Just a quick thought on the fires wreaking such havoc at Fort McMurray. Helping out is actually quite easy and really doesn’t call for much. For example, if 50 people donate $5, that becomes $250, and there are ways to contribute that much to the Red Cross Society by simply having it added to your cellular bill. You could do it more than once, making it quite simple to give more. In an interesting fit of mathematical nicety, giving that $5 makes it becomes $10, because the federal government has agreed to match contributions to the Red Cross.
No cell? No problem. You can donate using the Red Cross Alberta Fire Appeal website.
I think most of us could live with $5 less, and many of us wouldn’t miss a much larger amount, either. If nothing else, think of it as an easy way to double your money. Who could turn that down? And, it’s a tax deduction (remember doing taxes recently?)
Do be careful about some particular aid campaigns. For example, one “media” representative is suggesting that donations to him will be passed on the Red Cross as well. Perfectly fine, I suppose, until you consider that the donation will qualify him for the charitable donation deduction on his income tax, rather than those who actually contributed the money…
Doug Rutherford 