To be proud of DS over this (warning, naughty parent/Operation CHristmas CHild-related)

[SolidGoldYESBROKEMYSPACEBAR]

Ds is 8 and his school will persist in the poxy Samaritans' Purse appeal though I have written and complained at least twice (if you don't already know, it's a racist rightwing evangelical organisation, culturally insensitive, despised by most aid charities and a waste of resources.). I have never contributed to it and never will, and have explained to DS that it's a bad organisation run by bad people, and that good people (like those at his school) don't always understand that sometimes bad people pretend to be good...

Anyway, today, according to DS, one of the teachers asked the DC to guess how many shoeboxes they were going to get this year/how many they hoped for. DS raised his hand and said...... 'ZERO'

That's m'boooy!

MouthyCow I've tried to do this in the past but it's impossible to find out where your local Women's Refuge is for obvious reasons, so how do you manage it?

I suggest people also donate to local homeless charities and keep an eye on local papers as usually a group (religious or otherwise) will devote their time to organising a Christmas lunch for the old, homeless, lonely etc and they often ask for volunteers or donations. Your local churches may have details of those in need this Christmas.

If everyone spared a thought for someone else this Christmas, we could make a huge difference, not just abroad but here at home where there are elderly people who have no-one to visit them or invite them to dinner, abused kids living rough on the streets and women suffering violence who end up in Refuge Centres with their kids and just the clothes they arrived in.

Salvation Army, just thought, is another great organisation who do a lot to help the homeless.

Salvation Army is yet again another Christian organisation who do good works (no doubt with that terrible aim of teaching people about the love of the God that they believe in). If you have such a problem with Samaritans Purse then explain why most of the charities seem to be started by people with religous beliefs. There si albsolutely nothing to prevent an atheist organisation from doing a similar project, just leaving out the christian storybook. Can I also ask how you know that the children that were given shoe boxes were "forced to sit through a lecture", the children that I have seen being given these boxes where not forced to do any such thing. Some of them crawled out of the sewers where they live to prevent themselves from freezing to death, they were all given warm clothing in the hats/ scarves and gloves which are included in the boxes and the ONLY reason the clothing is restricted by this is because of import laws. Did you know that the boxes are subjected to random checks at custom and if an item not specifically allowed is found the entire consignment is confiscated (for the use and disposal of the custom officers). For this reason they have to be extremely careful about what gets put into the boxes. There is also nothing wrong with giving your efforts/ contributions to other, closer to home projects, such as soup kitchens and the backpack project is a fantastic idea. However, I am really offended by the OP's statement that these peopl eare bad people pretending to be good people, how dare they judge other people's motives like that.

THERhubarb many doctors surgeries and local churches will have links to local refuges and if you google womens refuge (don't neglect the mens ones either) and your area you should also be able to find a list of organisations that you can contact through their head office. Last year I made up a load of smallish Chrstmas Stockings for the children who found themselves in thsi unenviable situation, but I'm sure the OP would also take exception to that on the grounds that what these children really needed was a permanent roof over their head in a safe place and not the colouring books and "plastic tat" that I put in there for them to open.

LtEve - you mentioned that SP isn't supported by the Charities Comission. I looked on their website but couldn't see where that was stated. Do you have a link? I'd find it very interesting (been fighting my church over OCC for years )

JustForLaughs: OCC are on record as racist, homophobic, ectively peedling their superstitous bullshit - and financially dubious. That's why I encourage everyone to look for other charities to support instead.

sorry, how are they racist and homophobic?

serious Q btw

Where is this "record"? They are CHristians and yes some Christians have a problem with gay people and obviously they would prefer people to believe the same as they do, that does not make them "bad people" anymore than you wanting the rest of the world to be athiest makes you a "bad person". Neither are they racist.

The shoeboxes aren't airfreighted. They go by container ship and arrive in March. Much cheaper. However, the local militia tend to help themselves, so I don't bother to do them anyway.

lovelyladuree, the only way that the local militia can help themselves is if the guidelines have been infringed in any way, which is why it is so importan that people are really careful what they put into them. I don't care whether an individual contibutes to this cause, or indeed any cause, I do get angry when people spout unfounded vitriol whoich puts other people off helping good causes.

JustforLaughs I'm a catholic dear.

Read my link to the New York Times and you will see how victims of hurricane Mitch in El Savador had to sit through prayer sessions before they received any help. How desperate victims were easily converted with the promises of new houses. These were catholic people by the way.

I have no objection to religious charities and if you bothered to read my posts you would see that. I have merely stated the true facts about the founder of Samaritans Purse, a man who has made racist comments, who denounced Islam as evil, who questioned Barack Obama's religion and who said that the Japanese tsunami was God's punishment.

For that reason alone I would not want to be associated with Samaritan's Purse.

You would also have noted, had you read my posts, that I had no objection to other people donating shoe boxes. I posted on this thread to contribute what I knew about the organisation, not to berate people for giving to charity.

