Tag: Charity

Salvation Army Still Hostile to Gays and Lesbians

December 21, 2009
GLBT
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I don’t vote on one issue, but I won’t donate to organizations that are hostile to people and organizations I support.

The Salvation Army is openly hostile to our gay and lesbian friends, and they won’t get a penny from me this holiday season.

From Lisa Neff at 365Gay.com:

Many, many good people — my friends and neighbors — ring the bell for the Salvation Army during December.

And many, many good people — my friends and neighbors — donate to the Salvation Army’s red kettles during December.

But I do not. I do not ring the bell for the Salvation Army. I do not donate to the Salvation Army, because the Salvation Army discriminates against gays and lesbians in employment, works to defeat civil rights measures that protect gays and lesbians and promotes position that gay relationships “do not conform to God’s will for society.”

Some will say, but the Salvation Army performs good work — the organization feeds the hungry, shelters the homeless, clothes the impoverished, whether gay or straight.

Yes, yet there are many other organizations performing the same work as the Salvation Army that do not discriminate against gays and lesbians, that will not use your donation against you.

From the Salvation Army’s Web site: “The Army regards the origins of a homosexual orientation as a mystery and does not regard a homosexual disposition as blameworthy in and of itself or rectifiable at will. Nevertheless, while we are not responsible for what we are, we are accountable for what we do; and homosexual conduct, like heterosexual conduct, is controllable and may be morally evaluated therefore in light of scriptural teaching.

“For this reason, such practices, if unrenounced, render a person ineligible for Salvation Army soldiership.”

I can find a charity more worthy of the stray dollar in my pocket.

As do I. There are more worthy charities out there.

Help International Medical Corps Earn $1.5M

September 23, 2008
Health Care
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Los Angeles–(TURNINGLEFT)– International Medical Corps (IMC) has been matched for the American Express Top 25 Members Project, ‘Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children.’  The project was selected from 1,190 submissions nominated by American Express card members.  As the organization matched to the project, IMC is eligible for a part of $2.5 million in funding.  The project that receives the most votes from cardholders by September 29 receives $1.5 million; second $500,000; third $300,000, and fourth and fifth $100,000.

We need your help between now and September 29th. Voting is easy and doesn’t cost a thing! In just a click, you can save the lives of thousands of malnourished children. Click here to vote:

For severely malnourished children, we offer a step-by-step treatment program that gives them what they need to recover, including nutrient-dense food supplements like the peanut-based product, Plumpy’Nut. Our comprehensive monitoring system saves more than 90 percent of children being treated in our feeding centers. Being one of the Top 5 would mean our nutrition could reach more children around the world who need our help.

“As a mother of children who go to bed with a full stomach every night, it is heartbreaking to consider the millions of kids who do not have the nutrients their little bodies need to survive,” says Paige Strackman, who submitted the idea to American Express.  “I hope this project will bring people to the same conclusion I have – we can solve malnutrition through nutrient-rich, ready-to-eat food.  With enough votes from American Express card members, thousands of children’s lives can be saved.”

Hunger and malnutrition kill more people in the world than HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. As food prices rise, this funding is even more critical. More people are being driven deeper into poverty trying to afford basic staples. Many have nothing to eat at all. Your vote makes it possible for fewer young lives to be lost because they do not have enough to eat.

“International Medical Corps is honored to have the opportunity to match Paige’s passion for this cause with our 24 years of experience in helping children in need,” said Rebecca Milner, Vice President of Institutional Advancement. “We are a vital lifeline for hundreds of thousands of children every year, saving more than 90 percent of the children we treat.”

Through nutrition programs that provide relief while creating sustainable solutions, International Medical Corps brings nutrition-rich, ready-to-eat food to some of world’s most food-insecure environments, including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad, and Sudan.  With a mission that focuses on training, International Medical Corps works to empower individuals and communities, providing education on how to treat malnutrition, identify warnings signs, and intervene before malnutrition worsens. Health care workers and parents are educated on proper diet and hygiene, and communities are equipped to grow their own food and reduce their vulnerability to rising prices.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

Getting the word out to your friends and family makes a huge difference! Forward this link to a friend and you bring us that much closer to the $1.5 million to help malnourished children around the world!

International Medical Corps (IMC) is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs.

Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, IMC is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide.

By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, IMC rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.

For more information visit our website at www.imcworldwide.org.