Donating to charity why bother anymore ?

[SCROUNGER]

What amazed me was the Salvation Army has allocated $4 million in their budget each year for abuse compensation, that they expect to happen.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...k=7530cd0dda2b9925cc077681e67b6c3f-1450068025

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/232/1450068573_salvo.jpg

While you may not want to give because of this Redfin, surely you would acknowledge that allocating 4 million per year in their budget for past abuse is financially (and morally) responsible. There could potentially be many more victims still to come forward from those early days and making sure they can cover 'abuse' payments is a good thing imo. Whether you want to give money because of that is of course your right.
I'd personally rather them doing this than doing a James Hardy and trying to avoid their moral responsibilities.

 

[Pommy-Down-Under]

In the Uk I used to support various charity's because I ran a small business and thought that it was the right thing to do, and I wanted to do my bit.

This train of thought stopped pretty quickly after it was reveled, that Oxfam, that I gave to regularly, was only using 1p that's 1 pence from every Pound donated and the rest was being used in admin costs.

Its a bloody joke, and all countries are the same. if all Governments were to spend less on overseas aid, and put more into the local community's, then our homeless and our needy may get somewhere to sleep and be able to put food on there table.

I still put Money in collection tins, but now its normally local community ones like the footy or lifesavers, im sure money still gets wasted but not like the big charity's.

Okay Rant over.

 

[Guest]

Years ago I used to donate to the Salvos, till I found out many of the "boys homes" like Bayswater and Box Hill were manned by pedophiles within the ranks.
So far they have paid more than $15 million in compensation for deeds done. Investigations are continuing via a Royal Commission, which is in recess and not to be confused with the hearing into the Catholic Church in Ballarat.

I'm certainly not condoning what the Salvos have done in the past Redfin, never would, those predators in the ranks should be shamed and made to pay for their crimes and the organizations should unreservedly apologize and make reparations, but the Salvos aren't the only organization with predators in their midst.
Thankfully those Boys Homes (and similar orphanages) are no longer about and society today is much more aware of what might be going on and try and take measures to stop these predators in their tracks.
Here's just a few others that have had or still have predators (not just pedophiles) preying on vulnerable people.
Catholic Church
Scouts
Police Force
Nursing homes for the intellectually disabled etc
Armed Forces
Private schools
Aust. Government run agencies
Etc etc
Things have happened in the past that are a blight on our society, but it's how those organizations deal with those past atrocities now in the present and when they come to light i would have thought rather than people not supporting them because of their past sins?
There are a lot of families relying on the Salvos especially during the 'high family stress' Christmas period. Even if people aren't willing to give money then donating food or toys goes a long way towards easing financial stress for families in need.

Anyone abusing positions of power or trust should be severely punished for that breach of trust- like a double penalty. Like the money-making fines that now bastardise justice should be a percentage of income to deter the wealthy repeat offenders flipping off a fine that will ultimately break a poor household.
Bill Shorten using his phone while driving the other day should have seen him disqualified for 12 months, his car impounded and his parliamentary vehicle use removed.

 

[Tater]

Who's paying the $4mil a year ? Donations ? Sale of property owned by the Salvos ?

 

[Bjay]

Unfortunately everyone who has ever donated is paying for this but if none of us ever had there would have been a lot of good work that would never have happened. Yes there have been bad things happen in the past but there also has been a lot of good work done also which couldn't happen without donations as the governments want to sweep most of problems under the carpet. Oh the charity's will deal that.

 

[Heatho]

My friend had breast cancer nearly 4 years ago and well I hate to say this but she actually had to call the McGrath foundation and ask them to please stop sending mail out to her. It was constantly looking for donations, wanting people to do all sorts of things, my poor friend couldn't take it anymore, all she wanted to do was move on and forget the entire experience and get on with her life without being constantly remined every second day about the big C.

It seems that a good idea ended up becoming a corporate money making machine, geez they would probably have saved millions each year by not constantly mailing out all these big glossy brochure type letters, can't remember what half of it was about but she really got the shits with them badly. It seems that once a lot of these organisations get their hooks into you they don't want to let go of you.

I agree there needs to be a lot more funding into cancer research but they must have been spending a fortune just on advertising and administration costs which would have been way better spent on research.

My wife has had two lots of breast cancer, her sister one, two nieces as well and two other family members have died from it so i'm well aware of what you're saying regards being reminded (my wife is 15 years on now) from it every year that passes and every mention of breast cancer Heatho. Unfortunately money drives the research but sometimes charities can't see the forest from the trees when it comes to asking from support from people or families directly affected by these illnesses or employing advertising agencies to give a charity some 'pulling power' with the public.
Your wife shouldn't feel guilty about asking to be dropped off the list mate, sometimes less is more when it comes to appealing to the public for charity and perhaps 'good deeds' and the 'word of mouth' is the most effective advertising to raise awareness and money.
Peter Mac does a fantastic job and cares beyond belief when it comes to cancer research and treatment imo and they are a very worthy institution for those looking to help.
Good luck to your friend Heatho.

