Charities

[Don Alaska]

As some may have read in the past, my wife operates a small charity through the church we attend. We have long had an "emergency" food bank that is supposed to provide food for those in need until they can get to the regular community food bank that is only open on Thursdays every week. In the past year or so, she has expanded to aiding those in need who have utility shut off orders. She pays up to $350 once per year to those who may lose heat or light, i.e., natural gas or electricity. In the past few months, she has begun providing propane and fuel oil. Fuel oil has been provided for as long as the natural gas has been provided but only to those who have accounts and tanks to which it can be delivered. In the past few months, she (and her team--she doesn't due it all) have begun providing fuel oil and propane in small tanks or drums. THAT has opened a can of worms, as, although many here live off the roads or on lakes and rivers where delivery cannot be made, our phone has been ringing off the hook as the word spreads that "free" fuel oil is being provided. They usually want it in their own 55-gallon drums. The problem is, they can easily resell the drums full of oil. Each address can only be aided once per year, but neighbors can be helped and friends can be helped, and on and on. She has had to stop the assistance to those without accounts, as we feel the abuse is getting out of hand and funds are being rapidly depleted. Two people wanted her to provide drop-off services near them so they wouldn't have to drive so far. Those people had addresses had addresses outside our service area, so they were referred to other groups. I don't know if it is truly an increase in need, or if it is just abuse of the charity provided and paid for by others. No government funds of any kind are used for this.

 

[Kate Ellery]

Your wife has a pure gold heart @Don Alaska ….give her a big …..from the Aussie who 100% appreciates all the gardening advice from you



Unfortunately such generosity gets abused here in Australia as well , and it’s getting worse ….However I’ve never heard of anyone getting supplied and fuels or oils for heating I presume ?
I know of one charity that will assist with electricity accounts but how much or how often I don’t know

I know of a family in the neighboured who has a $6.000 outstanding electricity account however they still have the electricity connected as they come under special assistance due to being indigenous.

What annoys me is to see people lining up for and collecting …… FREE …. boxes of pre packed Christmas goodies( it’s shown on TV) and they DONT ….celebrate or acknowledge Christmas in our country .

it’s usually shown on the 7 pm weeknight current affairs program , ~ where it’s shown …in the past ~ several members of one family.? / group …..carrying boxes and putting them in fairly modern $40.000 ++++ cars ..it’s just not right …it’s supposed to be for those who are struggling to put a meal on the table for Christmas

The boxes are usually supplied by https://chrisco.com.au/

 

[Yvonne Smith]

It might be some of both, as far as whether it is more need or more abuse, and is happening more now becasue the charity is providing even more services than it used to provide for people.
The house next to us is a rental house, and we have seen people living there abuse assistance. One family had their utilities shut off, so she took the bill to one of the church charities that was helping people and got a check. The check was made out to the utility company, so there were the only one who could cash it, but it did not say specifically that it was for her house address, so she traded the check to someone else for cash and bought drugs instead of getting her utilities back on. She might have done this more than once if she went to other places that were helping with utilities, and since she had children, she always qualified for help.

Back when my children were growing up in the early 80’s, my daughter had a friend who was from a family of 6-7 kids, and their mother had all of the family on SSI payments for one reason or another, plus they went to every charity and got the free turkey and food and Christmas toys for the kids. They had whole freezers full of turkeys because they collected so many !
The father sold firewood, which was all cash, so they had several thousand dollars of income each month after everything was counted.

There is just a lot of this going on and probably always will be. Our little church in Idaho helped, too, but since it was a small town, the pastors all had meetings and called each other, so they pretty much knew what families were making the rounds of all the churches and had already claimed benefits.

