Lisa Gergets

A bit of background...a few years ago when I started out in IM, I didn't even know I was doing IM. I was hand-making a product and selling it on a venue called Etsy and promoting the product on websites and with social media etc. Back then, 10% of all my income from sales went to Autism Speaks, because my son was diagnosed with autism when he was about 3.

We're about to celebrate his 6th birthday this Friday, and that got me to thinking...now that I'm solidly on my feet as a full-time IM'er, I want to start giving to charity again regularly like I did back then.

The Contest:
Choose the charity that you think I should donate 10% to over the course of 2011! Tell me a bit about WHY you have chosen that particular charity. Whether it's because you have a personal interest in the charity like I did with Autism Speaks, or because you generally feel strongly about a certain cause, I want to hear about it!

This contest will run until December 28th, and my husband and I will choose a winner by December 31st, based on what is written in each suggestion.

The BAG-O-LOOT!
The winner will not only get to choose my charity for 2011, but my donations to that charity will be in both our families names.

AND ALSO, the winner will receive:

• My brand new WP Amaz-One plugin and all future updates
• One of EVERY SINGLE PRODUCT I put out in 2011
• A sponsorship to the War Room OR
• If already a member of the War Room, I will purchase any WSO of their choosing up to $37 (or, if they want a more expensive WSO, I'll send 'em $37:p)

Ready? Set? GO!








Common sense disclaimer: I'm not responsible for you making money or not making money or what you do with what I give you. Void where prohibited. Blah blah blah. I'm not responsible for software problems or technical issues or hard drive failures. LOL I guess that covers it.

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flowers4love

What a beautiful idea! I'll check out the information about the charity I have in mind and post the details here tomorrow.

Thank you for starting this beautiful thread!

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UniqueMind

Hi Lisa,

That's the best b'day gift you can give to your son IMHO.

Check this:

Be a part of it — Plan India

You know what's more miserable than disease? Poverty! This particular charity focuses on kids, and their improvement in India. Please check the "Our Work" tab to get more info.

Hope this helps,

SR

[WSO] $100 in 24 Hour Challenge with "BRANDABLE VIDEOS".. & That's Just The BONUS

Sheryl Polomka

What a great challenge Lisa - you are amazing!

The charity I would like to see you give to is The ALS Association

Welcome - The ALS Association

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or in Australia it is known as Motor Neurone Disease.

My uncle passed away three years ago from Motor Neurone Disease and it has to be one of the worst diseases to have.

With this disease the neurone's stop working or stop communicating with the muscles and so all the muscles in the body slowly stop working. When my uncle had this his illness progressed fairly quickly and it wasn't long after diagnosis before he couldn't speak because his throat and tongue muscles stopped working.

Not long after that he couldn't walk and before long he was bed ridden, unable to move or speak. The worst thing with this disease is that the mind is not affected so although the body is rendered useless the patient still knows what is going on and has a completely sound mind - which in the state of the body I don't know if having a sound mind is such a good thing.

Anyway, it's not a nice disease and there is no cure so I would love for you to donate to this foundation so they can do more research and hopefully one day find a cure.

Retta

Ok, here's my entry. Volunteer firefighters all over the country. You could spread it out and every single department you give to will be eternally grateful.

Volunteer fire departments can be found in small rural areas. Most major cities have paid departments and they are paid for by our tax dollars. But small towns do not have enough of a tax base to support this and so they rely on volunteers to go out and save the lives of people or to put out burning buildings.

These volunteers give of their time on a daily basis. All training is not only on their own time, but they even pay for their own gas to get to the training many times. They get up in the middle of the night to deal with burning buildings, accident victims or even someone who has had to much to drink.

Small town fire departments could use donations to buy things like safety equipment, more training, or even a computer to help with all of the record keeping they have to do.

The reason I chose to offer up this as a charity is because I was a volunteer firefighter for 14 years and my husband still is after over 30 years. God bless people who give up their time with their own families to help yours.

http://www.hawaii-vacation-guide.org

Lex Gabriel

I suggest you donating to this cause

Colombia Humanitaria English


It's called "Colombia Humanitaria" (the info in the link is in English)

It's led by our goverment and it's trying to help people suffering from natural disasters. As you may know, ours is a poor country so the goverment is not ready to face a situation like the one we are facing these last months.

Many colombians have died, and more than 2 millions have been affected by the heavy rains. Weather guys called it "Child phenomenon"

Read the link for more info on our current situation and on how to donate

King Shiloh

I appreciate your kindness Lisa.

