CFC and United Way

I have written about this in the past, for instance
The CFC and You (link disabled)

The government will be pushing the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) again this fall. This is the military (or government) equivalent (extension, actually) of the United Way, which is also kicking off their Fall Drive. I DO NOT support these campaigns, for the following reasons:

1. They don't have any way to vett the list to insure that the organizations on the list are actually trying to help people. In fact, an attempt a few years ago to insure there were no terrorists on the list was derailed by the ACLU and the NAACP. (The ACLU didn't want to have to determine if they were supporting terrorists, either.)

2. Any attempt to "direct" your donation to some specific organization will be undermined by the accountants employed by the CFC in order to insure "fairness"

3. Some organizations on the donation list have been mortal enemies of each other for many years (ie. Planned Parenthood and Right to Life are both recipients)

4. My attempts to determine if there have been changes to the above were fruitless - as the CFC doesn't seem to advertise (at least not on line and in advance) who is going to benefit from donations.

5. All of the links I have found while attempting to gather information on this subject are out of date, which is why I am posting this. Also, I haven't found anything recently to tell me if they provide your name and address to others, which would put you on mailing lists, resulting in your getting tonnes of junk mailings asking for more money.


As I have said before: I believe it is important to give to charities, but it is best to give to local ones, or ones your Church supports on a regular basis (in which case you can give through your Church). Today, it is best to also give anonymously.


Some Background Information:

CFC calendar of events:
http://www.opm.gov/cfc/html/cal2006-2007.asp


http://www.blackcommentator.com/103/103_security_johnson.html
(this article is hostile to my point of view)
"all charities...must now certify that they do not knowingly employ individuals or have ties to organizations found on any terrorist related list promulgated by the U.S. Government or other international sources."
the ACLU’s executive director, Anthony D. Romero, admitted never having consulted the terrorist lists.
NAACP joined the ACLU and 14 other organizations in a coalition (aclu article) to protest the new policy.


wikipedia - Combined Federal Campaign
"Terrorist screening controversy" portion is out of date, but good news - the ACLU quit the CFC
And in more good news - the ACLU also turned down money from the Ford and Rockefeller foundations instead of certifying the money would not be used to further terrorist aims.
(Strom, Stephanie, "ACLU rejects foundation grants over terror language,"
The New York Times, October 19, 2004)

TRex