Yeah it's a big thing to happen in someones life hey mate, bloody terrible that your wifes family has been hit particularly hard by such a rotten thing. Best of luck for you and your wife and her family, hope it stays away never to be seen again.

Hopefully the researchers can crack it one day and eliminate it from society.

 

[rocketaroo]

Shouldnt it be, not alot more than collecting x amount of dollars, and interviewing people who can put it to best use?

 

[nuggetino]

I throw charities in the same basket as scams in general. Unfortunately it is the normal run of things to promise much and offer little. I donate directly to people in need as I like to cut out the leeches in the middle. Another thing that annoys me is chairity's asking for minimum donations. Apparently not every cent counts. Was a charity set up at bunnings not too long ago that asked a minimum $20 donation..

 

[kawman]

at taree bunnings the bushfire fighters run a sausage stall sat/sunday so they can purchase much needed fire engines, pumps, hoses ect.. the governing bodys know this so they get no gov funding... and they work for free as well.. In my opinion everybody deserves a job.. pay firies, and have bus and train conductors and station masters.. make jobs...gov rules out jobs and funding and is using up a lot of people and giving nothing back because they can..... :8

 

[Redfin]

Thats the go for me as well, support your local people, sporting clubs etc.

 

[Guest]

at taree bunnings the bushfire fighters run a sausage stall sat/sunday so they can purchase much needed fire engines, pumps, hoses ect.. the governing bodys know this so they get no gov funding... and they work for free as well.. In my opinion everybody deserves a job.. pay firies, and have bus and train conductors and station masters.. make jobs...gov rules out jobs and funding and is using up a lot of people and giving nothing back because they can..... :8

Volunteer firies bust their chops and put their lives on the line with no pay, while our city cousins line up waiting for someone to die to get their well paid job and all its' perks. Bloody sickening. The disconnected knobs at the top just don't give a rats about the bush.

 

[Heatho]

at taree bunnings the bushfire fighters run a sausage stall sat/sunday so they can purchase much needed fire engines, pumps, hoses ect.. the governing bodys know this so they get no gov funding... and they work for free as well.. In my opinion everybody deserves a job.. pay firies, and have bus and train conductors and station masters.. make jobs...gov rules out jobs and funding and is using up a lot of people and giving nothing back because they can..... :8

Volunteer firies bust their chops and put their lives on the line with no pay, while our city cousins line up waiting for someone to die to get their well paid job and all its' perks. Bloody sickening. The disconnected knobs at the top just don't give a rats about the bush.

Gimmee a break Tim, what you think we have no bush, bushfires and volunteers around here? It's like you guys in the bush think we all drive around in gold plated limo's smoking cuban cigars and then coming home to roll around in all of our piles of cash while sipping on a $1000 cognac...... :lol:

 

[Guest]

The MFS(Metropolitan Fire Service) members are well paid here. Apart from the brass,all CFS(Country Fire Service) are volunteers. You wonder why people such as me get irate about the disparity between city and country? I have to drive to Berri 100 km to a hospital, a dentist, a BigW, a Commonwealth bank branch, Services SA for rego and licencing. Waikerie 40km to a (reasonable)supermarket, or health service. Rent and rates may be cheaper, but the everyday cost of doing anything is more. Electricity is dearer. Wages are near half, jobs nearly non-existent, and most are hard physical work and short-term in general, like fruit picking, seeding/harvest or shearing shed work.
Tibooburra to Broken Hill meant 290 km of 50% dirt, smashed windscreens, savage wear and tear, and 2-3 punctures per trip.
My best year was $38KPA, and that was ONCE.
A trumped-up licence disqualification for me was akin to 12 months solitary confinement.

So how about you give me a break? :lol:

 

[Magilla]

I am a recently retired firefighter (NSW Fire Rescue) and can assure you firefighters are not well paid. If I had chosen just about any other career I would be a lot better off financially. I am not aware of the situation in Victoria at the moment but they were always on a similar pay structure to us when I was working. Firefighters do not get an allowance for working shift work like other workers, it is built into their base pay. They also don't get any annual leave loading like other workers. In 30 years I probably worked 20 Christmas days for no extra pay, same for New Years Day, Easter, and just about any other important family day. You won't find any firefighters that do it for the money, they either do it because they love the adrenalin rush of helping people in stressful situations or they do it so that they can work another job on their days off.

The RFS do a great job, most guys volunteer their time for no financial gain. There are a very small minority that feel they do the same job as regular firefighters and therefore should be paid for their efforts. Lucky for the rural areas these guys are definitely the exception. For many reasons, that I won't go into here, a paid RFS system would not work.

