Charity for the holidays

I know I'm pretty much strapped for cash for the holidays, what with some major upcoming dental expenses. I'm still thinking about adopting an elderly person. The local mall has a tree with the names of elderly people who have no families and nothing to look forward to for Christmas. Next time I'm in the mall, I'll be checking that out.

Meanwhile, if not local, there are plenty of charities looking for help.

• I'm obviously partial to animal charities. I have links set up to two sites where just clicking makes a small donation. It costs you nothing but a few seconds of your time. Care2 for pets is only one of many click-to-donate causes on the Care2.com website. I am also a fan of The Animal Welfare Site. I have that set up as one of my homepages in my browsers, so when I get online, it's already open and easy to click the link.
• Not as crazy about animals as I am? Rather donate to people? Heifer International has a "teach a woman to fish" philosophy. Rather than giving people food, they give them cows, or goats, or chickens, or rabbits, or llamas, or some environmentally appropriate critter(s). Raising the animals enables the poor to have milk or eggs that they can eat and sell, along with other by-products. Such a simple idea.
• If you have a sense of humor along with a sense of what education in this country should include, you might consider buying a t-shirt or something from The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It may sound silly, but these folks are serious about keeping religion out of science classes. They don't have a problem with religion, they just believe that this country was founded on the idea that, while most people may believe in God, none should be forced to. Besides, it's fun to be touched by His noodly appendage.
• I tend to steer clear of donating to political organizations (except for CFSM), but in these dark times, one group I would consider is the ACLU. It amazes me that they have such a bad rep with Limbaugh conservatives. Their whole raison d'etre is to protect the Constitution. You'd think self-proclaimed conservatives would be throwing money at them. Oh, wait a second, I forgot - conservatives prefer to keep their money for themselves, if they are lucky enough to be ultra-wealthy.
• One Economy is a nonprofit working around the world that brings Internet access into the homes of low-income people, and employs local youth to provide technology training for their neighbors. I especially like the idea of getting young people involved in their communities.
• If you want to donate to your local police or fire department, contact them directly and don't give to one of the telephone solicitors. While some of those might be legit, many are not. The Federal Trade Commission has some advice regarding these solicitations.
• GiveWell collects information on a variety of charities worldwide, and gives you the info. They do their homework and show you where your donation is going. Charity Navigator is similar. You can do a charity search at their site and collect whatever information you need to make a decision about where your hard-earned dollars should go.

I think that's enough. If you have even just a few spare dollars, consider spreading it around. If not this year, maybe next year. But do it some year.