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NicoleILS
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| Posted: Sept 14 2013 at 2:23pm | IP Logged
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We are military and have the Combined Federal Campaign coming up and like to support charities through this campaign, mostly because contributions come from your paycheck, which is good for us for various reasons. I often get overwhelmed by all the incredibly worthy charities and end up being very indecisive about whom to support. The typical "so much to do so I do nothing". I would love to hear if anyone here can recommend any charities for us to really look into. I am looking for suggestions because a name can mean so little these days and I would go crazy investigating everything. One could find something that claims to help with healthcare, and they could well be funding abortions. There's even a Catholic pro-choice charity I've already found. I especially feel a pull towards senior care of some sort and pro-life, though the later could be adoption, pregnancy support, etc. We are overseas and due to frustrating rules, can only look at national charities. Thank you much!
Nicole S.
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guitarnan
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Nicole, this is going to sound a bit strange, but are you not free to skip the CFC and contribute to local charities you know about,such as crisis pregnancy centers? (Unless your husband is the CFC Coordinator, of course!)
You might be able to set up recurring transfers from your bank account to the charity's account (just as our church sets up weekly/monthly contributions from parishioners who prefer not to use weekly envelopes). It's worth emailing a charity to ask if this can be done.
We're a military family and there are some years we don't do CFC.
I know it's easier to go the CFC route, paperwork/tax planning wise, but there's e-giving technology out there that could make contributing to smaller charities easy, even when you're stationed far from home.
One charity I might suggest is worldwide, accepts donations to its individual senior homes (not to the national organization), but meets your senior care requirement and has online giving options. It's the Little Sisters of the Poor in Baltimore. This order is dedicated to caring for the elderly poor. They do great work in Baltimore at St. Martin's Home and lovingly tend to all the needs of the seniors they serve. I don't think they participate in CFC at the national level, based on their online info, though.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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jawgee
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Some of our favorites:
Catholic Charities
Catholic Relief Services
The Couple to Couple League
St. Charles Children's Home (a local and very worthy organization)
Birthright International
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
The Catholic Cup on Facebook
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MaryM
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How can you tell which charities are eligible for this? I have no idea if they are on the list but I would suggest FOCUS. They are doing amazing work to keep kids Catholic in college. A tremendous number of vocations coming out of FOCUS as well. We are benefitting from that in Denver diocese. I know it is nationwide as well.
Just a heads up: Catholic Relief Services has come under scrutiny this summer (and in the past, too) for links to pro-abortion groups. Here is a Life Site News press release from earlier in the summer.
Quote:
BALTIMORE, Maryland, July 19, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-life leaders are expressing outrage after LifeSiteNews.com revealed Thursday that the U.S. Bishops’ foreign relief agency is funding a leading abortion-marketing firm.
Catholic Relief Services is distributing a two-year $2.7 million grant to Population Services International (PSI), which networks and trains local providers throughout the developing world to offer “safe abortion.”
"Somebody has to get fired over this,” said Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). “We fight groups like PSI all over the world and now we find our own church funds them. It's disgusting and for one I am bone-weary of these types of revelations. Heads should roll."
Fr. Shenan Boquet, president of Human Life International, said he finds it “incomprehensible” that an organization like PSI was deemed worthy of Catholic funds.
PSI’s “primary mission has always been to promote contraception, abortifacient drugs, condoms, and even surgical abortion,” he said. “Like many other population control groups in the mid-1990s, they started to rebrand their mission as being about 'health', using more positive language and adding malaria-prevention programs to their portfolio. But this should not confuse anyone as to their purpose.”
Judie Brown, president of American Life League, said the news was “not surprising.” “Catholic Relief Services has historically been advocates, although not publicly – behind the scenes – advocates of population control in the Third World,” she charged.
Brown’s point was echoed by Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, who said CRS implicates itself in population control by the very fact that it receives over two thirds of its funding from USAID.
“CRS knows very well what the principal purpose of USAID is. And it tries to, in various ways, to massage that purpose, and avoid being implicated in the purpose of population control,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, they know who’s paying their salaries, and that’s why the money goes to CARE, that’s why the money goes to PSI, that’s why the money goes back and forth to other population control agencies, because that’s what their masters in the federal government demand of them.”
“This is not an agency of the institutional Catholic Church. This is a separate aid agency, which, because it receives two thirds of its funding from the U.S. government, is Catholic in name only,” he added. “No man can serve two masters.” |
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FOR THE FULL ARTICLE VISIT: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/heads-should-roll-pro-life- leaders-react-to-u.s.-bishops-agencys-funding-of
Then on the other side, USCCB has issued this statement a few days ago - supporting Catholic Relief Services.
Quote:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS), established in 1943, is the international humanitarian agency of the bishops of the United States. Last year, CRS served more than 100 million people in 91 countries. Through CRS, the Catholic Church in the United States helps the poorest of the poor around the world in response to the call of the Gospel, based on the teachings of the Church and following the example of our Holy Father. Its service around the world makes us all proud.
