Have you ever given to charity and regretted it?

Yes actually I have. A few weeks ago I was in a huge hurry and two sales people, who wouldnt take a no for an answer turned up at my door. They were asking for me to give them my bank account details so I could donate $20 a month to the "save the children" charity.

Its a good cause and charity and I would love to donate money to them if I wasnt a charity case myself. I am currently living in public housing and only earning just under $9,000 a year. There have been many times that I have had to accept charity myself.

Anyways, they originally wanted me to donate $80 a month and I told them that I regularly have to seek charity myself and if I paid that, I wouldnt be able to afford a place to live. They then said that they had a $20 a month option and I told them that I couldnt because that $20 comes out of my food money. They still persisted and made me feel awful and greedy for not donating to these children.

I was in such a hurry and they wouldnt take no for an answer, so I just agreed and decided that I would cancel it later. Then they asked me for a credit card, and I told them that I didn't have one. They told me that I had to have one in order to donate to this charity and I said "well I guess I cant then, sorry about that guys, have a nice day" and they still persisted.

After the "who doesn't have a credit card these days? " comments (I don't have a credit card because I cant afford one) they then told me that I needed to give them my bank account details in order to donate. At first I said "no way!" but again they persisted so I gave in.

After an hour and a half of them persisting, and me missing an important appointment, they finally left, and I was down $20 a month. I then went to ring the charity to cancel my donation and they said I couldnt until I had made the first payment, which will be on the 10th of the next month. I knew that I wouldnt have any money in my bank account on that date as it was no where near my pay-day and I told them that to try and stop it and they wouldnt allow it.

So when the 10th came around, I was deducted $20 from my account from the charity and fined $30 from my bank for being over drawn when the save the children fund took the $20 out. I ended up having to go to the local church and accepting food from them that month because I had no money for my own food. I felt bad about that as there are plenty of homeless people in my area who could have done with the food that the churches gave to me, but I would have starved if I hadnt accepted that charity.

Eventually the payments got cancelled, and everything is okay now. I would love to blame the pushy sales people, but I could have told them to get off my property or I would call the police, but I am a bit of a doormat and they could see that. I allowed this to happen, but I won't again.

Although they put a bad taste in my mouth about charity (these guys were REAL pushy) I will one day donate again, I will just make sure I can afford it next time. Giving to charity is a wonderful thing to do if you can afford it, but don't do it if you are a charity case yourself. You need to look after yourself before you start looking after others.

It sounds selfish, but if your close to being homeless yourself, don't let anyone guilt you into donating to the homeless. I hate how some people will try to make you feel guilty for not donating money to charity when they don't know your financial situation. Some people think that everyone comes from a middle class background, I might have clean, freshly ironed clothes, clean hair and have just brushed my teeth -just like they have, but that doesn't mean I am not living very close to the poverty line.

Yes we support many charities. Here is the problem with that. Between my wife and I and her aged parents who are now reside with us .

We can get up to 50 begging letters a week . The same place will contact them as individuals and as a couple . The waste is astonishing (the amount of printed materials plus postage).

About the only charities I give to are pet oriented and about the only one of those I give to is the Humane Society of the US. I just don't have the extra money to give to the charities even if I wanted to. An no, I've never regretted giving to pet charities because I know they do all they can to help homeless animals and mistreatment to animals.

I tend to give to charitable organizations that I trust. Organizations that have been vetted by time, such as the Red Cross, etc. This way I have not had a situation were I have felt regret after giving a contribution.

I haven't. But I heard about a lot of people who gave money to help underprivileged Africans then found out the Africans were white and not black. Seems those who donated never stopped to think about how there are many races in Africa. Always read the fine print, right?

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.