Free Republic

When Fairway Oaks was developed eight years ago, it was praised by HUD Secretary Mel Martinez as "an excellent example of the public sector and private sectors working together to develop decent and affordable housing," said Martinez. "'Sweat equity' programs, like Habitat for Humanity, help more and more low-income families open the door to homeownership." Sweat equity. Right. Now Habitat for Humanity, the "darling of liberal social activists," is being sued for sloppiness and a reckless disregard for the consequences of building on top of uncompressed garbage. 85 residents, dissatisfied at the quality of their free lodgings paid for by...

The road to hell is paved with good intentions — and, apparently, the homes in the neighborhoods along that hellish path are built by Jimmy Carter and Habitat for Humanity. All Jimmy Carter-bashing and schadenfreude aside, do the residents have a bona fide case or are these professional moochers trying to pin blame on others for their own lack of personal responsibility? Probably a bit of both. A few of the houses seem to have been clearly uninhabitable. In 2005, the cracks in one foundation reportedly “became so severe that the house had to be lifted and settled on piers....

Carter could be looking for some handouts from somewhere if this story proves true and these lawsuits hit his charitable organization hard:RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart. Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day “blitz” organised by the charity Habitat for Humanity. Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes. A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied...

RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart. Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day “blitz” organised by the charity Habitat for Humanity. Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes. A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied for the calibre of its celebrity supporters, who range from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to Colin Firth, Christian Bale and...

SALT LAKE CITY-Bishop's Storehouse looks like any other grocery store at first glance: The shelves are neatly lined with canned goods and the smell of fresh bread wafts through the aisles. But there are no cash registers. The fruits and vegetables, just-made cheeses and milk are free — a safety net for those in need provided by the 13 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "We like to call it the best food money can't buy," said Jim Goodrich, who oversees the storehouse and other facilities on the church's 13-plus-acre Welfare Square. Mormons may be...

(AP) -- If kids are playing video games, why not do some good while they're at it?

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Dec. 30, 2008) — Two Female Marines from the 2nd Marine Logistics Group came together this holiday season to donate more than 26 inches of hair to financially disadvantaged children. Cpl. Kendra Hernandez, a legal clerk with Headquarters and Service Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd MLG, and Cpl. Kimberly Pike, an administrative clerk with the 2nd MLG Administrative Section, cut off 14 and 12 inches of their hair respectively to give to Locks for Love. The non-profit organization provides hair pieces to children under the age of 18 who suffer from long-term medical...

In 2006, Publix Supermarket Charities donated almost $30 million to causes that included Habitat for Humanity, the March of Dimes and United Way. But Al Piña isn't satisfied. Mr. Piña, the chairman of the Florida Minority Community Reinvestment Coalition, believes Publix isn't giving enough to people of color who donate to other people of color. Welcome to the latest trend in racial extortion. According to a study that Mr. Piña commissioned from the California-based activist group Greenlining, Publix gave only 2.81% of its grants in 2006 to "minority-led organizations." Minority-led is defined as groups whose staff and board of directors...

Americans give more to charity, per capita and as a percentage of gross domestic product, than the citizens of other nations. But why? It would be nice to believe that as a group they are just more generous. Of course, it's more complicated than that. For instance in the U.S., which is notably religious among wealthy Western nations, about a third of all charitable giving goes to houses of worship. Some of that money, in turn, goes to projects that have an obvious benefit to the needy, like soup kitchens. But some does not, rather going toward paying the church...

"Professor Brooks analyzed ten years of data adjusted for variables such as age, gender, race and income, carefully documenting his methodology so the results could withstand the scrutiny of other researchers. His conclusions?"

ScienceDaily (Dec. 28, 2008) — To whom would you rather give money: a needy person in your neighborhood or a needy person in a foreign country? According to new research by Texas A&M University marketing professor Karen Winterich and colleagues, if you’re a man, you’re more likely to give to the person closest to you  that is, the one in your neighborhood  if you give at all. If you’re a woman, you’re more likely to give  and to give equal amounts to both groups. Winterich, who teaches marketing at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School, says she can...