May the good Lord reward you and your family abundantly.

I will check out the websites of charities, if there's any, in Nigeria and bring one to your table.

Cheers.

Dennis Gaskill

Wonderful contest, Lisa! You are a beautiful person.

I'd like to nominate the Semper Fi Fund. The Semper Fi Fund helps our military heroes put their lives back together after catastrophic injury by funding specialized equipment, housing adaptation, transportation adaption, post traumatic stress disorder therapy, and physical, emotional and mental rehabilitation.

They also provide family support and help keep our military men and women from becoming homeless due to loss of income from injuries.

This is an A+ rated charity by Charity Watch. That means they spend at least 75% of the funds they raise on the cause they support, unlike many more well-known charities that spend less than half the money raised on their cause.

You don't have to agree with the wars they fight for us, but the fact is we need the military to keep our freedom. I was in the Navy. It's a hard life. These brave men and women give up so much to protect our country and our personal freedom. From months away from their family so your family is safe, to enduring the most difficult conditions imaginable, including losing their limbs at a young age and facing a lifetime of hardship ... they are there for us, putting their life on the line day and day out -- and always without complaining.

Supporting our fallen heroes is vital. They are the true warriors who make it possible for all the other charities to exist.

Thank you.

Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

Charlotte Jay

Hi Lisa,

I'm nominating the St.Baldrick's Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. We have 2 childhood cancer survivors in our family, and in my opinion that's 2 too many. Last year I shaved my head bald for this worthy cause. I raised $1k and the event raised over $28.000. It is such a worthwhile cause, if you've ever met a kid with cancer, you know how heartbreaking it is and how brave they are. You can read more about the charity here: St. Baldrick's - Home

Thanks for considering this great charity!

Sheryl Polomka

Oh gosh Lisa, I wouldn't like to be you choosing one of these, they are all such good causes!

Art.Remnet

Hey Lisa.

I'm going to select the Boy Scouts of America - likely your local Chippewa Valley Council, will be the best place for the donation. Why?

The good old BSA has had a lot to do with who I am today. The people and leadership skills have helped me both in business and in my personal life. The friends that I made over the years are still a part of my life.

While some may feel the program is not for them, the core values, team work, leadership, and responsibility that the program on all levels teaches, I believe are exactly what American youth need exposure to today.

When you get right down to it, the "IM life" rewards your for the action that you take and the persistence that you show. Like the Scouting program, you are rewarded for what you do and provide. There is no entitlement program. Scouts teaches compassionate capitalism through service to others, respect, and the the honor of working together as a team to accomplish much.

While I expect that you will receive many nominations for very worthy and noble causes, I believe that the Boy Scouts deserves consideration because of what it does for the individual Scout.

There's no better place to start education than as a youth, and there is no better youth education program for leadership and service than the Boy Scouts.

BTW, this is a great idea too!

oldwarrioruser1

What an amazing challenge! Much respect Lisa

drmani

Fantastic 'challenge', Lisa

There are an enormous number of non-profit causes you could choose
to devote your time, energy and money to.

And having done it myself, here's my suggestion/advice.

Pick one that is CLOSE TO YOUR HEART.

Here's why.

You are going to donate a portion of YOUR business profits to your
charity of choice.

When it is something you care for passionately, you will wake up
every morning FIRED UP to work harder on your business - because
that means your charity will get a bigger/higher benefit.

Kevin Riley put it very nicely to me once, when he said there were
months when cash flow was good, and he was feeling a little lazier
and could AFFORD to hold back and relax - but the thought that his
donation to my heart kids Foundation would be smaller if he did is
what kept him pushing harder to drive more sales.

THAT'S synergy.

And both your business and your non-profit will benefit as a result.

I find it energizing (and less embarrassing or forbidding) to ask
for help from people to promote things related to my non-profit work
than for my business and products directly.

Having that work in your favor is ALWAYS a good thing.

I'd pick AUTISM as your cause, because it is just so close and
personal to YOU and your family.

In every child you help, you'll see an echo of your own son - and
that is a very special feeling, one that you can sustain not just
for years, but even for decades.

One special person I know (who is also a Warrior) is Dan Reinhold
of WAHumor.com who works to raise awareness and funds for autism
every year. He does a fund raiser event, for "Autism Speaks" and
raises a son with autism himself.

Autism Speaks

You can get in touch with Dan, or maybe work out an arrangement like
he has with the foundation (I think Dan donates 10% of his business
profits regularly, plus 100% of that special annual promotion).

