Charity
Toy platoon ensures gifts for families of enlisted
Marlene Alexander
Nov 23rd 2009 at 3:45PM
Filed under: Charity
This year, Dollar Tree is hoping to repeat that success with the help of its customers. In fact, according to the Operation Homefront Web site, the goal this year is to collect $6 million in toys.
And why not? You don't have to spend a lot to make a kid happy and if everyone who could, donated a $5 or $10 toy, this goal could be met and then some.
The 2009 toy drive runs Nov. 15-Dec. 15. All you do is purchase a toy or care item and drop it off in a Toy Platoon collection box located in any of Dollar Tree's 3,700 stores nationwide. Operation Homefront will then collect and distribute these items to needy military families in your area.
Kars4Kids steers donors in the wrong direction
Mitch Lipka
Nov 20th 2009 at 6:00AM
Filed under: Charity, Consumer Ally
While the annoying Kars4Kids radio jingle asking consumers to donate their unwanted cars for needy children seems straightforward enough, it may actually be steering donors down a road they didn't expect. All of the money raised by Joy for Our Youth (a.k.a. Kars4Kids) -- $16.2 million in 2007, according to their tax returns -- gets funneled to another charity called Oorah, which is never mentioned in the radio jingles or the billboards plastered along many major highways. Oorah is a Jewish religious organization whose stated mission is to heighten Jewish childrens' awareness of their heritage.
Small Paws shares the love by cutting dog adoption fees in half
Gina Roberts-Grey
Nov 17th 2009 at 5:00PM
The recession saw many losing their homes and wondering where -- or if -- they'd get their next meal. And we're not just talking about people.Shelters and rescue organizations continue to see an increase, some as much as 10%, of homeless dogs file into their doors. Many have been surrendered by their human families who can no longer afford to care for them.
In the hopes of placing some of these furries in "forever homes," some clever groups are looking to Black Friday's example of deals and "deep discounts."
$1.6 million raised for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at 'Taste of New York'
Amanda Gordon
Nov 13th 2009 at 5:45PM
Filed under: Charity
Raising money for a good cause and eating your heart out is a pretty powerful combination.
In its 20 years, the Wall Street "Taste of New York" has raised nearly $30 million to help St. Jude Children's Research Hospital continue its groundbreaking research and lifesaving care for children battling cancer and other deadly diseases.
The "Taste of New York" is the largest single fund-raising event held on behalf of St. Jude each year. The engine behind it consists of the restaurants that donate their time and food, and the Wall Street Committee that garners the support of companies and colleagues who sponsor the event and purchase tickets.
The event brings the financial community together, with committee members and co-chairs hailing from Goldman, J.P. Morgan, SAC Capital Advisors, AllianceBernstein, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Zweig-DiMenna Associates, and many more.
The money helps St. Jude continue its commitment that no child is ever turned away because of a family's inability to pay. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance.
In its 20 years, the Wall Street "Taste of New York" has raised nearly $30 million to help St. Jude Children's Research Hospital continue its groundbreaking research and lifesaving care for children battling cancer and other deadly diseases.
The "Taste of New York" is the largest single fund-raising event held on behalf of St. Jude each year. The engine behind it consists of the restaurants that donate their time and food, and the Wall Street Committee that garners the support of companies and colleagues who sponsor the event and purchase tickets.
The event brings the financial community together, with committee members and co-chairs hailing from Goldman, J.P. Morgan, SAC Capital Advisors, AllianceBernstein, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Zweig-DiMenna Associates, and many more.
The money helps St. Jude continue its commitment that no child is ever turned away because of a family's inability to pay. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance.
How the dollar store can help you help others
Marlene Alexander
Nov 9th 2009 at 1:30PM
Filed under: Food, Shopping, Charity
It's been a tough couple of years for everyone but, even if some of us have had to make do with less, there are others who have been hit even harder. Whether it's right in your own neighborhood or overseas, there are at least two ways I can think of that dollar stores can help you to help others during this season of giving without inflicting too much pain on your pocket book.