 

[Don Alaska]

There are only two charities here that provide utility assistance. When my wife helps with utilities, she actually gets the account number from the person requesting assistance and we go to the office and pay the utility directly after making sure they are in arrears and not just diverting the money. When she extended the aid to people not formally on the grid is when the real questions arose. I have noticed the most of the charity in the world is provided by Christians. I have never heard of a Muslim orphanage (although they may exist) and I have not seen any religious charities who assist those not in their congregation or group. That seems to be exclusively Christian. I am especially offended by the promotion of the "Fellowship of Christians and Jews" as that doesn't seem to be a "fellowship" at all; it appears to be all one way--Christians helping Jews. I don't think there is any aid going the other direction. It is not a bad thing, but the way it is presented is not good and is misleading.

 

[Joe Riley]

2 Corinthians 9:7 says "God loves hilarious generosity"! The Greek root word is closer to hilarious than to "Cheerful".
We shouldn't 'give til it hurts', but until we are laughing! That's the way God gives. Food and heat are life-saving needs, and we should err on the side of helping. A tall order, I know.

 

[Mary Stetler]

I think is it easier to give that way locally. You can see who needs, really.
People used to come around the neighborhood for Susan Kohmann (?) breast cancer collection every year. Or we would get calls. Everyone know a woman dealing with breast cancer, they would say. But what the did not say was 80% of the donations went to those running the organization, their legal teams, advertising... leaving 20% for programs.
We had a couple of pop up requests for money at church and all gave what they were moved to and knew it would end up as it should.

 

[Marie Mallory]

There are only two charities here that provide utility assistance. When my wife helps with utilities, she actually gets the account number from the person requesting assistance and we go to the office and pay the utility directly after making sure they are in arrears and not just diverting the money. When she extended the aid to people not formally on the grid is when the real questions arose. I have noticed the most of the charity in the world is provided by Christians. I have never heard of a Muslim orphanage (although they may exist) and I have not seen any religious charities who assist those not in their congregation or group. That seems to be exclusively Christian. I am especially offended by the promotion of the "Fellowship of Christians and Jews" as that doesn't seem to be a "fellowship" at all; it appears to be all one way--Christians helping Jews. I don't think there is any aid going the other direction. It is not a bad thing, but the way it is presented is not good and is misleading.

" it appears to be all one way--Christians helping Jews. I don't think there is any aid going the other direction. It is not a bad thing, but the way it is presented is not good and is misleading.".
Don, many don't understand that not all Jews are righteous, nor are all Jews evil. it would be better if more studied scripture more than they do, especially these preachers.
But like Solomon warned, much wisdom brings great sorrow, not that I have much wisdom, but I did study some on the subject when I was converting to Judaism years ago, before I went back to Christianity.

 

[Marie Mallory]

2 Corinthians 9:7 says "God loves hilarious generosity"! The Greek root word is closer to hilarious than to "Cheerful".
We shouldn't 'give til it hurts', but until we are laughing! That's the way God gives. Food and heat are life-saving needs, and we should err on the side of helping. A tall order, I know.

Joe my understanding is to give to those who need it, not just those who want it, Bible also say's if a man doesn't work ,he shouldn't eat, not all men of course just those who are able.
I think charity basically belongs at home and that means to me not to build up the power of those who will weaken society in the long run.
America is now full of beggars and borrowers and big business who work off each other in many ways.

 

[Joe Riley]

Giving to your local food banks is always a good idea. We never know what our needs might be in future days and months. Pray for direction and when we give, we should be as generous as we can. As I mentioned, it is a tall order, but as we give, it does get easier.

 

[Joe Riley]

Helping out Fellow believers and Christians who have real needs, should be our first priority. Giving is a real way to encourage people, along with our prayers. It's never about the amount. Remember the older version of "Faith, Hope & Charity"? Its another word for love.