Hope this helps, Lisa.

And thank you for kicking off this inspirational thread - I hope
it encourages many others to follow a similar approach.

Because, in the ultimate analysis, no matter how much we give,
we are always sure to end up RECEIVING a multiple in return.

All success
Dr.Mani

sanssecret

Lisa, I'm torn. I read your initial post and was immediately going to suggest the 'Make A Wish Foundation'. Kids are close to my heart and all my own charitable donations go to kids charities.

But after reading Dr Mani's post, I can see a lot of sense in what he said. The closer you are to it, the more likely you will be driven to work harder so you can donate even more.

Whichever way you go I hope you make many millions in 2011.

San

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flowers4love

Food Bank For New York City

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King Shiloh

Now, I have found one in my country though I've not been able to visit them due to financial constraints.

The link is here:

ACYD Foundation

Please check the websites and make your enquiry pretty well before you do anything for any charity of your choice.

Cheers.

LetsGoViral

I have something different for you.

I wish you to strongly consider this, since you would not be donating to the present, but to the future.

Please read about the Methuselah Foundation - Extending Healthy Human Life.

In short:
Basically these people are working on finding a cure for aging. This would pretty much fix most of the illnesses and health problems of the world. If I would have to choose to give someone my money, I'd choose these guys. This isn't bs either, you can read more about the foundation and its founders on Wiki:
Methuselah Foundation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can donate here:
https://www.mfoundation.org/?pn=mj_donate

Their Facebook page.

Time of thinking is over.

Fernando Veloso

Merry Christmas Lisa!!

Here's a non profit association that REALLY needs help: Ajuda de Berço

They take care of new born and abandoned babies till they are 3 years old. Portuguese government closed all support to this project (Yet they want to build a new airport, a new TGV line, a new bridge over river Tagus...).

Right now, lots of people - including famous portuguese musicians and actors are trying to bring some support for this wonderful cause. Fact is - If they don't get enough funds, they'll have to close soon.

So there you have my best idea.

Wishing a merry Christmas to you all!

M Thompson

What a lovely idea, personally I would look for a local charity that you can help, any donations will have a much bigger impact than if they went to a national charity plus you are helping "Your" community.

If everyone could help fix the problem in their local towns then we'd make a big difference.

Tina Golden

There are many good causes out there so it is always hard to choose one. I also have a child with autism so Autism Speaks would be close to my heart, as well.

However, I am a big believer in charity begins at home. I like knowing that my donations go to those in need right here in my community, towards helping my neighbors. So my suggestion is to find an organization right in your home town.

My chosen charity is the Pettingill House, which operates the only local food bank, although I've never dedicated a part of my earnings like you have. You have inspired me, however, and I am now pledging to donate 10% of my earnings in 2011 to my community. Pettingill House does not only operate the food bank but also helps with emergency funding for things like rent and heat, as well as a host of other things.

I will also be seeing if I can volunteer to help them with the food bank or other things this year as I don't want to only be giving money. I feel strongly that if we each gave of our time, we can change the world starting with our very own communities.

Thank you, Lisa, for bringing this up. It has helped to solidify my own plans to help others for the coming year.

Tina

PS. Should you choose to go with my suggestion, please give the prize package to someone else that you find deserving on the forum or even divide it up between a few. I don't need it and that way more people can be helped by your generosity.

Michael Oksa

Hi Lisa,

What a wonderful, wonderful idea for a contest!

I think one of the best charities is Goodwill Industries. Here are a few reasons why:

They help people help themselves. It's teaching people to fish, rather than giving them a fish. It helps return dignity to the people who need it most. Goodwill provides useful services from beginning to end; from the time people drop of goods, to the time they are resold, and everything in between. But they also need a lot of other help to keep providing, and to expand their services.

Goodwill is noted for hiring people with various disabilities, as well as those who are economically disadvantaged (regardless of their background, orientation, etc.), but this is not done through handouts. Instead, they train people to earn for themselves. In turn, they learn valuable skill that have helped many people get jobs outside of Goodwill.

While most people think of them as relying solely on donated goods, they also accept monetary donations which can be made directly at their website. Even better, you can choose whether to support them on the local, national or international level as you see fit.

Their pledge is "We at Goodwill Industries will be satisfied only when every person in the global community has the opportunity to achieve his/her fullest potential as an individual and to participate and contribute fully in all aspects of a productive life." That sounds like a perfect fit for those of us involved in IM.

All the best,
Michael

Janice Sperry

What a beautiful and generous contest.

