Finding a charity that speaks to you

Room to ReadI never realised I was looking, until I found it, only to realise that I have been looking for it all along.

I have been looking for a way to give something back to the society, be it through work, business, or a charitable organisation. I’ve finally stumbled across something which speaks to me on a fundamental level.

I’m not sure if you have thought of what does charity mean. So far, to me, the word “charity” means giving away money to the poor/needy, most of the time with only a vague idea of where that money is going. I don’t like giving just because I pity the person. I would rather give so that the person will be empowered to do something about his/her situation. This thought did not fully materialise until I read about Room to Read.

I’ve recently read a book by John Wood – Leaving Microsoft to change the world. As the title suggest, he left Microsoft and set up Room to Read, an organisation providing children with the opportunity to learn. He started off with an aim to give books to children in Nepal, as their biggest school library has only 20 books, made up of leftovers by travelers, with books like “The Lonely Planet Guide to Mongolia” and romance novels by Danielle Steel. From that small aim, it evolved into building schools and libraries for several countries, on top of the original aim of supplying books to these group of children.

I’m sure there will be more blogging entries to come about this, but why not visit the website for yourself. See if this speaks to you as much as it did to me.

If you like what you read, you can follow me on RSS, by email, on Twitter, or on Facebook.

Related posts:

  1. Remember Room to Read?
  2. A gift with a difference
  3. Tired from running but it’s all worth it!
  4. Think big, drive small
  5. Nike Charity Run

Category: Life around Us | Tags: , , , , 6 comments »

6 Responses to “Finding a charity that speaks to you”

  1. stan moong
    July 10th, 2007 at 4:26 pm

    Yeah, it’s not always about the money. It’s about how the donation or help would impact on the person’s life and subsequently on the society.

    This made my day though, haha!
    http://c4-world.com/2007/07/02/pay-it-forward/
  2. Shang Lee
    July 11th, 2007 at 10:48 pm

    Woohoo! Great review for your blog. :)

  3. shang lee . com » Blog Archive » Home for me, home for my stuff
    August 22nd, 2007 at 8:35 pm

    [...] 07.07 Finding a charity that speaks to you [...]
  4. wujimon
    August 25th, 2007 at 11:40 pm

    Awesome find, Shang! Check out the awesome breakdown of contributions:

    91% Program Expenses
    6% Fundraising Expenses
    3% Administrative Expenses

    Source: Charity Navigator

    That’s what I like to see in a charity.
  5. Shang Lee
    September 1st, 2007 at 8:41 am

    That’s a great link wujimon. Thanks!
  6. shang lee . com | Remember Room to Read?
    August 15th, 2008 at 10:06 pm

    [...] been a while since the subject on Room to Read came up. Now there’s a quick way you can get involved. Simply vote for the project [...]

Leave a Reply



↑ Back to top