Where is the Financial Help at Home?

I write this short article with a sad and angry heart, as I think about all the people who need financial help in our own country.

Are charities a big money making scam? Are you tired of seeing all the T.V. commercials with all the impoverished children in other countries? I know I am. Don't get me wrong. I'm sadden by their situation, and I wish I could even help, but would I really? Not likely, and I'll tell you why.

If you've ever surfed the internet for charities, donations, or people looking for help, you may have come across www.savemesites.com, or www.thewishnet.com, or even www.donatemoney2me.com, or something similar. If you've ever browsed the sites, you'll see hundreds of entries with people begging for help from those more fortunate than them. People in danger of losing their homes, credit card debt, student loans, sick and injured people, to someone looking to buy their dream motor cycle. While most people seem to be in dire need, others such as wanting a motor cycle may be ridiculas. Regardless of the fact that I think the webmasters of some of those sites are a little shadey, meaning charging anywhere from $19.95 to $44.95 for some desperate person to include their story on the site, and then giving false hope in claiming to advertise for them, I feel that most of those needy people are legitimate. I've contacted numerous people on each of the sites to see if they've received any help, and every one of them said that they hadn't. So why are there so many people trying to get donations through those sites? Because they really don't have anywhere else to turn. It seems that there's such a push from the popular T.V. commercials to donate for other countries, but no one is interested in helping our own neighbors.

I recently watched a video on the internet from ABC's 20/20 talking about Debt in America. The actor of Screech from Saved By The Bell, who was in danger of loosing his home in Wisconsin was portrayed as a porn feend who lost all his money, one girl who wracked up a $23,000 credit card debt because she was a binge spender, and another I believe had a gambling problem. (Correct me if that's not accurate) At any rate, that is so degrading to people with legitimate need and are searching for help. Not everyone is addicted to pornagraphy. Not everyone is a compulsive gambler or credit card abuser. My wife and I have been struggling for years. I fly for an airline full-time, plus work a part-time job, and she has a full-time and two part-time jobs just to slow down the inevedable. Do we have anything to call our own? No! We rent. My wife was divorced, and never got any help from her ex with the kids, and the county wouldn't help us. So after $94,000 in private student loans to hopefully better our situation, it's made it worse. Interest rates are impossible, little to no government help though they say it's out there. No grants for people who want a normal job. But there are grants for those that want to study Basket Weaving in the Florida Everglades. Well, not litterally, but most are pretty stupid, impractical studies. What a CROCK! "Ask Lesko" can go suck an EGG!!

I rent a room in a two bedroom $1800 per month apartment where I'm based (That's "reasonable" too, so they say) with a man and his wife. They work hard, and even with me helping with the rent, are STILL struggling. I still have to support my wife and step-girls back home 2000 miles away! So. Do I sound like a scam? I don't think so! So where's the help? Where's the incentive to try and better one's situation? The banks get richer, the poor get poorer, and college education is turning into more of a money making "business/SCAM" then ever before. I mean, what's the point of going to college, only to spend $945 a month on student loans for the next 20 YEARS??? Is there something basically wrong with that? Quite honestly what makes me sick is that people would rather send their money to Zaphere Mohamud in some far away land just so he can have more sick and diseased babies. What about our hurricane victims? What about our people who just need a boost to get a leg up on life? What about getting fuel prices down so that the person who works some distance away doesn't have to spend all his/her take home pay for gas to get to work instead of clothes or food? I say elect a poor man for President next year! Not some oil rich business man who really has no clue about life struggles.

What I'm asking of you if you want to donate is this. Please look in your back yard before you look abroad. People here could really use your help too. They're not ALL bad people. And you can always contact them before you donate. Tell you what. Someday when I win the Lottery, I'm going to help at HOME HERE!