Donating My Truck (in Contests)

I have an old 94 Ford Explorer. Nobody wants to buy it. I've decided to donate it to charity.

I was going to give it to the Salvation Army, but today I learned they are a right-wing Christian group with an agenda. I've decided to let you guys help me decide who I give it to.

Requirements:
- Must be a secular charity. Nothing that opposes my political beliefs, you know what they are.
- Must operate in Michigan (specifically south east Michigan, near Mt. Clemens).
- Must come to pick up the vehicle, as I no longer have plates or insurance on it.
- Must be tax deductible.

Winner gets $25,000, or more if they come up with a really good one.

Also, please keep responses in this thread rather than chat mailing me.

If you don't find anyone I"m sure you could always scrap it for a few hundred.

Yes, but it still runs fine, and I'm sure somebody in need could use it.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?keyword_list=MICHIGAN&Submit2=GO&bay=search.results

Please note that the $25,000 prize is available only to those who provide me with a direct link to a charity that meets my criteria, NOT to those who type terms into a search engine and give me a list of results. I could do that on my own, thank you.

I don't care about the prize. That was in case you could find a charity you truly like.

http://www.mowaa.org/donatemycar

Excellent post Dudemus! That is exactly the kind of response I am looking for here.

Volunteers of America

Secular	Yes
Opposes Lord Bob's belief	No
Operates in Michigan	Yes
Near Mt. Clemens	Yes (Southfield is close enough?)
Will pick up	Yes
Tax deductible	Yes

Sounds like a winner!

Purple Heart used to take any vehicle, push pull or drag.

http://www.purpleheartcars.org/

Purple Heart was at the top of my list at the time I made this thread.

My garage would welcome a free vehicle :-)

Aside from this any Charity you decide to give it to is fine bro. It is not them that is in need of being changed or needing a certain agenda. I would rather say it is the spirit into which you mind is settled. You could donate it to anything/one good or bad and it would not matter depending on how you personally feel to begin with. Just my weirs thoughts on it.

Will I get a tax write off for it? If so, come on down!

No, it isn't. That's why I posted my requirements.

If they want my truck, yes they are.

Again, incorrect. You may be forgetting that as of now, it's still MY truck. I am not going to give MY truck to an organization that acts in contrast to my core values.

http://www.carsforustroops.org/

It is tax deductible and they come to pick your vehicle up. They do pick up vehicle anywhere according to their website.

I do not know if this opposes your beliefs.

Very nice Ranger. That one looks like a good candidate.

Umm in chase you didn't understand what I meant then I will clarify. This is all about what you decide to do, all I said is the organization doesn't matter rather it is you. You could decide to up and give it to a random neighbor. You could decide that not a single charity in existence is worth of your truck but an animal shelter does. There is an infinite number of possibilities and they all depend on your mindset/whim. So really none of them matter to begin with it is in fact all you.

Chase = case


Should read: You could decide that not a single charity in existence is worthy of your truck but an animal shelter does fit the bill afterall.

I hate typing on my phone (>.<)

I personally give to my local no-kill animal shelters.

I do not have a link to one in Michigan though.

Zenai, I'm not sure I follow you (and can certainly understand why LB perhaps does not).

Yes, of course all decisions come down to the person involved. LB is going to make a decision, and he wants to give to a charity that aligns with his beliefs. And yes, he could decide to give his truck to an animal shelter. What does that have to do with finding a suitable charity? If anything, you are in AGREEMENT with Lord Bob -- the decision is his and his alone, and he is working to make the best decision possible. He's _avoiding_ capriciousness via this process, thereby making the decision wholly his own.

To put it another way, if Person A dislikes action X, and Charity 123 wholeheartedly supports action X, why on earth would Person A give Charity 123 money? NOT giving money is ostensibly the same thing as wisely choosing a donation target. Otherwise there would be one single non-profit called "The Charity" and everyone would give to that single place.

Thank you Sut. (By the way, where the heck have you been?)

Z, I have no idea what it is you are trying to get across here, so I'm just going to let it go.