I would like to suggest the Autism is Treatable : Autism Research Institute.

Side note: If you go here Charity Navigator - Your Search Results you will see it has a five star rating for the actual contributed funds being used versus administrative and fund raising expenses. Autism Speaks has a two star rating. No disrespect is meant because they are very different types of organizations. I only point this out because the Charity Navigator may help influence whichever charity you choose from all the great suggestions.

Disclaimer: Just so you know the ARI also does fund research in some of the more controversial areas of Autism so for this reason you may or may not want to consider it. As an example is this news report: Trial draws fire : Nature News

P.S. If I am the winner I would like the winnings to be added in and forwarded with your contribution.

Lisa Gergets

Wow, I am simply amazed. What a great bunch of ideas!

Dr. Mani - thank you for your suggestion to keep it with autism...the thing is, since Declan has been through several therapies etc. you'd never know he has autism anymore. Strange, but wonderful! And while he was going through the testing for diagnosis, we saw so many helpless kids at hospitals with their helpless parents...it really gave us pause because WE felt like the lucky ones. There is no horror like seeing your child hooked up to machinery, just none that can compare.

On another hand, in our eight years of marriage, we've also at times been without food, and homeless with a newborn baby. We accepted charity from others at a time when we literally had NOTHING (and by nothing, I mean we had two packets of ketchup in the fridge and a few cents...really nothing, not like "oh there's nothing to eat that I like" nothing), so those charities also have a solid place in my heart.

All I know is this is going to be one TOUGH decision to make!

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drmani

You're welcome, Lisa.

No reason at all you have to stick with one. You could split your
10% contribution into portions, and give to more than one worthy
charity. Say, 50% of the total to your favorite, and the rest divided
among more.

My primary focus is the non profit I founded to sponsor heart surgery
for under-privileged kids. But I also support Dr.Paul Farmer's Partners
in Health, Frank McKinney's 'Caring House Project', and to a lesser
extent many others as and when I can.

Hope this helps, and good luck with whatever your choice you make.
It will the right one, so don't worry about that aspect

All success
Dr.Mani

Dennis Gaskill

I'd just like to point out that Dr. Mani has posted here twice (if I counted right, I get cornfused when I have to count higher than one!) and hasn't even mentioned his own charity. For those who don't know, Dr. Mani raises money for children in need of heart operations.

I think that speaks well of him that he hasn't stumped for his own charity, so if I may suggest two charities, I'd like to nominate Dr. Mani's charity as my second nomination.

Have fun choosing, Lisa. It looks very difficult to me.

Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

VanessaB

Lisa,
If I had to choose only one cause to support, it would have to be hands down, literacy. I cannot believe how many people, in this day and age, still cannot read and/or write, and it truly breaks my heart. I learned to read quite young and have always loved to read, and write apparently.

http://www.literacysupport.org/ although even your local public library can help end illiteracy.

As I grew into adulthood, and found success people were often in awe of how I did the things I did. How I 'learned' to do things was a question I was asked on a daily basis. My answer was always, "I read about it." I owe all that I am, all that I have, and all that I know myself to be capable of, to the fact that I love to read.

When I was barely a teen, a good friend of our family, who owned a few very lucrative businesses, showed me a great deal he found on something. For the life of me, I can't remember what it was, but when I asked him how he found this incredible deal, he told me "it was in the classified ads in the paper." From that day on, and I was maybe 12 at the time, I read my newspaper every day, religiously. I learned how to spot the things he spotted, and I took to the editorials like a duck to water. I learned how to 'think' from reading those editorials.

It is because I read so much, that I have developed the writing skills that I have, and because of that I can always make a living. Not everyone can do that, and even those who can read and write may not be good enough at it to make a living at it, but at least they can fill out a job application. Some people though, are deeply wounded by the woes of being illiterate.

My uncle was, and may still be, illiterate. Since I was a child I remember my family always commenting about how smart he was with numbers, and how he could take a measurement without a tape. In his youth, it wasn't so uncommon to be illiterate as it is now, and for a while, he made a living in construction.

But as the world changed throughout his life, it became more and more necessary to be able to read and write. His job prospects became more and more limited. I am sure his self esteem suffered for his shortcoming and I watched him, over the past thirty plus years, lose more and more of any chance at a good life.

Growing up in the era he came of age in, recreational drug use was common. As the years went on, he crossed a line from recreation to addiction. He was a horrible father to his children, a terrible husband to his wife. As he found less opportunities to make a living, he sunk further into self-loathing, and sought the easy way to make money. He began to sell drugs. His wife divorced him, his kids want nothing to do with him, and now, in his fifties, he was caught and is in prison.