Sadly, in recent weeks some groups have raised questions about this extraordinary witness to the Gospel of life. They have raised allegations about CRS’ adherence to Church teaching and its identity as a Catholic institution.
In light of this, and based on thorough investigations into the concerns, we wish to assure the Catholic faithful that CRS fully and faithfully adheres to Church teaching in fulfilling its mission of mercy. In particular:
It is and has been CRS’ policy never to distribute or promote artificial contraceptives or abortifacients or to promote abortion.
All of CRS’ life-saving work to provide food and clean water, to fight malaria and other diseases, to promote education, and to help the poor find ways to support themselves and their families fully conforms with Catholic teaching.
CRS has a very strong training program for all of its nearly 5,000 staff around the world. In 2012, it expanded this program to include an agency-wide tutorial, "Protecting Life”, that informs staff of the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of life, contraception and abortion and explains CRS’ requirement that they uphold this teaching in their work.
CRS has a careful vetting system to ensure that its activities and partnerships with other groups or governments are forms of cooperation that do not violate Catholic teaching. As CRS’ work necessitates collaboration with a broad network of partners in complex environments with a regularly changing focus, this system is constantly reviewed and updated. The agency welcomes questions and concerns offered in a spirit of Christian charity. If any weaknesses or problems are found assessment and action are undertaken to correct the problem.
CRS represents the Catholic community of the U.S. at the invitation and with the support of local Church leaders in 91 countries around the world. CRS’ activities must be acceptable to those local Churches, follow their policies and the policies of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. If questions or concerns are raised by the local Church in any of the countries served, they are addressed and resolved.
We want to make it clear that those making these public critiques, albeit, we hope, in good faith, do not speak for the Catholic Church and we advise the Catholic faithful to exercise caution and consult the CRS website for clarification before endorsing or giving credence to the groups’ critiques. At the same time, we do urge the Catholic faithful to continue to support Catholic Relief Services. The U.S. Catholic bishops stand firmly behind CRS in its commitment to promote and defend human dignity and the sacredness of every human life from the moment of conception until natural death, and at every moment in between. |
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It is hard to navigate the waters with the conflicting information, but it pays to be as informed as possible when making donations to charities.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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NicoleILS
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| Posted: Sept 18 2013 at 7:55am | IP Logged
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Thanks for the replies. We do support some charities outside of CFC, but my husband likes to participate in CFC, so we do. We are overseas right now, and not well connected with the local charities in the country we are in. But we do support a couple back home. Like I said before, finding good causes to support should be super easy, but it can also overwhelm and it helps to have personal recommendations, and I appreciate it.
Nicole
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Betsy
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Good Suggestions Above...but I will add a few more.
Catholic Answer
EWTN
Both of these Apostolates bring good, solid Catholic information to the people and only operate on donations.
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ImmaculataDesigns.com
When handcrafting my work, I always pray that it will raise your heart to all that is true, modest, just, holy, lovely and good fame!
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3ringcircus
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We donate to the local St. Vincent de Paul. They have a thrift store and help those in need, including women w/ crisis pregnancies.
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Christine
Mom to my circus of boys: G-1/06, D-1/04, S-4/10
Started HS in Fall'12
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knowloveserve
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Speaking of Human Life International... it's a great group if you are interested in the Pro-Life movement. We've had Father Boquet and Father West over a couple times and love these men and the work they're doing tremendously! They truly make a difference.
We support CFCA also and have two "adopted" daughters through them.
And I agree with the recommendation to support FOCUS... college campuses are as much of a needed mission field as anywhere else, and more-so!
Lastly, another recommendation for the good old St. Vincent de Paul. Their marketing isn't glamorous and their thrift stores are often more run-down than others... but they are still one of the primary first-lines of help for locals in need.
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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knowloveserve
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p.s. That bit about CRS is shocking; thank you for the info on it! They were my favorite "big" charity to donate to!!
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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jawgee
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Thank you for that information about CRS. My husband and I need to discuss this and pray about it. Very concerning.
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
The Catholic Cup on Facebook
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cheesehead mom
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In the wake of the the great need in the Phillipines and the fact that CRS has a presence there I thought I would mention that in talking with a friend who works full time in the pro life movement that it was his understanding that the complaint about CRS was based on erroneous information. Which may be why the USCCB issued such a strong statement in support of CRS: http://www.usccb.org/catholic-giving/opportunities-for-givin g/catholic-relief-services-collection/support-for-catholic-r elief-services.cfm
I too try to not support charities/companies contrary to the teachings of the church but we also need to be careful that we do not pull our support erroneously.
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amarytbc
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About CFCA-we supported several children for almost 10 years and then about 2 years ago we learned that one of our sons was going to a new school. I don't remember the name, but it was clearly muslim. He was from El Salvadore and his family was devout Catholic, however after going to the school for a few months we received a letter in which he was clearly now muslim. I called CFCA and they explained that the there is no guarantee the money will go to a Catholic organization. I understood that from the start, but in this case the child was already Catholic. Upon looking into our other children's schooling more closely, I realized that he wasn't the only one attending a muslim school. We no longer support CFCA.
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Recommended Charities
