Why do Aid Bloggers get Snarky

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

I will admit to having an occasional snarky post and a few uber-snarky tweets that I usually end up regretting and deleting later (unfortunately now they’re immortalized in the Library of Congress). Yet in real life I’m not a particularly…

Enough with the shoe donations

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Every time I turn around another movie star or charitable event is collecting shoes to send to disaster zones or developing countries. Just today I was reading a frivolous article about Oscar gift bags (and no I don’t…

6 questions you should ask before donating goods overseas

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

This is an edited and updated repost of an article originally written in May of 2009

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Sending donated goods oversees is an appealing idea because it makes you feel like you’re really helping while at the same time recycling…

The DOs and DON’Ts of Disaster Donations

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Do look at a variety of agencies before giving
There are hundreds of agencies that respond to a disaster, take the time to evaluate a few before giving, just because they have name recognition does not mean they’re best able…

Sending sports equipment to needy children may seem like a good idea, but is it…

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

Sending donated items can undermine the local economy

Recently the local news featured the story of an aid group seeking donations of slightly used soccer balls and shoes to send to children in Afghanistan. Although this sounds like a great…