Just Giving

There are so many charities for so many worthy causes in the world that it is hard to decide which ones to donate to sometimes. They all have such a convincing spiel and, as cold and stoney as this may seem, I think it's fair to say that we all occasionally catch ourselves wondering how much of it is simply fluff, designed purely to tug at our heart-strings and how much of it is hard, solid fact.

I, personally, have found myself in situations where charities appear to almost be manipulating me into giving to their cause. And that's weird. It turns the purpose of doing good around and leaves you with this idea in your head that charities are simply money-snatching associations, putting pressure on decent people to do things they don't actually want to do. Surely this is the opposite of what they are setting out for.

I was in town with my Mum this morning and a lady approached us from a charity supporting blind and visually impaired people. My Mum told her, "My daughter's registered blind," to which she gave us a disbelieving look of icy mistrust, tilted her head to one side and said, "...Really?" - as if we were simply making an excuse to get out of giving her money! It made the situation ironic; that she seemed to be working for my exact minority group and yet, when she actually met one of us, she treated me in a very strange way indeed.

However, on the whole, I believe that charities are set up for good intentions and to help. The major problem with them becoming a mere social irritation is that it devalues the causes which they are trying to serve. At the end of the day, it's so much more than a broad cause - a medical term or an environmental danger - it's individuals, like you and I, and like the people around us every day who are the real reason behind it all.

In fact, these charities are representing us. Now, call me picky, but I don't particularly want to be associated with a grumpy woman who instantly assumes you're attempting to deceive her.

People forget this very easily and they seem to think that if they don't know one of the individual sufferers personally, it shouldn't bother them in the slightest. Why do people care? Why can't people just chill out about it all?

Well, would you be able to chill out about it all if it was your life on the line?

Empathy seems to be utterly lost on certain people, who somehow get away with having no real difficulties themselves and yet, sadly, seem to find every other reason in the world to complain.

Although, at times, even ignorance can be a positive - after all, it's when people start getting annoyed that you know they're taking notice.

The latest craze has been the A.L.S. Ice Bucket Challenge, raising awareness for people with a motor-neuron disease diagnosed in over 5,600 Americans every year. I have seen people complaining about being sick of "having" to watch these videos, after a few weeks of them being in circulation online. The great part is that they don't have to watch them at all. Nobody is standing over them, forcing them to do it. They are continually choosing to watch and so taking notice of an important message, possibly without even meaning to.

It's a very clever way to go about spreading your word in my opinion. People can't help themselves when it comes to social media and impressing their friends. And therefore, sometimes ignorance can be a fantastically blissful tool, if one only knows how to take advantage of it.


I think charities are all well-meaning, it just depends on how creative and passionate their workers are and how they go about making people aware of a cause that probably means nothing to them, but to somebody almost certainly is life-changing.

In this case, it's somebody like Anthony Carbajal.

One thing I know for sure is that charities are about real people, with real problems. You just have to look it from their perspective.