Too much candy? Donate (some of it) to a good cause
Julie Tilsner
Nov 2nd 2009 at 3:45PM
Filed under: Kids and Money, Simplification, Charity
So Halloween's over and now you have bags of candy -- literally bags -- lying around promising to do some serious damage to your kids' teeth and your waistline. What to do? Eat it? Throw it away? Put it in the garage and forget about it? We at WalletPop think we've found an answer to this most vexing of parental dilemmas: Donate your extra bags of Halloween candy to a charitable cause.Send your extra candy overseas -- Several organizations send donations of all kinds to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Operation Gratitude will happily take your donations of extra bagged candy to distribute to troops (find more info about procedure here and scroll to the bottom of the page.). Operation Shoebox will take your candy - also any extra socks or old cell phones you care to donate.
Some local dentist offices will buy back your extra candy for $1 a pound, and ship it themselves to U.S. troops abroad. Check here to see if dentists in your area are offering this program.
Ronald McDonald House charities welcomes donations of your extra candy (provided it's in the original wrapper, of course). Check its website for specific giving policies at the Ronald McDonald House near you.
Your local Meals on Wheels charity, which takes meals to housebound seniors, will take your extra candy. Click here to find a local chapter.
As always, women's shelters, churches, synagogues and other places of worship will accept donations of extra candy. The PTA at your child's school may also be happy to have your (bagged) extra candy for use in harvest and holiday festivals.
Probably best to involve your kids in this operation, since while they won't object to sending half their candy to a worthy cause, they will definitely object to losing all of their swag.
Thanks to CoolMomPicks.
David Spade apologizes, sort of, for exploiting his dead buddy
Bruce Watson
Oct 30th 2009 at 1:45PM
Filed under: Charity, Relationships, Consumer Complaints, Celebs & Money, Ad Rant
When David Spade's tasteless DirecTV ad went out in late October, it was immediately hit with a hail of criticism.Writers, including our own Jami Bernard, were quick to point out that the commercial, which used footage from 1995's Tommy Boy, essentially came off as a cruel and shameless exploitation of deceased actor Chris Farley.
Although Spade has repeatedly stated that he considered the commercial a tribute to Farley, he recently told People magazine that "The movie is important to me, and I would hate to offend [anyone] because that's one of my favorite things I've ever done. So I would apologize to someone who took it that way." He went on to state that "I wouldn't want anyone to get a whiff that I'm trying to get something off Chris."
As Bernard pointed out on WalletPop, the Farley estate was complicit in the ad. Farley's brothers have already received $25,000 for a billboard bearing his likeness; presumably, they accepted a lot more cash for this ad.
Dentists will buy back your Halloween candy
Tom Barlow
Oct 30th 2009 at 12:00PM
Halloween trick or treat night night came early this year at our house, and thanks no doubt to the H1N1 flu scare, we were visited by very few ghosts and goblins. We were despairing (drooling) over the amount of candy left over to tempt us, until I discovered Halloween Candy Buy Back, a program by dentists to buy candy from kids and their parents and send it to soldiers overseas.Going to church pays off -- now instead of later
Tom Barlow
Oct 27th 2009 at 1:30PM
Filed under: Charity
The prospect of eventual salvation is sometimes less compelling than the immediate gratification of sleeping in on Sunday morning. An Alsip, Ill., minister has found a way to counter that impulse, however: pay parishioners to attend services at his church.
The Rev. Dan Davis of the Lighthouse Church of All Nations has been holding raffles for cash awards of $250 during his Sunday services for the past three weeks, and attendance has boomed to upwards of 2,000 per service, "reducing traffic outside of the church...to a standstill," according to Guy Tridgell of the Southtown Star.
Food Network's Sandra Lee: 'No way' smart shoppers should buy generic
Jason Cochran
Oct 23rd 2009 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Bargains, Food, Simplification, Charity, Celebs & Money, Video, Recession Diaries, Economizer
This Sunday evening, Food Network star Sandra Lee appears as a volunteer on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and she'll be pitching in to collect something she knows a lot about: canned foods.
Lee has crafted a mini-empire out of her DIY advice that teaches people to take economical shortcuts with pre-packaged foods. Her expertise runs from gardens to drapes -- she helms two Food Network shows, Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee and Sandra's Money Saving Meals, a magazine (Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade), and three recently released books, Weeknight Wonders, Money Saving Slow Cooking, and Cocktail Time. And, of course, on ABC this Sunday, when she helps re-make the lives of some dedicated community volunteers.