To think how different his life could have been had just been able to fill out a job application, to know that my own success comes from that same ability, to wonder how many more people will always feel inferior because they can't read, is why I choose literacy as my cause to support.

I want nothing in return for this, and if it's not your choice, I understand completely, but since you are asking and people are reading this thread, maybe someone else will take up my cause. That opportunity alone is worth me writing this post. Thank you for the opportunity.

-Dani

P.S. The last I heard, my uncle was in the "Scared Straight Program" and is trying to get his GED while in prison.

neford

Hi Lisa good for you and there are many very good charities in this thread but I think you should think local maybe one of your local food pantry's or your local Salvation Army go hang out at a food pantry for a day and you will understand why you need to keep it local a lot of people are hurting in this down economy through no fault of their own I have long donated to many charities in the past but my thoughts lately are turning to my own local community


Norman

bareket57

Dear Danielle

Thank you for making the effort to raise awareness concerning the illiteracy epidemic. As a certified librarian who studied and researched the issue of literacy and illiteracy, I completely resonate with the point you've made. The statistics don't reflect the extent of this problem. I call illiteracy an epidemic because it's far more wide spread than one tends to believe. At our side of the globe there is a successful business man who is illiterate and he uses his money to pay personal assistants to deal with all the tasks. Illiterates learn how to go through school pretending to know how to read and write using various techniques and are never identified by their teachers. My husband's first girl friend was illiterate and she held down various jobs without her employers suspecting her illiteracy because she knew how to improvise. Only after living together for nearly 2 years did my husband realize that she was illiterate. He taught her how to read and write within 3 months. And that literally changed her life. My husband's a farmer and dropped out of school at the age of 15. But his father taught him to read and write at the age of 3 and he's been a book worm all his life; in conversation intellectuals can't believe that he never graduated from university.

Many illiterates who learn to read and write compare literacy to a blind person being given vision.

However, all that having being said, hunger is something that affects a person's survival. A hungry person isn't in a position to do anything. As Napoleon said “The Army marches on its stomach”.
Bread is food for the body and books are food for the spirit. Bread is needed to live and books give a person a reason to live.
Bottom line: both bread and books are needed for a healthy society.

As for promoting literacy – I have a few ideas. I can't PM you, Danielle, because I haven't got enough messages yet. If you are interested to discuss this important issue you can contact me via email: bareket57@gmail.com or via skype: bareket57

bareket57

Dear Dr. Mani,

I have seen your websites and I'm following you on Twitter and I hereby want to express my appreciation of the wonderful work you are doing. It is really nice to see such beautiful people with beautiful spirits meeting here on this beautiful thread. You all have my respect and appreciation.

Love & Light ♥ ♥ ♥

VanessaB

Bareket 57,

I agree with you on hunger. Though, we are still animals, and predatory ones at that, we can hunt and gather, but living in age where you need a 'permit' (fees paid to government) to hunt and no public land you can 'grow' on, hunger is a huge epidemic.

I have this dream, when my kids are a little bit older, to go and spend 3-4 months living in the woods, to teach them 'survival skills.' Those things that society and bureacracy have made us all forget. (Of course, I would need to have power and an Internet connection though, LOL.)

I will definitely email you. I always thought I missed my calling- that I should have been a librarian. I love the library. It's my favorite place to go. There's always so much to learn from the library.

-Dani

drmani

Is it permitted to do a "Challenge within a Challenge"?!

Well, here's one anyway.

Lisa asked for suggestions to donate profits from HER business.

Many wonderful non-profits were tossed into the list, by people
who were impressed and enamored by the world-changing work these
organizations or individuals are doing.

Here's the 'challenge within a challenge'.

I challenge every one who has nominated their favorite charity
for Lisa's consideration to MAKE A COMMITMENT to contribute a
part of THEIR own business profits to that charity!

Why? For one, you'll be walking the talk. But more important,
it will give your business the kind of focus, motivation and
energy that is hard to find in ANY other way!

I'd like to share a very special document written at my request
by a good friend (whom you've probably heard of, Mark Joyner)
called "The Positive Promise". You can download it here.

Try it - and watch your business EXPLODE to success in 2011.