This holiday season is a time to examine who's been naughty and who's been nice, but I'm unhappy with my findings. The problem is this: We liberals are personally stingy. Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet, when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates. Arthur Brooks, the author of a book on donors to charity, "Who Really Cares," cites data that households headed by conservatives give 30 percent more to charity than households headed by liberals. A study by Google found an...

I recently recieved this email from a friend, and thought I would just pass it on. 'Some people!' snorted a man standing behind me in the long line at the grocery store. 'You would think the manager would pay attention and open another line, 'said a woman. I looked to the front of the line to see what the hold up was and saw a well dressed, young woman, trying to get the machine to accept her credit card. No matter how many times she swiped it, the machine kept rejecting it. 'It's one of them welfare card things. Damn...

JOPLIN, Mo. (Dec. 22) - An anonymous donor has come through again for the Salvation Army, dropping five cashier's checks for $10,000 each into kettles at the city's two Wal-Mart stores. It's the fifth straight year someone has given $50,000 to the Salvation Army's annual holiday fundraiser without taking credit for the generous gesture. And while Capt. Jason Poff says he doesn't budget for the money in advance, but he admits that it's something he does hope for each year.

Liberals love to spend other people’s money to make themselves look, and feel, compassionate. But it is conservatives who actually donate more of their own funds than leftists to charitable causes. According to a study cited this weekend in The New York Times by uber-leftist hagiographer Nicholas Kristof, households headed by conservativs give 30 percent more to charity than households led by liberals. The study was by Arthur Brooks, called, “Who Really Cares?” Another study was even more astounding — Google found an even greater disparity: average annual contributions reported by conservatives were almost double those of liberals. What’s more,...

This holiday season is a time to examine who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, but I’m unhappy with my findings. The problem is this: We liberals are personally stingy. Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates. Arthur Brooks, the author of a book on donors to charity, “Who Really Cares,” cites data that households headed by conservatives give 30 percent more to charity than households headed by liberals. A study by Google found an...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2008 – Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Azemar King saw how the nation swept in to help him and his fellow New Orleanians when Hurricane Katrina devastated their city in 2005. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Charles Reynolds, an assistant with the Marine Forces Reserve Toys for Tots program, speaks to Cub Scouts in Mandeville, La., about the program as well as the benefits of staying in school, staying fit and volunteering during a Dec. 7, 2008, visit. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Erin Wiener   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. So this year, he’s convinced...

This holiday season is a time to examine who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, but I’m unhappy with my findings. The problem is this: We liberals are personally stingy. Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates. Arthur Brooks, the author of a book on donors to charity, “Who Really Cares,” cites data that households headed by conservatives give 30 percent more to charity than households headed by liberals. A study by Google found an...

A Sheffield man who lent a penniless Australian tourist £5 to pay for a ferry trip in 1969 has been repaid his debt nearly 40 years later. While Jim Webb was out, a card and £200 was hand delivered to his home by Gary Fenton, to repay the money he borrowed when they met in Ostend, Belgium. A note inside read: "To Jim Webb, a good man. From Gary Fenton, a tardy payer of debts." Mr Webb, 72, has appealed for Mr Fenton to get back in touch. Mr Webb and a friend were travelling around Europe in April 1969...

Salem - During the Christmas season, their red kettles are a standard outside the entrances of many retail stores, but after the holidays are over, the Salvation Army’s mission does not stop. They continue to help those in need, especially during these economically tight times. Through their Emergency Assistance and Family Services Bureau, the Salvation Army helps families pay for rent, utilities and food. They get funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the United Way and other private donations, as well as group efforts with Project Bread and other foundations. When the situation calls for it, the Salvation Army...

In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two. Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared. Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds. He did manage to leave $15 a week to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either. If there was a welfare system...

Gloves come on in Cask ’n’ Flagon coat-check clash By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa / with Simone Press Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - A holiday bash at the Cask ’n’ Flagon turned into a merry melee the other night after a coat-check catastrophe caused a near riot at the bar across from Fenway Park [map] . Police and fire officials swarmed the scene after a slew of coatless patrons attempted to storm the watering hole’s kitchen and a fire alarm was pulled. Not to mention that the “Three Kings 13th Annual Holiday Extravaganza” was overcrowded and patrons were, according...

