Goody twoshoes

[firstfallenpanda]

I'm wanting to make soup for a soup kitchen. You wouldn't think this would be a hard thing to do. But, it seems that the general consensus on the web is that if you're not affiliated with a religious group, you can't possibly want to do good in your community. I heard on the radio that the Salvation Army is running soup kitchens. They're pretty rambo-Christian, but say that they don't discriminate. I can't get an answer on any of the numbers in the phone book, all the websites I've tried don't work or have contact details that don't work. I know of lots of churches that do soup kitchens, but I'm not affiliated with any church.

Why can't there be one portal site/wrangler for people wanting to help? Is it so hard to allocate willing people with skills to a place that needs them? I'm sure there are many people out there who would volunteer if it were made really easy to them. I've had this problem before, you have to really go looking for a charity that suits you, and when you do find them it's hard to get in contact with someone (I guess they're too busy out doing good to answer the phone). I think the inherent problem with NGOs is the bad admin. It seems to be a major fault, especially the smaller ones. There's so much to do that they can't spare a person for admin. If I had webskillz I would do something about it, dammit.

Anyway, dear readers, can anyone point me in the right direction? I don't mind if it's religious, but I'm not, so preferably something secular.

Comments

[wolverine-nun.livejournal.com]

I was listening to a thing on disaster management on KFM this morning. The presenter was saying how they at KFM like to think of themselves as being a conduit between the people who want to help and the people who need the help, viz. their food drive this last weekend. So ... the disaster management guy from the municipality said that people could find useful links at their website. I've just been there and it doesn't look hectically useful, but you might find some more phone numbers to call.

Otherwise, why not mail KFM and ask them? No harm in trying.

You could try the various shelters directly, like The Haven. Or try the Big Issue?

[schedule5.livejournal.com]

You could try Greater Good SA . They have a space where you can register your desire to help out by volunteering.

I've been meaning to send you the How2Help book for Cape Town as I can't think of anyone else to give it to. I'll look for it and see if wolverine_nun will bring it back for you in July. It's a couple of years out of date, but if you still want it, it's yours :).

ooh!

[first-fallen.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks! Greater Good looks like it will be quite helpful. What an awesome idea. I think Phleep is coming up for Icon, so he may be able to transport bookses.