In a video chat with WalletPop's Jason Cochran, Lee talks candidly about her youth spent on food stamps and working in food banks with her grandmother.
Lee has crafted a mini-empire out of her DIY advice that teaches people to take economical shortcuts with pre-packaged foods. Her expertise runs from gardens to drapes -- she helms two Food Network shows, Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee and Sandra's Money Saving Meals, a magazine (Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade), and three recently released books, Weeknight Wonders, Money Saving Slow Cooking, and Cocktail Time. And, of course, on ABC this Sunday, when she helps re-make the lives of some dedicated community volunteers.
In a video chat with WalletPop's Jason Cochran, Lee talks candidly about her youth spent on food stamps and working in food banks with her grandmother.
Redo the kitchen first, says "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" carpenter Paul DiMeo
Jason Cochran
Oct 16th 2009 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Home, Charity, Celebs & Money, Video
Paul DiMeo is the staff carpenter on ABC's long-running tearjerker real estate hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and he knows a little something about building cool stuff in a crunch. For seven seasons now, he's swept into the lives of needy or deserving American families and granted them the gift of their lives: a whole new house in a week.
This Sunday, DiMeo and the crew on the bus pull into Texas, where they help a family who moved into a fixer-upper, intending to renovate it, when disaster struck. Unable to afford a change, they were stuck with a real estate lemon. In this recession, it's happened to a lot of us.
So if you don't have a lot of money to make over your own house, where you should start? DiMeo has two answers for that budget quandary. The first answer is the kitchen, a room that promises a lot of bang for the buck because families tend to spend a lot of their time there. But if a reinvention of that single room is too rich for your blood, DiMeo has an even cheaper suggestion of where your dollar can go the furthest.
DiMeo, who is spending a rare week at his own home, phoned WalletPop's Jason Cochran by Skype this week to talk to him about the upcoming episode and to dispense a few nuggets of renovation wisdom. And what room does DiMeo spent the most time in? You may regret asking.
This Sunday, DiMeo and the crew on the bus pull into Texas, where they help a family who moved into a fixer-upper, intending to renovate it, when disaster struck. Unable to afford a change, they were stuck with a real estate lemon. In this recession, it's happened to a lot of us.
So if you don't have a lot of money to make over your own house, where you should start? DiMeo has two answers for that budget quandary. The first answer is the kitchen, a room that promises a lot of bang for the buck because families tend to spend a lot of their time there. But if a reinvention of that single room is too rich for your blood, DiMeo has an even cheaper suggestion of where your dollar can go the furthest.
DiMeo, who is spending a rare week at his own home, phoned WalletPop's Jason Cochran by Skype this week to talk to him about the upcoming episode and to dispense a few nuggets of renovation wisdom. And what room does DiMeo spent the most time in? You may regret asking.
Cheaper than ever to name a building for charity
Josh Smith
Oct 13th 2009 at 12:00PM
There's a fire sale on naming buildings across the country. Wait, strike that, fire sale might not be the best phrase to describe naming a new library or outpatient wing; perhaps "clearance on immortality at charities nationwide" is a better fit. Over the last year, thanks to the economy; we've lost close to 100 billionaires, 18.5% of our millionaires and the number of gifts of more than a million dollars have been cut in half. According to Bloomberg, this is the reason that numerous charities are in the process of scaling back the donation amount required to name a building and giving donors more time to pay off pledges.
Music star Xzibit pitches in on 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'
Jason Cochran
Oct 9th 2009 at 1:30PM
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Home, Charity, Celebs & Money, Video
Hip-hop star Xzibit knows a thing or two about turning lemons into lemonade. He's widely known as the host of MTV's Pimp My Ride, in which hum-drum vehicles are souped up and become the envy of a national viewing audience.
But this Sunday night on ABC, Xzibit goes from pimping rides to making dreams come true. This season, the massive hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is tapping celebrity volunteers to pitch in for its one-week house building whirlwinds. Xzibit, a native of Detroit, hit Connecticut with Ty Pennington and his crew to help the Hill family.