Most Americans don't see a connection between politics and philanthropy, but the current economic recession, the skyrocketing federal budget deficit and the coming new era of one-party government could change that.Much will depend on the Obama administration's policies, and at this stage nobody can predict what they will be. We do know some things, however. We know, for example, that high-income individuals, those who probably have lost the most in the stock-market meltdown and stand to lose even more if Washington increases taxes on "the rich," are the very people who typically give the most to charity. The Generous RichA...

MADISON, Wis. — Vanessa Rosales comes to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry here rather than others for one reason: She can choose what food she brings home, rather than being handed a bag filled with random groceries. The pantry, which looks like a small grocery store, is indicative of broad changes going on at the nation’s food banks and food pantries. No longer simply the domain of canned corn and peanut butter, food banks are preparing ready-to-eat meals, opening their own farms and partnering with institutions as varied as local supermarkets and state prisons to help gather and...

"grand jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within" Islamic Society of Boston Mosque Madness Update. "Texas Terrorism Trial Ties Boston mosque leaders to Extremist Network," from Citizens for Peace and Tolerance (thanks to Jerry): Dennis Hale, President of Citizens for Peace and Tolerance, called today for a public investigation of the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s sale of land to the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) for the construction of New England ’s largest mosque. Hale noted that officers of the largest Muslim charity in America , The Holy Land Foundation (HLF), convicted in Texas last week of funding Middle...

MURIDKE, Pakistan – Pakistan's vow to crack down on militants behind the Mumbai attacks may meet an early test with the Islamist charity accused by the U.S. of being the front group for the prime suspects. Washington and India view Jamaat-ud-Dawa as the successor to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant organization that India says trained the 10 gunmen who killed 171 people in India's commercial capital.

A Burnsville man came to the aid of a Minneapolis-based non-profit that trains service dogs. Thanksgiving day someone stole a flat-bed trailer used to train dogs to help people who are deaf or disabled, and to deliver supplies to those families. Paul Tate, an unemployed contractor from Burnsville, heard about the theft and decided to donate a custom-built trailer he had but was not using. The trailer is enclosed, insulated and air-conditioned. The donation was personal for Tate. He and his current wife, both had previous partners who died after an illness left them homebound. "These service animals make a...

Watch this show. It is a redemption of the reality TV show format. It shows exactly what a blessing charity is to those who give, as well as those who receive. It also shows the people who Obama wants to take wealth from so that these blessings will never be realized. Very uplifting. Very sad if we let this Marxist monster steal the soul of America.

Beginning the first week of December, Salvation Army bell ringers will set up red kettles on street corners and in malls across the country, hoping to collect more than $100 million in coins and small bills. It's an old-school way of raising money and the Army knows it, so this year, the charity is supplementing its famous Red Kettle Campaign with a Twitter feed, a Facebook widget, and a cell phone text message donation program in addition to its recently introduced online kettle program. The Army, short on volunteer bell ringers, even pays some people to coax passersby into donating...

If the turbulent economy has you ready to stuff your mattress with your savings, here’s how to get a better return for your money — while helping to alleviate global poverty to boot. MicroPlace (microplace.com), an eBay-owned business, connects the working poor to would-be lenders, allowing you to invest as little as $20 to get a one to three percent return on your investment — a better rate than offered by many savings accounts. MicroPlace uses your money to fund organizations that make loans to people working to lift themselves out of poverty. Like the popular micro-lending site Kiva.org, MicroPlace...

CHICAGO (AP) - Barack Obama and his wife say they wanted to show their young daughters the meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday, especially at a time when so many are struggling. They took 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha to a food bank today, where the girls joined their parents in shaking hands and giving holiday wishes to hundreds of people who'd been lined up for hours. The family handed out wrapped chickens to the people waiting in the chilly outdoor courtyard on Chicago's south side. The president-elect told, telling people to call him "Barack," said he wanted his girls to...

