Do We Really Live The Ocean, Or We Just Love Diving?

[NYCNaiad]

@timz ,maybe there are more important things to donate to? While I agree that awareness is a good thing and that locals should get some help, I'll rather donate my money/time/whatever to local orphanage.

Not to jump all over you, but will you actually donate to the local orphanage? I only ask because I receive similar responses whenever I'm trying to raise money for a charity & most of the time, there is no follow through.

Case in point: I'm volunteering my time to help open up a French Polynesian dive island & we're running a raffle for an all inclusive stay. $20/ticket, only 1500 tickets sold & 20% will be donated to the Coral Reef Alliance. A woman said to me she didn't want a ticket, but was quite adamant that she would donate directly to the charity. When I saw her the next day, I gave her the link to donate. When she asked me what it was for, I said to donate to the charity. She looked very confused. Eventually, she said, oh yeah...but it was quite obvious that her prior statement about donating to the charity was bs. I wasn't being pushy at the time & when people say no, I just back off so she didn't have to lie...and especially lie so forcefully about it.

I'm all for people donating to any charity they feel is important & while I think it's sad when people don't do any charitable works in their lives, that's their business. It's the bs or kidding yourself about it that really gets me.

 

[admikar]

Not to jump all over you, but will you actually donate to the local orphanage?

Yes, I will and I do, though I never give money.
Couple of times a year, my wife and I fill our car with food, candies, toys and go and pay them a visit. To be honest I hate to do it, because I feel like **** for leaving them behind, but I do it anyway.

It's the bs or kidding yourself about it that really gets me.

That's why I never talk about this, I have better ways of spending my money than paying fines for assaulting people.

And I admire OP for effort, it's just I find his POV a little bit abrasive

 

[NYCNaiad]

That's great you actually do

Yes, I will and I do, though I never give money.
Couple of times a year, my wife and I fill our car with food, candies, toys and go and pay them a visit. To be honest I hate to do it, because I feel like **** for leaving them behind, but I do it anyway.

And I admire OP for effort, it's just I find his POV a little bit abrasive

It's great you actually donate and personally, I think your combo of your time, donations and visit is a wonderful effort. Much more involved than just giving a little money from afar. I do understand feeling like crap afterwards. I've run into similar situations.

Re: finding the OP a little bit abrasive: I think passion + his writing quirks (perhaps he's not a native English speaker?) has a lot to do with it. Over the years, I found that people will contribute more to my causes when I'm pleasant and agreeable. However, sometimes I want to scream at people: What the hell is wrong with you?!?

 

[timz]

@timz ,maybe there are more important things to donate to? While I agree that awareness is a good thing and that locals should get some help, I'll rather donate my money/time/whatever to local orphanage.

@admikar

About 2 years ago. I was bumped into a post about 2 girl few weeks old that was borned with liver malfunction. I wanted to help within my capability. But i didn't have enough to even contribute for 1 session of treatment.

So, i started asking around my friend to give me RM20(eqv to USD5) friends around. Nobody knows what's the money for and they just gave without questioning much. Of course there are closer friends that gave me more, but i refused to accept. I gave myself a timeline of 3 days. Within 3 days, i got 100 friends to give me RM20. And it totalled up RM2000(eqv USD500). At least, it manages 1 treatment session for each little girl.

I then donated the money to the 2 girls' parents with a thank card.

Not only it we've managed to help the 2 girls with one session of treatment, it also made me understood that there at least 100 friends that will help me up when i need RM20 without any question.

Imagine if i would have asked RM200 from that 100 friends. I guess only the closest friends will givenit without a question and it may take more than 3 days to get the same amount.

And some of the friends eventually contacted me and donated to them privately.

Imagine if 1 out of that hundred continue the chain.

The 3 days taught me alot of thing. And the most important things

-The power of unity.
-Don't oversee small little things that involves many. It can eventually turn out big. It's called the butterfly effect.
-No contributions that is too small.

@NYCNaiad

BTW, I was indeed ranting. Because it feels like crap when we need someone from another side of the globe to shoot video to tell us how fortunate we are to be gifted with such a beautiful ocean and to teach us how to take care of our ocean.

Cheers.

Tim

 

[NYCNaiad]

You & I totally understand one another!

 

[jomcclain]

I don’t know if the guy who started this thread 2 years ago is going to see this comment, probably not. But just in case, I would like him to know that that it did some good. I happened upon it and after reading what he said, went on the Coral Reef Alliance website and signed up to donate $15 per month. It’s not much, but as someone said above, it’s better than doing nothing.

 

[timz]

I don’t know if the guy who started this thread 2 years ago is going to see this comment, probably not. But just in case, I would like him to know that that it did some good. I happened upon it and after reading what he said, went on the Coral Reef Alliance website and signed up to donate $15 per month. It’s not much, but as someone said above, it’s better than doing nothing.

Thanks for the contribution to the environment and again, it has proven that there is never too little to contribute.

As little as ranting my frustration over the internet can be heard by a another person 2 years later.

Thanks for making me understand that as long as we speaks frlm our heart, given the right timing and circumstances, someone will hear it one day. Somewhere, somehow....

 

[WeRtheOcean]

Part of the problem is that there are SO MANY charities asking for donations. I donate to one charity, and next thing I know, my mail box is full of envelopes from three or four other charities with a similar cause. No one can say yes to all of them.