http://www.abbyjohnson.org/2012/04/bravery/
When Abby advises others to look for a local person to donate to instead of the organizations out there with insidious links to abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and wasteful spending, everyone benefits.
Let me tell you, when you're struggling with something like cancer and even a small donation comes through the mail you're absolutely humbled and feel blessed to know that people care!! If you've been praying for a way to finance another treatment and miraculously a donation appears the very next day, you hit your knees and know that God is watching. When you're at your absolute lowest and just don't think you can make it through one more day, but get a kind note from a stranger, you buckle down and keep trying because someone has lifted you in prayer. You really don't know what it is like until you've been there and I'd never curse anyone to go down this road.
This is something that big organizations seldom participate in: the real-world relief from the demon of cancer (or whatever the organization supports). The bigger the organization, most often, the wider the gap between donations and real-world applications. Yes, walks for solidarity are warm and fuzzy, but when the wolf is at the door, warm and fuzzy doesn't keep him out. Raising money for awareness sparks pride, but when younger and younger men and women are being diagnosed, awareness doesn't pay their bills or feed their children. Raising money for research (when funneled through a large middleman organization) sounds humanitarian, but when a young woman is pregnant and newly diagnosed with cancer, the latest research isn't widely available or publicized. It takes (took in my case) a soul deep commitment to the unborn child to find that research (that was primarily funded by government grants, not breast cancer research organization grants) that means mother could live WITH her baby and both be cancer-free!
Finding a local person to donate your money to may take a little more footwork (or finger walking in this digital age), but the rewards are tremendous! Not only can you get a warm and fuzzy feeling from knowing you helped someone. That someone directly benefits and above all KNOWS there are people out there who care! God bless!!!
