I'm posting this on a different thread so as not to take away from the value of Brooke's post below. This is directed at all charities in general.

I've contributed my share of money and labor to many charities in my life. Often I question the need to "walk", "run" or "ride" for charity. Isn't that a waste of physical effort and energy?

Wouldn't it be more productive to have the participants clean up litter along the highways, help build houses for the poor, or clean and paint senior citizen faciities with their time?

In college we would raise money for organizations like the American Heart Association or the Red Cross by picking up litter along streets and freeways. We did pretty well raising pledge funds; there was usually news and TV coverage (it probably didn't hurt getting close-ups of the cute college coeds, LOL); a win-win situation for all.

I'm not trying to be cynical, just practical. Anyone agree?

I understand the point that you are making and I do think it is very giving of a person to put the time and energy into actually making the place a better place, however to do so it does take money and that is where I think the fund raisers and benefits come in handy.  Not everyone has the heart, time, or whatever to volunteer for the projects.  While that may seem shallow, I still think to donate money to an organization is better than not sharing any part of themselves.
The bike rides and such for some folks is a way to connect with others, sometimes those that you are raising money for (breast cancer survivors and such).  Other times I think it's just a social event to show off who's who in society and such and I tend to stay away from those.
One organization I am not too fond of, but seems to be the most popular is United Way.  I prefer to give my money and time to those organizations that I believe in and feel that the overhead from United Way tends to waste more money.  To find out which charities give more per dollar is to check out a site called Charity Watch, and various others.  (I'll include the link later)
I myself give a generous portion of my income to the less fortunate and volunteer time at a local food shelter, childrens' hospital and a local nursing home.  But it's not for everybody and I'm not going to judge the hand that feeds our programs.
I guess the real question should be, when you donate money, what is the motivation behind it?  Are you really doing it unconditionally or are you wanting to look good?  But then that can get into going to church discussions and etc.

I would tend to believe that neither walking or runs or whatever are really better than the other. Running, walking, riding a bike, picking up trash or whatever promote so many things.... good health, promotion of community, the opportunity to create friendships, or a multitude of good opportunities can come from doing something positive.

I think that doing something other than just raising money is VERY important. Doing something, anything after your financial donation is such a morale booster for your friend or cause. As in our case,  he gets to see us come out and support hiim and endure a little extra to further the cause. It kind of gave us another boost to not stop at just a walk. It showed us that this is an ongoing disease in which we are now acutely aware of the terminal seriousness.

Like I said,  no matter what you do to show your support, it's a good thing. Picking up trash is just as good as walking... The trash will be replaced by more, and the soreness of our muscles will go away but the memories created by doing something you support is what really counts.



-- Modified on 9/20/2003 1:58:23 PM

If 1000 plus people go for a walk (or even 10,000 or 100,000 which is common in these walkathon deals) they do each get a few hours worth of excercise... but really, in the big picture is that much? NO


Yet, if these same thousands of people were to join their efforts together and pick up trash or construct a whole
building/s for the poor I agree that would be much more beneficial.

Just my opinion. Like Brooke said; walks are still great, but I think the other options are better. I'd never really thought about it until Tiffani mentioned it, but excellent point.

As long as your doing something for a cause which you believe in, i don't think it's ever a waste of energy, no matter what the medium used to do it is. More people are probably willing to go out for walks, runs, rides and so forth for charities close to there heart then they would be to pick up trash along the highway or something equivalent because they think of walking or running to be along the lines of exercise(something healthy) whereas the others are more thought of as work(yuk).But as long as you do something you feel in helping, good for you. I don't feel it matters what.

-- Modified on 9/20/2003 3:00:53 PM

The most rewarding thing I have ever done is to donate my time as an adapative sports instructor.  I've been doing in during ski season for about 15 years.  I would recommend to everyone that rather than giving money or time in walking running, etc that you donate your time one on one with the disabled or sick.  Like I said it's the most rewarding thing I've done in the last 45 years.  My .02

I would agree with the rhetorical question in your third paragraph.  But charity athletic events don't pull anyone away from this, they pull in a whole new group of people and raise money for a cause.  This is a good thing, and the participants all have fun.  Well, OK, most of them have fun.

It's sort of like the PBS fund drives.  They appeal to conscience and "enlightened self interest" but they've obviously found from experience that it doesn't hurt to also give away some nice goodies.