All success
Dr.Mani

Lisa Gergets

(Dr. Mani - SHHHHHHHHH! Don't tell, but that was the bigger plan for this contest! LOL)

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dorothydot

Hi,
I'd like to suggest the Shriner's Hospital. Here's why:

A family I know has 2 boys, 12 and 9. A couple of summers ago, the 12 year old (Sean) took the lighter fluid and headed out back with his younger brother to start the barbeque grill.

Suddenly Ribbit (the mother) heard a deafening scream - followed by another and another. Flying outside, she saw Sean engulfed in flames, feet on up to above his hair.

Panic! Yelling for the younger son to call 911, Ribbit rolled and stomped and hosed her victim down till the flames were gone. Sean was burned over 60% of his body, face to ankles.

The Shriner's Hospital stepped in. Not only did they provide state-of-the-art burn care, they TOOK CARE OF THE ENTIRE BILL! Sean required well over 30 surgeries, not to mention bandage changes, nursing, life support (they had to put him into a drug-induced coma for the first few weeks), and so on.

Today Ribbit and Sean are back home. Sean is in school and doing well. The school had to be educated as to how to help Sean get through the first few months - he even had to wear one of those burn-compression face masks, in addition to his arms and legs.

Thankfully, Sean only lost one finger.

And the family is back together again, as close to normal as possible. Thanks to the Shriners, bankruptcy is not even looming on the distant horizon.

As far as I'm concerned, the Shriner's Hospital for Children is Top-Notch!
Dot

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Muhammad Hassan

One Monday morning at breakfast club at school a young boy was much happier than usual - he had a smile on his face for a change. The teacher being curious asked the boy why he was so happy.

The boy was proud and pleased with himself.

The teacher inquired about why he was proud - he had low self-esteem.

The boy was pleased that he was able to go without eating anything since Friday lunchtime when he had had his school lunch.

His parents needed the money for drugs so couldn't afford to buy him any food.

A girl would go berserk when given orange juice to drink at school. Teachers were obviously puzzled and reported their concerns.

After an investigation it was discovered that her father would always give her an orange drink after ...... not giving details, but I am sure you have an idea at what i am alluding to.

At one school (less than 300 children) the school counselor made a list of all the topics that children would discuss with them. The list was 4 pages solid.

Death threats from father, witnessed parent's murder and not knowing if mother would be alive when get home (suicide attempts) are some of the less horrific items on the list.

One child out of three made use of the counselor's service.

In the UK the charity is called NSPCC (National Society for the Protection of Children) Stop child abuse - support the children?s charity - the NSPCC. Sorry, but do not know the equivalent for US.

Being very presumptuous - IF you do happen to choose my idea then please donate the $37 to the charity.

Reading through the thread I think you're in for a difficult time in choosing, but whichever you choose you will be helping someone and that's all that matters.

For your bigger plan - I will donate 10% of any earnings I make from my IM to NSPCC. When you have chosen your charity and announced it I will send you $50 by Paypal for you to donate to it.

Please note for privacy reasons: I have never taught the boy or girl mentioned above, nor have they attended any of the schools I have taught at. Was two of the many awful stories you get to hear about in child protection training.

Lisa Gergets

There's still a couple days left to submit your favorite charity! Although I am completely overwhelmed at the decision!

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twinmom

Lisa, as others have mentioned, that is going to be one tough decision to make.

I'd like to put in my choice as well. So many have mentioned children, especially when it comes to illness. I have a child that was born with a still undiagnosed (he's 13 years old now) lung disease. Because his lung disease is severe and also unlike anything ever documented in a child, we've gone to specialist after specialist in several different parts of the country looking for a diagnosis.

With that comes travel and the associated expenses. Our first out of state trip came when he was a tiny 6 days old and wasn't expected to survive even the flight to the new hospital.

Needless to say, we had plenty of stress without having to worry about where we were going to stay and how we would even afford it. One of the social workers at the hospital my son was going to and informed us that they had all of that taken care of. They had arranged us a room at the local Ronald McDonald house. We stayed there for a month and only had to pay the recommended $10 a night "if we could afford it".

IMO, the Ronald McDonald House charities is not very well known. Well, lots of people have heard of it, but they don't realize just what it's like to need one.

Most branches will only charge $10 a night, but again, if you don't have it, they will not turn you away. But it's not just about the money. They have volunteers come in most every night and cook a huge meal (or a local restaurant might donate). After spending hours at a hospital all day, the last thing you want to think about is going out and trying to find a restaurant! It's so wonderful to come back to the RMH for the day and there being huge posts of home-made spaghetti there for anyone that wants it, at no cost. At the one we stay at, we never have to buy meals! There is plenty of "house" foods that are acquired through donations.