OTTAWA -- The Carleton University Students' Association has voted to drop a cystic fibrosis charity as the beneficiary of its annual Shinearama fundraiser, supporting a motion that argued the disease is not "inclusive" enough. Cystic fibrosis "has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men" said the motion read Monday night to student councillors, who voted almost unanimously in favour of it.

I have been posting on this site about the trials and tribulations of young donors. I’m in the middle of chronicling the life of Michael, an heir to a trust, who must soon begin giving away $78 million (U.S.). More on his philanthropic journey in the next post. Another group is stumbling into the American philanthropic scene. Young South Asians living in the U.S. (Pakistanis, Indians, and Bangladeshis are the majority). Some moved to America after college, and others (like me) were raised here. They are coming into significant personal wealth. I recently brokered a discussion of six prospective donors....

<p>PLATTEVILLE, Colo. (AP) -- A farm couple got a huge surprise when they opened their fields to anyone who wanted to pick up free vegetables left over after the harvest -- 40,000 people showed up.</p> <p>Joe and Chris Miller's fields were picked so clean Saturday that a second day of gleaning -- the ancient practice of picking up leftover food in farm fields -- was canceled yesterday.</p>

Is this not just the perfect example of the pure outright evil of socialist government? They create conditions that increase the homeless(emptying psych. hospitals, destroying jobs, interfering with markets, seizing wealth, dumbing down education),, a very real problem arises that they deny exists (freezing winter temperatures) and they order the one group of people who are helping freely to stop!! Here you have homeless people freezing in the cold, no one is suppose to be freezing in the cold because the socialists say the earth is melting from global warming!!! Cold is not suppose to exist!!! They mock Christians! They...

Interpal the controversial UK-based Palestinian charity, is facing closure after Lloyds TSB instructed the Islamic Bank of Britain to shut its bank account. Interpal (pictured), which is on a list of banned organisations in the US because of suspected links with terrorists, is also under investigation by the UK Charity Commission for the third time. The first two investigations by the Commission, which concluded in 1996 and 2003, found no evidence of any wrongdoing by the charity. The latest one, which opened in December 2006, is examining fresh concerns about the potential for inappropriate links between the charity and terrorist...

This has the potential to not only damage Interpal but also to affect community relations and cohesion in Britain," he said. "It is, at the very least, an example of the utter lack of respect faced by the Muslim community from some hostile quarters in this country." Hewitt added that IBB had offered its total support but is "apparently powerless, throwing into question the autonomy of Britan's burgeoing Islamic finance sector". In a further statement on the charity's website this week, Interpal said the Islamic Bank "remains threatened by Lloyds' demands and thus faces closure itself".

A Clinton-appointed federal judge ruled in favor of Michael Savage today in an attempt by the Council on American-Islamic Relations to extract attorney fees and costs in a case the nationally syndicated talk radio host brought against the Muslim lobby group. "This is a huge victory for me, personally, but also for the rest of America who is afraid of this lawsuit-happy group of intimidators," Savage said. Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California previously dismissed Savage's copyright infringement and RICO lawsuit against CAIR. Savage alleged CAIR illegally published singled-out quotes and audio...

The Holy Land Foundation gave more than $12 million to Palestinian terrorists, prosecutors in Texas said in closing arguments at the Muslim charity's trial. "Don't let the defendants deceive you that what they did, they did to support widows and orphans," federal prosecutor Barry Jonas told a jury Monday in Dallas. A trial last year against Holy Land ended in a mistrial, the Dallas Morning New reported Tuesday, noting prosecutors this time eliminated much of their previous case but kept their essential charge that Holyland was created to raise money for Hamas, deemed a terrorist group under U.S. law.Lawyers for...

DALLAS – They sang praises to a terrorist group, had telephone access to its leadership and deceived the public about their true ambitions, a federal prosecutor said Monday about the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). Five former HLF officials are on trial for illegally routing millions of dollars in donations to Hamas through a series of Palestinian charities, known as zakat committees, that prosecutors say are controlled by the terrorist group. In his closing argument, federal prosecutor Barry Jonas pointed to what he called the "highlights of the highlights" of the government's six-week case. It includes hundreds...