Being a pet owner, I give a portion of my tax refund to a animal welfare group every year along with another fund (usually prostate cancer). It's not much, but it's what I can afford at the time.

These groups don't take crappy old trucks though.

So here's an interesting place:

http://www.actiondonation.org/DonateTruck.html

They specialize in trucks for some reason. Disclaimer -- I know NOTHING about them, so they could be a front for some extremist Nazi-impersonating nihilist foot clans that roll on Shabbos and drink green stuff marked TGRI.

Or they could be cool.

Not saying that a hybrid reference to both John Goodman and Shredder's minions isn't cool, of course...

Out

First: Good to see you around

Second: Almost but not quite what I meant. My point was that anyone/place can say whatever about themselves to look good, however, this doesn't mean it's true. What if/when LB finds out that "X" Charity was false? What will he do say gimme my crappy truck back? Not likely that will happen even under the best of circumstances. The point is simple "Give with personal intent rather than predisposed personal intent projected onto another that cannot ever truly be controlled by or do anything the same as you?"

LB

First: My hat is off to you for donating, so much is wasted daily that could do a myriad of charities a ton of good.

Second: To shorten the above: Give because you want to give.

I'd say pick 6 at random, assign them a number, roll a D6 and be done with it.

Just my thoughts *shrugs* maybe I'm just nuts.......lol

That's not the kind of input I'm looking or asking for. It's just not helpful to me.

No offense Z. I'm sure you mean all the best. It's simply not the kind of counsel I'm soliciting here.

Or maybe the rest of us are just too dense to see your point. Meh. No worries.

Anyway, I'll be making my final decision early this coming week. But keep the suggestions coming if you've got them.

LB isn't asking the charities. He's asking people for ideas about charities. You see the difference, yes? He's using meta for all the right reasons.

You appear to be using meta for several wrong ones.

What if tomorrow I get hit by a bus?

What if the world really IS flat?

What if the Rapture truly is going on RIGHT NOW?

LB _is_ making his personal intent known by choosing to make a strong, informed decision. Z, you're spouting flotsam and jetsam thinking, and I'm sorry, but that's the lamest way of thinking possible. Don't meta me, because I assure you -- I'm better at it than you are. I have done it, am doing it, will do it some more. On levels that (it sounds like) you're only just getting into. Meta is fine, because, like, you know, we're all just, you know, like, here, and stuff, and anything could happen at any time, like.

LB wants to get down to business, and that's laudable. And no, he won't ask for his truck back. That sounds like you projecting a bit. He's not trying to control anyone else, he isn't assuming he knows anything more than where he's sending his truck. If we all followed your advice on decision making...well, we'd never make a decision. What's the point? Because, hey man, it could all change tomorrow! Roll the dice!

Let me be direct. What is YOUR point? Be specific. No meta. How would YOU get rid of a truck that no one wanted to buy? You'd really roll a D6? Sorry, dude, it sounds like you've given up on decision-making in general if that is the case. And if that IS the case, I hope you don't vote, I hope you don't sign any petitions -- I hope you don't do anything that will affect anyone else. Because rolling the dice is the worst form of action and inaction at the same time.

IT IS!

Well what Zenai is saying is basically how we humans operate (and most animals too), that we're in some ways disposed to choose something over something else, maybe for invalid reasons. Thats more or less how it goes, with confirmation bias and being truly set in our beliefs. I wouldn't aim to achieve that, at best it happens by itself.

_But there is hope_, we can actually try to give to the charity that we actually believe do the best job based on some sense of math and intentions, maybe even end up with a charity that you didn't expect (after new facts are introduced), but saying that since we humans can subjectively enjoy things that doesn't make sense in a greater scale doesn't mean you should just give to any charity, Im pretty sure thats immoral.

one thing i am sure of is that lb put this in contests for a reason and that he set certain guidelines for the contest. please try to stay focused.

Sut:

You are overreacting and at best putting words in my mouth and at worst twisting my thoughts and metaphors into something completely different. Giving to anyone/thing does not require a myriad of rules, guidelines, political standpoints, positioning of the stars or anything else really. All it boils down to is the decision within yourself to give. After this is done everything else is tertiary to the action itself meaning as long as the charity can use it then it is not immoral to give to it.

