Published: December 09, 2007 11:00 am         

Holiday giving comes from the heart, not the pocketbook

Charity has become big business and many of those are charities that are intended to help military service members and their families.

Last year at Christmas time, as my husband and I were making our mostly monthly pilgrimages to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, we learned the hospital was collecting items to be given to the guys and gals who have found their way to the facility recovering from a wide range of injuries inflicted as part of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We learned there was a list of most needed items and our Sunday school class at the Keyser Presbyterian Church decided to send their holiday greetings by helping to partially fill the list of needs.

On our last visit to the hospital before Christmas 2006, we took winter jackets, disposable razors, toiletries, snacks and athletic gloves to the hospital for distribution.

The world is generous. When we arrived with our Santa sack, we found numerous others had been there before us with gifts stacked to the ceiling of the room intended to hold the items and overflowing into the hallway as more of us made our way to the site to bring even more gifts.

It was wonderful feeling to know we were part of this Santa’s visit.

This year our Sunday school class has decided to focus again on those wounded returning servicemen and the Keyser Rotary Club is joining us as we share our wealth and say thank you and Merry Christmas.

Our little project comes from a group of individuals who want to give and this as a way to do it.

According to Al Tompkins of Poynteronline, for those who want to support military service members and their families Charity Navigator has a assembled a list of the best-rated military charities.

He also notes that the list exposes some “real clunkers” as well. “Some of the charities at the bottom of the list spend more than 70 percent of their money on fund-raising, not helping veterans or soldiers.”

Tompkins points out that the Paralyzed Veterans of America, a group to which I often send a check, spends more than 30 cents of every dollar it receives on fundraising.

He also points out that the Web site gives the USO a low rating, saying it spends a quarter of the money it takes in on “overhead, not soldiers.”

Among the charities that the site touts are Freedom is Not Free, a group that helps individuals and even other organizations that are doing good things for wounded and killed service members and their families. Tompkins said that in 2006, the group spent 90 percent of all its public donations on charitable work.

He also cites Operation Homefront, which according to its Web site is a nonprofit 501(c)3 founded after 9/11 with more than 2,500 volunteers in 26 chapters nationwide. The agency has provided assistance to more than 40,000 military families in need.

It has a wide range of programs to help families not only struggling with emergencies but with the everyday problems of life.

The agency provides emergency aid and financial assistance and promotes military discounts at businesses throughout the country. It also has a computer program that allows children and spouses to stay in touch with their loved one, as well as a program that helps families to move and a furniture program for donated household and baby furniture and working-order appliances.

One of my favorites is their social outreach program which allows people to “adopt a family,” provide Thanksigiving and holiday baskets and back-to-school supplies.

For more information on various other charities Google Charity Navigator and check out these top-10 lists:

• 10 Charities Overpaying their For-Profit Fundraisers

• 10 Highly Rated Charities Relying on Private

• 10 Most Frequently Reviewed Charities

• 10 Highly Paid CEO’s at Low-Rated Charities

• 10 Charities Stockpiling Your Money

• 10 Charities in Deep Financial Trouble

One that you won’t find on those lists is the Salvation Army. That’s why the members of the Keyser Rotary Club and students of the Keyser High School Hi-Y, along with other organizations in the region, voluntarily ring the kettle Christmas bells throughout the month of December. The money goes to help families.

Mona Ridder can be reached at mridder@times-news.com.