Becoming a regular full time professional firefighter is not a matter of just waiting for someone to die. If there are any people that want to become a full time firefighter they can apply just like everyone else and sit for the same exams and meet the same physical requirements as other applicants, there are no short cuts.

It should also be noted that the average life expectancy of a career firefighter is now 62 years old, when I joined it was 61 so things are improving. The incidence of stress related suicide is also extremely high with firefighters, two firefighters at the same Station recently took their own lives on the same day.

 

[Heatho]

The MFS(Metropolitan Fire Service) members are well paid here. Apart from the brass,all CFS(Country Fire Service) are volunteers. You wonder why people such as me get irate about the disparity between city and country? I have to drive to Berri 100 km to a hospital, a dentist, a BigW, a Commonwealth bank branch, Services SA for rego and licencing. Waikerie 40km to a (reasonable)supermarket, or health service. Rent and rates may be cheaper, but the everyday cost of doing anything is more. Electricity is dearer. Wages are near half, jobs nearly non-existent, and most are hard physical work and short-term in general, like fruit picking, seeding/harvest or shearing shed work.
Tibooburra to Broken Hill meant 290 km of 50% dirt, smashed windscreens, savage wear and tear, and 2-3 punctures per trip.
My best year was $38KPA, and that was ONCE.
A trumped-up licence disqualification for me was akin to 12 months solitary confinement.

So how about you give me a break? :lol:

Move closer to a city if you find it so difficult living in a rural area, you may even like it mate . It's not all fun and games here either, believe it or not but Western Sydney can be one of the hottest places in the country sometimes. When I was younger and fitter I'd have happily swapped a few months fruit picking for someone to come and do my 7 hours a day on a 90lb jackhammer smashing out concrete in regular 45deg C heat with no shade, inhaling noxious petrol fumes and concrete dust and getting covered in fibreglass dust building petrol stations, we do what we do, the money I got wasn't the best either.

Now I live in gods country on the Northern Beaches of Sydney and just for the pleasure of living here rates are probably 3x the price, petrol is way more expensive like about 1/3 more, food is probably double what you'd pay in Western Sydney, rent is errrr....... do you really want to know that rent here sets some of my mates back nearly $1000 a week? Electricity is still bloody expensive, the traffic is horrendous as is the pollution, might look all pretty on the outside here but a lot of people struggle to live, most of my mates have moved as they can't afford to live here anymore.

Everyone is basically living on top of each other, it's a wonder you can't here the neighbours having a morning fart when getting out of bed. Even right now the little bastards next door are screaming and annoying the crap out of me..... Hmmmm beer o'lock I think...... Actually the latest trend is for little cliques of mummies to get up at 5am and go power walking around the streets to let everyone know how cool they are by talking loudly and waking everyone up. Chinese lady the other day was shouting into her phone in Cantonese at 5:15am while doing 3 laps of the block, lol, she got a bit upset when I told her to f%^# off on ther 3rd pass. Haven't seen her since.

Gimmee the bush anyday.

 

[Redfin]

So how about you give me a break? :lol:

We all make choices Tim, and all have a consequence.

 

[Guest]

I hears ya Heatho. I did demo in Darwin for a while in 99.Asbestos removal. Lived in a shed with a lined out bedroom at Humpty Doo - $280/week. That job was $16/hr, then I worked as a groundsmen at Robertson Barracks for Serco-$11.86/hr. Defence contracted the work out and wages went from $21 to $11.86. Most of the lifers left in disgust.
My last job as station manager/overseer I spent most of my time knocking in star pickets with a sledge hammer. Hours divided into weekly wage was about $15/hr plus a house. In 3 1/2 years I got the grown breeding sheep numbers up from 1200 to 5300, then got a weeks notice from the city-based squatter.

Personally I reckon all population, industry and governance should be de-centralised.

Near the end of Primary school my parents took me down to Adelaide to have a look at Scotch and Prince Alfred Colleges. We met the headmasters and teachers. I also witnessed the appalling behaviour of the snotty-nosed spoilt brats in the schoolyard, that was being ignored by the teachers. At the end of the day I told my parents I didn't want to end up like that, so I went to the local Area school.

All private schools should be closed down. They' re where most of the political and corporate criminality, narcissistic superiorism, and contempt for society is bred.

I lived in Adelaide for 12 months when I did my Woolclassers ticket(1987)- had 3 colds that year. Haven't had one since.

Cities are breeding grounds for disease, ignorance, anger, anxiety, disparity and ghettoism. And bloody good targets for Chinese and American bombs.
Good-for-nothin' s%*t-holes.

When I do my shopping in Waikerie everyone says g'day. Even the Asians, Indians and Muslims.

The Aussie spirit is still alive and well in some areas. Despite the best efforts of the pollies to kill it off.

 

[Guest]

So how about you give me a break? :lol:

We all make choices Tim, and all have a consequence.

Yep. Some of us even make them for the right reasons.