If you had ten thousand dollars to give to charity, who would you give it to? Include your reasoning, please.

EDIT: Yes, this does affect the future of Improbable Island, in a rather major way, but one that I don't have time to explain right now. You may think I'm bonkers (or just being strange) but you'll have answers soon, I promise.

EDIT EDIT: Yes, I'm serious. I'm not being frivolous (just this once), this is important, and it will affect you as a player. Come on with your answers, the clock's ticking.

EDIT EDIT EDIT: You can split the ten grand between a number of charities if you want. In fact, by all means do so, and give your numbers.

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT:
The charity must accept PayPal - sorry guys, I know there's some good ones in there that don't.

EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT EDIT:
Okay, we can get around the PayPal thing. Check here for details.

Doctors Without Borders.

They are apolitical, serve no specific nation or agenda, and go where the need is greatest regardless of danger.

Second choice: World Wildlife Federation. Because people are lame.

Except for the Medicins Sans Frontieres.

The charity to help arm the people in Darfur to fight off the people seging there country.

A - It pisses me off countries ignore there problem because it makes diamonds cheaper.

B - The idea of a charity where your buying a hand grenade for a kid to throw at some guy that raped his mom just makes me fell all warm and fuzzy inside.

Partners in Health, if we're talking humanitarian organizations.

EDIT to add: "Partners in Health provides comprehensive health care to individuals in the developing world by creating and managing hospitals, health centers, and a network of community health workers. Operations in Haiti and sub-Saharan Africa (Rwanda, Lesotho, and Malawi) account for almost 70% of PIH's 2008 expenses." Full review from Givewell is HERE.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere and only 20% of the population live above the poverty line -- that same twenty percent are the only functionally literate members of Haitian society. Life expectancy is pretty bad -- estimates range from 51 - 60 years. Over ninety percent of adults are unemployed.

Forty two percent of the population is under the age of fifteen.

Living conditions are very bad and providing even basic health care in the developing world is astronomically important. PIH goes above and beyond in providing comprehensive care, and their work is outstanding.

Good question, not really sure but I would have to say something like Ronald Mac Donald house something that help children. I like kids,not in the sick way, I drive a school bus and have one myself if I had a K to spare I would want to help other people with their children.

Well, I'd have to say the Red cross, or the Salvation Army, Both are great organisations, and do a lot to help people.

United Cerebral Palsey

I would donate to them because my Brother was born with CP and I have had to watch him struggle to grow up with the disability for his whole life, it was not easy for him. UCP is all for promoting the rights of the disabled, and here is hoping that my brother can get onto the Fordham University Baseball team.

The National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service.

I would donate to them because I have ADD. And support groups hosted by organizations like this one are really helpful. I cannot express enough how helpful it is to be able to talk to knowledgeable people about the problems associated with the disorder and receive help beyond medication. Having Adult ADD is a difficult thing for me, going through college and work is hard, getting this advice and support is something I cherish. ADDISS is just one example

Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA)
Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (CHADD)
Feingold Association of the United States (FAUS)
Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA)

are other organizations to help adults and kids who have learning disabilities, and inform and provide help for the people who love them. I would donate to them so hard.

I like World Wildlife Fund since I'm an avid animal lover.

I suppose everyone has their pet NPOs, but I would gladly hand $10k over to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Providing cheap/free legal advice and defense, sticking it to the RIAA/MPAA, and attempting to keep the world from descending into an Orwellian nightmare are all admirable goals. I myself am a supporting member.

http://eff.org

But I'm guessing you're looking for something more warm and fuzzy.

Hard question...

The thing is: it has to be only ONE? I know that ten thousand dollars can help a lot a institution, but one thousand could help ten a little.

Very hard to say "who need it the most", "who would use it better"...

Well, if i had to choose one i would choose one that takes care of the nature and wildlife. Lost my faith in humanity a while ago, and the planet needs to be here if we want to use it in the future.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

But this, above all. Since Cerebral Palsy, and ADD don't kill people.

