All Topics / Opinionated! / tsunami disaster

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  • Profile photo of richmondrichmond
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    @richmond
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    Howdy all

    Now, I may have missed it, but I’ve barely been here since the Boxing Day Tsunamis, has anyone posted anything about donations etc?

    I know over at somersoft there was discussion about how to best donate, but I can’t find anything here… did I miss it?

    By the way I picked Doctors Without Borders (Medicine Sans Fronteires) for my donation, but apparently they have enough now, and have encouraged people to donate elsewhere.

    I gave a week’s worth of wages, and I’m implore those who can afford it to do at least the same. For all the discussion about making money, why not consider giving some away?

    Anyway, I’m a bit surprised no-one’s discussed it before… Jenman’s copped some bad press, but at least the relief effort gets a mention on his home page… how about it Steve/Brent? Any charity take your fancy that you could link to off this site?

    cheers
    r

    (apologies if this has been discussed before but I couldn’t find anything)

    Profile photo of wilandelwilandel
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    @wilandel
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    Hi Richmond,

    Funny you should post this…
    No, I’m pretty sure this hasn’t been mentioned here.

    I spent about an hour last night looking at all the different websites to decide which one was best to give our donation to.

    We finally decided on Care Australia and are giving $100 every month for the year. It’s not much really, just the cost of a restaurant meal really..

    Our kids have emptied their piggy banks also, and we are taking that today to the local bank to donate them also.

    A week’s wages is a very generous donation.
    Good on you! [biggrin]

    What are others doing???

    Regards,

    Del

    Profile photo of richmondrichmond
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    @richmond
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    by the way, regular readers will recall pre-Christmas debate between marc1 and I regarding his opinions re: Australians being greedy… in the thread Australians having more than their “fair share” etc was discussed, but it was all basically theoretical.

    Now that this has happened, I think it’s fantastic that so many Australians have opened their wallets without hesitation to give money to help out those less fortunate. However, I have no doubt that many more can give.

    If people can afford to give, and they don’t, then, I guess that fits my definition of greedy, because if ever there was a cause to support, this is it.

    I read a report of an elderly lady who had saved $6000 for a car… she donated half the money, then felt guilty, so she gave the lot… very much above and beyond the call of duty…

    Please give it some thought if you haven’t already.

    cheers
    r

    Profile photo of baloobaloo
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    @baloo
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    Post Count: 122
    Originally posted by richmond:
    …because if ever there was a cause to support, this is it…

    This is a truly shocking disaster that has killed close to 150,000 people with the potential for more. But as for it being the most deserving cause ‘ever’ I think is a bit too simplistic. AIDS/HIV has killed 22,000,000. Malaria over 40,000,000. These are global disasters that require funds to help support the victims, contain the spread and find a cure.

    There are very many worthy causes in the world, not just the ones that dominate the news for a few weeks due to their news worthiness.

    And before anyone jumps up and down, I am not in any way belittling what has happened in Asia. Having lived in the region myself for 6 years I know all too well what pain and suffering this has caused.

    Edit: Sadly I understated the Malria death toll. It kills about 1,000,000 people a year and has been around for hundreds of years….

    Profile photo of aussierogueaussierogue
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    @aussierogue
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    richmond you are quite right no mention of it – but we do get articles about aboriginals not paying rent.

    baloo speaks the truth. i will be giving to famine relief as i always do aswell as to victims of the tsunami…

    Profile photo of richmondrichmond
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    @richmond
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    Baloo,

    You’re taking me too literally… of course there are other issues such as disease, aids, etc that need more attention/money/research… hopefully people that are stirred into giving as a result of the tsunami aftermath might look at giving again in the future… that’d be good, wouldn’t you agree?

    cheers
    r

    Profile photo of baloobaloo
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    @baloo
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    Would it be good ? Yes, most certainly.

    But I doubt it will make too much of a difference as history shows that once a disaster is no longer news worthy, people tend to forget.

    Out of site, out of mind.

    Profile photo of Robbie BRobbie B
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    @robbie-b
    Join Date: 2004
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    Try looking in the HEADS UP section…

    https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forum/topic/14786.html

    Robert Bou-Hamdan
    Mortgage Adviser

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    Comments made are of a general nature and should not be construed as individual advice.
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    Profile photo of aussierogueaussierogue
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    Profile photo of ScreminScremin
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    @scremin
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    Another really good chrity to donate to is CARITAS Australia. It is a Catholic CHurch run base but the funds go to helping a community become self sustaining.

    The money isn’t just given to them. THey go out and buy a cow, for example. They give the cow to a family who milk the cow. Any excess milk they get they can sell. The only catch with being given a cow, is that when it comes time to have a calf, that family MUST give the calf to someone else in their community so they can then get started.

    They also teach villagers how to farm sustainably and how farming certain ways can help their village.

    My school donates a lot of money to that charity and they have projects all around the world including the tsunami ravaged areas.

    So I think it would be a charity to go for if you want to continue helping people in other stricken areas too.

    Cheers
    Steph.

    P.s. I am going to start by giving $100, then over the course of the year I will donate via my classroom fundraisers. On average I have been donating up to $10 a week. Maybe I could increase that.

