[FairHamilton]

With the limestone pledges for City Hall now no longer required, I'm looking to re-purpose my pledge to a local charity.

In Toronto I supported charities like Yonge Street Mission, Salvation Army, etc. Since I'm still relatively new to Hamilton I'm not aware of all the local charities and the work they do.

So I'm looking for some suggestions of local charities that people think are worthy. City Kidz and SISO both jump out as ones I know, but are there any other charities people think do good work?

[SteelTown]

I'm donating to the Hamilton Food Share. $1 donation is worth $10 worth of food.

[FairHamilton]

I'm donating to the Hamilton Food Share. $1 donation is worth $10 worth of food.

Thanks, that's a great one! It's one that I might not have thought about.

Anyone else have some good ones? Are there any school kids breakfast/lunch nutrition programs?

[SteelTown]

There's also Mission Services and United Way.

[adam]

What about cans of spraypaint to beautify the new concrete facade on city hall? I'm sure there is a technique to mimick marble??

[markbarbera]

Here are a couple of local charities that do good work in the city:

Good Shepherd Centre (http://www.goodshepherdcentres.ca/)

Mission Services (http://www.mission-services.com/)

[highwater]

I always give to the Good Shepherd. They do similar work to the Yonge St. Mission and the Sally Anne.

Here's a thought, since your gift was originally intended for City Hall, you could keep your gift in the architectural realm by giving to Design Hope.

http://www.designhope.ca/main.html

Now that I think about it, I think I'll do the same with my pledge.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas!

[adam]

Local charities are definitely the way to go. Big charities like United Way and Salvation Army have enormous adminitrative costs and overhead. In some cases I've heard that only 10% of the money gets to where it needs to go.

[FairHamilton]

Local charities are definitely the way to go. Big charities like United Way and Salvation Army have enormous adminitrative costs and overhead. In some cases I've heard that only 10% of the money gets to where it needs to go.

I'm in agreement the closer to local you can get is usually the best.

[oldcoote]

I always give to the Good Shepherd. They do similar work to the Yonge St. Mission and the Sally Anne.

Here's a thought, since your gift was originally intended for City Hall, you could keep your gift in the architectural realm by giving to Design Hope.

http://www.designhope.ca/main.html

Now that I think about it, I think I'll do the same with my pledge.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas!

I'll second Design Hope. One of the people in my building is deeply involved in it. Good work there.

[MsMe]

Could always give it to me..holding out my tin can. :haha:

[FairHamilton]

Thanks highwater and oldcoote for Design Hope. It sounds great and I've never heard of the them before, and most likely wouldn't have if not for your suggestion.

I'll contact them, along with a couple of others (i.e. City Kidz and one other).

[adam]

Here's another.. Robert Land Community Centre helps out in the Keith Neighbourhood
http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=s90648

[markbarbera]

Local charities are definitely the way to go. Big charities like United Way and Salvation Army have enormous adminitrative costs and overhead. In some cases I've heard that only 10% of the money gets to where it needs to go.

I need to interject with a point of clarification. The United Way has a very low administrative cost associated with it. It actually has one of the lowest admin costs of all charity fundraisers. 90% of all funds from their campaign is directly transferred to the charities they represent. And each community has a local United Way campaign which delivers the funds to charities within the community it represents.

[adam]

Au contraire .......... Tales of embezzlement, buying expensive show horses, fraud, filtering money to other organizations, high administrative costs. No thanks.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/fund/2002/1119unitedway.htm
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/02/07/Worldandnation/Ex_United_Way_officer.shtml
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_20061002/ai_n16758169
http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2003/06/23/story1.html
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/791618/posts

[highwater]

Maybe I'm naive, but I have complete faith in the local branch.

[markbarbera]

Indeed, you would have to paint with rather wide brush strokes to condemn the United Way of Greater Hamilton and Burlington based on reported irregularities at an American UW office in Sacremento California.

UWBGH has a great contribution return rate. Only 9% of campaign donations is used in administrative costs. Those who have had any kind of involvement in charitable fundraising will recognize this as one of the best administrative cost ratios for any charity fundraising campaign. They support many small local charities that simply would not have the resources available for independant fundraising. They include notable inner city charities like Alternatives for Youth, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Cathy Wever Community Development, Living Rock Ministries, McQueston Comunity Center, Robert Land Community Association, SISO, Wesley Urban Ministries, and the YMCA. A full list of community agencies that benefit directly from the United Way of Burlington and Greater Hamilton can be found here (http://www.uwaybh.ca/united-way-agencies.php).

[adam]

Sounds good. You can also donate to local charities directly if you want a more focused contribution - Robert Land, City Kidz, etc.

[omro]

Since my father was a victim to cancer, I tend to only give charitable contributions to cancer related charities or hospices. So if there are any such charities in Hamilton, could they be considered also.

Knowing of a respected charity of those types would be useful to me, as I would donate to them once I move across.

[SteelTown]

I work at a Cancer research lab so I can help.....

Terry Fox Foundation is a good one. Most Cancer research labs in Canada get grants from CIHR and NCIC (National Cancer Institute of Canada). Terry Fox Foundation funnel their money to NCIC

[omro]

I work at a Cancer research lab so I can help.....

Terry Fox Foundation is a good one. Most Cancer research labs in Canada get grants from CIHR and NCIC (National Cancer Institute of Canada). Terry Fox Foundation funnel their money to NCIC

Awesome thanks, I'll have to see if I can set up a regular payment like I do here. I have a direct debit to Cancer Research UK, it's not a lot each month, but I feel like I'm making the effort.

[emge]

i try to always give to one local thing and one more national/global cause.. City Kidz does some awesome stuff here for sure, but there's tons of great places that have already been mentioned as well.

Canadian Blood Services as well is a great cause - blood, or monetary gifts both work!

[omro]

Canadian Blood Services as well is a great cause - blood, or monetary gifts both work!

Am not allowed to give blood in the UK.

[SteelTown]

You won't be able to donate blood in Canada as well.

[MsMe]

You won't be able to donate blood in Canada as well.

I can't donate either, I got too many diseases. :(

[flar]

Some people can't donate blood even if they don't have diseases.

[MsMe]

Very true Flar.

[SteelTown]

Hamilton food banks desperate

December 22, 2008
Dana Brown
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/485575

Hamilton's food banks have seen a significant jump in holiday need due to the worsening economic climate.

And while several say they'll be able to meet demand, they're counting on the community to help them weather tough times.

"This isn't the first recession we've been through and ... the community usually finds a way to dig deep in some fashion or another," said Alan Whittle, director of community relations and planning for Good Shepherd.

This year alone, the organization has had about 14 per cent more people using its food bank. For the Christmas program there has been a 33 per cent increase.

"I think part of it is that we're really just beginning to see the impact of the recession on people," he said.

Canon Wendy Roy, executive director at St. Matthew's House, said that things are going out as fast as they are coming in.

At the Salvation Army, 500 new families have signed up for the Christmas campaign, bringing the total to 2,000 families.

The Salvation Army is "really cutting it close" when it comes to providing for those in need this year, said Jennifer Kellner, administrative manager and major gifts officer.

The target for the kettle campaign is $550,000, but as of Friday, only $406,000 had been raised.

"That target was set before (the) increase in registration. So even if we meet our financial target, that's still well below what the actual need is for this Christmas," Kellner said.

Joanne Santucci, executive director of Hamilton Food Share, said among the nine agencies the organization supplies, there has been about a 15 per cent increase in need, on average. A lot of the agencies are pretty much on par with last year in terms of donations.

"There's no reason why you can't give this holiday season, because even a dollar will help, even a can will help," she said.