Organised Charity ... A Blessing or a Bane?

Anyone would agree that this world needs some charity. There are just some people out there who genuinely need our help and regardless of creed or religion it is our duty to answer that call to the best of our abilities.

However certain causes get better exposure than some when it comes to charity. This depends on the benefactor and the relationship and the rapport built between them and these causes.

Some forms of charity involve only one individual donating whatever he or she can spare to a particular cause be it an orphanage or victims of war and natural disasters.

Though this is indeed sincere, it is not enough to actually help the community as a whole. If 5 individuals were doing the exact same thing, (donating food, clothes and funds to build shelters and such) towards refugees of war or natural disasters, this will indeed help more people and most importantly save more lives.

Now lets just assume there are plenty of kindhearted people around and they all wish to do the same as the original individual I described earlier. This requires some sort of organization to ensure that the items donated would not fall the wrong hands and are safely delivered and many other small details here and there. This ladies and gentleman is the beginning of organized charity.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not a cold hearted bastard who cares only for himself. I am merely an observer writing about my own views on organized charity. Organized charity in the wrong hands can lead to horrible horrible things. Certain organizations in the name of "good will" and "charity" set up fund raising activities in the facade of helping the impoverished with a hidden agenda up their sleeves.

Charity in any society is highly looked upon and is a sure-fire way of getting attention whether you like it or not. Financially charity isn't cheap. It costs a large amount of money to promote your cause to the public. Pamphlets, banners and such don't just fall from the sky, and it costs way too much for an ordinary person to generate from his own pocket.

So in comes the corporations. But like any good money-making enterprise, they don't want to give something for nothing. Most will use this as an opportunity to promote themselves and their products. This is when things get ugly.

They will not only prostitute their names on every product used to promote fund raising for the respective cause, but if possible they would like to have some of the money back as well. Be it a tax cut or a "small" slice of the profits which could have gone to help an honorable cause.

When you have organized charity, you are not only looking at 20 or 30 people to help you raise funds. You are looking at thousands of people and like any decent society, there are loads of money-clenching, tight-fisted stingy bastards out there. Yep if its possible, these people would squeeze every penny so hard that it'll get into their bloodstream.

And how do you get these people to fork up cash to help your cause? Well you have to be a mixture of Cesare Borgia, Michaevelian and Vincent Kennedy McMahon . Cunning enough to shove it down their throats and smart enough to make it seem like its a good idea. Just throw the big "C" word and somehow the purse strings get a little looser.

By giving incentives and rewards to those who help sell raffle tickets or coupons to raise funds for seems like a good idea to motivate people into really doing something. In my own view I think that this is rather redundant. Charity in my mind should come from the heart. To do this is akin to hanging a carrot in front of a donkey to make it walk faster to the destination you want to get to. It is disgusting that the society we live in now is so self-centered to the point that all they care about are material things and the pursuit of their own happiness. In their minds the couldn't give 3 quarts of monkey piss about anything else that doesn't even remotely concern them.

I am no saint nor do I intend to preach about charity and goodwill. I sometimes feel that when I do try to do some work to help the needy, it is as if I am really just promoting those corporations or organizations.

To help them whore out their names and products all in the name of what "charity" means to them takes out the joy of giving back to society. It is not that I don't want to do charity, I just cannot devote myself into something I don't believe in. After witnessing some of the events I stated above I am starting to get a little disillusioned.

My chosen profession was born out of the need to serve those who call for help, the sick and the needy. For the sake of not sounding like a hypocrite, I will try my best to honor the code Hippocrates gave us 2400 years ago although it may seem very hard in this increasingly materialistic world.

Perhaps I don't have the right mindset other young people who do help organize charity; to find sponsors, promote their causes etc. all from the goodness of their hearts. To these special people, may God bless you and grant you strength.