 

[Kate Ellery]

I give to the salvos each season ,winter time I buy a new/ unused queen size quilt for those in need ( they are sold by the salvos ) so they win win ….profit from selling the quilt and I donate it back to them right then and there at the counter

Any donations like that are moved to the salvos hall next to the shop to give to those in need

I was at the salvos last week close to where I live , when I got to the counter with the couple of books and 2 old jars ( I like old jars that hold around a Ltr
they’ve usually got largish screw on plastic tops ) I only use glass for storing nuts and other foods in pantry

My total was $10. 50 ….
cheeky me ..said …if you can round it down to $ 10 …I’ll give you another $10 for the Christmas meal he was very happy to do that for me ..so I handed him $20 note

 

[Kate Ellery]

It might be some of both, as far as whether it is more need or more abuse, and is happening more now becasue the charity is providing even more services than it used to provide for people.
The house next to us is a rental house, and we have seen people living there abuse assistance. One family had their utilities shut off, so she took the bill to one of the church charities that was helping people and got a check. The check was made out to the utility company, so there were the only one who could cash it, but it did not say specifically that it was for her house address, so she traded the check to someone else for cash and bought drugs instead of getting her utilities back on. She might have done this more than once if she went to other places that were helping with utilities, and since she had children, she always qualified for help.

Back when my children were growing up in the early 80’s, my daughter had a friend who was from a family of 6-7 kids, and their mother had all of the family on SSI payments for one reason or another, plus they went to every charity and got the free turkey and food and Christmas toys for the kids. They had whole freezers full of turkeys because they collected so many !
The father sold firewood, which was all cash, so they had several thousand dollars of income each month after everything was counted.

There is just a lot of this going on and probably always will be. Our little church in Idaho helped, too, but since it was a small town, the pastors all had meetings and called each other, so they pretty much knew what families were making the rounds of all the churches and had already claimed benefits.

Here in Australia the federal goverment introduced a card ..think it was or is …called a basics card , @Yvonne Smith

for Centerlink recipients who didn’t pay their bills including rent …or buy food for their children …. The basics card was apparently supposed to be for purchase for food / buying clothing ect …however they were not allowed to buy Alcohol or cigarettes….it was to ensure the kids had a roof and food ….but of course ….l

like everything money hungry publicans / and others came up way to exploit the recipients of the cards .
These greedy so and so’s would ask the card holders to say buy ….clothing / cooking appliances ….and the list went on..and on
and of course the people ~ who were not allowed to buy booze ….

still got it by selling / swapping what they’d bought at the store

apparently some obtained drugs by selling / trading purchased items ..the same way they got booze

And of course there is always someone to take the vulnerable down big time …..to line their own pockets

I’m not even sure if the cards still in use

 

[Kate Ellery]

A bit about the Basic Card ..I mentioned up here ^^^

Copied this ….

Yes, the BasicsCard is still in use in some parts of Australia

, primarily for participants in income management in the Northern Territory and other specific regions, though many former recipients have been moved to a new It is used at approved stores to purchase household essentials, with restrictions on what can be bought, such as NO ..alcohol, tabacco …., or gambling products.

• Continued use: The Basic is still active for some people on income management, particularly in the Northern Territory and other specific locations.
• 
  
• Replaced by SmartCard: The compulsory Cashless Debit Card program was abolished in 2022, and participants were moved to either the new SmartCard or, in some cases, the existing income management system (Basic
• 
  
• Restrictions: The card can only be used at approved businesses and has restrictions on what can be purchased. You cannot use it for alcohol, tobacco, pornography, gambling, or to withdraw cash.
• 
  
• Where to use: You can use the BasicsCard at approved stores and businesses in specific locations across Australia, including the Northern Territory, parts of Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

That seems pretty similar to our EBT card program, @Kate Ellery . The EBT card has 2 programs, however, one is only for food, and the other part actually works like any debit card and people can pretty much buy anything if they have the cash card. It is only supposed to be used for things like utilities and clothing, but many of the other stores now accept the EBT cash card, so people can use it for buying alcohol, cigarettes, and getting their hair and nails done at the beauty parlor.
It is CRAZY !
Even people who are here illegally were able to get these cards from the government, and it has been draining our cash resources that should have been used to help actual needy people, like seniors, and homeless vets, and other people who truly need the help and not just abuse the system.
Thankfully, President Trump and Secretary Kennedy are working on reforming this whole system, taking off the illegals , and being able to do more for the elderly and homeless.

