Monday, January 11, 2010

January 2010 Charity - San Diego Food Bank

My company revamped its Employees' Handbook this year and there were some bummers in there. For example, my company will no longer pay for its employees' educational costs to obtain certain industry certifications. They previously also used to pay its employees pretty nice bonuses for successfully getting those certifications. Needless to say, the bonuses are gone too. (There goes my Christmas Fund. Just kidding.)

But there's one bright spot -- my company used to match $2 for every $1 of its employee's charitable contributions in excess of $100 in the calendar year. This year, my employer lowered the threshold to $50 and they will now match $3 for every $1 donated! The maximum cap on the company match is $1,000, so I've decided to donate $1,000 total to various charitable organizations this year, or about $83 per month, per charity. With the company match, each charity will get about $332 (i.e., $83 my donation + $249 company match) total. Sweet!

Without further ado, this month's $83 goes to the San Diego Food Bank.



Miss (soon-to-be-missus) M noticed a while back that there seems to be two, concurrent yet separate recessions - - those who are affected and those who are doing remarkably well in this economy.

I too have noticed that high-end restaurants and stores catering to the well-to-do are doing brisk business in this "recession." Fact of the matter is, I can't help but to think that this economy is being supported by, and at the expense of, those who were laid off to shore up corporate bottom-lines. Many laid off people and recent graduates continue to struggle to find employment. That's why I will primarily focus on charities that help feed, train and clothe those in need.

If you have any worthy charities, please give me some suggestions. Thanks!

4 comments:

jpkittie said...

good for you - I love that you do a charity every month... some of us aren't able to afford much ~ just donations of food & clothing... but it is nice that there are people out there that can help with the other things

me in millions said...

That matching is such a great perk. Sorry that all of the other good perks went away though :(

Anonymous said...

That's awesome! And forgive me if I dip my toe into the realm of taboo subjects (politics, race, etc), but it's so refreshing to see someone on a pf blog talking about donating to something other than the church!

I used to be so progressive (I used to donate time to food not bombs), but lately I haven't done anything! I agree, food banks are very worthy. I think I might donate some of my nicer work clothes which I *never* wear (love my jeans & t-shirts job), shoes, and jewelry to women assistance programs for helping abused and/or homeless women be able to interview for jobs.

Thanks for being a good role model! I probably won't donate much money until I finish my debt journey, but when I do, it will probably go to animals and/or food banks.

Revanche said...

I have the Canine Companions (guide dogs) on my list of worthies. You might give them a look, even though you're a cat lady. ;)