Helping the worlds poor

[Guido]

Hey everyone I was just wondering if anyone knew of some Catholic agencies that help support the worlds poor.

I know of two:
Catholic Relief Services (http://www.crs.org)
The Haitian Project (http://www.haitianproject.org/index.htm)

I will be getting married in 5 months and am saving the majority of my money for that but with a recent (6 month contract) job I got I will be getting many hours my hourly pay is well above the minimum wage (which is $7.93/hr in my state.) I was really happy about getting this job (although with college I will be doing an 11 hour "work" day) because I would have a decent amount left over to buy myself all kinds of neat stuff. But than God had to come and make me realize that I don't need that new 24" Dell monitor, Xbox360 HD DVD player, iPod, etc...

So that brings me back to my original question of does anyone have experience with either of the two organizations I posted or have a recommendation for a different group?

Thanks a lot and God Bless

 

[GorrionGris]

No, sorry, no experience with american agencies.

 

[Dream]

I have donated to Catholic Relief Services in the past. I do not have anything good or bad to say about them. I trust my money went towards a good cause, but I have no way of truly knowing.

 

[DedicatedLittleFaith]

I do not know of any Catholic specific agencies.

I sponsor two children through Canada Foster Parents Plan. I have been for three years and am very satisfied with the Plan Organisation. I am sure they have offices in the States.

 

[BillH]

CRS does pretty good work.

I don't think that they're specifically Catholic, but I've heard good things about Mercy Corps.

http://www.mercycorps.org/

 

[enelya_taralom]

There are two child sponsorships run by Catholic lay:

Save a Family Plan: www.safp.org
Christian ChildCare (I think this may just be Canadian): www.ccare.ca

You can also look into donating to one of our thousands of religious orders working for the world's poor, or you can look in your own backyard. Does your archdioease operate a soup kitchen, homeless shelter etc? If not, maybe this could be an opporunity to get one started?

 

[MikeK]

I trust CRS and WorldVision.

 

[Fantine]

Forbes Magazine rates charities on efficiency (what percentage of their proceeds actually go to the needy after expenses are taken into consideration.)

For Catholic organizations (those with "Catholic" in the name) these came out highest:

Catholic Medical Mission Board 97%
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers 95%
Catholic Charities 94%
Catholic Relief Services 83%

That was it for the top 200....

I have donated to all of those organizations, but never knew where my money was used most efficiently.

 

[holyorders]

Catholic Extension is a good one. It helps "fill in the gaps" with Catholic works of all kinds.

 

[Globalnomad]

I can recommend CRS. I see them at work here, they are wonderful.

Bless you for your generosity!

 

[Guido]

Thank you all for the information. I will look in to them all. I'm not real sure what we have locally, besides a Saint Vincent De' Paul. But I will have to look into local things as well.

I guess I could also finally get active in the Knights and stop using my excuse that with school, work, R.O.C and Life teen I'm to busy for the Knights.

 

[Globalnomad]

Thank you all for the information. I will look in to them all. I'm not real sure what we have locally, besides a Saint Vincent De' Paul. But I will have to look into local things as well.

I guess I could also finally get active in the Knights and stop using my excuse that with school, work, R.O.C and Life teen I'm to busy for the Knights.

You are at school, plus working, AND you are involved in ROC and Life Teen? Heck, that's more than splendid. Don't torture yourself trying to do more - if you do those four things well, plus carve out some quality time for yourself and your loved ones, you can' t possibly have time for more! Congratulations!