The organization my group chose was the Ronald Mcdonald House Charities. We chose them because thats the group because we knew the most about them.  Then the representative came in and talked to our class made it even better choice. We are trying to raise as much as we can to help the organization. So i hope the money we raise and donate will be used to help many childern in the future. I know are all sad that we cant deliver the money personally but i know that it will help none the less.

This week we had your brown paper bag activity. Which taught me a lot about each person in my group.  But picking the 3 things for my bag were the hardest. So it took me quite awhile. I narrowed it down a stuffed animal cat, a Cincinnati pencil bag and a bunch of batman stuff. I chose the cat do to the fact i love cats and my dad got it for me. Then the Cincinnati bag because thats my hometown. Last is the batman stuff for that i love batman. I even have a batman shower curtain. The things team brought were really deep and they loved them like it was truly part of them. Zack brought a that his dad gave to him and wants him to pass it down to his son. Then Dovavan brought headphones to show his love for music. Our group had trouble picking what the fundraiser was going to be. But finally we choose to bake sales and selling things.

This week we had the chance to see and ask questions to the panel memebers. On Tuesday we had Give Kids The World, she told us about the many  amenities there location and organization have too offer to sick/ ill children. Such as the ice cream parlor, gingerbread, and train. Then Mrs. Mabry came and talked to our class again about what they do and that they always volunteers.

On Thursday we had 5 organizations come and speak. They were Witts End Farm, Animal Services, Ronald McDonald, A Place For Grace and Grace Landing. First we had them talk for a few minutes about there organization. Then we asked them a bunch of questions ranging from what was there best exp erience was to why you started working there. All the groups told us they would love volunteers and always need help.

Evaluating each organization is very beneifical to see where all the money goes. To find out these things you can do a variety of things such as look on the web, phone calls, emails, interviews and volunteering. All theses things can be used to see if the people are really interested in there job or are just there for the money. If you are making a phone call you can see if they are into their job by the way the talk, if there monotone they dont want to be there. So we want to find charities that are happy and excited to work there. Another way to invest into a charity is by volunteering. By volunteering you can see how the organization will treat you and everyone else there. An interview is one way you could get involved into a charity and be able to talk face to face with a person that is passionate about their work. The internet is also a way to find out alot about certain organizations.

I feel it is quite difficult to see if non-profit are just right for the cause. Trying to find forms and info about to see where there money goes. Also if they are using it wisely or not. Like one of our organizaationns were the JDRF and with the numbers they had they would be able to stay sustainable for more than 2 months. Anyways we were able to find some good info from the Ronald McDonald House. We have a rep coming into talk. I’m really looking forward to the many speakers we have to come.

This week we looked at our organizations tax returns and the form 990s of each. The form 990 showed us an overview of how the money was used for in the charity. Such as where it goes, income and how it goes towards other things. We want to know these things before we choose the organization we want to donate to. Each person in our group had one organization that they were to contact and see if they were willing to talk to our class. Currently our group has unsuccessful got anyone whos been able to come and talk.

Looking at the numbers of each organization before choosing a final charity. Knowing that they use there donations in the best way possible. Helping anyone is great too but even if its just a small donation. To help is the main objective so hopefully we will find someone who is willing to help and talk about their organization. Till then my group will continue contacting people and collecting donations.

This was my first time ever doing anything like this. So i really didn’t know what to do. As you have to pick 6 cards you really have to think what you feel is going to help the most. But then out of those 6 pick only 3. It was quite hard to narrow it down. I’ve got to say it really tells you a lot about yourself and what your interests really are. The MAD cards showed what was the most important to you. I realized that everyone in our class wants to help make a change. One step at a time. From the cards i picked i saw that it was what has happened to my family and I is what drew me to specific cards. We all have things that happen to us. Either if its good or bad? Theres always a way to help and thats what were doing. Or at least trying. From each person reading their top 3 cards you realize that we aren’t that different at all. We all had similar cards and great reasons why we chose them.

This program i feel is going to be filled with great feeling and thought provoking ideas for our future. What i hope to gain from this is information about the thousands of charaties. What there doing and what they do to help people, animals , etc. Also being able to know that you are helping people and being able to bring a smile to anyones face. Giving back is by far one of the best things you can do. Can’t wait for what the rest of the program has for us.