Giving to Iraq's needy

[Tyreds Tale]

We all seem to have great expectations for making money investing in dinar. And this helps the Iraqi country and economy. But when the profit starts coming in, I think we should give a little directly to the needy in Iraq. No doubt there are so many people who could use our help! :crying:

I found a website with some relief agencies. Problem is, some dont take all your donations to Iraq, and some I dont trust or just dont know enough about. Does anyone have any suggests on how to really give to make a difference? Please post a link!

list of relief orgs: http://www.change.net/links/relieflinks.htm

this site posts Iraqi children who need help to go to school:

http://www.iraqkids.org/helpachild/helpachild-1.html

This one helps to build or fix a school:

http://www.iraqkids.org/helpaschool/helpaschool.html

[toryangski]

Why not ask REd Cross or UN for a list of NGO's (or any institution) they work with or at least know? Or maybe we can ask forum members stationed in Iraq regarding the legitimacy of these associations?

[fishy7]

Want to put your money where your mouth is? The Alwiya Orphanage for girls and infants is just down the road from Al-Warka Bank. The kind folks at the bank will be more than happy to personally take some of your dinars to this orphanage via Miss R. All you have to do is send her an authorization letter telling her how much you want her to withdraw and give to them! Consequently, when the stuff was hitting the fan, the staff of Alwiya Orphanage did not flee and abandon their young charges, as the staff of many other orphanages in Iraq did. This is a deserving place for your generosity and cuts out the crook(sometimes) middleman. And I think everyone on this forum trusts Miss R. Just ask her to help you get dinars over there, she'll be glad to help you support one of the bank's "local" places of need.

[Tyreds Tale]

Fishy7, thanks for the post. Im guessing you found out about this from Miss R? Well, anyway, I was hoping we would be able to use our bank account dinars for giving, so this seems to work perfectly. Do you or anyone have any more info on this orphanage or our donations to it?

Supporting young girls is very important! Ever seen the movie Osama? ( http://www.futuremovies.co.uk/review.asp?ID=174) If only someone could have supported that girl after her father died... There must be many fatherless children now.

I guess all that's left is "putting my money where my mouth is!" Well put. That is the hard part.... :o

[fishy7]

If you want to know more or want to give to this orphanage I would suggest you ask R for more info. That way you would know first hand about this orphanage from someone who lives in the area and who would be facilitating the transfer of funds to them instead of basing your decision to donate some of your hard earned dinars on what I might tell you. I've done some independent research and seen how close it is to Al-Warka bank on a map of east Baghdad. The folks at Warka bank seem very willing to help. The bank is in the Al- Wahda neighborhood just a few blocks south of the orphanage (in the Al-Wiyha area). I know last year the Mennonites donated some care packages, but hard cash could be very helpful. I'm donating, but you should make your own decisions based on your own research as with any other charity. I will say this though...my donations are second in line to care packages I am sending to some troops I know over there now, especially with Christmas coming up! Hoooah.

[Tyreds Tale]

I received a reply from the administrator of the Christians of Iraq website: http://www.christiansofiraq.com/index.html . Here is the email:


Dear Mr. *******:

The primary organization helping the Iraqi Christians
to cope with the difficualties they are daily
confronted with is the Assyrian Aid Society of America
with branches in other western countries.

Here is their website;

http://www.assyrianaid.org/index.html

Thank you for your offer to help

wm warda

The pictures on the site are awesome. Up to date too! The website has a link for financial support. The form is to be printed, filled out, and sent with a check or credit card info. They are pushing a monthly gift, but thats not necessary.

They claim 93% of donations goes directly to Iraq. I looked at their balance sheet, and it has $220,000 spent in Iraq compared to its $375,000 total dispursements (including bills), so thats 59%. That's not to say that 93% isn't right, because they have some income to pay the bills, like grants and sales. Overall it looks like a great way to give, especaily if your concerned about the persecuation of Christians in Iraq.

Oh, they have an employer matching program too!

[Bothoms]

Iraqi orphans face uncertain future - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12820704/wid/6448213/)

Operation Iraqi Children (http://www.operationiraqichildren.org/)

Iraq Humanitarian Crisis (United Methodist Commitee on Relief) (http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/iraq.stm)

UNICEF seeks $166 million to help Iraq's children (http://www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/03pr20iraq.htm)

Kurdistan Save the Children > Home ( DNN 4.0.2 ) (http://www.ksc-kcf.com/)

Spirit of America (http://www.spiritofamerica.net/site)

THE BAGHDAD ORPHANAGE - The Invisible Children of Baghdad (http://www.baghdadorphanage.org/)

[Bothoms]

Does anyone else know of any other organizations that are helping the Iraqi people?