I just saw on Hannity and Colmes where Hannity states how little Joe Biden gave to cherity. Democrat Bob Beckel stated he didn't know Biden gave so little and that he gave that much in used underwear the last 3 years!

In fact, during that 2000-2004 period Obama gave substantially less than the average family making more than $150,000, which averages giving of 2.2 percent of total income according to University of George Professor Russell James. And a study published in January by the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy found that nationwide in 2004 more than two-thirds of American households – the vast majority of which made significantly less than the $207,647 Obama made that year – still gave an average of over $2,000, or 3 percent of their income. Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, was even stingier about spreading his...

Vatican City, Oct 31, 2008 / 10:23 am (CNA).- On Monday, November 3, Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, will meet with the U.S. bishops to speak with them about the need to maintain the Catholic identity of the charitable outreach of the Church. The president of the council, who in effect oversees all of the Church’s charitable activities, will travel to the United States to meet with the bishops during their November 10-13 meeting in Baltimore.  The overriding concern of Cardinal Cordes’ address to the bishops will be to stress that Catholic charities...

Senator Obama’s tax returns are pretty interesting. In comparing his 2007 tax return to previous years, other than a very significant increase in income, the major change is that Senator Obama has found a pretty good tax planner. Senator Obama has implemented several tax strategies that have reduced his 2007 Federal income taxes and if he continues with this planning, he and his family will save millions over the next couple of decades. Every step of the Obama tax plan appears to be 100% legal. It is well documented that between 2001 and 2004, the only noteworthy items in the...

For reasons I do not understand, of all the columns I have written, “Ebenezer Obama and Trickle Down Charity (The Rather Uncharitable Obamas)” has generated more interest than anything other. I did not understand why, until a friend reminded me of a central truth about the public—which I had forgotten: You may lie, cheat, or steal, and the public may forgive you in time. But when you talk one way and live another, watch out. The public hates hypocrisy above all else. So, just when I thought there was no politician stingier than Barack Obama—who has given as little as...

John McCain today reiterated a promise that his running mate's wardrobe -- purchased for her by the Republican National Committee -- will end up going to a good cause once the election is over. So here's good news. Calls to thrift stores across Palin's home state of Alaska have turned up a taker: The Salvation Army. "We would be delighted to be the beneficiary of the clothes from Gov. Palin," said Jenni Ragland, public relations director for the Salvation Army's office in Anchorage. "We would most likely use it in one of our fundraisers here in Alaska to help support...

Yes, the Republican Party spent a fair chunk of change to spruce up Sarah Palin's wardrobe as she made her entree onto the national political scene. But after the campaign ends, the new clothes purchased for her and some family members are headed to charities. "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign," said Tracey Schmitt of John McCain's campaign.

Taliban gunmen killed a Christian aid worker in Kabul on Monday, and the militant group said it targeted the woman because she was spreading her religion. The dual South African-British national worked with handicapped Afghans and was killed in the western part of Kabul as she was walking to work around 8 a.m., officials said. The gunmen, who were on a motorbike, shot the woman in the body and leg with a pistol, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the slaying. "This woman came to Afghanistan to teach Christianity to the people of Afghanistan," militant...

A Los Angeles labor leader now the target of a corruption probe routinely ordered employees of a charity he headed to work on campaigns for political candidates -- a practice barred by law -- according to people who said they participated in such activities. Tyrone Freeman, president of the Service Employees International Union's largest California local, later denied to the Internal Revenue Service that the charity employees were required to do campaign work, said a person close to an IRS inquiry into the matter. Because they are subsidized by taxpayers, charities are forbidden to take part in campaigns for public...

A British woman working for a Christian charity helping disabled Afghans was shot dead in Kabul as she walked to work early this morning, officials and the group said. Gayle Williams worked for SERVE Afghanistan, which describes itself as a Christian charity, confirmed the incident but would not give any details.'Our people carried out this attack in District 3 of Kabul this morning at 7am,' the Taliban's spokesman Zabiullah Mujahed told The Times. 'The reason that we killed her was because she was spreading Christianity." 'Two armed men sitting on a motorbike shot her dead. Some bullets hit her body...