Damnit I would donate all my income to this if I could, y'know, live.

There is nothing more upsetting than a child with cancer. My mother works for Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. (why yes, all my reasoning is from personal experience) She came home totally depressed the day she had to take tumors from the lungs of a six year old girl. Can you imagine that? Having to watch your child die from a freak fault of nature? I can't imagine living through that, as a parent or as a child with cancer.

these kids could have a full, long life. I would be proud to give it to them.

In my opinion, since this is a game and well I'm betting that a huge bulk of us are gamers that it should go to helping Child's Play.

----------------------------------------------------------
About Child's Play*


Here’s the deal.

Since 2003, we’ve set up and organized Child’s Play, a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in our network of over 60 hospitals worldwide. In five short years, you as a community have answered the call and come together to raise millions of dollars.

That was awesome. You guys have proven over and over again that you are an overwhelming force, and you really came through and made a real difference to the millions of kids that children’s hospitals care for each year. So we’re doing it again this year, only this time we’ve expanded Child’s Play to more hospitals around US and the globe so you can send toys to a hospital a little closer to home.

Child’s Play works the same as last year. With the help of hospital staff, we’ve set up gift wish lists full of video games, toys, and movies. You can go to each hospital’s list and buy a toy, and that toy will be sent to the hospital. Some of these kids are in pretty bad shape. Imagine being stuck alone in a hospital over the holidays, getting something from a fellow gamer would really raise their spirits. Some of the stuff the hospital will give away for kids to keep, while other gifts (like consoles) will be kept by the hospital for patients to use throughout the year.

We are arguably the largest community of gamers on the internet. The important word there being community. We are not a faceless corporation and you are not just a number tracked by a database and then relayed to hungry advertisers. You guys have proven yourselves to be a powerful force when stirred into action. Here is your opportunity to use that power to do some real good.


(*Taken right from their website)

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Gamers giving back to children in hospitals and with Christmas around the bend, it would be nice.
:]

but if it absolutely has to be only one charity. I say St. Judes.

I would give a portion of it to the action groups which advocate for the Chesapeak Bay and for an end to mountaintop-removal mining. Why? Well, the Chesapeak Bay is the world's largest estuary, it serves as a nursery and harbor for thousands of species of birds, fish, plants, and invertebrates. It is key to the survival of several major human fisheries including blue crabs. It is a meeting point for several major environmental issues. Protecting the Bay and advocating on its behalf is a very effective way to adress a miriad of important individual issues.

Mountain-top removal is the most destructive activity I know anything about. It litterally means blasting away whole mountains and filling the valleys around them with debris and waste. Not only is this catastrophic for the forests and ecosystems on these mountains, and to the landscape itself, it is also a huge danger to entire towns near sites, the workers on the sites, and communities living in the watershes of the sites. Polution associated with Mountain top removal is both worse and covers a larger area than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Most of this goes unreported, but satelite photos from google maps don't lie. I care about this alot because I live in the southern Appalachian mountains, and these practices are terrible for everyone except the mining companies. For more info, you can check out ilovemountains.org.

There are many worthy causes out there, but I would give portions of my money to these two.

I forgot to add the website.

http://www.childsplaycharity.org/index.php

I'd say the Cancer Society.

Its more for personal reasons. I've lost two grandparents to cancer, and have a survivor in the family.

for what it's worth, here is my donation priority list.
1: critical life saving efforts, i.e. medical care/disease research/fighting starvation.
2: child specific foundations, providing home/education etc, to children without.
3: wildlife preservation.
4: development of cleaner/cheaper energy and of important technologies for the future.
5: supporting the arts.

so if I had just one lump sum of money to donate, it'd be to the first category, Doctors without Borders seems to be a very good option, they are international, independent, privately funded and have no religious or political affiliations/agenda. they also appear to do some fighting for Human Rights, in the form of bring ignored issues to light and calling for international action.

Doctors Without Borders sounds good, as does Child's Play, for two very different reasons.

Red Cross and Salvation Army are also on that list.