If there is a problem making a decision then pick at random, use some way to pick them and then give. There is no need to complicate things.

Flotsam and jetsam indeed........

Here's an auto-generated fake site:

http://www.truckdonation.org/

I'm posting it here more as a warning to others to make sure that the sites you find are at least somewhat reasonable.

Just to be clear, you have the title, right?

Of course. I didn't steal it. *grin*

Donate it to the worthy cause of me... i will use and abuse that truck until it dies and cant be revived...

Good to see you back, sutekh. I see Z hasn't changed a bit either. :] It's still the same ole' CB that I need to stay away from lest I become re-addicted.

LB, props to you for what you're doing, man.

Update: I've been trying to contact one place, but I keep getting put on hold for too long. I'll let you guys know as soon as I have a done deal.

Z, the words I'm quoting and questioning are your own (and you've just reiterated them), so I'm not sure what I could possibly be twisting. But my intent is not to offend, but to clarify. So, I apologize for any of my words that went too far.

I'll still seek clarity, though, and question your viewpoint with a very simple query, a classic "test the limits to see if the sentiment holds up" type of deal.

You state: "All it boils down to is the decision within yourself to give. After this is done everything else is tertiary to the action itself meaning as long as the charity can use it then it is not immoral to give to it."

With that in mind, consider the following scenario:

Persons A and B have some money and want to give it away.

Person A wants to give to a passionate, intense, worldwide group that will use the money to affect others in their mission (or "can use it", in your own words).

Person B wants to give to a passionate, intense, worldwide group that will use the money to affect others in their mission (or "can use it", in your own words). This is not a cut and paste typo -- Person B wants the same thing as Person A as far as the giving goes.

Person A sends their money to UNICEF.

Person B sends their money to al-Qaeda.

Same or different? So that I'm sure not to twist your words, can you tell me if you think these two giving scenarios are identical, or, at the very least, that the target for the given cash doesn't matter?

From your previous comments (not twisting your words, just my interpretation thereof), I would expect your answer to be "same", but due to the "taken to the limit" nature of this particular choice (UNICEF vs. al-Qaeda), you could very well say "different".

If you do go with "same", then we'll just have to agree to disagree (and my hats off to you for at least being consistent).

If you go with "different", then in analyzing the full set-up, there is only one word that differs between UNICEF and al-Qaeda: mission.

And that is exactly what Lord Bob is trying to determine, to see if the "mission" of his charitable target aligns with his own beliefs.

Why are we even at this point?

LB wants to donate a truck to charity, one of his choice.

As long as it is not on any terror watchlist, it think is a a grand and noble thing his is doing.

That should be good enough for anyone. Even if he wants to donate it to the DNC, it is still a noble gesture.

Kudos for your charity LB, imagine how the world would be if most people did as you.

I'm not sure what point we are at...is it an issue?

I completely agree with you... In fact, I think LB has the right to give his truck to anywhere wants, as long as it isn't breaking the law (would giving it to someone on the terrorist watch list be breaking the law? I'm not sure...) It's his truck, and he can do absolutely whatever he wants with it.

Believe me, I would if I could.

Update: First choice refused it. I'll be looking into another.

Sut: That part of the thread was done several days ago, you could have just CMed me bro. Even from the start you could have, same could have gone for everyone to be honest.


I guess the case is actually no matter how well thought out or partially open to interpretation an opinion is not really welcome. I have been and always will be very opinionated, this community while giving the idea of openness to opinion is actually the opposite. I give my opinion and I am attacked at every junction, which of course leads to my defending myself because I refuse to back down every single time.

So to make a long story short I apologize for unintentionally highjacking your thread LB.

CBland no more opinions from me from now on, the game can be on the verge of literal death and I will not comment or give my opinion as it is not really wanted in the first place. My decision is made no more commenting on this is needed in this thread so either make another thread or CM me.

I have it scheduled to be picked up on Monday. Lamuness wins with Volunteers of America.

I've also taken the liberty of increasing the prize to $125,000. Enjoy!