It is such a
nice idea for those
lucky enough to be recieving a
tax refund check to turn and give it to
charity. It is as nice an idea as a
holiday where everyone plants
a beautiful garden and then has a
vegetarian cookout with
balloons! Woo! Now that is nice!
But oh dear, I caught a segment of the
Evening News last night where they interviewed a bunch of people on the street asking them what they will do with their money. Everyone seemed to have plans for thier windfall already. Kids need
school clothes, car needs fixing, bills, home repairs,
hookers,
blow...
you know how it is for us Americans.
Well I propose (and if you agree please help spread the word) that there is a workable compromise - it came to me as I read
Ben and Jerry's 1% to charity creed, then remembered that
agents in Hollywood take between 10 - 20 % of a star's gross earnings.
Make a donation of
10% of your refund.
I've done a little math and it works out to
something like this:
If you get $300 you would donate $30 to say, Planned Parenthood or your local Church.
If you get $500 you would donate $50 to hmmmmmm how about Greenpeace, The Sierra Club or the Nature Conservancy.
if you get $600 you would donate $60 to oh I dont know maybe Habitat for Humanity, Christian Childrens Fund, or Welfare to Work
The charities mentioned above are only examples and will not suit everyone - you probably have a favorite already. If every person getting the refund gives 10% away, an extra three billion eight hundred million will go to helping people, animals, and the environment. If you just
HATE the idea of being a
nice person and giving money away just remember this:
you can claim it on your taxes next year.
This node inspired by Mark Morford at SFGate.com
yerricde says: For some reason, your Give your tax refund to charity writeup doesn't mention giving $65 to EFF. See also arely legal
facty says: Excellent places to donate, illustrating my point that every noder will have a favorite target for their funds.