I dont often do this sort of thing, and I'm assuming that no one ever reads the sticky posts, but here goes.

Right now there are 199 (38 members & 161 guests) people reading the Canada forum.

If every one of those donated just a paltry $20 to the Westfalia Orphanage that BE has taken to its hearts this year, that would be nearly $4000 that would make a huge difference to the lives of these kids.

Now $4k may not be much in the great universal scheme of things, in fact apparently it may not even be some of your monthly grocery budgets, but in Peru it goes a long way.

Dont be a Grinch, click on the link to find out more and donate some loose change! It takes only a minute.


http://westfaliaorphanage.chipin.com...alia-orphanage
http://britishexpats.com/blogs/sue/8...mas+Cheer.html

OK, I read it.

And is your heart two sizes too small...

Done!

I will share this with my children too. We have been talking about the importance of remembering to think of others who have so little; in the hope that it brings a little perspective to this commercial madness they call the holidays!

What a perfect example... and a very worthwhile cause... I will keep my fingers crossed that they meet their target!

Done and thanks for the reminder.

I would love to be able to donate to every charity that asked me for money, but it's just not feasible. I am sponsoring a family (as I do every year) through the local food bank over the Christmas period. That's my bit

And i'm just a selfish bitch.

Ive got three kids of my own to look after.

We already donate to charity. We pick who we want to give to.

And what's with these chocolate bars? I bought one from my neighbour's kid recently and made the mistake of eating it. I almost threw up.

First time ever dbd has absorbed critisim so quietly on here and didnt say anything in defence. But I'm sure it wont last long

Is it not enough that the schools sponsor a family you have to donate to and then whatever club your kid is affiliated to decides to adopt a family that you have to donate to and then the RCMP do a collection on one of the major roads in town that you have to stop and donate to, then there are the STARS people everywhere trying to sell you a flipping expensive calendar and then there are women's shelter Poinsetta's and then those awful adverts on the telly about how it costs as little as a dollar a day to keep this kid alive - well stop spending advertising dollars then and keep a few more kids alive.

Yes we are all very lucky, we have far more than we need, but let us choose our charities. I will be helping to sponsor two families, I donated to the RCMP thingy and I will be taking dog food to the SPCA shortly as Henrys' tag is up for renewal, AND it's the most expensive time of the year as it is!

There are a couple of charities around here that do intersection collections. They appear to be allowed to partially block the road, forcing people to stop. That is just plain wrong.

I agree, it's just more guilt tripping, just like the Salvation Army folk, jangling their bells as loud as they can just as you walk past

Slightly off-topic here. My local IGA runs a promotion every weekend. For every $70 or multiples thereof, you get a freebie. It's different every week. Many people put it into the Food Bank box on the way out. This is fine for non-perishable foodstuffs but last weekend's freebie was odd. What is the Food Bank going to do with several hundred rolls of Xmas wrapping paper?

Does the Food Bank do booze?

I can imagine that poor families would really appreciate the luxury of a bottle of wine at Christmas. Or do the people who run the Food Bank sit in judgement too...?