Xzibit called WalletPop by Skype, and Jason Cochran was there to talk to the recording star live in his home (check out the gold record behind him!) to find out why such a star is spending his time shoveling dirt and slogging through flooded basements, and if he really did the backbreaking work on EM:HE, or if it was just for the cameras.
The economy has been particularly brutal for the Hills, and in their effort to stay a step ahead of homeless shelters and soup kitchens, 13 assorted members, some of them cousins, cram into a house designed for fewer than half their number.
The basement is swamped and the closet has been turned into a makeshift bathroom, still the Hills remain optimistic. But when Xzibit shows up on the bus, the Hills' excitement is uncontainable, and they come barreling from their little house in an explosive celebration for redemption unlike any seen on the show so far. He learned in an instant why it's so important to make a difference these days.
But this Sunday night on ABC, Xzibit goes from pimping rides to making dreams come true. This season, the massive hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is tapping celebrity volunteers to pitch in for its one-week house building whirlwinds. Xzibit, a native of Detroit, hit Connecticut with Ty Pennington and his crew to help the Hill family.
Xzibit called WalletPop by Skype, and Jason Cochran was there to talk to the recording star live in his home (check out the gold record behind him!) to find out why such a star is spending his time shoveling dirt and slogging through flooded basements, and if he really did the backbreaking work on EM:HE, or if it was just for the cameras.
The economy has been particularly brutal for the Hills, and in their effort to stay a step ahead of homeless shelters and soup kitchens, 13 assorted members, some of them cousins, cram into a house designed for fewer than half their number.
The basement is swamped and the closet has been turned into a makeshift bathroom, still the Hills remain optimistic. But when Xzibit shows up on the bus, the Hills' excitement is uncontainable, and they come barreling from their little house in an explosive celebration for redemption unlike any seen on the show so far. He learned in an instant why it's so important to make a difference these days.
Want to simplify your life? Let me count the (50) ways
Marlene Alexander
Sep 22nd 2009 at 8:00AM
Filed under: Simplification, Health, Charity
Third Age has created a list of 50 ways to leave your clutter, both physically and emotionally. Basically, it comes down to A) identifying what's most important to you, and B) eliminating everything else.
That's the short list, and I'm not going to delve into all 50 points in the long list, but here are a few of the valid points made that we could all learn from. The writer suggests focusing on one point at a time among the ones that appeal to you, personally, and when you're done with that one, move on to the next.
At the top of the list, it is suggested and I agree that prioritizing is a must. What are the top four or five most important things in your life? Focus on the activities, hobbies and/or side businesses that you love doing and drop whatever doesn't line up with those activities.
Point 14 encourages us to create a simplicity statement that details what we want our simple life to look like and then write it down. As point 18 suggests, don't forget to include loved ones in your plan.
Time management is essential. I know I've been guilty of wasting time on frivolous tasks rather than focusing on my priorities. Points three to six encourage us to think about all the stuff we do at home and at work and do only essential tasks. Try to eliminate all the other stuff by automating, delegating or hiring help. Some people can't say "no" and so take on too much. Remember your list of priorities.
Racing for a Rooooffff
Ann Brenoff
Sep 19th 2009 at 9:00AM
Filed under: Real Estate, Charity
There are four-legged victims of the real estate foreclosure crisis too. Animal shelters report that owner turn-ins have reached an all-time high as families lose their homes and are forced to move -- often to rentals that don't accept Fido and Fluffy. But the pets who wind up at shelters are sometimes the luckier ones, says Realtor Sandy Zalagens, a Keller Williams agent based in Los Angeles who says she is sickened by all the dogs she finds tied up in backyards, just left behind often without so much as a bowl of food or water. "Realtors are on the front lines," she said, "The owners move out and we find them."
Zalagans is the force behind the Keller Williams team that is participating in the Race for the Rescues on Oct. 4 at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. The 5K race organized by The Rescue Train hopes to raise as much money as possible.
Zalagans' office alone has set its target on raising $1 million. Zalagans has long been known as the dog-rescuing Realtor in Los Angeles. She offers a free rescue dog to each buyer of a home she sells (they must qualify for not only the mortgage, but for dog ownership as well -- often much tougher standards to meet). For those who can't take the dog, she sponsors it in the name of the buyer out of her sales commission until a home is found.
For details on the race, click here.
