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!