Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Give a Car to a Blind Person!



Sometimes you hear something that makes you stop and think a minute. If you’re like me, thinking starts to hurt after a while, so you stop.
I heard an ad on the radio the other day that made my head hurt for quite a while. It was for the Heritage for the Blind, which I’m sure is a worthy organization. But they were asking you to give them your car.
Now, I have no problem with charities asking for donations. I don’t want them calling me on the phone at dinnertime, but I understand they need money to operate, and I support various charitable fundraising efforts myself. But giving a car to people who can’t see – that’s messed up. Of all the things you could donate to a charity for people who are blind, a car has to be one of the top 10 worst ideas. Books would also be bad, but at least a person who’s blind isn’t very likely to hurt himself or others by attempting to read a book.
It made me think about other completely inappropriate fundraising efforts other groups could start, like:
Give your old iPod to the National Association of the Deaf!
Donate shoes to the Christopher Reeve Foundation!
Send your old Simon game to the Epilepsy Foundation!
Now, I’m slow, but I’m not completely stupid … I know the Heritage for the Blind sells the cars that are donated, and uses that money to fund what I’m sure are many worthy efforts and activities. I just question their approach to fundraising, because frankly, I see enough bad drivers on the roads already … I don’t want to start wondering if they’re operating a donated car.
(c) 2012 John Puckett

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