Here is a charity which is, in my personal opinion, very much deserving of
support: C.R.A.C.K., Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity. They're at
www.cashforbirthcontrol.com, and the url really says it all. This
organization will pay drug addicted women and men $200 to sterilize
themselves. The consequences of this are obvious, and excellent- fewer
crack babies, fewer babies with fetal alcohol syndrome, etc.
As someone who has worked in the charity/humanitarian industry for a few
years, I can think of few other organizations more deserving of one's
support than this.
I also have a personal stake in this issue- my adopted nephew is an African
American male, born to a drug and alcohol- addicated woman. My nephew
Joshua was this woman's tenth baby. All his older siblings had been put up
for adoption immediately after birth, as he was, because the mother was
never in a suitable condition to care for a child. Of course this didn't
stop her from continuing to get pregnant with assorted men, time and time
again. When she gave birth to Joshua, the mother was so intoxicated that
she fell off of the delivery table. Miraculously, Joshua does not have
fetal alcohol syndrome or any other noticable medical problems. He's only
thirteen months old, though, so only time will tell. Most other babies of
drug addicted mothers are not so lucky.
As far as other worthwhile charities, I also like Grameen Bank and Trickle
Up, both of which specialize in microcredit lending in the third world. The
charity I worked for, as a volunteer and later as a salaried employee, is
ORBIS (www.orbis.org). However, for a variety of reasons, I do not
particularly recommend support of this organization. C.R.A.C.K. is the only
charity I'm aware of which is doing really worthwhile work right here in the
United States.
Best wishes to all,
Bill Douglass
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