Comments on: On being thankful for clean water and food (and alpacas) http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog/archives/2006/11/25/on-being-thankful-for-clean-water-and-food-and-alpacas/ Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:49:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on On being thankful for clean water and food (and alpacas) by: Ho John Lee's Weblog http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog/archives/2006/11/25/on-being-thankful-for-clean-water-and-food-and-alpacas/#comment-218607 Tue, 12 Dec 2006 05:55:47 +0000 http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog/archives/2006/11/25/on-being-thankful-for-clean-water-and-food-and-alpacas/#comment-218607 <strong>No toys for you! (On being a skeptical charity donor)</strong> I hate being skeptical about charitable solicitors, but I am. This evening there was a solicitor with a table display of children&#8217;s toys on the sidewalk in front of the Long&#8217;s Pharmacy on Middlefield Road, next to a barrel marked for don... No toys for you! (On being a skeptical charity donor)

I hate being skeptical about charitable solicitors, but I am.
This evening there was a solicitor with a table display of children’s toys on the sidewalk in front of the Long’s Pharmacy on Middlefield Road, next to a barrel marked for don…

]]> Comment on On being thankful for clean water and food (and alpacas) by: Tom Harrison http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog/archives/2006/11/25/on-being-thankful-for-clean-water-and-food-and-alpacas/#comment-204605 Tue, 05 Dec 2006 03:14:47 +0000 http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog/archives/2006/11/25/on-being-thankful-for-clean-water-and-food-and-alpacas/#comment-204605 Ho John -- Great post. Theresa and I are completely in sync with your approach to charitable giving. We love Heifer International; it seems so pragmatic, and also appeals to our kids as a somewhat more concrete concept than the other ways we have tried to get them involved. In a stroke of brilliance, Theresa "bought" the kids Halloween candy, as much or little as they were willing to sell, and used to proceeds to purchase animals. Charlotte loves everything about ducks, so she bought some ducks. And then Theresa brought the candy in to her office (although one might argue that it would be more humane to dispose of it completely). There's another side of this subject that we read about in a book called [url=http://www.amazon.com/Road-Hell-Ravaging-Effects-International/dp/0743227867/sr=8-1/qid=1165288297/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-0433586-5955152?ie=UTF8&#38;s=books]The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity[/url], which talks about how destructive well meaning but poorly considered charitable giving can be. In this world where global warming is a major issue, it's important to keep in mind that we need to be encouraging sustainable growth and stewardship of the planet. It's a little tricky. Tom Ho John –

Great post. Theresa and I are completely in sync with your approach to charitable giving.

We love Heifer International; it seems so pragmatic, and also appeals to our kids as a somewhat more concrete concept than the other ways we have tried to get them involved. In a stroke of brilliance, Theresa “bought” the kids Halloween candy, as much or little as they were willing to sell, and used to proceeds to purchase animals. Charlotte loves everything about ducks, so she bought some ducks. And then Theresa brought the candy in to her office (although one might argue that it would be more humane to dispose of it completely).

There’s another side of this subject that we read about in a book called [url=http://www.amazon.com/Road-Hell-Ravaging-Effects-International/dp/0743227867/sr=8-1/qid=1165288297/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-0433586-5955152?ie=UTF8&s=books]The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity[/url], which talks about how destructive well meaning but poorly considered charitable giving can be.

In this world where global warming is a major issue, it’s important to keep in mind that we need to be encouraging sustainable growth and stewardship of the planet. It’s a little tricky.

Tom

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