And in our case the first time we went, it was a true emergency. We didn't take the time to pack shampoo, etc. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to know that they had plenty of sample sized toiletries just for that situation.

Sorry for rambling, but I just can't begin to explain just how much stress the RMH relieved when we needed it the most. Having a critically ill child is something no parent should have to endure, but I can honestly say from the heart that the Ronald McDonald House helped to ease that pain.

They are run completely from donations, so any additional support they would receive is helping families in a way that's indescribable.


Tracy

iva

I will never forget that evening... The exact date and time will probably elude me at some point, but I will always remember a mix of emotions that overwhelmed me back then: disbelief, disappointment, fear, sadness... We just received the news that my mother in law was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. Having experience with this disease before (another relative passed away from ovarian cancer several years prior to this), it was clear: we were here for a battle and a hard one. Unfortunately, it turned out, it was too late. It was unbelievably hard to observe, how such a remarkable, life-loving woman was slowly becoming just a shadow of her former self. And finally, after a round of chemo, surgery, and two additional round of chemo, we lost her. We knew it was inevitable, she was in palliative care for the last 2 months of her life. Nevertheless, those final moments hit me really hard and are now imprinted in my memory forever. The hardest thing after that was to explain to our 5 year old that his grandma is gone and to see tears starting to pour out of his eyes. I think he got 1 year older during the course of just one day. Luckily, our two year old at that time could not grasp the concept of losing somebody forever just yet.
For 7 years now, first, my wife and I, and more recently together with our kids, always participate in the annual walk in support of the “ Ovarian Cancer Canada”. I would like to nominate this Foundation not just because it’s so close to my heart, but because I also believe, that just raising an awareness about this disease will have a tremendous impact. The truth is that this type of cancer is treatable and in many cases curable when detected early (stage 1). Unfortunately, in most cases it’s detected quite late (stage 3 or 4), and survival rate at that point is quite low. Educating women and primary health care providers (the disease is frequently misdiagnosed until it reaches more advanced stage) would undoubtedly save lives of many mothers/ sisters/ wives/daughters. Thank you for consideration.

Evgueni

P.S. I have to admit, I do agree with Dr.Mani, that it’s always better to give to the cause that is more close to your heart. I know that my wife and I will always support the Ovarian Cancer Canada Foundation, no matter what. I don’t write it expecting to win, in this case it really does not matter. I believe everybody who contributed here on this thread is a winner. Together, we raised an awareness about something that is close to our hearts and, hopefully, we made some people stop and think for a second and consider about making a contribution to a charity - “charity of their choice”.

Ovarian Cancer Canada - Home

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"Ask simple questions to get simple answers"

bareket57

Greetings!

I just wanted to make a point here concerning my belief about "Charity starts at home".
The politically biased media love to show certain places in the Middle East with human beings dying of hunger. However the reality here is different. We have here very rich people who donate generously to the impoverished – EXACTLY like in America and any other Western country. Personally, I live with a relatively small income. However, Praise to the Creator, I lack nothing for my physical survival nor for my spiritual needs. Thank God I have enough to eat every day. Most of my food is home grown and we also exchange our produce for other food with farmers (Lemons and Apples etc. in exchange for eggs and olive oil) in our community – so I don't need cash to eat.

There are many cynical people who sell sob stories to naïve people in America about the "terrible suffering" on our side of the globe. However, the poor people over here are no more hungry than the hungry people in New York. I confess that I have in the past needed help to buy things which I couldn't afford – in such cases I turned to my sister who has a very high income from her High-Tech job in one of the big banks in Tel Aviv or to my brother-in-law who is doing well in business in Jerusalem, with the grace of the Creator. It would never occur to me to, God forbid, take charity from anybody in America – especially when there are hungry people in New York!

Bottom line: Never believe the stories sold to you by the media – always check with your own eyes!

Margo Tuul

Hey Lisa,

Great contest here.

Here's my charity: Children's Cancer Research Fund

Why?

I've lost 2 very close people to me. My grandfather and father in law. True, both were adults, but i can't imagine children fighting with cancer.

All the best and happy new year.


Cheers

Margo

Audrey Harvey

Watoto Child Care Ministries | Global Portal

This organisation helps children in Uganda who have lost their parents because of civil war and HIV/AIDS, and have nobody to care for them. They put groups of 8 orphaned children in a home with a "house mother", and they are fed, clothed, educated and loved. Education is the key. These children are growing up and planning on being doctors, nurses, teachers and more. They could change the future direction of the whole country for the better.

tjmiller

Lisa,

What a lovely "contest!" The idea of giving back is so much at the core of what I want to do with my own IM business.