    Profile photo of MonopolyMonopoly
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    @monopoly
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    You people really need your eye glasses checked [smart][smart][smart] there was a thread started by JackHu entitled ‘DONATIONS” way before Rob’s
    https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14678
    and I’m sure there was another as well but it purpose wasn’t spelt out as clearly in the title and I can’t recall the author; nonetheless you “blind bats” [smart][smart][smart] missed ALL of them (Rob’s included)!!! [blush2] I motion we take up a collection for those with vision impairment in this forum!!![tongue]

    On a serious note…..I agree, there can’t be enough pleas for help made, to encourage people to “dig deep”!!!

    SO COME ON EVERYONE…..PLEASE PLEASE, EVEN A FEW SPARE DOLLARS CAN HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

    Cheers,

    Jo

    Profile photo of Robbie BRobbie B
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    @robbie-b
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    My question relates to how does a cow have a calf without a bull?

    I saw the one you posted the link to Jo. I started the other one to have one that was Australian orientated instead of American. I did not go back and check it again after I read the initial post but just saw then that you had alrady listed some Aussie agencies. Sorry and good work!

    Robert Bou-Hamdan
    Mortgage Adviser

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    Profile photo of roborobo
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    @robo
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    We made a $100 donation to Care Aust off our visa card on 29/12/04. I was doing some ibanking yesterday and noticed they had deducted it twice.
    I rang them and they said they would fix it, which they did they gave us the whole $200 back.
    Think I will look for somewhere to give a cash donation.
    Robo

    Profile photo of Steve McKnightSteve McKnight
    Keymaster
    @stevemcknight
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    Hi,

    Personally, I’ll be supporting Unicef and their endeavour to help those children disadvantaged by this terrible disaster.

    There are many worthy causes, hwoever, Unicef only take 7% of the donation for admin. This is a more than reasonable amount.

    Not wanting to sound heartless, but I’m a little cautious of the Australian Red Cross after the Bali problem with funds going, well, astray from the intended donantion purpose. Hopefully they have learned.

    On a different note – it’s good to be an Australian when you see the effort contributed to help a mate.

    Also, welcome back Richmond… hope you had a peaceful time away.

    Cheers,

    Steve McKnight

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    Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
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    Profile photo of ScreminScremin
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    @scremin
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    Obviously Robert, it would already be inseminated before being given to the family!!!

    From memory they also had a bull in the background somewhere. I don’t think the bull actually belonged to anyone though coz I think they wanna avoid incest and stuff… You know…

    Steve, my sentiments too about Red Cross. They do great things but I am a little wary now.

    I’ll stick to Caritas coz I’ve been shown where and how the money is distributed. It only cost $75 for a cow! Our school saved up enough money in a couple of weeks for 12 cows! Pretty cool! We handed the cheque over surrounded by big pictures of cows! Ha ha!!!

    Steph.

    Profile photo of Yasna SimonYasna Simon
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    @yasna-simon
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    I think it is obvious we should all give (if we can) anything to assist the Tsunami Relief. However my objection is that we need let everyone know that we have done it.

    I am sure that we all have given in our own way to the charity we believe will help the most without posting it on this or any other forum.

    Keep up the great work.

    Yasna

    Profile photo of richmondrichmond
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    @richmond
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    Yasna,

    I don’t get the point of your post, a thread encouraging people to donate is exactly that, if the writer feels that others might be motivated to donate by giving an example of what they themselves have done, well, so be it.

    I can’t believe a thread asking people to donate has an objection in it.

    cheers
    r

    Profile photo of aussierogueaussierogue
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    @aussierogue
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    yasna and richmond – interesting points. infact this has been the subject to a fair bit of discussion in the media recently. some american guy reckons that the modern generation only gives to charity in order to look good to others. and that we used to give to charity in silence and somehow this was more admirable….

    so in the end everything we do has a selfish element – even giving to charity, and this will involve letting others know how righteous we are.

    for me though giving to charity and maybe telling a few people is SMART selfishness, and although it makes me feel good it also helps other people. stupid selfishness is when you do things to make yrself feel better and at the same time it hurts or has no effect on humanity…destructive selfishness..

    arent i a bundle of fun this morning!! have a great day..

    Profile photo of ScreminScremin
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    @scremin
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    Super points rogue.

    I’ve just read about the celebrities giving money to charities. Michael Schumaker has given $10Mill US!!!

    That puts him in a totally different light for me. Not that I really thought much of him before, but it just shows he is content handing over that sort of money coz he can’t use it! I admire him for that.

    As for publicising what we do, well I am bloody proud of the fundraising efforts my school goes to and we get information back on how our money was used. I have no problem giving myself a personal pat on the back or the children of my class a pat on the back. At least if others knew about our fundraising efforts, they might be a little more inclined to give.

    Point taken though Yasna.
    I think Richmond started this thread to demonstrate that even though a weeks worth of wages is going to hurt for that week, it is the contribution he can make that helps him feel as if he has done what he can from here in Australia. I think he is terribly generous. So good on you Richo!

    Steph.

    Profile photo of baloobaloo
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    @baloo
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    At the end of the day, if someone like Schumacher or Dick Smith forces the hand of another mega-billionaire to reach into their pockets to save face, then I think it’s brilliant.

    While the reason for donating might be a bit suspect, at the end of the day more money is being raised for this disaster, which is what counts.

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