On 26/03/2011 4:41 PM, jmcquown wrote:
FWIW, I have been volunteering for a local charity organization that I
think it is worthwhile. In fact, I joined the board last year in order
to take an even more active role in it. We have a therapeutic riding
school and teach mentally and physically disabled children and adults to
ride. During the summer I spend 2-3 hours a night three nights a week
and sometimes daytime sessions. I am also involved in our fund raising
activities, like the dinner dance and silent auction that we had last night.
There are causes that do not interest me but to which I might donate
small amounts of money. There is the constant barrage of beg letters. I
donate money to the Cancer Society. My wife and I sell daffodils fro
them Cancer Society. But then I end up getting beg letters from
variations of cancer societies fro every organ int he body. breast
cancer, brain cancer, liver cancer, skin cancer..... Then there is the
Heart an Stroke Society, Leukemia...... come on... overkill.
There are charities with which I disagree with. I think some of them are
ridiculous and will not bother saying which because someone is bound to
get offended. There is one exception.... a local branch of Community
Living, an organization for the care and housing of developmentally
disabled. I made a legitimate complaint to them and instead of
thanking me and acting on it, they lied to me.
I used to deal with some of their group homes when I was working. I
came to recognize their staff, their clients and their vehicles. I
started see them at the gym at my local YMCA and observed that rather
than the workers supervising the clients while they did their exercise
regimes, it was the workers who were working out and ignoring their
charges. In one case, one of the lower functioning clients was sat down
on a bench while her worker was on a stationary bike. When the girl
started acting up and walking around the worker yelled at her to sit
down and be quiet.
That was the last straw for me. I wrote to them to tell them what I had
seen. I told them the date and time and described the people. Someone
wrote back to tell me that they logged in at the Y and checked their
records and their people were not there that day. They lied. I know
they were Community Living staff and clients. I even heard on of the
workers telling a friend that he worked for them. This was a guy
working out and talking with his buddy after having left one of his
disabled clients to fend for himself.
I was upset enough with the way the staff were neglecting their clients.
I was even more upset that they would lie to me when I reported a
legitimate beef.
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