My personal favorite charity is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The mission of St. Jude's is: "to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay."

The slogan on their website is: Finding Cures, Saving Children. Simple as that. That is why they get my money.

True story: I had been a supporter of St. Jude's for years, and in 2008, I hired an assistant who had a son with disabilities. In the process of "getting to know each other" she told me that her son had been born with tumors on his corneas. Doctors told her that he would never see at all. She took him to St. Jude's Hospital, and they were able to save his vision. (He was 16 at the time I met her.)

Lisa, if you DO choose my charity, please start with sending them the $37 that would have covered the War Room sponsorship. Whatever you choose, I salute you!

Teresa

Teresa Miller~FreestyleAuthor.com

Zentech

Love this thread. I don't have a suggestion for you, but I just wanted to single this thread out for praise. What a wonderful idea for a contest. Best thing I've seen on WF today.

Lisa Gergets

Hi everyone! Been busy with guests and new years and everything, but I'm making my decision today! I'm going to kind of shake things up a bit, so be on the look-out!

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Lisa Gergets

Okay everyone.....here's what I've decided:

I'm going to run this contest FOUR times this year, and this was the first. There are so many awesome charities around that I want to spread the money around. So, the winner for the first quarter is:

tjmiller

YAY Teresa! I'll add the $37 to this months' donation, which I will donate on February 1st.

Toward the end of March, I'll start up another contest to find the 2nd quarter's charity!

Thanks everyone!

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tjmiller

Lisa,

I'm so happy you chose St. Jude's as your first new charity. It is a great cause!

Thanks again for starting this contest. It really gives me a good feeling to see people wanting to give back.

Cheers to you!

Teresa

Teresa Miller~FreestyleAuthor.com

Lisa Gergets

WooHoo! Just made my first donation to St. Jude's consisting of TJ's $37 donation in lieu of a War Room membership or WSO purchase, and Muhammad Hassan's generous $50 donation!



OH jeez. I just looked at the receipt and for some reason I added $35 and $50, instead of $37 and $50. Oh well, I'll make it up on Feb. 1st! LOL

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elimedia

still available ?

sm51

Lisa,
You have done a fantastic thing here and I hope to see more imput in 2011. As I looked over the charities mentioned I don't recall seeing any suggestions for animal charities. Maybe I missed it and will look again closely. My passion has always been horses and I can tell you from experience that horses bond very closely with special needs children. When you open this up again I will be sure to pop in and explain more in detail. Hopefully by then I am in a position to give back also.
Thank You for your kindness. It is very refreshing.

Sparklesperson

Hi Lisa,

I also have autism in my family - my two boys. Having a single autistic child is bad enough, isolating enough, but to have both my precious guys has been a huge burden. It's isolated the whole family - and worst of all, from my family.

Last summer, my oldest son (8) had a seizure that rendered him, well, crazy. We couldn't leave him unattended for a moment - literally. We ended up locking our front door from the inside so that we could attend to things like cooking lunch, using the toilet ourselves, and attending to his brother.

But we also found a solution, not only to his crazy, seizure-induced behavior, but to autism as well.

The one thing that has been most helpful to us, and to 20,000+ other autistic people, is a little program called The Options Institute. It's been shunned by the media, and the big, autism propaganda machine of Autism Speaks, which in my experience is NOT helping autistics, only profiteering off of them.

Their autism program can be found at Autism Treatment Center of America: The Son-Rise Program

We started our little Son-Rise program in mid July, and by September, when the boys went back to school, Thing 1 was doing so much better you could not tell he'd had a brain-scrambling seizure. The boys' teacher was ecstatic, raving about how well they were both doing.

The Options Institute's Son-Rise program site says they have helped 20,000 people with autism and other disabilities. I say the number is much larger, as this is NOT taking into account the countless family members who are able to regain sanity in their home life, to be able to take trips, go shopping, do all the little things normal humans take for granted, but which autistic family members cannot tolerate, and so the family now cannot do.

The Options Institute does offer training, at their location, for families of autistics. It is expensive, but they are often able to offer need-based scholarships -- because of people like us who contribute to them.

Happy Trails!
Patricia Reszetylo
http://FreeHorseGifts.com

Glengara

Volunteer Organizations: Lions Clubs International -- read the site, "Ordinary people, amazing things"

Peter Fry
www.peterfry.ie