope to start volunteering at a local hospital.[/QUOTE]

I think charity has more to do with the person donating. If you dont have a lot of money give of your time. If you are very busy but have some extra abundance then give financially. I try and always give 10% but when things are tight it gets hard.  I donate a lot of my time and when I started my clothing line I started taking proceeds from certain shirts and giving that to charities.

Bottom line if you are able to read this email that means you have been blessed with a computer and internet so you can give back even if it is very small. We all have something to give. God gives each one of us different gifts so we can go out into the world and make it better. Find your gift and make the world better!

Hello cswalters,

I do both.  Comparing time vs money is a little like comparing apples and oranges.  However, if I were to count up all the hours that I have volunteered, and multiply that by my hourly wage at work and then compare it to the amount of money I have donated, then I would say that I give more time than money. 

Cheers,

moa