 

[Joe Riley]

As a rule, organizations and government giving is poorly carried out at best. What and how we give is our personal decision. We are to give with an open hand, and not a closed fist. Some may chuckle, but it really is more blessed to give
than receive.

When we give that way, we are imitating God's Giving. God knows our real motives. When I think of the widow who gave all that she had that day in the temple' Court of the women, I am always amazed that Jesus saw her heart as she slipped her last small coins into the Trumpet on the wall. More amazing is that thousands of years later, we are still reading about her gift!

 

[Joe Riley]

I remember a time a few years back, when man approached our car, as we were leaving the food store, and explained that he was driving home, with more miles to go and was low on gas. Could we help him with gas money. We live near the Turnpike and Interstate and a lot of traffic is generated daily. He was dressed better than I was, and seemed normal.
I happened to have some extra cash with me, so we gave him some gas money and he thanked us and was on his way.

Different motives may be involved in this kind of "transaction". Even if his motives were wrong, our motives were to
help him with his problem. These different motives do not cancel each other's out. They remain the same. We try to trust God's leading in these situations, and feel like in most cases, we both are blessed.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Helping out Fellow believers and Christians who have real needs, should be our first priority. Giving is a real way to encourage people, along with our prayers. It's never about the amount. Remember the older version of "Faith, Hope & Charity"? Its another word for love.

I remember the song, great old song.
Giving to those who need help is a very good thing. i think Dons wife is a good person wanting to help others.
I'm just saying now a days people take advantage.

 

[Don Alaska]

I remember the song, great old song.
Giving to those who need help is a very good thing. i think Dons wife is a good person wanting to help others.
I'm just saying now a days people take advantage.

It is not really our place to judge folks who ask for help, but there is a responsibility to manage the gifts others have given expecting the funds and food they donate to be responsibly managed.

 

[Joe Riley]

I read somewhere that we should own 10 things... the rest...we are just stewards of! A good steward is not wasteful of his master's wealth, and early on learns to sow and plant good things, in his master's name, and for his master's gain.

 

[Kate Ellery]

Charities are over run with people looking for assistance now days ,and skyrocketing rent prices are the main cause along with electricity prices .
South Aust rent prices are between $500~ $700 a week for a basic home y son DIL pay $650 a week
I don’t know how anyone can afford those prices , and paying high rent prevents renters from saving a deposit for a home …..
So now days people who work full time are having to ask charities for help .

I grew up very poor ,myself and my sibling went to school in rags ….I left my home town at 25 with 3 kids a bus ticket and a $2 coin
My very long time deceased ex was in jail when I left …… ,st Vincent de Paul’s gave me dark grey prision blankets ( new.. one each )
he died in his early 40’s ….45 years ago

landed in South Aust at 9 pm …..just missed my connecting bus to travel up to the Riverland ( I’ve mentioned before it’s a huge fruit growing area )
I opened up the case I had and made a bed for 2 of the kids .,the other slept in the pram ….and I slept on a wood bench at the bus station under a verandah ….didnt …. have any food ( kids had a packet of biscuits ,called milk arrowroot )
but I didn’t miss food as I was starved as a kid ( I was about 39 kg back then )

the eldest of those 3 kids is 60 in Jan ….

that was 1970 ..71 and I was still living working in the same town I moved to …( to find work ) when I met hubs in 1986

So in saying all that i don’t look down on Genuine people who ask for help …been there done that …and I help as I’ve said when and where I can

it’s rumoured some “ charities “ are now ‘ businesses ‘ and run by contractors a bit like a franchise … I did ask in a huge op shop one day ( in Adelaide )
and they confirmed it was a franchise business