Their accounts have regularly been questioned too - that is also a Googleable fact.

Thank you for your information on Women's Refuge but when I have phoned numbers offering to donate many have said that the location of the Refuges were confidential and not to be publicised. That may now have changed so I will have to look into it.

As far as I am aware the Salvation Army give freely to people of all faiths and backgrounds without asking for anything in return, without handing out literature. They give without strings and are a reputable charity in the UK.

the rhubarb I have no idea why you are having a go at me, the only bit I posted to you was about how to contact a refuge. Unless you are posting under 2 names and you are also the OP, I have no issue with any of your posts. I also have no idea where the refuges are but many of the organisations will allow you do donate through a centre, such as our local church (which I do dnot attend) have a large box for donations of second hand clothing etc, plus a box for Christmas presents. I'm sorry if you took my posts as personal to you because they weren't addressed that way.

I do wish I didn't have to repeat myself but JustforLaughs here is information on Franklin Graham

Here is the New York Times link to the story of SP in the wake of Hurricane Mitch

Here is the lefty Guardian uncovering a few nasty surprises about them.

The links go on and on. Whilst the controversy surrounding them remains, I shall not be supporting them.

Because dear, your post came just after mine and seemed to imply that I was not religious or supported religious organisations. You also asked how we know people were forced to sit through lectures - I give you the New York Times link.

I have nothing against you. I am actually making time to answer your questions even though I am repeating myself.

I shall copy a few quotes from The Guardian:

"According to Time magazine, the US charity's work has included training chaplains for the rightwing contra rebels in Nicaragua and sending thousands of Arabic versions of the New Testament into Saudi Arabia during the Gulf war. Last year, the charity was criticised in a New York Times article for holding prayer sessions in several villages in El Salvador before showing residents how to build emergency shelters following an earthquake. "

"At Save the Children, Brendan Paddy acknowledges that many Christian-based humanitarian agencies, such as Christian Aid and Cafod, and even evangelical charities such as the Tear Fund, are well-regarded. "They demonstrate their religious values through their actions," he says.

However, he questions the economic sense of shipping boxes full of donated goods, arguing that transport costs could make the items more expensive than they would be in the recipient country. "Also, because each box contains different items, that can create conflict among the recipients," he says, stressing that a key principle of emergency relief was equality.

In many ways, says Paddy, appeals such as Operation Christmas Child are "something that benefits the giver more than the receiver".

"However, SPI's website features links to a Samaritan's Purse newsletter from Graham, in which he states that God has blessed Operation Christmas Child "because it is about more than Christmas presents". He says: "It is about introducing children and their families to God's greatest gift - His Son, Jesus Christ. As long as evangelism is the focus, God will continue to bless it."

The newsletter says the boxes are distributed along with evangelical literature and that the boxes "have led to salvation for tens of thousands of children and their families". It cites examples such as in Zambia, where "one shoebox prepared the way for nearly two dozen people to come to faith in Jesus Christ".

Follow-up materials "give children further opportunities to accept Christ and grow in their faith". Hundreds of thousands of children in developing countries are said to have participated in a 10-lesson Bible-study course run by the charity."

I think those quotes cover nearly everything discussed on the thread so far.

Standing Ovation from me Rhubarb

Evidence that Samaritan's Purse holds homophobic views

johnshore.com/2012/07/30/franklin-graham-of-samaritans-purse-reject-gays-and-eat-at-chick-fil-a/

Evidence that Samaritan's Purse holds homophobic views

johnshore.com/2012/07/30/franklin-graham-of-samaritans-purse-reject-gays-and-eat-at-chick-fil-a/

This one where they use charity money to take out adverts against equal marriage
bluenc.com/samaritans-purse-spent-150k-nc-constitutional-amendment

Homophobia and Islamphobia from Franklin Graham
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/10/franklin-graham-obama-gay-marriage_n_1506922.html

The reason I can get the stuff to the refuge is because one of my friends was there got a few months last year, and she now volunteers there. So she takes the stuff when she is helping at the coffee morning they have for past and present residents.

But your local GP surgery will usually have a telephone number of the local office (not the main helpline number) and the person on reception there can tell you how to go about donating.

Also, often refuges have an office that is in a separate location to where the refuge is, and you can donate there.

(Reception at the local WA office, not your GP receptionist. That didn't look clear in that post.)

Thanks couthymow. I will try again. I just remember speaking to someone last time who said that I couldn't drop anything off because I wasn't supposed to know where the Refuge was. She might just have been particularly unhelpful that day though and it was 2 years ago so I should try again really.

There was a thread somewhere about buying an item on a John Lewis gift list and it being delivered to a refuge. Sorry don't have time to look but it was recent.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/Christmas/1605758-Refuge-John-Lewis-gift-list-donate-here
It was easy to find!