Just Saying No ...

As many know I am soon to be a resident of Clarksville TN so I’m in the frantic process of getting everything packed and ready for my move. As part of this grand tradition I’ve found a number of items in the way of furniture that I don’t need, so being the kind of person I am it would be great to donate them to some other poor soul that could use them and would appreciate them. So, I got on the telephone, eager to share my prosperity and help another person out and …..

Reality set in quickly. I could not find a single charitable organization that would accept, much less actually pick up furniture and a washer/dryer all that are in extremely good condition and less than 10 years old! One particular agency told me they would accept money, but nothing else, another asked if my furniture was new. I said, of course not, why would I donate brand new furniture??? She sarcastically said, we just don’t have time for trashy furniture! I curtly informed her that it wasn’t trashy, in fact if I had not told you as much, you’d swear it was new, but she was rude and told me they don’t care.

Don’t care??? Don’t care???? All the crying and begging I hear on the news about how they need things for all these poor people that are displaced or starting over or lost everything in the many disasters ….. but no, they want only new things. Can you believe that? I had one group that said they only accept money and nothing else. When I said no thank you, they called me back three times insisting I should make a cash donation! Totally outrageous. Apparently all have forgotten the old quote “baggers can’t be choosers”.

So, out of curiosity, I looked in my files and found that over the past 25 years I have donated over $30,000 in cash and quite a few things, including a car to a number of different agencies. I’m certainly not rich, but I think this is a pretty generous track record over the years.

Well friends, I must say that my donations have officially ended, at least to any of the national agencies. We lived through watching the American Red Cross and their dishonesty, watch the Vietnam Vets and AMVETS sink from once lofty goals, and now watch the Salvation Army also take on a very snooty outlook, despite their claims of following the religious foundations they came from. All have apparently abandoned the poorest of the poor. From now on, I’m giving spare change to the bums on the street. Yeah, I know what they are going to spend it on but at least they aren’t picky and they do appreciate every dime that comes their way.

What a world we live in!