A suggestion for helping DU'ers

[Horse with no Name]

As I said in another thread
"There are a handful of DU'ers that I wouldn't care to help. Sorry. That is just the way it is.
I also don't think that DU should be involved in charity directly.
Sorry I think this entire idea would lead to hard feelings.
HOWEVER...there are certain DU'ers I would bend over backwards to help.
I think the most DU should do is give people a forum to post their needs and then let people choose how they receive the money and let the others decide who they really want to help.
Let there be a disclaimer of buyer beware...if you want to give, give, if you don't...don't. The donations would be between the person giving and the person receiving.
Thats just my .02.
And as sandnsea so eloquently put it:
"Otherwise, I just think people should help who they want, keeping in mind to never give more than they can comfortably afford to be cheated out of, both financially and emotionally."
I would love for Skinner to create a forum where people can post their needs. It would be based on the honor system--once a person met their needs, they would be asked to request their post to be locked and request no further donations so that someone else might benefit from the goodwill of others.

[Wonk]

1. Also keep in mind, don't automatically believe everything you read on the net.

I don't know exactly how it should go, but there'd need to be some sort of vetting process to determine if the claims were accurate before we all start rallying in support. I think if someone were truly in dire straits and asking for help they should be willing to find some way to prove why they need it too.

Scams on the net, and off the net too for that matter, are not uncommon.

[sandnsea]

2. You trust people, or you don't

In the most recent requests, there are people who I know and trust, people I don't know, etc. I'm perfectly capable of deciding where I'm going to give, and so far it's to my own hometown giving tree. If my clients pay me, then I might extend my giving to a couple of DUers. I trust that others are capable of making those decisions too; and if they aren't, then it's definitely something they need to learn.